Guitarpixel Books by Mark Newstetter

Guitarpixel Blog

• What is the Spiral Galaxy Guitar Method?

  2008 Jul 09

  Hello - - Thanks for visiting my blog....
  
  This is the first in a series of entries detailing the basis and substance of my guitar method.
  
  I've been playing for over 40 years. Much of that time has been spent playing rock, blues folk and jazz. I've worked as a solo performer and with bands doing live gigs and studio work. For the past eight years I've been teaching guitar and give 25 private lessons a week. Over the years I have developed a method of navigating the fretboard which is applicable to any style of music.
  
  One of the more difficult aspects of playing the guitar is simply understanding the distribution of notes. How to locate each note as you play and always know where you are in the invisible maze. I believe it is essential to have a firm foundation in conventional music theory if you are serious about the guitar. That said, there are many ways to apply theory to the instrument.
  
  Most people learn theory as they develop their repertoire, which is fine. But often the big picture is overlooked. What I mean is that the beginning guitarist often sees the fretboard as a linear progression from the nut to the 12th fret (and beyond) and must find their way up and down the neck by memorizing each hand position by rote as well as the sequence of notes on each individual string, usually starting at the lowest position and moving up to the highest step by step.
  
  This approach creates a segmented view of the fretboard which obscures a wonderful set of symmetrical patterns which can be seen when looking at the fretboard not as a linear progression, but as a balanced array, centered around the 5th fret in the key of C. Understanding this array provides a template for all the keys and has the benefit of simplifying fretboard navigation by forming and iconic pattern in the mind of the player which serves as the equivalent of the pattern of black and white keys on the piano. Imagine having as clear a picture of the notes on the fretboard as a pianist has of the keyboard. This approach is intended to compliment the conventional methodology and is in no way at odds with classical theory or technique. The terminology of this method is drawn from the classical lexicon.
  
  I call this the Spiral Galaxy Guitar Method. I believe this is best visual metaphor for the pattern of notes on the fretboard. When the fretboard is viewed from its central axis - - the 5th fret in the key of C - - the notes of the top four strings form a pattern which resembles a spiral galaxy, that is; a radially symmetrical pattern with a central core with spiraling arms radiating out from the center. I call this the primary symmetry. The bottom three strings also feature a radially symmetrical array which shares the 4th string with the primary pattern.
  
  I believe that anyone can benefit from this approach to mapping the fretboard whether they are an experienced player or a total novice. The first step in understanding the Spiral Galaxy Method is learning to play the C major scale on a single string, starting with the 1st fret of the 2nd string and ascending note by note, one finger per note. At F; the 4th step/4th finger, the hand is shifted back to the 1st finger and the next four notes are played just as the first four. The scale is thus broken into to tetrachords based on the interval sequence; W W H with a wholestep between them. This process is repeated on the 5th string starting on the 3rd fret. The scale is then played using two strings, four notes on each, which establishes the wholestep shift between strings from the 4th finger on the lower string, to the 1st finger on the adjacent higher string (everywhere except between strings 2 and 3). Having learned these two ways of playing scales, the student is beginning to see that navigation of the fretboard is about symmetry. Of course, the scales are to be played ascending and descending and in every key.
  
  The next step in the Spiral Method is playing double stops as parallel 3rds from the low C (5th string). This really brings out the symmetry principle as the double stops are I through IV; Major, Minor, Minor, Major, and V through I; Major, Minor, Minor, Major again. The visual impact of this pattern when drawn onto a grid diagram of the fretboard is inescapable and very practical. The connection between visual symmetry and musicality is an essential aspect of this method. The fact is that without a visual metaphor, the fretboard is much more difficult to comprehend, and many beginners struggle with this unfortunate reality and never overcome their bewilderment.
  
  Why is the guitar fretboard taught the way it is, fret by fret - from low to high beginning with the open strings - in the classical method? Such a method is actually ideal for violin and cello since every position on the fingerboard must be referred back to the open strings in order to develop correct intonation. It takes a lot of practice for a viol player to be able to 'nail' a note anywhere on the fingerboard and be certain that it's really the right pitch, especially if it's followed or preceded by an open string. The guitarist doesn't have this problem, the frets take care of intonation. You only have to know which fret and string combination produces the desired pitch. In addition, guitar is largely a chordal instrument - like the piano - unlike the violin which mostly plays one note at a time. So why begin at the open strings and the first position'?
  
  Scale, chord and melody fingerings which include open strings cannot be transposed. Scale, chord and melody fingerings which do include open strings can easily be played in any key with little additional effort. In essence, the beginning student is instantly painted into a corner with the conventional methodology. Once this has been done, they must slowly work their way out of that corner in small tentative steps, ultimately achieving a full knowledge of the entire fretboard, but perhaps never seeing the true symmetry of that fretboard.
  
  Obviously countless guitarists have done without my small addition to the literature of the instrument, but I have so far not encountered any more elegant illustration of the relationship between diatonic theory and the guitar fretboard (if I do say so myself) and I am convinced - largely by personal experience with beginning student of my own - that the Spiral Galaxy Guitar Method has the potential to improve anyones understanding of the fretboard and speed up their progress with reading notation and improvisation.
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