The lessons continue, and my first introduction to the scales was quite gentle. 'This is C Major.' The sheet contained one stave, and underneath was the tab. When played, it sounded familiar, and in no time I could rattle up and down it, and felt very pleased with myself.
I know that learning the scales is an important part of the package when n to decipher the dots, but I don't think I have yet grasped just how important. C Major was followed by D and G, and then A. Each time I noted the additional sharp and tried to remember where it featured. E Major was simply presented as an idea, and I had to work out where the new sharp fitted in. Fortunately, as a guitar player, I don't have to worry about any more major scales, but I do now have the minor ones to look forward to.
I can now look at a simple piece of music and recognise some of the notes, determine elements of the rhythm and identify which key it is in, but translating it into something audibly familiar is proving a challenge. I know that some of it has sunk in, and I recognise that progress has been made, but I had thought it would have been quicker than this. My brain has just about absorbed the concept of bass and treble strings, but defining the melody from the base escapes me and I am increasingly in awe of those pickers that appear to have independently controlled digits.
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| Ken picks a twelve string and it sounds amazing. |
