NOMADSBLUEPRINTFORGUITARSUCCESS

byMichaelNOMADRipoll

T.M.I.THEORYMETHODIMPLEMENTATION
Playingbyearisgreat,butyoustillneedtoknowwhatyouareplayinginordertoadvancetothenextleveland
growasaplayer.Withthatbeingsaid,Ialsounderstandthatfindingthetimetopracticecanbeataskinandof
itself.Withthisfirsthandknowledge,Idevisedasystemthatshouldbequiteconvenientandpracticalevenfor
theplayerconstantlyonthegoorwiththebusiestschedule.Letstakea30minpracticeroutineandbreakitdown
into10minuteintervals.Thinkofitasyourmusicalbreakfast,lunchanddinner,ormusicalsnackingifyouwill.Ilike
touseaverysimpletheorythatyoureguaranteedtoremember,calledTMI.

Theory,Method,Implementationisaverysimplewayofcoveringallthefundamentalbasesofapracticeroutine
thatwillhelpyourplayingadvancetothenextlevel.Wewilldesignate10minutestoeachsubjectintheroutine
allowingforampleabsorptionofthecontent.Furthermorebybreakingyourlessonsintosmallerdigestiblechunksof
10minutesatatime,youllensureretentionofeach10minutesessionandmaintainconsistencythroughoutthe
weekwithallofthelessonmaterialyourecovering.

THEORYIfyouknowthenotesonthefretboard,youllneverbelost.
METHODYoucanplayyourfavoriteriffsandactuallyknowwhatyou'replaying.
IMPLEMENTATIONImplementeverythingyouvelearnedintoyourfavoritesongs.

TheconceptbehindthisPracticeRoutineBlueprint,isthefrommanyyearsofstudyingandpracticingtheguitarfor
myself.Ivealwayshadaburningdesiretolearnmorechords,understandhowdifferentscalesandarpeggioscan
beusedforcreatingmyowninterestingsolos,andevenjustlearningmoresongs.
Inadditiontothat,Ivealwaysappreciatedanarrayofdifferentmusicalgenressuchasrock,blues,country,jazz,
pop,younameit!ItwasbecauseofthisyearningthatIfelttheincessantneedtofigureoutawayofpracticingthat
wouldenablemetocoverallofthebasesI
mentioned,withouthavingtobetiesdowntomyguitarsfor8hoursaday.ITtookmequitesometimetoperfect
thisBlueprinttosuccess,butitwaswellworthitandnowImreallyexcitedtoshareitwithyou.

Bepatientwithyourselfanddontfocussomuchonyourcurrentplayingabilities,but
ratherstayoncourseandbepersistent.Ifyoudothis,Imprettysureyouwontbe
disappointedwiththeprogressyoumake.Okletsdiginandgetstarted,and
rememberDontSweatIt,FretIt!!!

NOMADSBLUEPRINTFORGUITARSUCCESSLEARNTHENECK

THEORY(WARMUP)
I.KnowYourNeck
Naturalnotesascendingonly
II.FingerWorkouts
Snake


Objective:Tocommittomemoryallthenotesonthefretboardascendinganddescendingoneachstring
respectively.

ETA:(expectedtimeofaccomplishment)2weeks:1stringperdayNaturalnotes,1stringperdayAccidentalnotes
(includingenharmonicequivalent#s&bs)

I.LearnandmemorizeallNaturalnotesascending&descending:

RememberB/C&E/Faretheonlytwosetsofnotesthatareahalfstepapart.Allothernotesareawholestepapart
whichhaveAccidentalsinbetweenthem.

II.LearnandmemorizeallNatural&Accidentalnotesascending&descending:

Thisexercisewillessentiallybeeverynoteoneachfret.(chromatic)

Enharmonicequivalentsarethesamenotewithadifferentname(i.e.EbistheenharmonicequivalentofD#)

III.Retention:

Whendoingthisexercise,besuretoplayeachnoteslowly,clearlyarticulatingthesound.Startwiththemetronome
@60bpm.

Useallfourfrethandfingersstartingwiththeindexandmovinginsuccessiontothepinky.Onceyouhaveplayeda
seriesoffournotes,repeatthisform.

Besuretoverballypronounceeachnoteasyouareplayingitincludingalloftheenharmonicequivalentsforthe
accidentals.(sayE,F,F#/Gb,G,G#/Ab,Aetc...)

FINGERWORKOUTSTHESNAKE

METHOD(TECHNIQUE)
I.OutsidethePentatonicBox
PlayAminorpentatoniconthe5thfret(60bpm)
Usealternatepicking(downupdownupetc)
II.KnowYourChords
Majoropenchords(G,C,D,F,E,A)
Minoropenchords(Am,Em,Dm)

OUTSIDETHEPENTATONICBOX
Weallknowthepentatonicscaleandeitherloveitorhateit,orhonestlyalittlebitofboth!Thatsbecauseoncewe
learnit,itssohardtothinkbeyondit.Althoughthisisaclichestatement,youmustThinkOutsideOfTheBox!Let
meshowyouwhatImean

1SlowlyplaytheAminorpentatonicscalestartingonthelowEstring5thfret.

2Pentameans5.Hencethepentatonicscalehasonly5notes.Inthiscasetheyare:ACDEG

3Now,justplaythepatternontoptwostrings(B&Estringsrespectively).ThenoteswithintheAminorpentatonic
scaleonthesetwostringsareEGontheBstring,andAContheEstring.

4Itstimetogoforthandmultiply!!!Somovinguptheneckandyourselftoonlythefirsttwostrings(B&E),playthe
nextsetofnotesintheAminorpentatonicscale,whichareGAontheBstring,andCDontheEstring.Nowkeep
movinguptheneckinthisfashionuntilyourunoutoffrets!Onceyouvemasteredthis,youcannowmoveupand
downtheneckontheB&Estringsfreely!Dontforgettothrowinsomeslides,bendsandvibratotomakeyour
solosmoreinteresting!

5Stayingtruetoformwith5pointsforthe5notesinthepentatonicscale,nowrepeatthesamethingonallthe
othersetsoftwostrings,5setsinall!

1)B&E(1st&2nd)
2)G&B(3rd&2nd)
3)D&G(4th&3rd)
4)A&D(5th&4th)
5)LowE&A(6th&5th)

IMPLEMENTATION(SONGS)
I.Strumming(MemoryAssociation)
One,Two,NiceandSlowthisWillBeOurTempo(60bpm)
One,Two,Inbetweenthistempoisadream(80bpm)
II.ChangingChords(CommonTones)
Usecommontonesaspivotpoints
III.OneStepAtATime
Pickasongandlearnthechords
Practicestrummingalong

THE3BASICELEMENTSOFMUSIC

I'dliketostartthedemystificationprocessbyidentifyingthethreebasiccomponentsofmusic,whichare:

RHYTHMMELODYHARMONY

Rhythm:
Iliketothinkofrhythmas,theessenceofmeasuringtimeinmotion.Everysecondoftheclockthatslipsawaycan
bethoughtofasa"beat".

Forinstance:Thinkofitlikethis,hoursarecomprisedofminutes,andminutesarecomprisedofseconds.Lookat
anyclockwitha'secondshand'andcounteachsecondasitpasses.Onlystarton1andgouptofour,repeating
thecycleafterthatbyreturningtoone:1234,1234,andsoon...well,doyoufeellikedancingyet?Hangin
thereifnotjustyet,asyouwillsoonbecauseyou'rekeeping"time",orcreating"rhythm"!!!See,itwasn'tthathard,
wasit?)

Althoughthat'sjustthebeginning,it'sthemostfundamentalcomponentofrhythm."KeepingTime"aswemusicians
oftenliketocallit,istheactofcreatingsomesortofrhythm.Ofcoursetheserhythmswillbedifferentfromsongto
song,andtheycanbeexecutedonvariousinstrumentsorgroup(s)ofinstrumentsatanygiventime.Forinstancea
drumset,(oftenreferredtoasadrumkit),oranysingledrum,i.e.thebassdrum,orthesnaredrum,oranytypeof
apercussioninstrumentsuchasthecongaorbongo,orevenashakerortambourine.

Well,insteadofjusttalkingaboutit,let'stryitoutforourselves!Turnyourukuleleoveronyourlapsothestrings
arelayingdirectlyonthetopofyourthighs.Now,withonehandorbothoranycombinationthereofe,let'stry
tappingoutthebasicrhythmyouweresayingaloudearliertotheclock.

Tap:1234,1234etc...

Nowtrytappingavariationofthisbasic4/4"timesignature"suchas:

12and34,or12and3and4etc...
Thereyouhaveit!Rhythminit'ssimplestform.Itdoesgetmorecomplex,butfornowthisisagreatstartto
demystifyingthewholeconceptofrhythmandit'scorrelationtomakingactualmusic.

Melody:
Weallknowwhatthiselementis,right?That'scorrect,it'swhatthesingerdoes!Thenotesthatheorsheorthey
aresingingisthemelody.Thismelodyiscomprisedofnoteschainedtogetherinasongformtocreateanenticing
componentofthesongtowhichthehumanearisdrawnto.

Ofcoursethewordswhicharebeingsungarenotthemelody,butthe"lyrics".Letmemakeacleardistinctionthat
thelyricsandmelodyaretwodifferentelements,whichareoftencombinedtocreateabeautifulsongthatisnot
onlymusicallypleasanttotheear,butalsoemotionallyrelatabletousashumans.

However,rememberthisbeingsaidthatamelodydoesn'tneedlyricstoexist.Whensung,hummed,oreven
whistledallbyitslonesomeisoftenreferredtoasthetune,orthemelody.

Harmony:
Andfinallythelastcomponentofmusicistheharmony.Thisisthe"support"tothemelodyortheactual"chords"
thataccompanytherhythmandmelodytomakeasong.Waitaminute,speakingofchordsdidn'twealreadylearn
7ofthose?Yeswedid!Nowlet'sdissectthosereallyquickanddemystifythisfinalelementofmusic.

Basicallythedefinitionofachordis:2more

NOMADSBONUSTIPS:

RacquetorTennisballsqueezeRandomlythroughoutthedaycarrytheballaroundandsqueezeitfora
fewsecondsthenrelease.Dothisinincrementsofabout10timesoruntilyourhandsgettired,thenputit
downallowingatleastafewminutesofrestbeforerepeating.Evenifyoudidthis3timesadayonyour
mealbreaks,theresultswillbedrastic.
TennisRacketpressThenylonthreadingusedtomakestheseracketsaresimilartothenylonstringsona
classicalguitarwhicharemuchmoreforgivingonthefingers.Irecommendpressingthetipsofyourfingers
ontherackettohelpbuildthecallusesnecessarytoprotectyourfingersfromseveresorenessandpain.
Althoughthismaybealittleawkward,itwilldefinitelyprovetobeusefulovertime.
BlinkerMeFindyourselfonalunchbreakinyourcar?Usetheblinkerasametronome!Itsjustaboutright
at60bpmwhichisagreatmoderatetempotopracticejustaboutanything.

LearnMoreAboutNomadandJamPlayhere:http://bit.ly/1vNLBsQ