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Paul Walsh
New Here
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Hey everyone,
I have been playing guitar for over 9 years since i was 10, so i have a pretty good grounding on how to sound good when i play. I love playing progressive metal styles like Protest the Hero, Sikth, Meshuggah, Between the Buried and Me, Opeth, Dream Theater ect, but my passion when playing is writing, performing and recording my own music.
I feel that my best songs have come from the things i already know, but I often stumble upon ideas by chance. I know scale shapes and a pretty large assortments of chords and licks which is all good, but i feel i need to master the fret board like the book says i can. I know what sounds good but not why/how it sounds good.
This book seems to be the answer to my quest. How would you suggest I work through this book? I want to achieve total comprehension of the contents because I believe it will serve me well in both my personal endeavors and my studies at university.
I was thinking about hiring a guitar teacher to take me through some of it to get me started, because the problem is that i know some of the ideas presented just from playing over the years! But alot of it is wishy washy, and i know some of it but not all of it; and thats a tough hurdle to overcome for me because I'm adding small things to what I already know. I don't necessarily "need" a teacher though, because the book explains things well and the only purpose a teacher would serve is to organize my regimen, and explain concepts a little faster; but alas i am low on money and time aside from practice time.
How would you suggest I learn the book? Who has done it? Give me some tips on how to keep focused and when to move on. (Troy should have put more checkpoints in the book like "by this page you should know ____".) How am I going to know when to move on to the next page.
Eagerly,
Paul Walsh
(Edited by Paul Walsh at 12:50 pm on May 18, 2008)
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Total Posts: 3 | Joined May 2008 | Posted on: 9:52 pm on May 17, 2008 | IP
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MDC
Advanced Member
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I would suggest also workin thru speed mechanics since there's some quite hard stuff in this book.
If you've got the money also buy all 4 metal books since quite alot off the examples in the book are from these books as well as some off troys solo work on the cd extrica
I've had this book for awhile but not really sat down with it & gone thru with guitar in hand. I think I read it a couple off times & then decided I needed to bring my technique upto scratch after another long lay off & started with metal lead 1 + metal rthym 1
I hope this has been off some help.
martyn
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Total Posts: 492 | Joined May 2002 | Posted on: 12:21 am on May 18, 2008 | IP
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Paul Walsh
New Here
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Oh yeah man, I have Speed Mechanics and can play pretty much all of the exercises physically. As far as I can tell the Metal series is a little too basic for me, or at least Speed mechanics and Fretboard Mastery cover the same concepts and expand them further. Heres a question, should i learn all of the information on the page cold before i try the ear training examples? How should i test my knowledge further?
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Total Posts: 3 | Joined May 2008 | Posted on: 12:43 pm on May 18, 2008 | IP
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MDC
Advanced Member
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I'll have to get back to you on that about the ear trainin examples since I ain't got my copy off the book to hand.
If you can play most off speed mechanics then like I said you should be in good shape to do the examples playin wise in this book.
Here's a question for you then paul, have you got troys thrash guitar method & if so how far you got with that 1?
Later martyn
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Total Posts: 492 | Joined May 2002 | Posted on: 2:59 pm on May 18, 2008 | IP
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Daniel
Member
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How am I going to know when to move on to the next page.
You will know.
Doing the Speed Mechs (Alleluja) I realized that it's not necessary to do it page after page, I just practice the things I feel I need to practice. I don't have Fretboard Mastery, but I think you can do it similar way.
Anyway, what's your plan? Will you attend university of music?
Reading your post, seems like you have already developed your own style. So what do you want?
I think the two possibilities are: doing your own stuff, I mean practicing what you want for YOUR music.
The other thing is to dig into the styles you want to be able to play and perform well. I feel you're doing it well, just have to decide which way to go.
I say, GO!
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Decide.
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Total Posts: 145 | Joined Dec. 2005 | Posted on: 4:11 pm on May 18, 2008 | IP
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Paul Walsh
New Here
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Yeah I already go to the university of ottawa for music, I'm going into my second year. I'd say I've developed a style, I just want to learn all of this book because there is alot of info I dont really know in a tight nit way you know? So is it just a memorization thing? I to be able to use this knowledge and create with it, just as an expansion of my thought process, making creation faster and more to the point.
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Total Posts: 3 | Joined May 2008 | Posted on: 9:14 pm on May 18, 2008 | IP
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Troy Stetina 
If it sounds good, it is good.
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Very good question, actually. Unfortunately I'm not that well suited to answer it, because I've never actually TAUGHT it with any real students in any formal way.
I'm not really doing any "in the trenches" teaching these days. So what I really did in Fretboard Mastery was write and re-write and re-write to include a good synopsis of my view of music and the fretboard, and apply the teaching methodology that I know worked in the past.... so it SHOULD work.
How much you tackle at a time is difficult to say. People ask that same question a lot in Speed Mechanics. My answer is always the same... it depends on where your skill set is now. Advance as much as you can, but if you hit a "wall" or you begin to get bored with something, move on. As long as you see improvement, or you are comfortably patient and knowing this is getting you something worthwhile, stick with it.
So I think it's the same in FM. Go through the exercises as listed. If you feel you have the gist of it, move on... but always remember you can hit spots for review now and then. Also, don't worry about getting each part absolutely PERFECT. All the skills get "re-used" over and over as you progress through the book. So working in Part II or Part III will in fact increase your abilities to get everything right in Part I to some degree. But of course, if you don't cover Part I well enough, you'll get lost in Part II and III, etc. So clearly if you move ahead and begin to feel less and less "attached" to anything solid that you can understand, you are moving too fast.
If you do move ahead too fast, but have beaten the examples to death and gotten bored with them, then you need more specific exercises in those areas... that's something a teacher would be a great help with.
It's also beneficial generally to work with a good teacher, so I'd recommend you do it that way if you have any doubts. If you find after a month of this that your doubts are going away, and you are "getting it" all very clearly, then just discontinue.
that's my advice...
Also, please post your experiences with FM (with or without a teacher helping guide you), tough spots, easy spots, realizations, etc., so that others can benefit.
Thank you!
Troy
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Total Posts: 682 | Joined Mar. 2001 | Posted on: 10:29 am on May 30, 2008 | IP
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LockedNuts
New Here
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Bit of a bump this, but thought I'd register to the forums to share my current experience with FM.
I've been playing about 15 years, but very much on and off, with little understanding of theory - very pattern/box based playing. I'm now 31 and decided its pretty much now or never to knuckle down and start getting both my physical and mental guitar skills up to where I always wanted them to be. It will take time (years!) but this time I'm sticking at it.
I bought ML1 and 2, MR 1 and 2, and Speed Mechs probably about 5 years ago. Best books I'd bought by far, but though my own fault I didnt possess the dedication to get past ML 1 and MR 1 even though they werent too hard for me(and pretty much stopped at FOTB in Speed Mechs !!)
Anyway, as part of my recent rebirth to guitar, I searched to see if there were any new TS books, as I'd remembered somewhere on a blog or interview on one the shred websites that Troy was working on a new book that sounded like it was what I wanted.
I bought FM and just scanning the Index told me this was what I needed to help me stick at it. For some reason SM and FM together are more attractive to me that ML, MR and SM together were. Just a personal thing.
Enough eulogising, and onto how I've been using FM:
First, like most people I skimmed through most of the book WITHOUT the guitar. FM is a BIG book compared to the others. Also I think there is a lot more text per page between the exercises (smaller font?), so it is quite daunting. This quick skim through assured me that the same writing and teaching style as the other books was hiding in amongst the text (not a criticism -just the subject matter).
So far I've found it necessary to set aside 1 hour to 90 mins for a proper session with FM. Quick 20 minute sessions dont work for me on things that need your brain as opposed to more physical practice. You may be different.
Taking the early sections, regarding intervals etc. I would probably go through that from interval recognition, major/minor etc to the section marked Triads (I think). Probably around page 19-20 from memory but may be wrong. Sessions tended to be smaller the further I went as the text needed some re-reading to fully understand, and there was more material that was "new" to me.
Thats a decent length session for me, and ensures I dont lose focus, or indeed cover too much in one session. I think part of the issue some may face is that the subject matter does not lead itself to short punchy chapters/sections.
It may be worth people when skimming the book or in the 5 mins before starting quickly looking ahead for where there is a distinct change in topic which would be a good place to stop for the day. It may prove to be to much or too little, but I think without some form of plan for your session, you will run out of steam and not know where to stop.
In terms of actually working though the book, big tip is GET COMFORTABLE. Seriously. There is a lot more reading compared to drills than in the other books. If you sit on your couch with the book next to you you will get a cricked neck as you read the text then do the drill, then hum the tones, then write them down. This will make your neck and shoulder hurt if you are twisting and turning around. OR you wont read and digest the text parts properly. Read the text until understood fully (no noodling whilst reading - my worst habit), then do the relevant drill/test etc.
Regarding the written mini-tests, get blank paper and pen (dont want to spoil the book do we!) and DO THEM. You may have already skimmed through the chapters to see whats in store, dont do it again here or you are hurting your progress. Do the tests. Without actually learning anything physical or theory based, the interval recognition really opened my eyes as to how much easier things can be when writing or even playing along to other music compared to just knowing patterns and shapes. They were such basic tests very early on in the book, but trying to "hear" the notes rather than just knowing which finger needs to go where next has really helped me enjoy my playing, and listening to other's music.
I wouldnt worry toooo much about going back and having to retry things because they were too tough. It WILL happen as you get further into the book, but just be honest with yourself. Just dont move on if you really dont understand something after the first run through. Repeat the same chunk pages in your next session rather than moving on. FINISHING the book will not make you much better on its own. BUT, Finishing the book having understood and applied as much of it as your brain and time constraints allow WILL make you better. Its that simple. You paid good money for the book, so get the most out of it. Make it last. You may not need to buy any more for a long while? There are/will be areas I will probably never really get burned into my brain, but not because I've been lazy.
So that people dont fall asleep, I'll try and summarise the simple points that helped me:
- Try and form an initial impression of how far through the book you will go in one practice session. Maybe divide the whole book up into chunks where the topics change noticebly and form good places to stop. If one session ends up being to short, just do some SM exercises or jam to a CD for the remaining time. There's no rush.
- Get comfortable. You will be reading/writing as much as you are playing. Get a pen. Get some paper. DO THE TESTS.
- Take your time. Troy doesnt give you a prize on the last page. Neither will any one else I'm afraid. Slow down and enjoy it.
- Carry on working on your technique!!! FM may put some people off as the gains arent as obvious. 10 x 1 hour sessions doing the "Speed Building" drills in Speed Mechs and you WILL play more accurately at slightly higher speeds. 10 x 1 hour sessions on FM and you may wonder what you have gained. Your fingers arent faster. Your brain will be. But by keeping your physical skills improving as well, you will be less likely to just give up on FM. Many people who buy books just want MORE SPEED. I do too. But just speed is not enough to satisfy me any more.
Sorry if this sounds more like an amazon.com review. There are plenty of books where the first 3 and last 3 pages are filled with alleged customer feedback about how they are now amazing and the book is genius, so FM should not turn into one of those (come on - you know exactly the small series I mean, you have bought them too! The 3rd book was a horrible cash-in). I hope somewhere in my mass of words, there is something someone can use.
(Edited by LockedNuts at 4:29 am on June 24, 2008)
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Total Posts: 1 | Joined June 2008 | Posted on: 4:14 am on June 24, 2008 | IP
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MDC
Advanced Member
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there some serious guitar playing going on here my friends & family to get this far.
The book thing I do every time I get a new guitar to make sure it is:-
A) Fits me
B) Sounds right, matching gear etc
C) set-up right given time
I also get so far into the books & depending on where I get with it, depends on the level off support I get.
Or equpipment required. I've a natural knack for sounds & beats. God knows where I got it from but prob family at a guess.
I'm goin to check some local gear out later with my dad.
Spot on with the reviews tho. That was along time ago but i know who wrote them as do you.
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Total Posts: 492 | Joined May 2002 | Posted on: 5:56 am on June 24, 2008 | IP
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Jabs
New Here
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A bump to this thread, please update your status on the FM books, any new tip or advice would be much appreciated. I'm new and starting the MR and ML vol 1 books, I have about six months of playing but really getting nowhere with the methods I chose, this appears to be what I'm after. I do understand a bit of theory so FM is a good fit to me while learning the techniques of playing.
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Total Posts: 29 | Joined Feb. 2009 | Posted on: 1:20 pm on Mar. 2, 2009 | IP
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Rockadrin
New Here
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Fretboard Mastery is a rather brilliant book, a book that begins by telling you exactly what it's about. Actually, the title does that, but the book expands that concept by telling you it's not simply the Fretboard you're going to master; through utmost diligence on your part you will achieve a thorough and complete understanding of <i>music</i>, not just the guitar.
The thing is, though, it will take time. So long as you have the willingness and readiness to walk through the door that Troy has so generously shown you, you will succeed. Follow your own heart, and your own ear and the mystery will soon become mastery.
Good luck, my fellow compatriots--may your musical journey be an enlightened one.
=)
(Edited by Rockadrin at 7:34 pm on Sep. 9, 2011)
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Let the LOVE rain down! For reals, friend-o.
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Total Posts: 3 | Joined Sep. 2011 | Posted on: 7:32 pm on Sep. 9, 2011 | IP
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Modern Rock & Metal Guitar BBS
Fretboard Mastery
