Lesson 13 of Jamorama Book 1 discusses ways to care for your guitar and accessories, then the rest of the lesson is devoted to introducing the 3/4 time signature. There are various exercises using different rhythmic patterns, plus a jam track in the new time signature. I always like playing in 3/4 – most modern popular styles are in 4/4, which can get rather repetitive, so it’s nice to have a change!
Lesson 14 takes a major step forward, and introduces suspended chords and the major scale. Three new chords are covered, plus the C major scale. There are two jam tracks this time, one of which incorporates the C major scale, which many people will find more interesting than just practising the scale in isolation (though there’s no getting away from the fact that to be a good guitarist you’ll have to practice scales, arpeggios etc – but they can actually be interesting if you really focus on what you’re doing, and always try to play as well as you can).
Must have a whinge here unfortunately, as there is a minor typo in the Esus4 chord explanation. I’ve rarely seen a music book (or a normal book for that matter) that doesn’t contain at least a couple of errors, and it looks like Jamorama is no exception. It’s pretty obvious in this case though, so if you’ve understood all of the material so far you shouldn’t find it confusing.
Lesson 15 is relatively short, and gives tips for additional ways to expand your practice routine and increase your skill, and introduces two new suspended chords, with exercises and a jam track to practice with.
This lesson is followed by an ‘Outro’ section, which invites readers to submit testimonials, and there’s also an illustrated chord reference, showing major and dominant 7th chords in open position (including lots that haven’t been covered in the course so far – this would be handy to print out).
And that’s it – you’ve now finished Book 1 of the Jamorama course! (Next: my Book 1 summary)
