Can you pass the "All Stars "Test?

[64Guitars]

I don't get tab. I'm pissed that the strings are numbered from small to large. Everything I read is upside down and backwards. I have musical dyslexia.

I get confused by the terms people use to distinguish the two E strings (upper/lower, top/bottom, high/low). Are we talking about pitch or proximity to the floor? Is the "low/bottom" E string the skinny one that's closest to the floor (ie; lower in the vertical dimension) or the fat one that's lower in pitch?

[cuthbert]

I get confused by the terms people use to distinguish the two E strings (upper/lower, top/bottom, high/low). Are we talking about pitch or proximity to the floor? Is the "low/bottom" E string the skinny one that's closest to the floor (ie; lower in the vertical dimension) or the fat one that's lower in pitch?

I always think of pitch, so top or high E is what I also refer to as the first string.

[64Guitars]

I always think of pitch, so top or high E is what I also refer to as the first string.

Ah! Okay, I've got it now. The top string is the one at the bottom. 

I can accept the string numbers more easily (1st string being the skinny E and 6th string being the fat E) because all of the string manufacturers seem to agree on that. Their string packages usually list the six string numbers and their corresponding gauges and the skinniest string is always string #1. But this top/bottom, high/low stuff is too easily misinterpreted.

[cuthbert]

Ah! Okay, I've got it now. The top string is the one at the bottom. 

And if you were playing the guitar lying down on a bed as I frequently do, then top string would indeed be top string. 

[StevieM]

I always think of pitch, so top or high E is what I also refer to as the first string.

Ah! Okay, I've got it now. The top string is the one at the bottom. 

Unless, of course, you play like Hendrix, a right hand guitar lefthanded, so the bottom is the top and the top is the bottom.
And while we're at it, why are they called left and right handed? You play with both hands, so who first said which was which?  Maybe most of us actually play left handed??

[Bosko Schwartz]

Black dots are ROOT notes, Reds are good for bending, I didn't look but blue dots are good for double stops.

Phrases should typically end on root notes or the phrase doesn't sound complete.

If the first circle is on the 5th fret, the Key is A (minor) hence the black circles are the rest of the A's in the scale.

English, please?

[StevieM]

You can only use those 7 notes, forget the colours!!! It's up to you if they sound right, or not!
Good luck!! (  and yep, it's a blues backer )

[Bosko Schwartz]

You can only use those 7 notes, forget the colours!!! It's up to you if they sound right, or not!
Good luck!! (  and yep, it's a blues backer )

Thanks, Stevie, for clearing that up!

[SteveG]

You have a backer (I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark that it's a blues backer ), and the challenge is to play a solo using only those notes on the fretboard in which there are dots present?  Is that correct?  What is the significance of the different colors on some of the dots?  Most are white, but one is red and one is black.  Are these frets the 5th through 7th frets on the guitar?

Sorry, I know almost ZERO about music theory.  I'm really shining a spotlight on my amateurish ways with this humiliating post ... 

48's course has very little to do with theory, nor does that fretboard map....it shows part of the Am pentatonic scale. The black note is an A, which is the root note, as the chord progression is in the key of A. The red one is a D.
The progression is a 12 bar, I, IV V .... in this case A, D, E. You dont need to know what that means, just hear the changes and follow them, it is called playing over the changes, as you stay on the same scale pattern all the time. If you hit the A note while playing over the A chord it will sound strong, same for the D over the D chord. As mentioned, the D is good for bending a full tone up to E, the other chord.
All you have to do is play them marked notes, on the 6th and 7th frets. None of them will sound bad, but how good they sound will depend where you use them, and how, which is the point of this mose excelent exercise, impro with a limited note choice to make you work harder. Try it, it is fum

I get confused by the terms people use to distinguish the two E strings (upper/lower, top/bottom, high/low). Are we talking about pitch or proximity to the floor? Is the "low/bottom" E string the skinny one that's closest to the floor (ie; lower in the vertical dimension) or the fat one that's lower in pitch?

It is always pitch ... the thickest string is lower in pitch so is the low string, in the same way up the neck is towards the body - higher pitch, while down the neck is towards the head- lower pitch.

[Bosko Schwartz]

48's course has very little to do with theory, nor does that fretboard map....it shows part of the Am pentatonic scale. The black note is an A, which is the root note, as the chord progression is in the key of A. The red one is a D.
The progression is a 12 bar, I, IV V .... in this case A, D, E.

Wow, if that's not theory, I'm in trouble.  I guess I knew even LESS than I thought.  WTF is a pentatonic scale?  Never mind, please don't answer that question.  I bet I don't even want to know.  But you're telling me that a pentatonic scale has nothing to do with music theory?  Baffled.  I am baffled if that is not music theory.

Also, I never understood this business of a song being in the "key" of a specific note, either.  I have no f-ing idea what key my songs are in.  Is it just about the first chord that is played in the song?  I mean, there are a ton of different chords played in most songs -- or at least three -- so how do you know which of these chords constitutes the key that it is in?  I'm absolutely clueless about this.  I know a capo takes what you're playing and makes it a higher key for obvious reasons ... that's about it.

I should try this exercise to see if someone who plays strictly by ear can do anything worth a shit.