Anyone here use one of those Fretlight guitars UPDATE got 1!

[EXPcustom]

Please dont laugh and let me explain...

Anyone use one of these Optek Fretlight guitars to learn scales, modes etc?

I am considering buying one to help me memorize the fretboard better and to help me do long scale runs instead of always playing in the "box"

Yes I know scales and chords just wanted to use it as a tool to take my improvising and soloing to another level. I think I can learn much faster with one of these.

Just curious if anyone used one of these.

I noticed they hold their resale value well so if I get it used and dont like it I can dump it and not lose much.

Some video I found that got me intrested in this...

 

[glpg80]

i teach music on a one on one basis, and imho - practice makes perfection. but if you dont know where you are going - learn from someone that does. and if your practicing it incorrectly, your just making more work for yourself to correct it.

find some of bruce bouilett's old 80's videos, or look for instruction videos in general that teach you what you want to know. bruce's introduction videos teach each mode in each key notation and how to move this is moved up and down the neck accordingly. i remember that video a LONG time ago being my divine "aha" moment after finding a couple of these shapes. look for old george lynch stuff. he teaches shapes but in a more lynch style phrasing. great for improvision after you get the concept down - really opens your mind.

there are tons of books to learn from as well that will get you there at nowhere near a price of a new guitar.

the theory books are there and you can learn from them time after time if you decide to go that route. i have brain farts once and a while and refer back to them if i need - but to be able to recall what you want to say before you even say it inside your head when playing is the great end all effort no matter the route.

i never needed a light guitar. just lots of actual learning experience practicing. once you know the modes you can experiment with them, and eventually arpeggio shapes will just leap out at you. its a building process, i dont think the guitar is going to do you any more good than the old fashioned way of dedication and putting valuable time into it. thats what i always tell my students.

 

[stefvorcide]

before reading glpg80's post I thought it was a good idea

 

[glpg80]

before reading glpg80's post I thought it was a good idea

 

[EXPcustom]

Here is the problem with glpg80's post I dont have anyone that can teach me nearby that will work with my schedule.

My old teacher/friend moved out of the area years ago and as soon as he left my playing ability pretty much stopped advancing except for the few songs and lessons I learn on Youtube.

I started trying to really take my playing to a whole new level by learning modes and theories but memorizing all these positions sure is time consuming but it does pay off. This is why when I saw this fretlight guitar I thought it would be perfect for me.

 

[mrp5150]

i teach music on a one on one basis, and imho - practice makes perfection. but if you dont know where you are going - learn from someone that does. and if your practicing it incorrectly, your just making more work for yourself to correct it.

find some of bruce bouilett's old 80's videos, or look for instruction videos in general that teach you what you want to know. bruce's introduction videos teach each mode in each key notation and how to move this is moved up and down the neck accordingly. i remember that video a LONG time ago being my divine "aha" moment after finding a couple of these shapes. look for old george lynch stuff. he teaches shapes but in a more lynch style phrasing. great for improvision after you get the concept down - really opens your mind.

there are tons of books to learn from as well that will get you there at nowhere near a price of a new guitar.

the theory books are there and you can learn from them time after time if you decide to go that route. i have brain farts once and a while and refer back to them if i need - but to be able to recall what you want to say before you even say it inside your head when playing is the great end all effort no matter the route.

i never needed a light guitar. just lots of actual learning experience practicing. once you know the modes you can experiment with them, and eventually arpeggio shapes will just leap out at you. its a building process, i dont think the guitar is going to do you any more good than the old fashioned way of dedication and putting valuable time into it. thats what i always tell my students.

Everyone learns differently though. I'd say if the thing isn't too expensive then it would be worth a shot. You can always sell it if it doesn't work out and then you could try some other methods as well.

 

[glpg80]

whether someone teaches you the lessons, or you learn them by a book - you need to know them.

2 different ways to tackle the same goal like i mentioned above. having someone show you how to do it is 25% of the concept. that deals with the picking technique and correct hand postions so it either makes things easier or you dont end up hurting yourself.

having someone teach you both at the same time is overwhelming. so i'd recommend sticking to the books and muscle through it, and when you need help extremely badly use instructional videos when you can to show you proper technique.

ive never taken a lesson in my life - its all by videos, ear, and then lastly by 100% books to clean up the parts i missed or proove my assumptions correctly.

the other way to tackle this is not study theory at all - play it by ear and feel.

only problem with this is you get inconsistencies in your playing from one week to the other, and you can end up sounding like a 4 year old again if you havent touched a guitar in a while.

if you muscle through it - you get both consistancy, increased ability, greater knowledge of where to go on a fretboard, and also the ability to teach someone else the tricks you learned if you ever want to.

the greatest experience for me was to be able to enlighten someone else into music. i love teaching music for that matter, but i didnt get here through winging it van halen style 100% of the time.

 

[mrp5150]

That's great, but like I said, not everyone learns the same. Just because something works for you, doesn't mean it's gonna work for everyone else.

 

[Digital Jams]

Learning the fretboard as in what notes are what or extending scales? If you want to learn the fretboard take a major scale and jam to a basic track just using one string and staying in that key........sounds silly but you will learn the notes on the fret board.

Doing that exercise you will learn what intervals work and what does not as well. Once you know where the notes are you know where the scales are as well so you can go outside the box.

 

[EXPcustom]

whether someone teaches you the lessons, or you learn them by a book - you need to know them.

2 different ways to tackle the same goal like i mentioned above. having someone show you how to do it is 25% of the concept. that deals with the picking technique and correct hand postions so it either makes things easier or you dont end up hurting yourself.

having someone teach you both at the same time is overwhelming. so i'd recommend sticking to the books and muscle through it, and when you need help extremely badly use instructional videos when you can to show you proper technique.

ive never taken a lesson in my life - its all by videos, ear, and then lastly by 100% books to clean up the parts i missed or proove my assumptions correctly.

the other way to tackle this is not study theory at all - play it by ear and feel.

only problem with this is you get inconsistencies in your playing from one week to the other, and you can end up sounding like a 4 year old again if you havent touched a guitar in a while.

if you muscle through it - you get both consistancy, increased ability, greater knowledge of where to go on a fretboard, and also the ability to teach someone else the tricks you learned if you ever want to.

the greatest experience for me was to be able to enlighten someone else into music. i love teaching music for that matter, but i didnt get here through winging it van halen style 100% of the time.

My old teacher had me focus on perfecting my right and left hand technique for a very long time so thats all good. I would say I am intermediate player but I am just lacking in the dept. of knowing my scales and modes.

For example I can jam to and solo in a E minor pentatonic scale but I tend to get stuck in a box because I have not really memorized where I can go and I dont know all the different modes by heart. I just thought this would be a useful tool so I can get a head start in memorizing where I can go to on a fretboard.

 

[glpg80]

do yourself a favor and search for a $10 movie

bruce bouilett's backstage pass instructional video.

torrent it or try to find one on ebay. it used to be on youtube, but they took it down for some stupid reason.

that will get you started on everything you want to know and more on modes at your level.

best $10 you will spend i promise

 

[EXPcustom]

UPDATE!

So dont laugh but I am lame and I got one.

I have had it less than a week and I totally understand the fretboard, modes and phrasing.

All I did was plug the guitar into my laptop start the M player software and turn on improvise a solo on the M [layer software.

I can set any scale in any key and the root note blinks. How easy is that. Then I just go into Youtube and look up some on line lessons.

First 24 hours I was jamming to a metal lesson in Phrygian. Here is the lesson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhsPgbJBkYA

Then I figured out Blind Melon's No Rain is in A major scale and I figured out the rest by ear.

The I was jamming out to a blues lesson on phrasing in the key of A minor blues scale just tonight.

This is just the tool I needed, why did I not get this before.


Did I mention the root notes blink.

Yes I am that lame.

Also if you plan on buying one the pro model has 22 frets and only 21 light up. I recommend just getting the 421 series, not the 451.