Intermediate Tour - Lesson #16 (8th Notes and Rests)

A place to discuss Playground's main curriculum, the Bootcamp.
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ConnerJ
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Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2019 12:33 am

Intermediate Tour - Lesson #16 (8th Notes and Rests)

Post by ConnerJ » Tue Nov 12, 2019 1:07 am

I wanted to bring up why this lesson might be confusing and difficult for some people as it was for me.

In the video introduction David talks about 8th notes, 8th rests, what they look like, and understanding their timing when playing. He uses the song "Because of You" as an example and afterwards you get the chance to learn it and play it yourself. However, nowhere during the video does David talk about the triads that are played in the treble clef of this song, how to finger them, or what notes they are comprised of.

Up until this lesson you are only taught a couple triads and their inversions that use mostly white keys C, F, G, Am, Em, with the exception of D which uses F#.

Once you have watched the video and enter the lesson the info box in the first section reads "Let's review the triads we learned how to play in David's lesson." and throws you into playing Ab, Bb, and Cm chords, even though the video never covered them. These were very difficult to transition between having never done it before and made this lesson extremely time consuming and frustrating to complete at 100%.

Now, I know not everyone will have found this lesson difficult, but it just feels odd that some lessons in the intermediate tour seem to be over simplified consisting of 4 sections just to play one chord inversion, whereas in this lesson, 3 brand new chords are thrown into the mix while we are playing 8th notes for the first time.

I'm not sure if the video was meant to include a play along at a slow tempo like some of the rookie lessons did, or if we were just supposed to be paying closer attention to the triads along with the 8th note/rest information but it just all seemed very out of context and sudden. Especially since the tips were worded in such a way that made it seem like these chords were something we should be used to already. Don't get me wrong I love a challenge but this just seemed like way too much to focus on out of the blue.

If anyone else felt this lesson was a bit of a leap let me know, or if I missed something let me know that too!

All in all, I still think Playground Sessions is a very well made program and I look forward to continuing to use it every day!

andrewwegierski
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Re: Intermediate Tour - Lesson #16 (8th Notes and Rests)

Post by andrewwegierski » Tue Nov 12, 2019 11:15 am

Thanks for the feedback ConnerJ! I've reviewed this lesson and I understand where you are coming from. Definitely something for us to consider in the future when shooting more lesson videos.

Andrew
Andrew Wegierski

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Music Arranger

support@playgroundsessions.com

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sw1tch73ch
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Re: Intermediate Tour - Lesson #16 (8th Notes and Rests)

Post by sw1tch73ch » Tue Nov 12, 2019 12:27 pm

Something to consider is the Chords Course that is an adjunct to the boot camps. I haven't gotten there yet so I can't comment specifically on the content, but I would imagine the chords are all there, including their inversions. If you haven't seen it yet, check out the courses, too.
== Just keep playing. Just keep playing. Just keep playing, playing, playing! ==

-- jbs --

Swampfox
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Re: Intermediate Tour - Lesson #16 (8th Notes and Rests)

Post by Swampfox » Tue Nov 12, 2019 10:57 pm

Do you mean the "Because of You" bootcamp? I actually skipped that lesson when I first got there. I found playing in Eb/Cm at that time to be a bit of jump and honestly if the goal of the lesson was to learn 1/8th concepts not entirely necessary. I found the next few lessons easier. Well, a few weeks ago I came to the last few lessons of intermediate so I went back to fill in some of the ones I skipped. I found it so easy it was a waste of time! :lol: Some of the lessons appear to be out of place but overall the program is nicely structured.

ConnerJ
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Joined: Tue Nov 12, 2019 12:33 am

Re: Intermediate Tour - Lesson #16 (8th Notes and Rests)

Post by ConnerJ » Tue Nov 12, 2019 11:04 pm

@Swampfox Yes! This is a fantastic way of putting it. I am definitely not upset about this lesson being difficult, I just wanted to bring up that it may be a little out of place. Glad to hear it was much easier when returning to it. That makes me excited about continuing my progress in the Intermediate Bootcamp! :D

Swampfox
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Re: Intermediate Tour - Lesson #16 (8th Notes and Rests)

Post by Swampfox » Tue Nov 12, 2019 11:46 pm

ConnerJ, I started going through the Triads lessons when I started the Intermediate bootcamp. I highly recommend adding some of those lessons into your practice sessions.

davidsides
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Re: Intermediate Tour - Lesson #16 (8th Notes and Rests)

Post by davidsides » Tue Jan 07, 2020 10:35 am

I agree with @swampfox.

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