Super FFcP Question

[j-hill]

Among the many gaps in my playing ability is knowing the individual note names and incorporating those into my playing vs. just hitting the familiar patterns that I know work. An example will be when I'm playing with a friend and we'll both be noodling on a G pentatonic scale and he'll say something like, 'try sliding into the 3rd.' As I began to realize that this wasn't a baseball analogy but suggesting that I slide into the 3rd note of the scale, I realized that I had to do a lot of thinking ot know which one was the 3rd note of the scale. I had just memorized the pattern of the pentatonic and hit the notes in that pattern.

My question is, as you are going through exercises like the Super FFcP, do you go through the note names as you're learning the patterns or just the patterns? For example, do you say, G#, A#, C, C#, D#....or do you go through and memorize the patterns and then just move those patterns around the fretboard (as is one of the goals of FFcP)?


(For those people who will inevitably ask, 'What's the FFcP?' It can be found here http://www.jazzmando.com/ffcp.shtml

Thanks for the feedback.
Jason

[Alex Fields]

Every musician should learn at least basic music theory and how to read music. Learning basic harmony (i.e., about key signatures, scales, triads) and then learning to play those scales on your instrument, and learning to identify a note on the score both for where it is in your instrument and what its name is, will solve all your problems here and make all kinds of music much easier for you in the future.

[dj coffey]

So I'm a beginning mandolinist, but play the piano and did scales as a routine part of practice for years.

Based on my piano experience, playing the 3rd (or 5th or whatever) didn't immediately translate into a particular note - more it was moving to the point in the scale referenced. Then, if it was relevant, I might think about the name of the note played. From that standpoint, it might be more useful to call out the interval you are playing rather than the actual note.

I think this FFcP stuff is great. My brain is tickeled by the idea that I can play a scale 4 different ways simply by starting with a different finger.

[Dylan Hatch]

There are definitely others more expert than me, but I believe there's more of a sense being developed of position within the scale than specific note name, although it's all good info to have. The third or the fifth are the same on any of the scales in 1st FFcP, for instance- just the same finger and position in relation to the root note. Does that make sense?

[stixx3969]

Ok,I'm new. What is the FFcP Scale?

[Tim]

Ok,I'm new. What is the FFcP Scale?

Four Finger closed Position

You can find more on the downloads section of JazzMando

[250sc]

Personally, I don't think of note names unless I'm talking about music. When I play I'm thinking note tones and their relationship to what is happening around me.

[Ted Eschliman]

Our approach in every exercise is premeditatively multi-level. At minimum, we want you to develop facility, tone, and fretboard familiarity. Yet, each drill is crafted to offer some kind of theory lesson... only when you are ready for it!

More about this Fingers Ears Brain concept.

If you can learn note names, great, but you're probably better served embracing the note relationships as priority, AFTER after you achieve the primal mechanics of good tone and sustain.