Thanks Chris. I will follow your advise and practice the major scale in order- and watch your lessons. I am still working on your other lessons but will get to this after.

I understand what you are saying about how you plan to use the scale (musical goals.) I am pretty much a blank canvas at this time so open to anything- but want to learn the correct way. Thank you for providing all this direction.

I was just working through the scale formulas for major and minor keys. It's interesting how the forumulas are different but mathmatically, identical as they apply to the I, IV and V. Those are equidistant but how they get there (steps) is different. This difference notably effects the other degrees of the scale like the II, III, VI, etc. Also, the treatment of the flat 3rd (for minor.) I noticed that in the major key, the I, IV, V are all major and the II, III & VI are minor. It's flipped around for the minor keys. The more I learn basic theory, the more I think of the guitar as math- it's all about intervals, scale, and related steps. Having studied engineering in college, I took calculus. I can't say I much liked it but when applied to guitar, I can appreciate it much more!

I can play a little- yes and I actually do have an understanding of "some" theory. I clearly do however have some big gaps. With your help and all these great lessons on GT, I am confident that the pieces will come together. As I fill in the blanks I think that I will progress quickly. I'm not in a big hurry though- this is a fun hobby for me and I am enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

Regarding songs, I need to work through more complex tunes. I know that is something that should run concurrent with theory as they compliment each other. Having played for many years, my mechanics and speed is decent. I am equally happy playing very slow- and unplugged. One of my favorite concerts was watching Chris Cornell play unplugged acoustic. I was impressed with how he played familiar tunes (like Billy Jean) in a very slow, clean manner. My problem is that I can play many songs- maybe too many, but to a limited degree. I can pull up just about any YTube backing track and play along...but it's thin. After 20 minutes, it's much of the same scales, riffs and chords just repeating. After I watch your lessons, I need to work on playing in time, use a metronome more, master slash chords, rythm and a lot more. I have a long way to go! I use to play drums so you would think my timing would be good- it's not. My first guitar teacher turned on a metronome and what I had just played essentially fell apart. Blues- sure, that's easy to follow but trying to fit notes into measures consistentlyt- not happening. I can fake it- but that is not the end goal. I can play along to songs and sound good but never be able to play it the same way twice.

Thanks again!