WOW. what a great thread!
First, I'm right there with ya West, you and I share more than a similar homeland. I've been learning for 42 years and most of the stuff in this tread is way beyond me. I've mentioned before, where we come from we learn three chords, vary the tempo and change the words and there ya go.
I learn the best by watching people, following in a get together jam, monkey see monkey do. The most advances I made was when my best friend and I would take our guitars and a six pack to the day room in the military dorm in NM. Before the night was over, the room would be full of players and a few cases. Some good memories but I'm glad part of the memories are just memories. Ha, probably would be a lot further on guitar if I could remember past the first 6 pack.
Another good friend of mine showed me how to transpose from one key to another so THAT expanded the first 3 chords into 6 major keys. I was on a roll.
I almost didn't listen when he said it was simple. mathmatics....yuch! At least I could transpose a memorized song into a key that I could sing it in, when no one was around of course.
Clapton's unplugged dobro started a fire and I started finding everything I could on bottleneck blues slide. "The Blues had a baby, and they named it Rock and Roll"
Thats when I learned, some 25 plus years later that those 3 chords that West and I learned back home was part of the 1, 4, 5 chord progression. Instead of transposing on paper (mathmatics-yuck) I can now count on my fingers after I find the root chord. Yehaw!
Things got complicated when I read somewhere that Carol King revalutionized Rock and Roll by adding a 6 chord to the 1, 4, 5 progression, now I had to use both hands :? Then, I think it was Acoustic Guitar Mag, did an article about the Everly Brothers and how one of them capo'd his guitar, played the same 1, 4, 5 progression but was in harmony with the other brother although the chord positions were different. I'll have to find that in my archives of books and re-read it.
Thanks to this thread, now all those numbers (finger rule) on my Wally World Guitar Scale poster makes sence, applying the 1, 4, 5 rule to notes, not just chords, and Jeffs contagious enthusiasm, here I go again.....and of course, all will be done on a Guild. What more could a man ask for.
Guess I'll be learning scales Jeff.