Kite Guitar Exercises and Techniques by Kite Giedraitis: Difference between revisions

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 Beginning exercises:
-* Start off by just matching pitch with various guitar notes
+* Start off by just matching pitch with various guitar notes.
-* Play a simple melody and sing along with the guitar
+* Play a simple melody and sing along with the guitar.
-* Play and sing this melody again, but sing each note first and play it afterwards, to check yourself
+* Play and sing this melody again, but sing each note first and play it afterwards, to check yourself.
-* Play a chord and sing it as an arpeggio
+* Play a chord and sing it as an arpeggio.
-* Play this chord again, but omit one note, and sing the missing note. Play the note to check yourself
+* Play this chord again, but omit one note, and sing the missing note. Play the note to check yourself.
 * Make up your own exercises!
 Advanced exercises:
-* Play and sing a chromatic melody (steps of one fret)
+* Play and sing a chromatic melody (steps of one fret).
-* Play and sing a microtonal melody (steps of a half-fret)
+* Play and sing a microtonal melody (steps of a half-fret).
-* Play and sing highly xenharmonic intervals like the mid 2nd or mid 3rd
+* Play and sing a melody that uses the mid 2nd and/or the mid 3rd.
-* Play and sing a zigzag chromatic melody: P1 vm2 P1 ^m2 P1 vM2 P1 ^M2  P1
+* Play and sing a zigzag chromatic melody: P1 vm2 P1 ^m2 P1 vM2 P1 ^M2  P1.
-* Play and sing a zigzag microtonal melody: P1 ^1 P1 vm2 P1 m2 P1 ^m2 P1 ~2 P1 vM2 P1 M2 P1
+* Play and sing a zigzag microtonal melody: P1 ^1 P1 vm2 P1 m2 P1 ^m2 P1 ~2 P1 vM2 P1 M2 P1.
 As before, start by singing along with the guitar, then try singing first and checking yourself later with the guitar.
 == Half-fret Bends ==
-The fact that each 41-edo note only occurs on every other string makes certain scales awkward to play, for example scales with pythagorean or neutral 3rds. But for 5-limit or 7-limit scales of low odd-limit, it often works out that you're forced to move to the next string just about when you would want to anyway. For example, 1/1 -- 9/8 - 5/4 - 4/3 -- 3/2 - 5/3 -- 15/8 - 2/1. The double dashes indicate where you have to move up a string.
+The fact that each 41-edo note only occurs on every other string makes certain scales awkward to play, for example scales with pythagorean or neutral 3rds. But for 5-limit or 7-limit scales of low odd-limit, it usually works out that you're forced to move to the next string just about when you would want to anyway. For example, the downmajor scale is P1 -- M2 - vM3 - P4 -- P5 - vM6 -- vM7 - P8. The double dashes indicate where you have to move up a string.
 There are however two problematic scenarios:
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 * You run out of strings. You're playing the 4th on the top string, and you want to go up to the 5th (but see also unison leaps below)
-The solution to both is to move 3 frets up from the 4th to the down-5th and do a half-fret bend. It's a good idea to practice doing accurate half-fret bends. Here are some exercises that involve playing an off-perfect interval and bending it into tune. No need to learn them all, just find one or two you like.
+The solution to both is to move 3 frets up from the 4th to the down-5th and do a half-fret bend. It's a good idea to practice doing accurate half-fret bends. Here are some exercises that involve playing an off-perfect interval and bending it into tune. No need to practice them all, just find one or two you like.
 ) Play a note on the 6th fret and simultaneously play the next highest string open. This is an up-unison. Bend the 6th fret note up a half-fret to make it a unison.
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 To sum up, there are three valid moves: (+1,+2), (-2,+1) and (0,-3+0). This exercise moves up by 4ths and down by 5ths, i.e. fourthward in the circle. There is a complimentary exercise that moves fifthwards. Starting at Ab, leap up 3 dots to Eb. Then slowly walk down, cycling through the strings 6th --> 4th --> 5th --> 6th. Once you reach the 1st dot, leap up again. The moves are (-1,-2), (+2,-1) and (0,+3+0).
-Once you get the general idea, test yourself by counting the notes out loud as you go. If Ab is #1 and the next note is #2, you should return to Ab just as you say "42", which is after all [[wikipedia:Phrases_from_The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Answer_to_the_Ultimate_Question_of_Life,_the_Universe,_and_Everything_(42)|The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything]]!
+Once you get the general idea, test yourself by counting the notes out loud as you go. If you say (or sing) "one" for Ab, "two" for the next note, etc., you should return to Ab just as you say "42", which is after all [[wikipedia:Phrases_from_The_Hitchhiker's_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Answer_to_the_Ultimate_Question_of_Life,_the_Universe,_and_Everything_(42)|The Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything]]!
 Get to the point where you can play this 42-note bass line in under 15 seconds. The final step is to play an actual chord over each of these bass notes. It can be a v7 chord or an ^m7 chord, or really any chord you want to practice. Use an open voicing for root-6 chords, a close voicing for root-4 chords, and either for root-5 chords.
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 You can leap up an octave using a half-fret bend by a move of (+2,+7.5). Finally, you can combine this with the circle of 5ths exercise by repeatedly leaping up, leaping down, and moving up a 4th.
-Add a vocal exercise to all this by singing what you play!
+You can add a vocal exercise to all this by singing what you play.
 == Quarter-fret Bends, Sixth-fret Bends, etc. ==
-This is a rather specialized technique that isn't easy, and frankly may or may not appeal to you. It hides pitch shifts by sharpening an entire chord by some fraction of an edostep. Obviously it won't work if a chord uses open strings.
+This is a very advanced technique that requires a keen ear, and frankly may or may not appeal to you.
-Play a progression with a pitch shift, e.g. Iv - vVI^m - vII^m - Vv7 - Iv. The 3rd chord has vD and the 4th chord has D. Bend the entire 3rd chord up a quarter-fret by ear, so that its vD becomes a half-down D. This creates another pitch shift, because the chord now has a half-down A which differs from the previous chord's vA. Presumably, two small 15¢ shifts are better than one large 30¢ one.
+One can hide pitch shifts by sharpening an entire chord by some fraction of an edostep. Obviously it won't work if a chord uses open strings. Play a progression with a pitch shift, e.g. Iv - vVI^m - vII^m - Vv7 - Iv. The 3rd chord has vD and the 4th chord has D. Bend the entire 3rd chord up a quarter-fret by ear, so that its vD becomes a half-down D. This creates another pitch shift, because the chord now has a half-down A which differs from the previous chord's vA. However, two small 15¢ shifts are better than one large 30¢ one. Alternatively, bend the 2nd chord up a sixth-fret and the 3rd chord up a third-fret, to create three pitch shifts of 10¢ each.
-Alternatively, bend the 2nd chord up a sixth-fret and the 3rd chord up a third-fret, to create three pitch shifts of 10¢ each.
+To practice such bends, do one of the half-fret bend exercises in two or three stages.
+In 41-edo, 5-over intervals like 5/4 and 5/3 are about 6¢ flat. One can correct this by applying a tenth-fret bend to certain notes of the chord. For example, in a downmajor chord in R-5-3 voicing, bend the 3rd up slightly. It's also possible to correct the 6¢ sharpness of 5-under intervals by bending a note slightly <u>down</u>. Press the string firmly against the fingerboard and push it towards the bridge. This is harder to do by the nut, because bending down stretches the string behind the fret, and there's very little to stretch there.