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Thread: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

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    Orrig Onion HonketyHank's Avatar
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    Default A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Some fun arpeggio exercises illustrated by Sierra Hull by way of Reverb:
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    Registered User Simon DS's Avatar
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Dude, this vid gets my 'fastest insight and advancement of the year' award. And Sierra Hull looking like a kid, isn't she great! Five minutes and I'm moving all over the fretboard, why didn't I do this 1,3,5,1 before?

    I think I had this idea of where the roots were, but when I'd arrive, it would be from some small slide on a random note of the scale and then having to remember what FFcP finger I was working from. It's so much simpler staying with first finger like this and also breaking the octaves (and the fretboard) up into jumps of thirds.

    Another problem I have/had was that I didn't like big slides. Something to do with not having the thumb and first finger sort of locked together during the slide to allow. The first finger would often advance too fast.
    Anyway.
    Many thanks (both of you)

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    not a donut Kevin Winn's Avatar
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Good stuff.

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    Registered User John Soper's Avatar
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    It will take me a while to work up to her speed... LOL

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Thanks for posting - hadn't seen that.

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    For sure a "duh" moment for me - thanks for posting @Honkety, I can blow the dust off the upper part of the fretboard now!

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    Registered User Scotter's Avatar
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    I watched this video earlier while having my first cup of coffee and plan to give it a go tonight. Does she say to make a major arpeggio out of each of the 3 scale tones of the major arpeggio or out of each note in the major scale? Again, maybe I hadn't had enough coffee because if she meant to make an arpeggio out of each note of the scale then the arpeggio for the second scale note should be a minor arpeggio, right?
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    I need to go back and listen again, Scotter, because it confused me too. I think she was saying to do a major chord arpeggio with the root being each note of the scale. So for the G scale, do a G major arpeggio up and down, then an A major arpeggio, then a B major, etc.
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Quote Originally Posted by Scotter View Post
    I watched this video earlier while having my first cup of coffee and plan to give it a go tonight. Does she say to make a major arpeggio out of each of the 3 scale tones of the major arpeggio or out of each note in the major scale? Again, maybe I hadn't had enough coffee because if she meant to make an arpeggio out of each note of the scale then the arpeggio for the second scale note should be a minor arpeggio, right?
    Yes, I need to go over it again too.
    What I undestood was that you play the 1351 arpeggio in the key of G starting on G and then when it's time to change you play the 1351 arpeggio starting on the fourth, C BUT you do that in the key of C -it's easy because it's the same pattern of finger movements. Then after say 4 measures on to the 5th of G, D and you play the 1351 arpeggio in the key of D starting on the D which again is the same movement with your fingers. Up to now, no problem because all the notes so far are still in the key of G. And it's easier to improvise like that.

    The difference arrives when you improvise using say a 7th note in C key then a 7th in D key. It sounds cool but some of the notes are not in G.

    Can someone please explain if this is how scales are often played in say Bluegrass?
    Is this what gives the music that different type of sound?

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Great stuff. And boy, does that mandolin ring like a bell, up and down.

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    I think in the second part of the video she means to play the chord tones for each chord of the scale. Quite the workout thanks for posting!

    So the chords in the key of A are A, Bm, C#m, D, E, F#m, G#dim, A

    A - A C# E
    Bm - B D F#
    C#m - C# E G#
    D - D F# A
    E - E G# B
    F#m - F# A C#
    G# dim - G# B D
    A - A C# E

    (I so hope I didn't make a typo)
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Quote Originally Posted by bigskygirl View Post
    I think in the second part of the video she means to play the chord tones for each chord of the scale. Quite the workout.

    So the chords in the key of A are A, Bm, C#m, D, E, F#m, G#dim, A

    A - A C# E
    Bm - B D F#
    C#m - C# E G#
    D - D F# A
    E - E G# B
    F#m - F# A C#
    G# dim - G# B D
    A - A C# E

    (I so hope I didn't make a typo)
    That makes sense to me. Seems more useful that what I tried to say.
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Quote Originally Posted by bigskygirl View Post
    I think in the second part of the video she means to play the chord tones for each chord of the scale. Quite the workout thanks for posting!

    So the chords in the key of A are A, Bm, C#m, D, E, F#m, G#dim, A

    A - A C# E
    Bm - B D F#
    C#m - C# E G#
    D - D F# A
    E - E G# B
    F#m - F# A C#
    G# dim - G# B D
    A - A C# E

    (I so hope I didn't make a typo)
    That makes sense harmonically but I didn't think that that's what she's doing. I thought what she's doing is more like what "atsunrise" is describing. This makes me laugh a bit as I've recently joined the San Diego Bluegrass Association and at one of the recent instructional slow jams someone asked why the V chord wasn't a V7 but the answer basically was "because it's bluegrass." The triad of the 7th scale tone of #diminished also seems to be rarely used in bluegrass tunes as well.
    Play that which you feel is groovy, get down with your bad self, and shake your money maker if it makes sense for you to do so.

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Quote Originally Posted by bigskygirl View Post
    I think in the second part of the video she means to play the chord tones for each chord of the scale. Quite the workout thanks for posting!

    So the chords in the key of A are A, Bm, C#m, D, E, F#m, G#dim, A

    A - A C# E
    Bm - B D F#
    C#m - C# E G#
    D - D F# A
    E - E G# B
    F#m - F# A C#
    G# dim - G# B D
    A - A C# E

    (I so hope I didn't make a typo)
    OK, just too tired to give it a go last night but watched it again this morning and when she gets to the part (in A major) that we're all confused about she says, "...we'll actually treat each note of the scale as it's own thing." So, she's clearly using each note in the A major scale as a starting point for an associated arpeggio. Is she making each associated arpeggio out of the A major scale by just counting scale degrees 1,3,5 within each note of the A major scale (A, B, C♯, D, E, F♯, and G♯)? That does appear to be what bigskygirl is suggesting. If so, then that just blows my mind as it simplifies a concept I've been struggling with for years. This confirms my original question about the arpeggio of the second scale degree being minor, B minor, in fact. It's like "chord melody theory for Dummies!" And I'm quite the Dummy! I can't wait to get to work practicing this!

    So, this should work for the modes as well, right? If so, then I'm thinking I'm going to have a lot of fun with mixolydian.
    Play that which you feel is groovy, get down with your bad self, and shake your money maker if it makes sense for you to do so.

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    I'll say this though...playing forwards is not too bad once I got it down but going backwards is messing with my brain...doing this in other keys like C, G, and D at least...I see lots of practice on this in my future.
    Northfield F5M #268, AT02 #7

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Someone in another string (n.p.i.) suggested using a metronome at the slowest possible speed and gradually increasing until failure. I was doing it yesterday. Going UP the metronome was too slow, but it was as fast as I could go DOWN ("backwards"). But I did find that doing it really slowly going "backwards" kind of cemented it in my head. Can't say my failure speed was very fast, but it was faster than it would have been.

    If you look for "accellerating metronome" on YouTube, there are various tapes from something like 65 bpm up to 400. And there's a program on Android called simply "Metronome" by "keuwlsoft" (sorry, but that's the name) that lets you increase the speed by 1 bmp or 5 bpm, and program key signature and emphasis beats AND lets you program how fast the beats accellerate. Great program.
    belbein

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Quote Originally Posted by Scotter View Post
    I didn't think that that's what she's doing. I thought what she's doing is more like what "atsunrise" is describing. .
    I have to say that I agree, more or less. I don't see her talking about chords or chord tones. She's saying to do cascading arpegios where the second arpegio starts with the III of the first arpegio. It's like doing those exercises where your doing intervals of 3 or 4 notes--it's a different way of learning different waypoints.

    Am I the only one to find this sort of video very confusing? I can never see where the demonstrator's fingers are going and I'm not good enough with pitch that I can hear the difference between one fret and the next. I wish I found these useful, but I just can't. One of my failings, I guess.
    belbein

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Quote Originally Posted by belbein View Post
    I have to say that I agree, more or less. I don't see her talking about chords or chord tones. She's saying to do cascading arpegios where the second arpegio starts with the III of the first arpegio. It's like doing those exercises where your doing intervals of 3 or 4 notes--it's a different way of learning different waypoints.

    Am I the only one to find this sort of video very confusing? I can never see where the demonstrator's fingers are going and I'm not good enough with pitch that I can hear the difference between one fret and the next. I wish I found these useful, but I just can't. One of my failings, I guess.
    For the second part of the exercise bigskygirl nailed it. Sierra doesn't name the chords but by playing the notes in the exercise she is playing the chords that bigskygirl named for each set. Like I said, it's "chord melody theory for dummies!" I tabbed it out over lunch.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Thanks for doing it. It's different than I thought. There should be a rule that everyone who demonstrates positions on the fretboard have transparent fingers.
    belbein

    The bad news is that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. The good news is that what kills us makes it no longer our problem

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Thanks for the tab, now that I see the visual you tabbed going backward is not so bad...I think it’s because I was doing too much thinking about going backwards - i.e. begin on the 5th(E) and then 3rd, then root and so forth rather than just listening and working the pattern. I find sometimes if I just work the patterns or watch and listen the understanding comes later.
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Quote Originally Posted by bigskygirl View Post
    I find sometimes if I just work the patterns or watch and listen the understanding comes later.
    So true. It's wild that the theory for how chords are made for various keys had been lost to me all these years until I came across the video and started to think about it a bit. It was when you labeled the arpeggio sets with each corresponding chord that they made that, finally, a little light went off in my head. How come I never understood this before?

    Now, the trick will be to do the same exercise for the other modes. I plan to work this exercise up for both minor scales (Aeolian) and mixolydian. I'll post tabs for those when I get a chance unless someone beats me to it.

    A final inference about this exercise is that it reveals both a minor and a diminished arpeggio for which you can then use to develop another fretboard map as demonstrated in the first part of Sierra's video using a G major arpeggio.
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Quote Originally Posted by belbein View Post
    Am I the only one to find this sort of video very confusing? I can never see where the demonstrator's fingers are going and I'm not good enough with pitch that I can hear the difference between one fret and the next. I wish I found these useful, but I just can't. One of my failings, I guess.
    No, you are not alone. I’ve been following this thread, waiting for someone else to explain that second exercise. I even used the “slow downer” on youtube and just can’t tell. Not a good ear yet and my eyes aren’t quick enough to see.

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Quote Originally Posted by Bunnyf View Post
    No, you are not alone. I’ve been following this thread, waiting for someone else to explain that second exercise. I even used the “slow downer” on youtube and just can’t tell. Not a good ear yet and my eyes aren’t quick enough to see.
    I tabbed it out for you in post #18. Just click onto the picture.
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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Scotter, thanks so much. I’m already finding the first exercise helpful for getting me up the fretboard. I look forward to trying the second.

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    Default Re: A few neat exercises from Sierra Hull and Reverb

    Here's a pdf of the 2nd exercise.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Mandolin Triad Arpeggios.pdf  

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