Fretlight

[Jusatele]

So, this morning I was taking a lesson form a local guitar god
and we were comping out on Stormy Monday
Otis Taylor
A flat, Uch

and I keep getting lost, I mean who in the hell decided to do this in A flat

so he puts a fret light guitar in my hands, WOW, those things may not be the best guitar in the shop, but ask for a scale in any key and bingo, seems like a great teaching tool.
I said so and he told me only for better players, when he gives it to a beginner of beginner intermediate they seem to get dependent on it, if he gives it to a advanced guy they use it for about ten minutes and get over what ever block they have and move on.
I spent the next hour just changing modes and keys and watching the light show, proves how easy I am to entertain.

Oh, I was taking a lesson on playing slide in standard tuning, something I do not do much so I booked 4 lessons,

 

[Cagey]

I've been debating getting one of those myself. They're not terribly expensive, and like you say while they may not be the best-sounding axe in the house, they're not nasty/useless like some kind of game controller. I lost a great deal of my playing ability/memory some years back due to a traumatic brain injury, and something like this may be a faster route back to where I was than the one I've been taking.

 

[Jusatele]

I had always seen the adds abd said, yea right, but after using it I was amazed,  OK so we were in Ab, a key I do notuse much doing major scales, once I had it in my hand I found that I was comfortable with the key, and withing 5 minutes I was not using the lights anymore to help phrase. I actually was amazed at how fast it worked. I mean my ear knows, I was mentally blocked by not being used to using that key and recognizing where I am at visually, so once I got past that the ear took over and all was good. I think you may have good results in your sitch.

 

[Cagey]

I'm wondering if it would work that way for me. The funny thing about retrograde amnesia is it's sorta like deleting files on a HDD. It's not that the information is necessarily gone, you just can't access it anymore without help. If you associate the right combination of things, or sometimes even just a single thing, it sometimes has an effect like opening a door to a store room of information, and you get it back. Problem is, that happens less and less for me anymore, because even someone who hasn't been whacked in the head will lose what they don't use. The connections just stop working.

 

[Jusatele]

I have just spent a few hours researching the system and can see why it can be such a powerful teaching tool. I also see why the guy I take lessons from sometimes made the statement he did.
OK, I want to lay out the harmonized scale in e, Boom it shows up, Now it is up to me to use the theory to get the most use out of it. That can be a powerful thing seeing how now I have all chords over laid on the neck I can then make sense of a Jazzy tune like Danny Boy recognizing chordal walk downs without having to look  them up in a book
or another approach would be every note lit up for e MAJOR I can light them up and comp to a song in that key,
Or maybe I wanted to learn super arpeggios spread out over 5 or 7 frets to comp on while playing a chord, I can just light them up and use then as a guide till the ear took over.
just light up all the Gs, aand go from there, the possibilities boggle the mind
there seems to be so many possibilities that I feel any advanced player would get tons of use out of one.  I think I will be getting one later this year.  :hello2: :hello2: :hello2:

 

[SustainerPlayer]

Ok. Stop it. Now I want one.  :-\

But they are kind of tough on the shipping to EU.  :sad1:


Anyone care to say something on the quality on the various models?

http://www.store.fretlight.com/category.php?id_category=3

 

[hannaugh]

I'm dyslexic, and I use Guitar Pro all the time because it helps me understand what I'm reading a lot better.  This fretlight thing sounds interesting.  I'd like to give it a whirl. 

 

[JimBeed]

On the guitar pro front, i use songsterrr quite a bit for learning covers, as i find it helps a great deal if the tab is correct, and generally my ear is good enough to recognise if it is or not.
Unfortunately quite a few songs i like haven't got tabs for anywhere, but will likely find some books that might have them in,
The fretlight thing seems interesting, pity there isn't a bass version, might be helpful for some of the trickier scales and such.

 

[Cagey]

They made a bass version some years back, but apparently they didn't sell very well so they discontinued them. Pretty tough to find now, too. There are some pics here in an old sale thread.

 

[Jusatele]

Ok. Stop it. Now I want one.  :-\

But they are kind of tough on the shipping to EU.  :sad1:


Anyone care to say something on the quality on the various models?

http://www.store.fretlight.com/category.php?id_category=3

the one I played was a older students model, I can say it was a guitar, not a toy. I will say it is not a top of the line axe, nor is it a Chinese Walmart special. When I get mine it will sit at the house to be used for practice. I think the true value of the instrument will be in its ability to do as advertised, lay out in front of you a lit up fretboard you can use to learn stuff with.
I always had dismissed the advertisements as a gimmick, but when I used it as a tool I was put in my place, once I realized the power of the software I was blown away. If I had not just finiahed putting down money on a Mollenhauer  335 clone I would have it in my house as soon as shipping could get it here, but now it looks like I will have to wait till Xmas.

 

[DangerousR6]

I'd get one of these.... :headbang: