Guitar in Perspective
by Derek Leka ©2022
&
Guitar in Perspective for Lefties
by Derek Leka ©2022
Book 1
Basic Chords and Scales
available on Apple Books.
Guitar in Perspective
link to Apple Books |
Guitar in Perspective
for Lefties link to Apple Books |
Guitar in Perspective is the new vision for guitar instruction.
I altered the standard chord chart from a vertically oriented flat 2 dimensional grid to a 3 point perspective graphic drawing with illusion of 3 dimensions showing the fretboard and fingerings as seen from your playing position.
I call it a Chord Sketch.
I use this same format to represent scales.
I call it a Scale Sketch.
Everything is easier to visualize and memorize.
I devised a color coding system to deepen your understanding.
Root notes are green.
3rds are red.
5ths are yellow.
Each sketch is presented twice. First, using the aforementioned color coding system and second, using the standard black dots. The notes to be played are pictured as ellipses. The color coded sketches have fingering numbers above the colored ellipses and note names at the sketch edge. The sketches with the ellipses filled in black have the fingering numbers on the sketch edge and notes written to the side in a row from left to right. My choice of light red for the 3rd in the color coded sketches is deliberate. A pure saturated red may imply the third takes prominence over the green root and cause confusion. The 3rd colors the root Major or minor.
This book’s text, chord sketches, and scale sketches are sized for reading at arms length to five feet on a mobile device, tablet, laptop, or desktop in landscape orientation. Everything is easy to see on a music stand or similar surface without strain allowing you to get to work without distraction!
Some background,
Guitar in Perspective as an idea came to me due to a great need. I noticed some of my guitar students had taken the scale I had drawn for them, in the standard fashion, and flipped it in their mind subsequently playing the scale upside down.
At the time I couldn’t understand how that could have happened. Standard charts were second nature to me. After giving it some thought it became obvious. In the west we read top to bottom, left to right. They began on the top left of the scale chart but began playing on the low E string, hence flipping it over.
Soon after, while teaching a grueling perspective drawing class in my other life as a drawing teacher, I had the breakthrough. Your view of the fretboard while playing is in two point perspective and three point perspective if you consider your fretting hand coming down onto the fretboard.
Your view of the fretboard while playing is not seen from above in birds-eye view, nor is the guitar held or viewed in a vertical position as chords are presented on sheet music. The current chord and scale chart pictograms demand that you perform mental gymnastics to translate the image containing the vital information into where you must place your fingers.
All the chord and scale sketches I have drawn for you in this book are purposely designed to remove the mental, visual, and physical gymnastics associated with learning guitar.
I altered the standard chord chart from a vertically oriented flat 2 dimensional grid to a 3 point perspective graphic drawing with illusion of 3 dimensions showing the fretboard and fingerings as seen from your playing position.
I call it a Chord Sketch.
I use this same format to represent scales.
I call it a Scale Sketch.
Everything is easier to visualize and memorize.
I devised a color coding system to deepen your understanding.
Root notes are green.
3rds are red.
5ths are yellow.
Each sketch is presented twice. First, using the aforementioned color coding system and second, using the standard black dots. The notes to be played are pictured as ellipses. The color coded sketches have fingering numbers above the colored ellipses and note names at the sketch edge. The sketches with the ellipses filled in black have the fingering numbers on the sketch edge and notes written to the side in a row from left to right. My choice of light red for the 3rd in the color coded sketches is deliberate. A pure saturated red may imply the third takes prominence over the green root and cause confusion. The 3rd colors the root Major or minor.
This book’s text, chord sketches, and scale sketches are sized for reading at arms length to five feet on a mobile device, tablet, laptop, or desktop in landscape orientation. Everything is easy to see on a music stand or similar surface without strain allowing you to get to work without distraction!
Some background,
Guitar in Perspective as an idea came to me due to a great need. I noticed some of my guitar students had taken the scale I had drawn for them, in the standard fashion, and flipped it in their mind subsequently playing the scale upside down.
At the time I couldn’t understand how that could have happened. Standard charts were second nature to me. After giving it some thought it became obvious. In the west we read top to bottom, left to right. They began on the top left of the scale chart but began playing on the low E string, hence flipping it over.
Soon after, while teaching a grueling perspective drawing class in my other life as a drawing teacher, I had the breakthrough. Your view of the fretboard while playing is in two point perspective and three point perspective if you consider your fretting hand coming down onto the fretboard.
Your view of the fretboard while playing is not seen from above in birds-eye view, nor is the guitar held or viewed in a vertical position as chords are presented on sheet music. The current chord and scale chart pictograms demand that you perform mental gymnastics to translate the image containing the vital information into where you must place your fingers.
All the chord and scale sketches I have drawn for you in this book are purposely designed to remove the mental, visual, and physical gymnastics associated with learning guitar.