GIUSEPPE GILARDI FIND OUT WHAT'S HOLDING YOU BACK HOW TON ty nUlol ain SHAPESThe most common problem that new students bring out to me is that feeling of being stuck in a rut. I'm talking about that feeling of being stuck in the same shapes or like you've been playing the same thing over and over. Does this sound familiar to you? I've definetely been there. This can be very uninspiring and demotivating, it makes you feel like you're not making any progress on guitar no matter how hard you work or how many hours of practise you put in. That's because there might be something that's stopping you from improving, something basic but essential that you may have neglected in the past. Let's talk about the reasons why you feel like this and let's find out what's stop- ping you from improving. Keep in mind that there’s no short, magic answer to fix this. You'll have to work your way out of the rut, but I can show you exactly how. LET’S TRY TO FIX THIS RIGHT NOW.Here's what I found to be the main 3 reasons why guitar players might feel stuck: 1. you don't know notes on the fretboard Knowing the position of notes on the fretboard (and intervals) is very helpful to not get stuck into shapes and patterns that will limit your fret- board visualisation. 2. you don't know how to visualise the fretboard Knowing every shape and pattern across the fretboard for every scale, ar- peggio, triad, etc. is extremely important in order to map the fretboard and have all the tools you need to play what you want to play. 3. you don't know how to navigate the fretboard Knowing how to connect shapes together and understand how patterns repeat across the fretboard having intervals in mind is essential to not get stuck in shapes and instead use them creatively to connect with the instru- ment and play freely. These are the main reasons why you feel like the guitar fretboard is an ob- scure object and you can't quite navigate through it to play what you have in your head. LET'S FIX THIS RIGHT NOW.If you struggle to immediately find notes on the fretboard, basically you just have to practise finding notes on the fretboard. Pretty straightforward so far. But how can you do that? I'm sure that with enough time you can figure out which note corresponds to which fret on the fretboard, but unfortunately that's not enough to get the bene- fits of knowing notes on the fretboard like second nature. This means that you just have to speed up the process and use a few tricks to memorise repeating patterns. I remember that a while ago I was doing a very simple exercise my teacher at the time suggested me. Basically you put a paper with literally random notes in front of you, and you try to find their position on the fretboard as quickly as you can. C# Eb G BA D# F Write random notes on a page and try to. find them on the fretboard as quickly as possible. This way you practise speeding up Cc B G# F Db Bb the thought process of figuring out notes on the fretboard. Your goal is to make that process become second nature so you don’t E Db Ab D# G F have to think about that anymore. The ben- efits of this are immense, trust me. Eb C F Db F# B You can limit yourself within the first five frets, then move to the next five frets, and so on. If you're crazy enough you can also turn on the metronome and try to find one note for each bar, then maybe two notes for each bar, then three, four, and so on. Try to recognise repeating patterns. Take advantage of octaves, fifths or other tricks to remember the position of each note.Try to memorise the position of easy interval shapes like fifths or octaves to memorise how notes repeat on the fretboard and remember them more easily.If you feel like the guitar fretboard is an obscure object and you can't quite navi- gate through it, maybe you don't know very well the shapes and patterns to map out every scale, arpeggio, triad, or any other thing. That is just a matter of memorising them, so take your time, be patient, and try to focus on one thing at a time. First, the major scale, then the pentatonic, then the arpeggios, and so on until you transpose eveything in every key. That is es- sential to then learn how to navigate the fretboard (we'll get back to this in a bit). Let's go ahead and let me show you the shapes on which I built my entire fret- board visualisation method. For now we're going to focus on them individually, then we'll worry about how to connect everything so you don't get stuck. Keep in mind this is just a starting point. While you practise patterns, try to also be aware of which note you're playing at any time, so it feels less like a pattern. Plus, it's also another way you can practise notes on the fretboard. jou can transpose ar attern by starting from a G MAJOR SCALE Uiterentrootncte. PATTERN 1 22 PATTERN 2PATTERN 3 12 PATTERN 4 PATTERN 5 3 PATTERN 6DMAJ7 ARPEGGIO D(R), F#(M3rd), A(5th), C#(M7th) PATTERN 1 PATTERN 2 PATTERN 2 2 PATTERN 4 PATTERN 5DMIN7 ARPEGGIO D(R), F(m3rd), A(5th), C(m7th) PATTERN 1 PATTERN 2 PATTERN 3 PATTERN 4 PATTERN 5D7 ARPEGGIO D(R), F#(M3rd), A(Sth), C(m7th) PATTERN 1 PATTERN 2 PATTERN 3 12 PATTERN 4 PATTERN 5 12TAKE ACTION Here's a few ways you can practise shapes effectively: + Focus on each one of them individually and memorise the pattern. + Analyse what notes (and what intervals) you're playing at any time using your knowledge of the fretboard. + Keep it simple. Avoid trying to memorise too many things at once. Learning one thing at 100% is better than learning ten things at 10%. * Once you feel comfortable enough, transpose everything in as many differ- ent keys as possible. Approach this gradually and make sure you feel comfort- able in a key before moving to another one. + Be patient! This takes time. Potentially years. However, it’s important to start in the right way.Now that you know the shapes (and I mean, really know the shapes) it's finally time to connect them together so they don't feel like shapes anymore, and you can just play without having to worry about anything else. Here's a simple exercise you can try to get started. It's about connecting togeth- er all the shapes of the major scale that we were talking about earlier. 6 ae er Cea al oP The point of the exercise is that basically every time you play a note with your index finger you can move to the next position by using the index finger again, this way you can easily move across different patterns across the fretboard. Make sure you follow the right fingering while you practise this. Another great way you can practise is by ascending with one pattern and dis- cending with the next one, this way you can easiliy move across the fretboard practising multiple patterns at the same time. Again, make sure you practise these exercises in as many different keys as possi- ble. This is true for scales and arpeggios and every other pattern, shape or lick you learn.Another great way you can escape the linearity of shapes and connect every- thing together is by playing scales or arpeggios on just one string. This can also be very beneficial for your phrasing, as it limits you to use your ear to find the notes that you're looking for instead of just your muscle memory. You can start with the major scale. If you practised notes on the fretboard I'm sure at this point you can figure out the major scale on just one string. Try to first map each note across the fretboard on one string and then try to play around and come up with musical phrases using just the major scale on that one string. Once you feel comfortable on one string, choose another one and do the same. With this approach you will be able to go in and out those shapes in a non-linear way and you'll take advantage of the horizontal approach instead of just the vertical approach that we used so far. This is really the best thing you can do in order to really master the fretboard. It's also very beneficial for your phrasing, since you're forced to think in between shapes, so you'll be more likely to create musical sounding phrases. This way you can also focus more on expressive tools like bending, vibrato, slides, and so on. Also, be creative! These are just some ideas, feel free to experiment with similar concepts that can force you out of the boxes. The best exercises are often the ones that you create for yourself.TAKE ACTION Here's what you should do starting from now on: + Connect major scale shapes together with the ‘index finger trick’ that I showed you earlier. + Take one shape (scale or arpeggio) and use that to ascend, then discend with the next shape you find along the fretboard. You can apply this to any shape or pattern you learn. + Take one scale or arpeggio and play that only on one string. This way you'll be forced to think in a non-linear way and you'll take advantage of the hori- zontal approach. Helps with phrasing too. + Again, keep things simple. Focus on one thing at a time. + Once you feel comfortable, transpose everything you do in as many different keys as you can.That's it! Congrats for making it to the end of this eBook. As I said, these things can take time to develop and it's important that you keep practising for the long tun. This is not just a bunch of tabs and licks than you can learn in a short amount of time and get some instant gratification, this is about building the fun- damentals for your entire playing method so that you can approach anything you want and learn anything you want. It might be boring at the beginning, but trust me, you'll be immensely happier in the future when you won't feel stuck ever again because you know exactly how the guitar works. Then you'll have the tools to understand any tab, lick, or song that you want to learn and use that at maximum potential. Again, this is just a starting point. In this context is difficult to cover absolutely everything in depth so I preferred to keep things short and simple and give you the core concepts that you can take away for yourself. Feel free to dive deeper into other scales, arpeggios or anything else you might be learning and apply the concepts we talked about. Let me know how it goes! Check out my website/socials for more Giuseppe Gilardi