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Roger;
You are a genius. I am a busy working musician, who has found himself for the first time having to teach theory, and questioning the _logic_ of the
system that we musicians so much take for granted. Everything I have read on your site makes brilliant, perfect sense. I am a pianist and have often toyed with the idea of learning the guitar but have found the fret board intimidating and the lack of apparent structure unappealing. Within minutes of reading your web site I was playing major scales on a guitar from anywhere on the fret board, which really brought a smile to my face.
I actually stumbled across your web site completely by chance, because I am planning to start learning the chromatic accordion ( I have played the piano accordion for a while, but feel a bit restricted by the lack of chromatic possibility), and it was a hit on a Google search.
I think you are absolutely right to clarify the division of the octave numerically by using the Cipher system - and the definition of the name as a code breaker as well as meaning zero is poetry in motion.
I will definitely be buying your book when it is published, and will be revisiting your web site a lot. I have also checked out some of the links which are fascinating.
Next year I will be working for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon Avon, U.K, as a full time musical director for some of the productions that will be mounted during their year long festival of the complete works of Shakespeare, and if I end up needing to play some guitar at any stage I will almost certainly have you to thank!
I wish you the best of luck in promoting the system, and would be happy to help in any modest way if I can. At the moment I am not a professional music educator, although as I get older I am more interested in teaching, and as and when I do teach more, I would definitely promote your Cipher.
All the best,
Bruce O'Neil
Dear Mr Blumberg,
I do sincerely hope you are well, and (selfish of me) your work on the Cipher book is progressing. The concept of Cipher is amazing, even for one who can read music and knows the basics of harmony. Helps to understand a piano better as well.
For me personally, the graphical approach to stringed instruments worked wonders. Your schemes of the note positions on the neck are a jem on their own, even if separated from the Cipher idea itself.
I would greatly value having your book. I will also torment a few music teachers I know to get it.
Sincere thanks and warmest wishes,
Dmitry Sveshnikov, Moscow, Russia
Hi Roger,
First and foremost, thank you for sharing your material. You have given me real hope in my effort to learn music. Please let me know when your book becomes available and put me on your advanced copy list, if you have one.
Thank you and looking forward to the release of your book
Sincerely,
CHET WINNEY
I stumbled on to your site and immediately things started to click and I will be back. Please add me to your email list of when your book is published.
Thanks,
Tim Justice
Cipherama from the mad editor
Yo, Roger, Remember me// Mad-Dave?
Well, check this out:
The Cipher does this --> The method that keeps on giving.
Woaw! I never used the guitar fretboard like this before as a MAP, as a theory teacher, as a guide-ruler. The piano, yes. I¹ve always looked at the ivories in my mind to figure such junk out. The Cipher makes the guitar fretboard as useful (I¹m so tempted to say _more useful_, but how dare I) then the piano fretboard for figuring out INTERVALS, but how dare I.
Aye, Mr. Blumberg. You done added some slick math to us guitar-learning
folk.
Keep up the great work. Let me know what else I can read. I've pretty much eaten the Cipher. Give me more!!!!!
Please send me more learning (links?, manuscripts?)
You are the undisputed king of all things Cipheristic.
You are also _the man_.
Dave
Hi Mr Blumberg,
Thanks for a great page! (chromatic button accordions)
Kirk --guitar, accordion
07.23.2005
Woooo hoooo! What a masterpiece!
It is so good to know that people like you focus on the fact that the Gamba is a GUITAR and has nothing to do with a violin!
It's truly awesome and of the utmost cleverness. Thanks for that job! Especially for a Gamba student, it's worthwile. I have been playing guitar before gamba, the only problem was to adapt the barred thingums to the curved neck of a 7 string monster!
J. B.Collinet
thank you for your genius work
Beverly
So much of what's in books and on the internet is rehashed OLD information. What a pleasure to find something original and USABLE. That you are "outside academia" is, sadly, unsurprising.
Please let me know when your book is available.
Sincerely,
Randall
Thanks For Making it Easier!
Mr. Blumberg,
I just purchased a Grand Stick with Standard tuning and I found your site explained things much better than the 'old way'.
I would just like to thank you for this most logical approach to music.
All the best to you.
Damon
Hi,
I came across your great web site when doing a Google Search on Chromatic Accordions. Your fingering charts are excellent.
Tony
Thanks, Roger, for your site! It's very very exciting. For ages I've beek looking for something so clear and so complete.
Please let me know when the book will be available: I'd like to be one of the first buyers.
Thanks again
Bruno
Hi, Roger; Great Web site for those of us with chromatic accordions.
Viviane
Dear Roger,
I came upon your site while I was looking up for sites that could teach me
music. I do not understand music, but am eager to learn to play a violin. Many people have told me that it is a humongous task. When I read about the new system to learn music and play it, I was very happy.
Please let me know when your book is ready. In the mean time, I am glad that
you have the material on the website.
Thank you very much!
Jaswant
a "preliminary" thanks!
I stumbled upon, and briefly reviewed you website last night. I came back today thinking "this can't be possible . . . such a simple solution to all of my musical struggles".
I have looked at your site more in-depth today. This is truly eye-opening.
I can't believe it, this makes total sense to me. I have played guitar for years (25+), yet have refused to learn/retain the ridiculous notation / naming / numbering conventions I have been surrounded with. Starting now, I am changing my approach to the instrument, entirely, to reflect this method / system that seems so natural.
Your website has a lot of depth; I am only on part 2 of the Introduction, but had to stop to send you this short note and to say, "THANKS!"
I think we all really do know where the first string is!
It's so good to know that I am not alone!
Kenbo
Roger,
Your site is absolutely amazing. It is exactly what I had been looking for especially the information about the bass cipher. This helps be unravel the mysteries behind the fret board.
There is so much on information on your site and well presented. I lot of information I get from websites, other instruction manuals, and live instructions has been fragmented. While I was trying to get better at playing the bass, there has been no central place that really teaches you the foundations of the fretboard. Your work is really helping me with learning the fret board mechanics and the associated music theory.
Thanks again and I am looking forward to seeing your book. In my opinion, your work is a major break through with guitar instruction.
Phil Greene
Hi Roger,
Please notify me when your book is ready. Your web site is by far the best in explaining the magic behind the fretboard. Thank you for the great work.
Best Regards,
Bismarck
Excelent work
Congratulation Mr. Blumberg to you & the people working for this project. I am 32 years old from Greece and I play guitar 16 years. The new book, i believe it will be a revolutionary element in the history of the teaching technics.
Keep up the beautiful job
Merianos Spyros
Roger,
Your cipher system is a very fine and overdue intellectual achievement. I'm just now beginning to teach my 8-year-old how to play guitar (I'm a 35 year veteran of the frets myself) and from the get-go I'm going to use your system. I'm happy to know he'll not have to go through all the torment of learning that my journey through the hodge-podge of teaching methods caused me.
All the best.
Hugh Macaulay
This is really fantastically helpful.
Please do letme know when the book is ready--i'll be among your first customers.
Cheers
Chris Campolo
I've been reading your theory on the website for about a month and I must say it has helped a lot with my journey into learning music I have been playing guitar for the past 7 months and was not content with just playing chords. I wanted to delve deeper into why the chords are the way they are and after reading about 4 other books this one made the most sense and was the easiest to understand it even makes standard theory make more sense to me. So my musical experience is becoming more fulfilled thanks again for bringing the patterns to my attention as now I actually know why a lot of things on the guitar are the way they are and am on my way to mastering the instrument that is the guitar.
I have decided that I'm going to be one of the greatest musicians, even though I'm only 21 and i'm just starting, and I will have you as one of the people to thank for helping me along on my journey to that level of music.
Jake Itegboje
Hi;
I'm a self tought guitar player and found your website really helpful, please let me know when your book comes out.
thanks,
Isaac Brantrochez
Thanks for your heculean effort...I am actually learning at my age...
Bob
Love your site, its a great learnning tool, lots of information.
Matilde
Hi Roger. Came across your website and am really impressed.
Thanks
Brian Busch
Excellent site.I really like it
greetz from vienna/austria
and stay creative !
Georg
What a great website you have. I have been taking guitar now for about 4 months and have struggled with some of the terminaology and concepts, especially regarding intervals, how you detemine them, why is a perfect fifth "perfect," and the like. Your piece on intervals really helped me in this regard, and I look forward to
going through all the modules.
Doug Wallace
Great site. Thanks!! I need all the help I can get teaching myself and I think I just found a heap of it.
Save the environment -- play more music and get rid of Bush!
Dan Cass
Communication Team Leader
Greenpeace Australia Pacific
Please notify me when you complete your book. I have been amazed looking at
your website. I can honestly say that you have the most comprehensive working website to date.
Thank you,
Curtis Shipe
Roger,
Thanks for saving me the work of writing up a short note on string numbering. I have been trying for years to convince people that a guitar is tuned EADGBE and not vice versa, and was about to just write up a short dissertation on the subject when I ran across your site.
The person who invented the 654321 string numbering system should burn in hell since all it does is cause confusion to the novice. Even my mother who played violin professionally for 80 years insists that it is tuned EADG although she would never nor could even play it that way.
Keep up the good work.
Page Stephens
Roger;
Thanks for the web site. I have read a bit of it as I learn the mandolin. I have had about a year of theory in college and some working experience with theory, but not much useful fretboard experience with it. Focusing on semitones make more sense than focusing on traditional intervals, but one needs to know both. No magic here, just common sense and a good presentation.
I want to teach my kids some theory and the boys are now six and learning fiddle. I will start them on it in more detail over time.
I appreciate your web site, but I must admit, I still like books. I wish your book was on the street now, because I would be your first customer. Please let me know when it comes out in print.
Thanks
Steven McHaney
I love the info you have on your website.
Tom Frank
Thank you so much! I am a self taught guitarist that had simply given up on
self taught theory. I have learned more here in ten minutes than in twenty years of trying to make since of theory. David
And yes i want the book
David Duncan
Hi Roger
thanks for your effort in devising such a brilliant system and creating such a beautiful website.
Thanks
Bradley Adams
I would love the book!!! I play guitar and I'm trying to learn mandolin. The mandoling section is terrific and I'm sure the guitar is the same (haven't had time to get to that yet). Thanks!! -Jason.
Jason Jefferson
Your numbering formula has been so helpful to me on both the mandolin and the guitar. Please notify me when the book is ready.
Thank you for making such a excellent work available to us on line!
Mary Langley
Hi,
I am really taken with your method. After reading just a few articles, I was
better able to visualize the fret board of a guitar, and put together scales, cords etc, better than ever before. I have struggled with music theory, and have spent quite a bit of money on texts. I think that with your method, I will finally be able to integrate theory, with the fret board. I'm sure that all the theory books will be more useful to me, after I've internalized your system.
Thanks for your time, and for making so much of your system available for
free. I'd be very interested in purchasing your book when it comes out.
All the best,
Bruce Alter
Hi;
My name's jordan. Ive been playing guitar alot over the last year, this Cipher thing is great. It has helped me tons. Let me know with an email when your book comes out, thanks man.
Jordan
Hi Roger,
Congratulations on your idea and realization! It's a system that I think will find it's way to every school.
Peter Stankov
www.musicmaking.freeservers.com
Dear Roger
Let me express once again my compliments for your innovative, well-designed, profound, and didactically interesting page.
Burak
Munich
Your website is flat-out amazing. It is truly one of those cases where presenting all the info you do makes me eager to have it all in one place, printed.
Thanks for all the work you have to present this information to the public. I am excited to put your concepts to work for me.
Bret Harris
The isomorphic harp .
At the turn of the 20th century, Pleyel, discussed building an isomorphic harp with two rows of strings crossing. it was a modification of a design he had refined known as the chromatic harp. (I play the chromatic harp.)
After very briefly reading about the Janko system, I wonder about the ergonomic fit for such a harp. I know the patterns would be absolutely uniform and moving from key to shining key would be equally the same (unlike the present system we have to work with.)
At this moment I understand somewhere in harp world there is a raging debate going on about playing such a harp. I am not sure how a raging debate can exist, there is only one maybe two such harps in existence, one, a friend of mine owns, plays, but she hasn't really analyzed how it works.
Harps don't come cheap. ((Even the lap size ones.)) But after playing with guitarists and other isomorphs and hitting your website . . . I wonder if I should . . . "come over to the isomorph side of the universe?"
If I do, would you be willing to look over what is developed for fingerings? I'm still investigating your system for playing. (and having an isomorphic harp would make it a squat lot easier!).
Being out on the edge sometimes allows you to see the forest. Best to you,
Ben Brown
Dear Mr. Blumberg:
Please put me on the list for notification regarding your book.
Your cipher theory is astoundingly simple and direct. I play bass and it's absolutely the best and simplest explanation I've ever seen.
I look forward to your book being published.
Best regards,
Larry Barbary
Hi Roger,
I think that your work is amazing. Please let me know, when I can buy Your book.
Margus "Maku" Kulden
Your incredible Cipher site.
Hello there, I just got into your site and I'm absolutely amazed by the quality and quantify of information you put there.
I've been playing guitar for a decade and I've always wrote software to produce charts to help me visualize the fretboard. You took these charts to the extreme. They are incredibly well done. It must have taken a lot of time.
Writing software for this I realized how "uncomfortable" the stardard numeric notation is to perform the calculations needed to draw the diagrams and have always used a more logic chromatic notation where zero is the root, and a difference of 1 represents a semitone. This way intervals could be added, and patterns could be calculated more easily. This is, I think, what you call the cipher notation, right?
I'm amazed to see how far you took this simple idea. Congraturations.
Thanks!
Giovanni
I'm a harmonica enthusiast - both chromatic and diatonic - who has embraced alternative tunings on HARMONICA WITH ISOMORPH LAYOUT. These harmonica tunings significantly improve the learning curve and I FIND THE CIPHER SYSTEM as you have presented here A GREAT APPROACH. In fact, the so called "Diminished Chromatic Harmonica Tuning" works almost the same as the CBA-Accordion layout. I want to point out how incredibly useful the introduction of _zero_ is. Before, I had experimented with a similar system but started on _1_ as root. Thus, I had always have to keep scales based on root=1 and additionally the number of all interval steps (root=0 steps) in mind. Cipher is so intuitive!
Best
Regards
Buzap
Congratulations. You have clearly communicated some great and especially useful and helpful ideas. Your tremendous generosity goes a long way in releasing your message. I recently have taken up the CBA. Your charts and thoughts are a wonderful inspiration and encouragement. My goal is to share your website with as many musicians as I can. Thanks.
Jean Jacques Paquett
What a good idea. I was thinking of setting up a book with all possible on a 7 string electric viola da gamba, and Roger gives a very good example. Perhaps he could even extend the viol chords to jazz chords? If he needs funding (future)?
Jan Goorissen
http://www.ruby-instruments.nl
Kudos
You guys need to be knighted or something official along those lines. This is breakthrough material. I haven’t read anything this clear in 23 years.
I bow to your greatness.
You guys are the Hatori Hanzo of Guitar understanding.
Nick Loveland
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