Intervallic function visualization: Tom Quayle's "solo" app

[HungryGuitarStudent]

Tom Quayle just released an app called "solo" to help practice improving intervallic function visualization on the fretboard. What are your thoughts on it?

For me, Tom's way of viewing intervallic functions is easier to learn than putting everything in a CAGED context like what Martin Miller teaches. Both approaches have pros and cons, but that's my preference.

The app is not essential, but it seems to make practicing visualization more time efficient. Coming up with random interval sequences on the fly for every chord in a progression and double checking that you nailed the correct functions in the correct order can be time consuming, especially if the scale you're playing changes every chord.

Given that intervallic function visualization takes a looooong time to get good at, you need to do a loooot of reps of such exercises. In that context, the time efficiency of the app becomes appealing, to me anyhow.

I think I'll give it a try (assuming it's not ridiculously expensive).

 

[Lorcan Ward]

That sounds interesting. It's $15 and he has a video explaining it here:


Edit: Its a good app but the thread on thegearpage points out some of its shortcomings that could be addressed with future updates.

 

[HungryGuitarStudent]

That sounds interesting. It's $15 and he has a video explaining it here:


Edit: Its a good app but the thread on thegearpage points out some of its shortcomings that could be addressed with future updates.

Thanks for the info; I had seen the video and was following Tom’s visualization lessons for ~2 weeks.

For some weird reason the Canadian App Store didn’t show a price yesterday. It’s pretty cheap considering how often I’ll use it.

I used to practice this without an app and I agree with some of the comments on thegearpage. As you said, incremental changes to the app will improve it.

I hoped for a desktop app, but I guess they might release one in the future.

 

[Lorcan Ward]

I hoped for a desktop app, but I guess they might release one in the future.

Million dollar idea right there. Imagine Rick graham, Gilbert or Guthrie had an app like this with thousands of licks to learn from it that you could boot up on your desktop/phone/tablet.

 

[HungryGuitarStudent]

Million dollar idea right there. Imagine Rick graham, Gilbert or Guthrie had an app like this with thousands of licks to learn from it that you could boot up on your desktop/phone/tablet.

That would be insane! It would be great if they added a quick explanation of the theory/idea behind the lick so you can steal/learn that idea.

Then again, I guess part of the learning process is transcribing and doing this analysis yourself. It’s just not that time efficient when you have a job, family, etc..

 

[soul_lip_mike]

That sounds interesting. It's $15 and he has a video explaining it here:


Edit: Its a good app but the thread on thegearpage points out some of its shortcomings that could be addressed with future updates.

Can you link the gearpage discussion?

 

[c7spheres]

- Looks cool. Wonder if any plans to do a non-app like a program for PC's etc.

- His nomenclature seems a little odd to me because he uses a "7" after the delta "▲" (ie. C▲7) for a major seven chord, as 7 usually refers to a seventh (b7) of a chord and ▲ already implies a natural seven (7) interval unless the nomenclature is in the form Cmaj7 or CM7. - Not a big deal to me but I could see where this could cause confusion amongst some people not use to dealing with all the different nomenclatures yet. I could see where someone might think ▲=1-3-5-7 and then get confused by that "7" The "7" basically isn't needed there in the example. No big deal but it would be nice to see an update to that. Cool looking app though.

 

[Nik_Left_RG]

I am interested in this app and hope to buy it as soon as I get myself some free time from work.

Hoping to see/hear reviews from folks who have started using it..

Have been using UG app for a couple of years and it is nice for when I get stuck learning some songs, etc..

Edit : typo

 

[HungryGuitarStudent]

@c7spheres Tbh, I’ve used the app every day since Jan 2 and haven’t had a problem with notation.

@Nik_Left_RG This isn’t a review, but for the last month I’ve started each practice session with ~45 minutes of visualization. So far I found that the app helps with time efficiency. That being said, I also practice without it to visualize paths between intervals in different scale positions.

All this, without a metronome to let my brain figure things out at its own speed, as Tom Q suggests.

At the end of my practice sessions, I’ll complement all this with ~20 minutes of improv over a slowed down backing track where I try to be conscious of most intervalic function choices. This was suggested to me by Joseph Anidjar.

It’s a slow process, but I’m getting there. So far I’ve built the minor pentatonic scale adding one interval at a time, depending on progress. Today I’m adding the maj/min 2nd, and then I’m moving to minor modes of the major scale, then major 3rd/7th, then major modes of major scale, then melodic minor and it’s modes.

I know the 3 note per string patterns for all these scales, but I’m hoping this takes my improv skills to the next level.

End goal: improv over changes at « high » tempo and in general, being able to better highlight chord extensions in my improv.

Im curious to see how you guys progress through all this.

 

[jco5055]

I downloaded this app, it's slightly overwhelming in terms of ALL the different choices/filters you can set, but I'm excited to build up my practice with daily exercises. It seems like this could be all you need for ear training/fretboard visualization/even learning chords and scales, since if you can break out of patterns and just play the way we can identify colors when prompted that's the end goal, or as I asked Derryl Gabel in one of my lessons "if someone knew all the notes, and had memorized all the scales (meaning you knew the locrian mode is 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 intervals wise, and then when given a note you can instantly name/know that Bb Locrian is Bb Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab) and chords (same idea) then if you have the technical facility to play what you want, you don't need to know patterns as you can just pick out the notes you want?" and he confirmed that, though that's WAY harder than memorizing patterns/chords etc

 

[Marko]

Just bought the app today #latetotheparty

@HungryGuitarStudent, if you have success stories to share - that would help my motivation 🙂

 

[OmegaSlayer]

"if someone knew all the notes, and had memorized all the scales (meaning you knew the locrian mode is 1 b2 b3 4 b5 b6 b7 intervals wise, and then when given a note you can instantly name/know that Bb Locrian is Bb Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab) and chords (same idea) then if you have the technical facility to play what you want, you don't need to know patterns as you can just pick out the notes you want?" and he confirmed that, though that's WAY harder than memorizing patterns/chords etc

I think it's almost impossible to pull it out free style at speed, and it's more convenient to rely on structures/pattern/chords

 

[ian540s]

If one learned all the notes individually, then applied them to learning licks or phrases in Bb Locrian like said above and another was learning those same phrases using patterns, it would net result the same...
What you can't put on paper is the internalization of the intervals over the chords. How you get there doesn't matter, but following the "railroad tracks" per se of intervals that sound good over chords is the concept in practice.

This is why guitar is hard and no one has the "correct" method of learning.

 

[HungryGuitarStudent]

Just bought the app today #latetotheparty

@HungryGuitarStudent, if you have success stories to share - that would help my motivation 🙂

Sorry for the late reply. It's a long process. Learning this isn't exactly thrilling, and so, discipline seems more important than motivation.