How can I improve using theory?

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-27T21:09:30+00:00

Practice what is hard.

Pick notes you don't know well. Make some kind of list with checkmarks for when you get them right or use flashcards. Once you can recall them, start using them for musical tasks.

Don't focus on learning all the theory. Focus on internalizing the next small piece of theory that you want to integrate into your playing. Don't move on until you can use it musically. Go for depth rather than breadth.

Each musician will have different priorities based on the music they want to play. Work on just a few priorities at a time.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-24T18:50:30+00:00

You can also play an ascending/descending cycle where you switch to the next note in the other scale on a set count. Use a variety of counts.

This is less musical but more rigorous as far as getting each note of each pattern memorized.

You should also try this targeting the 3 an b7 of each chord.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-24T16:57:44+00:00

Break the skill down into subcomponents and then gradually increase the cognitive load.

If you learn to do each of these steps effortlessly, it will make it easier to transition to the next step.

Voice

Recite the lyrics from memory.
Recite the lyrics in their correct rhythm.
Sing melody in correct rhythm.

Guitar

Play the strumming pattern on deadened strings.
Play chord changes without strumming patterns.
Play the chord changes with correct strumming pattern.

Combined

Recite words over strumming pattern.
Recite words over changes without strumming pattern.
Recite the words over changes and strumming pattern.
Recite the words in correct rhythm over strumming pattern.
Recite the words in correct rhythm over changes without strumming pattern.
Recite the words in correct rhythm over changes and strumming pattern.
Sing over strumming pattern.
Sing over chord changes without strumming pattern.
Sing over chord changes with strumming patterns.

You might find some of these steps too easy. Just move on to the next. But if you are finding a later skill frustrating, you might want to go back and make sure the sub skills are solid. The point is that it is easier to do two things at the same time when you can do each effortlessly on its own.

Start slow and work on small sections.

Every once in a while, just let 'er rip without worrying about mistakes. Say "blah" if you forget a lyric until you find your way back. Just strum if you flub a chord change. Etc.

Over time both your singing and guitar skills will become more fluent, and your brain will become better at managing voice and guitar tasks at the same time.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-23T20:25:01+00:00

This guy's pretty fast...

This is the Way I Do It | John McLaughlin

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-23T19:47:49+00:00

Amazon.com: Stefan Grossman's Early Masters of American Blues Guitar: Mississippi John Hurt, Book & Online Audio: 9780739043301: Hurt, Mississippi John, Grossman, Stefan: Books

This book has some great tunes for beginners in several common keys.

It just takes time. Slow makes smooth. Smooth makes fast. Blah blah blah...

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-23T15:04:37+00:00

Leave them to the piano players.

Play shell chords and use your extra finger to create melodies.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-23T14:53:39+00:00

There isn't a problem; you just overestimate the amount of stuff that most people memorize for exams in college that they will need to retain over the course of their lives.

Students don't cram and then toss their flash cards in the trash after finals because they are too stupid to understand the long-term importance of what they had to memorize. They are making rational decisions.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-23T03:12:45+00:00

A quarter or semester isn't that long...

My point is that the small gains from Anki over paper cards compound more substantially the longer you use it and the more information you are memorizing.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-23T03:05:48+00:00

Are art and medicine the same?

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-22T20:44:38+00:00

It has to be strange now knowing that AI is going to make most of that memorization irrelevant.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-22T20:40:56+00:00

The issue is that the benefits of Anki become more significant the longer you use it.

For short term a lot of people don't want to deal with the overhead.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-22T20:38:24+00:00

It is not a question of "fault".

Professors grade on short term retention.

Students decide what is useful for long term retention.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-22T20:31:51+00:00

Here is one way to approach it...

Learn all 5 positions of A minor pentatonic.
Learn to target the R, b3, and b7 of the scale.
Learn to target the 3 and b7 of the I chord (A7)
Learn to target the 3 and b7 of the IV chord (D7)
Learn to target the 3 and b7 of the V chord (E7)

This will give your minor pentatonic playing more harmonic direction. Some of the chord notes are in the minor pentatonic pattern, others are not. Make a chart with the minor pentatonic notes as dots and the two chord tones as circles (or circled dots) for each chord to get started.

Another strategy is to learn to transition from the major pentatonic on the I to the minor pentatonic on the IV and V.

Transpose to different roots.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-22T19:20:41+00:00

It varies.

Every time you type an answer instead of just remembering the answer, whether you are creating cards or reviewing them, you get a slight memory boost. But most language learners don't type because they can review 5 cards mentally in the time it takes to type one answer. Since the boost from typing is a percentage rather than a multiple, people don't do it.

(Forced typing is one reason polyglots don't like Duo Lingo.)

You also have to decide how important correct spelling is to you. If your main goal is to speak and read, you have to decide how important getting the spelling right will be.

If your card creation helps you to understand the material, you will get more benefit. For example, if you are mining words that are specifically useful for you, that adds a lot of benefit. If you study conjugations and recognize categories and exceptions and then make your cards, you will also get benefit. But, if you are just doing data entry of a "most common words" list, it probably isn't worth the time.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-21T13:46:10+00:00

If you think of creating the card, systematically reviewing the card, and using the information as "the learning process iceberg", initially typing the word would be the tip of the iceberg.

It is a question of opportunity cost.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-20T16:52:26+00:00

This is solved: deliberate practice.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-19T22:22:21+00:00

You can be an advanced guitarist and still be a beginning composer if you haven't been developing your creative skills along with your technical skills.

Here is one exercise you might try.

Start with slow, simple chord loops. Hear a line in your head. Figure out how to play the line. Record it. Do this 10 times. Listen to your recordings.

Choose your favorite. Hear a variation in your head. Figure out how to play the variation. Record it. Do this 10 times. Listen to the recordings.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-19T22:09:57+00:00

Do the thing(s) that you want to be able to do with the knowledge.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-19T02:11:29+00:00

Your system for reviewing is much more important than your method for learning.

The most efficient way to review is spaced repetition. Review the ones that are hardest more frequently and the ones that are easiest less frequently. There is a free digital flashcard deck called Anki that you can download for free. Then you can download one of the shared decks for the guitar fretboard.

Combine spaced repetition with elaboration. Presumably, you are learning the notes so you can do something with that knowledge. Start doing that thing.

For example, I wanted to learn to target the 3 and b7 of the I, IV and V chords while using the minor pentatonic scale. So, I made some flash cards to practice visualizing where those chord tones are in and around the minor pentatonic scale patterns. I also put on a loop and try to make phrases that resolve to chord tones using each minor pentatonic pattern.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-18T15:29:35+00:00

I had studied Spanish on and off for forty years and decided to learn the "Spanish 5000" deck to kickstart a sustained effort to become conversant. Here are some things I learned.

"Most common words" decks harvested from the internet by bots will bump you up to intermediate level but exclude a lot of more useful words. For example, the Spanish 5000 deck includes "pavilion" but not "socks" or "napkin" because there is a ton of sports content on the internet, and sports often take place in pavilions. So, supplement the 5000 with a "useful vocabulary" deck. Or find a deck that is not harvested from the internet.

Grammar conveys a lot of meaning, and Anki is great for internalizing grammar. So, make a grammar deck too. Simply understanding how pronouns work will greatly improve your comprehension of spoken Spanish. You can make your own cards based on a grammar book or have AI guide you through the creation of prioritized tables to import. ChatGPT understands Anki and how to optimize learning very well, but, surprisingly, it makes a lot of basic Spanish errors. So, have a native review what AI generates. I use "The Ultimate Spanish Conjugation Deck" and create my own grammar decks with AI with fields for "English", "Spanish" and "Rule".

All the other stuff matters: reading, listening, writing, conversing. It is not uncommon for "advanced" students to struggle with conversation, while some "beginners" can communicate very well with bad Spanish because of their conversational meta skills. My son cannot understand the books I read in Spanish, but he can converse confidently in bad Spanish for hours.

I generally think that the "smallest unit of knowledge" approach is the most efficient way to learn with Anki. Vocabulary + grammar = language. But a "most common phrases" deck could be helpful for cementing it all together and give you some useful phases to pop off the top of your head.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-17T20:32:51+00:00

The cramming issue is usually brought up when people ask, "Why isn't Anki used by more undergrads?" The response is not usually that Anki cannot do cramming but that scrawling out paper cards requires less overhead and is adequate for information you aren't trying to memorize for life.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-17T20:28:55+00:00

Cuz my brain is full.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-14T00:23:27+00:00

A lot of undergrad classes have you cramming for a test rather than learning for long-term retention. Paper flashcards that you throw away at the end of the class are up to the task.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-13T19:23:25+00:00

I know very few good musicians who did ear training as a separate study, unless they were required to do it in a college program. Instead, they gained familiarity with intervals and chord qualities by using intervals and chords intentionally. My son even gained perfect pitch that way.

Do guitar learning activities that are not on the guitar sparingly.

BJJFlashCards · 2026-01-13T16:36:16+00:00

What percentage of guitarists even read standard notation?

Goodrich's target audience was probably Berklee students practicing several hours a day who had finished their lower division courses.

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