Doctor Talk for Musicians

Music has its own terms, just like doctor talk.

There are several musical terms that sound very complicated, but in fact are easy to understand. Today's post will address a couple of those, because you will probably hear or read about them at some point. This should clear up the confusion. So here are two of my favorites:

• MODULATION: Changing keys during the song, usually moving up or down by a half-step or a whole step. On the guitar a half-step is one fret and a whole step is two.
• ENHARMONIC OR ENHARMONIC EQUIVALENTS: Two notes, chords or scales have different names but sound the same. For example, F sharp and G flat. The reason we need enharmonic equivalents? It all has to work out on paper.

These are just a couple of examples. The other confusing thing in music is that we have terms in different languages that also mean the same thing. For a complete list check out The Virginia Tech Multimedia Dictionary where you'll find the word or words, the proper pronunciation, and musical examples.

How Do I Know if I'm Still a Beginner?

What makes a guitar student a beginner?

I was teaching the other day and a guitar student of mine, after having played for 6 months, told me he felt like he was still a beginner. My reply? You ARE still a beginner. One of the hardest things to accept about learning an instrument is that you can't speed the process up very much. Yes, you can practice more, take more lessons, do research on the internet and buy books, but your muscle memory has to catch up. So, what does indicate that you're a beginner? If your chords are still sloppy, you have trouble changing from one to the other, your fingers don't move very quickly and you can only play a couple songs all the way through, you're still in the beginning stage.


How do you make the jump?

First and foremost, take a deep breath, relax, and understand that everyone makes progress at a different rate. If you've never played guitar or any other instrument, haven't had a musical background, your parents or siblings don't play, you'll just have to go slow and learn at your own pace. With the wealth of information out there today, sometimes it does more harm than good. More and more lately I have students asking about theory and techniques that really aren't going to be useful at this point. They want to learn songs that they're not capable of playing, and that just makes it more frustrating. The ability to focus, go slow, and really learn a song, concept or technique is where the emphasis should be placed. Getting to the next level requires basic skills, at least an elementary understanding of the music you're trying to play and the ability to play it well.

Don't be tempted to multitask.


Having a clear goal in mind and concentrating on one thing at a time is the best way to make steady progress. Don't worry about trying to master chords, notes, scales, or intervals all at once. Your guitar teacher can help you decide what to learn first. How you start learning guitar depends on what kind of music you like, whether or not you're going to sing and how much of a musical background you have. So work with your teacher on finding what will help you get where you want to go with music.

Learning to Play By Ear

How do you learn to anticipate what chord's coming next?

It's called ear training, and like everything else it takes time and practice. The best way to start is to listen to songs that have mostly guitar, and are easy, beginner songs. If you can find a simple recording of folk, country or bluegrass songs, and if there aren't keyboards, electric guitars or too many instruments, it's fairly easy to get started. The first step is to just listen to the songs and try to hear when the music or chords change. Most of the time it's pretty easy to hear, and if you're having trouble, listen to the bass player if you can. When the chords change the bass will usually do some kind of a walk or bass run to transition to the next chord.

Once you can hear the chord changes, get your guitar and try to play along

I hear the same thing all the time; "I'm tone deaf," I can't carry a tune in a bucket," I just don't have a good ear," and on and on. A surprisingly small number of people are truly tone deaf, most have just not been trained or not exposed to that much music. Beginning guitar students almost always have a difficult time at first, so don't be discouraged if you can't pick up your guitar and start playing along. When I try to figure out a song, I try to figure out either a note or a chord that matches what they're playing. After that, it's trial and error or using a basic understanding of music theory to figure out the rest.

Music Theory, the circle of fifths, and how music goes together

Here's where finding a good guitar teacher can help. If you're still having trouble playing by ear, the next step is getting help. Read up on music theory, have someone explain the circle of fifths, and/or harmonized scales. With a little basic knowledge you'll find that figuring out songs becomes much easier. Next time we'll discuss why music teachers use the circle of fifths and how it can help develop your ear.