Beginner Settings

There's a saying among musicians: "If you can't sing it, you can't play it." When you first start using UGET, depending on your natural ability and how much training you've had, you may want to simply put down your guitar and concentrate on singing the melodies UGET presents. Some guitarists will find this exercise alone challenging. Try these settings first:

Positions:Any you'd like to work on.
Beats:4
Time Between Melodies:1s
Pause Duration:2s
Tempo:90 bpm
Randomization:0%
Melody Range:Maj 3rd
Step Check Boxes:Sing Along, Sing Alone, and Play with Computer.

Once you can sing the melodies UGET presents at these settings, trying playing them on your guitar. Select the the Play First Note and Play check boxes in addition to the Sing Along, Sing Alone, and Play with Computer check boxes.

Remember that the central philosophy behind UGET requires that you don't hunt for notes. Think in terms of sound and not in terms of frets or patterns or even intervals. Try to play each simple melody on your guitar (after singing it) without hunting. It's okay to make mistakes at first. Remember the game Concentration? UGET is similar. By making mistakes, you'll slowly learn what different intervals sound and feel like. That's why UGET doesn't present melodies in terms of notes or intervals. We're dealing in sound.

Intermediate and Advanced

When you're able to comfortably sing and play melodies in the major-3rd range, slowly increase the following parameters in the order they're presented here:

  1. Melody Range
  2. Randomization
  3. Beats
  4. Tempo

Remember, every time you increase a parameter, start with the singing exercise alone. When you're comfortable singing every melody UGET presents, then work on playing them on your guitar.

©2009, Spence Creative Solutions, LLC