As a guitar teacher, a technique I often promote is something I call 'meandering.' Meandering can be a crucial part of your guitar learning journey because it allows you to truly engage with your fretboard. It doesn't matter what kind of music you're into - pentatonic blues, hybrid scale extensions, diatonic scales, or anything else. Meandering can enhance your playing skills.
So, what exactly is meandering?
Think of meandering as a journey on a dirt road, where you allow yourself to explore without a destination in mind. You start with a jam track or a backing track and select a scale you are comfortable with or currently learning. Let's say, for instance, you're playing a minor pentatonic at 100 doing 2 per click. Now, instead of just going up and down the scale, you start moving in different ways, jumping from note to note randomly.
The concept of meandering isn't about creating a melody or song at first - it's about training your brain and your fingers to move more freely along the fretboard. The key here is continuity. Keep moving. Even if your brain freezes up and you feel like you're stuck, don't stop. Instead, go to a note, any note, and keep picking it. Randomness is the key to meandering.
If you're thinking, "But doesn't meandering sound a lot like playing scales up and down?" you're right and wrong. Yes, it starts with a scale, but instead of sticking to a pattern, meandering is about breaking the pattern. It's about going into the unknown, creating new patterns, and breaking them again.
The ultimate aim of meandering is not speed but understanding. You're teaching yourself how well you know the scale progression and how comfortable you are moving through it. You’re not just trying to impress with your speed, but you’re really getting to grips with your guitar.
With practice, you'll start to feel more confident switching from one position to the next on your fretboard. You can practice this technique over and over again until you start feeling completely comfortable with all the positions of your chosen scale. Confidence grows when your brain and your fingers synchronize effortlessly, and you're able to move on your guitar like it's second nature.
One crucial point to remember is meandering is not an exercise to show off how fast you can play your scales. It’s about random movements, developing unique patterns, testing your fretboard knowledge, and creating a comfort zone within the chaos.
Take your time, go slow, and focus on learning. This can lead to mastery over the fretboard. Remember, it’s about you and your journey with your guitar. Don't get discouraged if at first it feels like you're making noise with no musical melody. The music will emerge as your comfort and familiarity with the scale grow.
Finally, keep in mind that meandering eventually leads you to music. The more you practice, the better you get at moving along the fretboard, and slowly, the random notes start to become melodic. Through meandering, you might even stumble upon a unique riff or pattern that could define your style.
In essence, meandering is about exploration and creativity. It's a technique to build muscle memory, improve fretboard navigation, and, most importantly, appreciate the journey of learning the guitar. So grab your guitar, choose a comfortable scale, and go on your meandering journey. It’s guaranteed to improve your guitar playing. If we're talking about mastering multiple scale positions on the guitar, the first thing we need to understand is the power of meandering. This technique is an approach I frequently recommend for mastering the fretboard for various scales—be it pentatonic blues, hybrid scale extensions, or diatonic.
Meandering is about breaking free from playing just one position and spreading your wings across the fretboard. Embrace the creative expanse that different positions offer for your scales. Pick a jam track and a scale you're studying at the moment. It could be modes, pentatonic, blues, or diatonic — your choice. Start off with one position and then slowly expand your horizon to other positions. Aim for a tempo that’s comfortable for you, and start moving through the scale. At first, it may not feel very musical, but don't worry. You're training your brain and your hands to be familiar with the position and how well you can maneuver it.
Let’s say you’ve picked a minor pentatonic scale, and you’re comfortable playing it at 100 with 2 per click, or maybe 120, 140, or even 80. With meandering, you start breaking the monotony of just going up and down a scale. This is all about improvisation and exploration, about defying the laws of order and creating your own paths. You’ll find yourself producing movement patterns that may seem random at first, which is the whole idea.
But, don’t worry if your brain freezes, and you’re not able to continue. Just go to any note and keep picking it. Remember, this is about randomness; about moving around without a plan. A lot of improvisation involves random movements. Of course, you end on a lick or a pattern you like, but in-between, there’s plenty of randomness. That’s the core of meandering.
You'll soon realize that meandering is not about rigid exercise—it’s about moving around freely. You might even create a repetitive pattern while playing randomly. And that’s fine! Embrace it, but make sure you come out of it and don’t get stuck. The key here is to regain the randomness.
The more you practice meandering, the more familiar you’ll be with the position. Soon, you’ll feel confident enough to expand to the second and third positions. Once you have developed mastery in these positions, you combine them, thereby gaining complete control over your fretboard.
This mastery does wonders for your confidence level. You no longer feel panicked when you have to jam with other people or play in front of an audience. With you knowing your fretboard like the back of your hand, fear takes a backseat. Meandering helps you overcome the roadblock of not making your solos sound like scales by not strictly adhering to scales while soloing.
The joy of meandering lies in the fact that it’s not too far from creating music. You start directing your meandering towards notes that you want to emphasize, and you start pausing. We call this phrasing — breaking meandering into pieces by actually stopping. This starts sounding more like music, although it remains rooted in meandering.
The next step involves considering the chords being played and directing your notes accordingly. If an A minor is being played, you'd want to head towards an A; if a G's being played, you might want to go towards a G. With this, you’re still only using meandering, adding in licks, patterns, or various techniques.
In conclusion, as you master moving across different scale positions through meandering, you gradually transform from just playing scales into creating music. You start developing little preferences, subtle favorites that enrich your style. Remember, meandering isn’t about demonstrating an exercise but about exploring the music rooted in randomness. This guitar learning journey is all about making peace with uncertainty and embracing the serendipities along the way. Keep strumming, and keep exploring! Developing complete control of your fretboard, regardless of the scale you're using—be it pentatonic blues, hybrid scale extensions, or the diatonic scale—is one of the most important things in guitar learning. This mastery elicits creativity and provides a sense of exploration. But how can you get to this point? I teach my students a technique called 'meandering' for this purpose.
So, what's meandering? It involves selecting a jam track or a backing track and then choosing the scale you're currently studying. The strategy is not to stick to merely one position. Rather, you need to let your fingers roam freely, moving from one position to another.
While doing this, it's vital to engage on a tempo that's comfortable for you. For instance, if you're adept at playing your chosen scale—let's say a minor pentatonic—at 100 while doing 2 per click, stick with that tempo. When you begin meandering, you start moving and keep moving. The target is to train both your hands and brain to maintain this continuous motion. You're teaching yourself how well you comprehend the position you're playing on.
With meandering, you're not playing the scale up and down in the usual way. On the contrary, you're going on what I like to call 'a dirt road.' It's an exploration. You're turning in different directions and creating dynamic combinations of notes. This process is going to feel somewhat random and less musical initially, but that's the uniqueness of meandering.
What about when your brain gets stuck while meandering and you feel that you're unable to continue? Well, here's a little tip: in such cases, just head to any note and keep picking it. This strategy lets you maintain the tempo while acting as a breather for your brain. But remember, if you find yourself stopping too frequently or you're unable to keep up with the metronome, it means you're going too fast. Slow down and find your rhythm again.
Keep in mind that the aim isn't to stick to a particular pattern or lick you've learnt. Meandering is all about randomness. It's like improvising; whether you're winding up somewhere and then doing a lick or pattern you like, everything in between is random motion.
Don't worry if you create a repetitive pattern or lick during meandering. It's still good practice, and it simulates what happens in the real world when you play. However, you have to come out of it and delve back into randomness.
As you start being comfortable with the first position, you can take a step further and start developing the second and the third positions, and so on. As you get to know these varying positions and learn to move in and out of them freely, you establish a complete mastery over the fretboard, what I refer to as 'absolution'.
This mastery brings along a sense of confidence. Now, when jamming with other people or playing in front of an audience, you find that your fingers aren't getting stuck. You can easily pick and choose from different positions without feeling panicked.
Meandering isn't just a practice framework—it aids in creating music. Once you're comfortable with meandering, you can learn to direct your meanderings towards specific notes that you want to emphasize. This is also where 'phrasing' comes into effect. It's the process of breaking meandering into pieces by intermittently stopping to create music. For instance, if an a minor chord is being played, you may want to try to go towards an A or if a G's being played, you may want to go towards a G. At this point, you’re still making use of the concept of meandering, but you’re also adding in learnt licks, patterns, or various techniques.
Thus, meandering, despite being rooted in randomness, is a gateway to creating music. It enables you to jump around the fretboard instead of just playing a scale. As you continue practicing meandering, you might discover some unique combinations that you like, and these may become a lick at some point. Meandering is a stepping stone to creating your unique style and enhancing your guitar playing skills.
If you're keen on elevating your guitar skills, don't just wonder about it. Check out the reviews by other guitar enthusiasts who have significantly improved their playing through GuitarZoom.com's learning resources.
Don't forget to explore more on the effective practice method we discussed in this blog! Visit our scales category for more insightful articles that will guide you in the practice of meandering using different scale positions.
Also, our soloing category has practical tips on how to convert your meandering practice into a solo performance that tells a story. Get strumming!
So, what exactly is meandering?
Think of meandering as a journey on a dirt road, where you allow yourself to explore without a destination in mind. You start with a jam track or a backing track and select a scale you are comfortable with or currently learning. Let's say, for instance, you're playing a minor pentatonic at 100 doing 2 per click. Now, instead of just going up and down the scale, you start moving in different ways, jumping from note to note randomly.
The concept of meandering isn't about creating a melody or song at first - it's about training your brain and your fingers to move more freely along the fretboard. The key here is continuity. Keep moving. Even if your brain freezes up and you feel like you're stuck, don't stop. Instead, go to a note, any note, and keep picking it. Randomness is the key to meandering.
If you're thinking, "But doesn't meandering sound a lot like playing scales up and down?" you're right and wrong. Yes, it starts with a scale, but instead of sticking to a pattern, meandering is about breaking the pattern. It's about going into the unknown, creating new patterns, and breaking them again.
The ultimate aim of meandering is not speed but understanding. You're teaching yourself how well you know the scale progression and how comfortable you are moving through it. You’re not just trying to impress with your speed, but you’re really getting to grips with your guitar.
With practice, you'll start to feel more confident switching from one position to the next on your fretboard. You can practice this technique over and over again until you start feeling completely comfortable with all the positions of your chosen scale. Confidence grows when your brain and your fingers synchronize effortlessly, and you're able to move on your guitar like it's second nature.
One crucial point to remember is meandering is not an exercise to show off how fast you can play your scales. It’s about random movements, developing unique patterns, testing your fretboard knowledge, and creating a comfort zone within the chaos.
Take your time, go slow, and focus on learning. This can lead to mastery over the fretboard. Remember, it’s about you and your journey with your guitar. Don't get discouraged if at first it feels like you're making noise with no musical melody. The music will emerge as your comfort and familiarity with the scale grow.
Finally, keep in mind that meandering eventually leads you to music. The more you practice, the better you get at moving along the fretboard, and slowly, the random notes start to become melodic. Through meandering, you might even stumble upon a unique riff or pattern that could define your style.
In essence, meandering is about exploration and creativity. It's a technique to build muscle memory, improve fretboard navigation, and, most importantly, appreciate the journey of learning the guitar. So grab your guitar, choose a comfortable scale, and go on your meandering journey. It’s guaranteed to improve your guitar playing. If we're talking about mastering multiple scale positions on the guitar, the first thing we need to understand is the power of meandering. This technique is an approach I frequently recommend for mastering the fretboard for various scales—be it pentatonic blues, hybrid scale extensions, or diatonic.
Meandering is about breaking free from playing just one position and spreading your wings across the fretboard. Embrace the creative expanse that different positions offer for your scales. Pick a jam track and a scale you're studying at the moment. It could be modes, pentatonic, blues, or diatonic — your choice. Start off with one position and then slowly expand your horizon to other positions. Aim for a tempo that’s comfortable for you, and start moving through the scale. At first, it may not feel very musical, but don't worry. You're training your brain and your hands to be familiar with the position and how well you can maneuver it.
Let’s say you’ve picked a minor pentatonic scale, and you’re comfortable playing it at 100 with 2 per click, or maybe 120, 140, or even 80. With meandering, you start breaking the monotony of just going up and down a scale. This is all about improvisation and exploration, about defying the laws of order and creating your own paths. You’ll find yourself producing movement patterns that may seem random at first, which is the whole idea.
But, don’t worry if your brain freezes, and you’re not able to continue. Just go to any note and keep picking it. Remember, this is about randomness; about moving around without a plan. A lot of improvisation involves random movements. Of course, you end on a lick or a pattern you like, but in-between, there’s plenty of randomness. That’s the core of meandering.
You'll soon realize that meandering is not about rigid exercise—it’s about moving around freely. You might even create a repetitive pattern while playing randomly. And that’s fine! Embrace it, but make sure you come out of it and don’t get stuck. The key here is to regain the randomness.
The more you practice meandering, the more familiar you’ll be with the position. Soon, you’ll feel confident enough to expand to the second and third positions. Once you have developed mastery in these positions, you combine them, thereby gaining complete control over your fretboard.
This mastery does wonders for your confidence level. You no longer feel panicked when you have to jam with other people or play in front of an audience. With you knowing your fretboard like the back of your hand, fear takes a backseat. Meandering helps you overcome the roadblock of not making your solos sound like scales by not strictly adhering to scales while soloing.
The joy of meandering lies in the fact that it’s not too far from creating music. You start directing your meandering towards notes that you want to emphasize, and you start pausing. We call this phrasing — breaking meandering into pieces by actually stopping. This starts sounding more like music, although it remains rooted in meandering.
The next step involves considering the chords being played and directing your notes accordingly. If an A minor is being played, you'd want to head towards an A; if a G's being played, you might want to go towards a G. With this, you’re still only using meandering, adding in licks, patterns, or various techniques.
In conclusion, as you master moving across different scale positions through meandering, you gradually transform from just playing scales into creating music. You start developing little preferences, subtle favorites that enrich your style. Remember, meandering isn’t about demonstrating an exercise but about exploring the music rooted in randomness. This guitar learning journey is all about making peace with uncertainty and embracing the serendipities along the way. Keep strumming, and keep exploring! Developing complete control of your fretboard, regardless of the scale you're using—be it pentatonic blues, hybrid scale extensions, or the diatonic scale—is one of the most important things in guitar learning. This mastery elicits creativity and provides a sense of exploration. But how can you get to this point? I teach my students a technique called 'meandering' for this purpose.
So, what's meandering? It involves selecting a jam track or a backing track and then choosing the scale you're currently studying. The strategy is not to stick to merely one position. Rather, you need to let your fingers roam freely, moving from one position to another.
While doing this, it's vital to engage on a tempo that's comfortable for you. For instance, if you're adept at playing your chosen scale—let's say a minor pentatonic—at 100 while doing 2 per click, stick with that tempo. When you begin meandering, you start moving and keep moving. The target is to train both your hands and brain to maintain this continuous motion. You're teaching yourself how well you comprehend the position you're playing on.
With meandering, you're not playing the scale up and down in the usual way. On the contrary, you're going on what I like to call 'a dirt road.' It's an exploration. You're turning in different directions and creating dynamic combinations of notes. This process is going to feel somewhat random and less musical initially, but that's the uniqueness of meandering.
What about when your brain gets stuck while meandering and you feel that you're unable to continue? Well, here's a little tip: in such cases, just head to any note and keep picking it. This strategy lets you maintain the tempo while acting as a breather for your brain. But remember, if you find yourself stopping too frequently or you're unable to keep up with the metronome, it means you're going too fast. Slow down and find your rhythm again.
Keep in mind that the aim isn't to stick to a particular pattern or lick you've learnt. Meandering is all about randomness. It's like improvising; whether you're winding up somewhere and then doing a lick or pattern you like, everything in between is random motion.
Don't worry if you create a repetitive pattern or lick during meandering. It's still good practice, and it simulates what happens in the real world when you play. However, you have to come out of it and delve back into randomness.
As you start being comfortable with the first position, you can take a step further and start developing the second and the third positions, and so on. As you get to know these varying positions and learn to move in and out of them freely, you establish a complete mastery over the fretboard, what I refer to as 'absolution'.
This mastery brings along a sense of confidence. Now, when jamming with other people or playing in front of an audience, you find that your fingers aren't getting stuck. You can easily pick and choose from different positions without feeling panicked.
Meandering isn't just a practice framework—it aids in creating music. Once you're comfortable with meandering, you can learn to direct your meanderings towards specific notes that you want to emphasize. This is also where 'phrasing' comes into effect. It's the process of breaking meandering into pieces by intermittently stopping to create music. For instance, if an a minor chord is being played, you may want to try to go towards an A or if a G's being played, you may want to go towards a G. At this point, you’re still making use of the concept of meandering, but you’re also adding in learnt licks, patterns, or various techniques.
Thus, meandering, despite being rooted in randomness, is a gateway to creating music. It enables you to jump around the fretboard instead of just playing a scale. As you continue practicing meandering, you might discover some unique combinations that you like, and these may become a lick at some point. Meandering is a stepping stone to creating your unique style and enhancing your guitar playing skills.
If you're keen on elevating your guitar skills, don't just wonder about it. Check out the reviews by other guitar enthusiasts who have significantly improved their playing through GuitarZoom.com's learning resources.
Don't forget to explore more on the effective practice method we discussed in this blog! Visit our scales category for more insightful articles that will guide you in the practice of meandering using different scale positions.
Also, our soloing category has practical tips on how to convert your meandering practice into a solo performance that tells a story. Get strumming!
