Does anyone use the Guitar Grid system?

[BassGuyNL]

Does anyone have any experience with this system? You can find it on:

http://guitargrid.com/

In the left upper corner of the screen, you can click on a button for extra information on bass. After years of playing guitar and bass, I am still having lots of trouble navigating the fingerboard and "playing what I hear in my head". This system sounds almost too good to be true. Then again, it is not really expensive to download.

[BassGuyNL]

Okay, so no one tried it, huh? No worries, 2 and a half years after my previous post I decided to celebrate the fortuitous €-$ exchange rate and buy the download. It turned out money well spent! I'll just give you a short review.

Basically, the guitar grid is a drawing of an infinite fretboard with the notes of the major scale drawn onto it. It continues indefinitely in all four directions, i.e. lower or higher on each string, or lower or higher along frets. The "strings" are tuned in perfect fourths and guitarists have to adapt the system to the major third interval between the G and B strings, which, by the way, is surprisingly easy to do. However, despite it's name, the Guitar Grid is actually easier to use with bass, be it 4, 5, 6, or a million strings, as long as they are tuned in fourths.

It looks kind of confusing and intimidating at first. However, the strength of this program is the way it cleverly cuts down this system into easy to swallow pieces. It starts out with pentatonics. Not very original, you might say. However, the program points out several repeating patterns that I had never discovered before, probably because these patterns become clear when laid out over more strings than I am used to on a 4 or 5 string bass. Later on, the other major scale notes are added, and more patterns are presented which may make you go "why didn't I think of that before?".

While I was wallowing in some sort of bass playing rutt, I started working with this download on guitar. It's easy to integrate with the CAGED system. I was surprised at how soon I started playing stuff that I heard in my head, instead of letting my fingers do the walking. I have also started playing around with it on 4 and 5 string bass. This proves to be a little more difficult, I suppose because you don't "see" chord forms on the bass fretboard as easily as on guitar. However, it definitely has helped my fretboard knowledge. In later chapters, triads (for some reason, all with the tonic as the middle note) and "micro grids" are introduced. I did not find these very useful. Modes are discussed in a very simple, but not very effective way. In contrast, a more extensive guitar grid with triad notes is quite useful. All the stuff you learn using Guitar Grid can easily be combined with other methods, like Pacman's sure fire scales (see sticky).

So, bottom line conclusion, is it worth the $23 (remember, fellow Europeans, that's only €15!)? For what I've learned in a short time, I think it's an excellent value, in fact a much better value than many more expensive method books I own.

[MalcolmAmos]

As no one has jumped on this --- I think I may have stumbled onto what he is talking about - in that I see the major scale all over the fretboard. I place the root note and then focus on the major scale notes within the pattern that root note gives me. Being able to decide what string to place the root note on and the choices that brings rounds out the concept.

Is this close?

[BluesWalker]

This sounds like an adversitement. It also sounds like another gimick setup to take money for something that is already known. It is pretty easy to figure out the bass guitar fretboard: it just takes some hard work through self-discovery, patience and practice. There are plenty of free web resources (including the free help/advice that is given on this forum) to get one going without needlessly sending someone money that can be better spend (or saved) elsewhere.

[BassGuyNL]

Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm from The Netherlands and in no way related to the author of the Guitar Grid.

The very reason I've waited so long before I actually bought the download are the promises of instant guitar wizardry and the raving quotes on the website. I've seen many adds like this before. The David Burge perfect pitch adds are probably the most ubiquitous in it's sort. I remember those adds from the 70s and they still put them out like that. I believe this will do the advertiser more harm than good, since it makes you think automatically that it's a scam.

Clearly, the stuff taught by the Guitar Grid program can be learned using other methods or self-study. In the end, it's all about value. Since this product supplied some insights that I would have obviously discovered myself, but saved me a lot of time, I feel the benefits more than compensate for the 15€ spent.

[BassGuyNL]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

As no one has jumped on this --- I think I may have stumbled onto what he is talking about - in that I see the major scale all over the fretboard. I place the root note and then focus on the major scale notes within the pattern that root note gives me. Being able to decide what string to place the root note on and the choices that brings rounds out the concept.

Is this close?

Not quite. Since the Guitar Grid shows you the major scale continuing in all directions, there isn't necessarily a beginning or end note. Therefore, it also helps with learning major scale modes, although I agree with Pacman's sure-fire scale method that it is best to practice modes from tonic to tonic to get the sound into your head. The nice thing about the Grid is that you can combine it with positional patterns like the CAGED system on guitar, but at the same time, by virtue of its ever continuing nature, it liberates you from position playing. Please be advised (again) that it's not a miracle method. It just helped be get over being stuck in position playing. As I said earlier, I found only a few chapters useful, but to me they justified the expense.