Play Scales Like Julian Lage!

Рет қаралды 14,638

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 68

@StefanskiAndroos Ай бұрын

This was one of the most instantly gratifying tips I've ever experienced. After a minute or two of getting my bearings, I found myself in a trance that was hard to pull away from. It certainly helps to know the scale positions inside and out, but this is like finding a totally new playground on familiar ground.

@mattfranceschini Ай бұрын

Totally! My mind was blown when I actually sat down and tried it!

@armandosinger 4 ай бұрын

Looks like a good exercise. Are you thinking about 1) a random letter note in the scale before playing it (G A B…etc)? Or 2) think of interval number then play it? Or 3) just think of a position in the scale pattern and play what ever note is there? Or something else like 4) hear/think of a tone in the scale and then play that “by ear?” I never know what people are thinking as they are practicing!

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Great question! My mental process is definitely closest to number 4 on your list. I'm basically thinking ahead to whatever kind of shape of line Im looking for (do i want a note a little higher, a little lower, a lot higher, a lot lower or something in between these extremes) and then guessing where that note is. I've practiced the major scale enough that I know where all of the correct notes are and then I'm using the line I'm hearing in my head to get as close as possible to that sound.

@Le_Mer Ай бұрын

Beautiful stuff.

@mattfranceschini Ай бұрын

Thank you!

@jerrylagoutaris8169 2 ай бұрын

I just found your channel and I find it a breath of fresh air Thank you and keep up the good work

@mattfranceschini 2 ай бұрын

Thank you! No plans on stopping any time soon!

@zinc1024 4 ай бұрын

Very Bach-like, I'll be working on this right away!

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

@@zinc1024 it can come out very Bach like for sure!

@quincytennyson6020 4 ай бұрын

@@mattfranceschini He is totally obsessed with Bach (as we all probably should be) - I had the same thought.

@GuitarBluesHury 4 ай бұрын

Great lesson! Thanks!

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@mortalflower1 3 ай бұрын

Second video of yours I've checked out. I appreciate your fresh approach!

@mattfranceschini 3 ай бұрын

Thank you!

@TJKarlson 4 ай бұрын

When I first saw that old Lage video you mentioned, I really struggled with breaking myself out of the scale patterns I had memorized. Even when I was trying to play random notes, I found myself constantly falling back on memorized patterns, so I eventually just used a random number generator to create a truly random sequence and linked each scale note to the corresponding number in the sequence and started playing that. Granted, I was not playing "random" notes at that point, but was rather following the generated sequence, but it helped me to visualize and feel what it was like to break away from memorized patterns and, as such, to start using this technique more effectively.

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Interesting approach!

@indiekidney3890 4 ай бұрын

what video?

@TJKarlson 4 ай бұрын

@@indiekidney3890 kzbin.info/www/bejne/iqGUZKCNdrajm9E

@aciek 4 ай бұрын

You playing random notes from the scale still sound better than me trying to improvise something interesting. ;D

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Haha!

@quincytennyson6020 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for synthesizing and sharing this! I recall that Julian talked about learning the fretboard in similar fashion in the John Zorn book. He basically stated that there are dozens of "systems" to learn every note on the fretboard, and while they have their place at different points, his most fruitful method ever was just playing randomly and if you can't name the note slow down, repeat until you're comfy naming them then speed up.

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Totally! I've read that Julian Lage essay from Arcana several times over the years. Thanks for watching!

@sombrastudios 4 ай бұрын

i really enjoed this. I am sure i will find myself applying it quite a bit. It feels like solid advice that really flows into ones practice with ease

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Glad it gave you some inspiration, its a really fun way of practicing!

@jazzed2b 4 ай бұрын

Great ideas to breaking out of lick playing and force a different perspective of approach being musical

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

@@jazzed2b glad you agree!

@Birutaginkgolab 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for that 🫡

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Happy to be of help!

@danteferrari8032 4 ай бұрын

love this concept, thx so much

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

So glad you found it helpful!

@guitarigmusik197 4 ай бұрын

Best 10 minutes of the day. Even cat agrees. Thanks for the insight. All the best.

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

@quantumvox8424 4 ай бұрын

What beautiful guitar

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

@@quantumvox8424 thank you!

@Shotzeethegamer 4 ай бұрын

@@mattfranceschiniDid you make it?

@wendellraulerson6547 4 ай бұрын

“Truly helps me out more that you can know” Oh I know JUST how much it helps you out and I am glad to do it. =P nice video bruh bruh!

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

@@wendellraulerson6547 haha, thanks for the sub!

@jamesp8819 4 ай бұрын

This was a good suggestion for breaking away from muscle memory licks and patterns. BTW, what amp are you using in this video? Love the tone!

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed the video and found it useful! This video is me running through and HX Stomp modelling a fender deluxe reverb with a touch of spring reverb. I just run it into a small 8” pa speaker and then picked up by a condenser on my desk, no traditional amplifier to be found!

@evp854 4 ай бұрын

Do you have a video where you talk about the different mods on your guitar? All those switches have me wondering!

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3q9qoOOf7msbZo all the nitty gritty details!

@andyguitar 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for the info, question what do all the switches on the Strat do?

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Essentially each pickup can be coil split individually, and the red button allows for various pickup combinations that aren't possible with the traditional 5 way switch. If you want an in depth rundown I have a video of it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3q9qoOOf7msbZo

@HristoVelev 4 ай бұрын

Cool idea indeed :) I'm often trapped into playing linearly to get to a note, because I only know where the next one is :)

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Haha!

@jeremyversusjazz 4 ай бұрын

What r all those buttons for? Very cool lesson. 🙏

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Short explanation: each pickup can be coil split and the red button allows for unique pickup combinations outside of the typical 5 way strat switch. Long explanation: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3q9qoOOf7msbZosi=_przR7f1Esd5HhSe

@abcrx32j 4 ай бұрын

I think this is a fun idea in general just to find what set of intervals could bbe there that sound good, maybe building new melodic cells or whatever. About the problems you mention at the start tho, more than a problem of scales, it's just a consequence of the terrible method guitarists use to learn a lot of stuff. Music theory isn't a set of rules, it's just a bunch of descriptions and scales aren't shapes, guitarists often focus on learning shapes and know no scales, which leads to dumb ideas like unlocking scales by combining shapes, while all you ahve to do to actually unlock them is to know the intervals.

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

@@abcrx32j the guitar is a fairly shape based instrument and you definitely do have to come to grips with at least some shapes to build any meaningful facility but I do agree that knowing the intervals is one of the biggest things you can do to actually make music. Many guitarists just run scales up and down when a mixture of knowing those shapes and knowing the intervals and intricacies of each scale/mode you play is going to be the best course of action for real music

@drothberg3 4 ай бұрын

This is practice in using scales to make melodies, rather than for technique and speed, as we usually do.

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Yes!

@studmuffin1212 4 ай бұрын

Max the jazz cat!! Seriously though, are you really picking those notes out randomly? It was difficult for me not to start playing patterns, etc. Like my brain can't help but to try to organize things.

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Hahaha! Max the jazz cat indeed! Yes, I am picking notes at random. Patterns may emerge and that's totally ok. The priority in this exercise is paying less attention to the absolute specifics of what notes you are playing. SO rather than super deliberately hunting down arpeggios and scale patterns and just letting the waves of the scale ebb and flow as they will. It might take a little bit of work to turn the analytical part of your brain off while doing it but once you can it's seriously enjoyable!

@szupelak 4 ай бұрын

When I heard you talk about it, I was like: OK, cool concept. Then you started playing it and I was like: what the hell?!

@mattfranceschini 4 ай бұрын

Pretty similar to my reaction first hearing him say it! "Well that doesn't seem very practical" to "Ooooooooooooooooh"!

@kopfstandsnoopy 3 ай бұрын

great lesson. you can also talk about playing fast without playing a whole scale fast right after. we know you can do it. no need to demonstrate it everytime.

@mattfranceschini 3 ай бұрын

Fair enough, I'm always interested in making these videos as useful as possible so feedback noted. The train of thought was that it would be useful to hear it in real use as it really doesn't sound like much slow. Could probably have dialed it back though!