Most guitarists play by ear. How do they know where to put their fingers?
Hi, I'm Kevin McFarland, and that deceptively simple question has been a lifelong pursuit. I started playing guitar when I was 14, in the early 1970's. By 19 I was playing in bars, and I spent the next decade in bar bands, including a year on the road. But it was my time as a guitar teacher that really got me thinking. Like me, all my students played by ear. How could I best teach them?
Playing by ear is very visual. Common shapes and patterns are moved along the neck, based on the chord or song key. But beyond chords and scales, these patterns usually don't have a name. This is where a lot of guitarists get stuck. They learn basic chords, maybe a few scales, then think: "now what?".
I tried different approaches. I self-published a book of "visual tab", created computer animations, etc. None of it went anywhere, but I learned more about computers and taught myself basic coding. Later on, I got involved in a guitar startup, which I eventually extricated myself from before it imploded. Then I tried to do my own startup, and wound up failing miserably, but a few good things came out of it (in addition to some amusing videos), and I started developing a library of visual riffs and licks.
I wound up working for Google for 13 years, retiring in 2023. I dusted off the small app I had built a few years earlier, populated it with song examples, and launched the app and a YouTube channel in early 2024.
It's been nice to see the response to the channel, but I feel like there's still so much to do! More videos, a better app (including mobile) with more features, and most of all, continue building out the library of shapes and song examples.
cheers,
Kevin