[Duncan Herring]

Hi Richie. I just watched your “C-A-G-E-D and Two Other Scale Fingering Systems Compared” YouTube video. Obviously, one of the systems compared was the Heptatonic System, which I have been involved in learning now for about four years.

I began to use major-scale-oriented patterns instead of just using pentatonic patterns while playing guitar in public almost sixty years ago. I was not really playing any jazz tunes in public at that time, in fact, my next two bands were a blues band and rock band. I did have a close friend who played jazz saxophone, and we often jammed together. I liked the way the major scale notes sounded, especially when playing in the minor modes, and I very gradually began to move away from playing only pentatonic solos.

I eventually began to play some jazz. I was even in a beginner’s jazz band that was associated with the University of California at Davis. In 2011 I began a seven-year-long, once-per-week gig with a band that played some jazz tunes every Wednesday evening at a small Hotel in Amador City, California.

Flash forward a few years. At 77 years old, and I am extremely lazy. I really need to practice considerably more, especially given that I am no longer in a band of any kind; however, I am beginning to play your mixolydian-mode-based blues etudes using three of the seven heptatonic patterns. I think that learning to use these heptatonic patterns is improving my playing. I gather that there would be much more improvement possible, should I get back into practicing in a serious way. By the way, I enjoyed watching the video.

Regards, Duncan

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