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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 6:03:55 AM | ....Montreal Guy...try rubbing a wax candle on your strings,rub off excess...stops some of the squeak on new strings...heavy strings stay in tune better..its good for the wrist strength as well....and twistin' off the odd cap  cheers | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 9:19:47 AM | | hmmm....I always go for the lightest guage strings I can find....I got so used to seeing strings break while I was a kid, I figured the only way to cure it was get the lightest guage and learn how to play them without busting em....Im not sure about the tone quality between guages....interesting angle on the subject. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 9:31:23 AM | Try it out - you will be shocked at the difference. It doesn't matter if you play electric or acoustic.
Mass = Tone. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 9:35:26 AM | I'll have to give it a shot....sounds like it would make sense.
My personal choice in string lubricants and such.....perserverance. Nothing stays on my strings other than my fingertips and pick...if Im using one. Thats a personal choice though, I just have reoccuring nightmares about fretboard buildup and slick turning to stick in the middle of something I want to do real bad.....fast fret is a great teacher of that lesson....I still own the stick I bought fifteen years ago, dont ask why it hasnt met the fire barrel yet. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 1:51:47 PM | Fast-Fret is the best thing out there for cleaning strings, period. Gibson used to market a product called, "Grit Gone", that was even better; but it was discontinued in the early '80s.
The string gauge thing is a matter of limiting factors and diminished returns, guitars are designed to operate at a certain range of tension, too low a gauge or too high a gauge puts the guitar "out of spec". Generally, the shorter the scale of the intrument, the bigger the gauge range, ...it's a physics thing.
With an acoustic guitar you change the bandwidth/dynamic balance, and the intonation (not to mention risk damaging the instrument); if you stray too far from what it's designed for.
With electrics, it's moot anyway, ....any benefits to be had are really already accomplished by the biggest contributor to tone - the amp. The only real advantage to "over" gauged strings is in regards to playing slide, where the increased tension helps to compensate for intonation and resonance issues involved with this technique.
Comfort is also a factor to consider, putting a set of .012s on a Strat because SRV did, is fine, ....if your hands don't mind, if they do? .....diminished returns. Any actual "tone" advantage is really a myth, ....the amp does this. If you really want to sound like SRV? ......save up $20K, and buy a Howard Dumble amp, ....or a mid '60s blackface Fender Vibroverb, .....this is cheaper, ....you can probably pick one up for around $4K+, ....if you can find one....... | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 4:13:10 PM | Good news, I still have my fast fret LOL.
Now the bad news.....$20K....thats alot of dishes man....
So if Im using fast fret, why do the strings get sticky later in the session? I probably need to read the directions again huh?
(and get a physics degree while Im out next time)
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 4:21:07 PM | So if Im using fast fret, why do the strings get sticky later in the session? I probably need to read the directions again huh?
Wipe on, wipe off.
Here's the SOP, ....soak the strings with the stick, take the cloth, wrap under the string, bring the two ends of the cloth "up", twist, and run the cloth up and down the lengeth of the string (cleans the whole string this way), repeat until all the yech is gone, ....get rid of fluff. Do this before you put the guitar away, and when you pick it up again. If the stick gets dried out, get a new one, ....save the old can though the new ones are plastic, the metal can keeps the stick fresh longer.
This doesn't fix "old" strings, strings will corrode and lose mass (frets wear the windings off) making them non-linear = impossible to tune/intonate. Strings old? replace 'em. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 5:12:25 PM | hmmmm....not reading the directions....Im seeing a pattern here. I didnt realize the stuff "cleaned" the strings...or at least I forgot...I always thought it was like guitar players wd-40 or something.
Thanks for the tips.
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 6:19:03 PM |
wd-40
Never, .....and I mean, NEVER, use this stuff on musical instruments or electronics of any kind.
...Trust me on this.
I've heard of people even using this to clean potentiometers, ....bad bad bad.
WD-40 leaves a residue that, after the carrier evaporates, ...makes lots of problems. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 7:50:24 PM | my i ask what is the price range for a first guitar , for id liketo start myself. i read music and have played other instuments, but this one seems moreof a chalenge.
any advice ? | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/30/2006 8:02:08 PM | Get a Yamaha Pacifica, or a Peavey Raptor.
Fender "style" instruments at less than $300, and $200 respectively.
These are electric guitars, easier on the hands for learning.
You don't need an amp yet, do NOT get a tuner (use your ear, ears are the best organ for music).
Learn where the notes are/apply theory.
http://homepage.mac.com/ewald/Theory/rps1.html
Use a guitar strap, adjust it so the headstock (where the tuners are) is above your head, and your "picking hand" is located at a point where your solar plexus would be sans guitar, this will give you the proper posture (wrists/fingers). and prevent injury to your carpal tunnel (wrists).
Add passion and desire to the knowlege?
= no limits.
When you start to get comfortable, buy a small tube amp. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/31/2006 5:23:56 AM | ...jackiedoda.... first guitar? 'LATE' always has great advice....you live in Montreal,they have some great music stores...check them out for a used guitar,ask the store dudes...tell them what your needs are....you can buy used for $100 - $200 accoustic or electric....try your purchase in the store (have someone play it for you) and try to get a case and maybe a few lessons,a tuning fork or electronic tuner.....once you can tune it exactly,then tune by ear,ask lotsa questions and have fun  | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/31/2006 9:05:49 AM | I'd also suggest some magazines like Total Guitar. They have a CD that comes along with it, and tab lessons and articles every month.
I picked up a lot there, even after years of playing.
With someone that plays guitar assisting you, it should not be very hard to pick up a good used guitar at a music store or pawnshop. With a trained eye, and a little luck, you can get a great deal in those places.
The mistake most first time guitar players make is getting a cheap guitar that is of inferior quality - and that turns them off playing, or delays their progress.
A good quality guitar, one that has a good neck and action, holds it's tuning, and sounds good will make anyone's introduction to playing guitar a pleasure.
The start is always hard, as your fingers cramp and bleed, and you think that it will never improve - but that soon passes.
Once it does, and you stay at it, you are officially a guitarist.  | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/31/2006 9:17:23 AM | @jackiedoda.....@Montreal Guy has great advice on action and playability and yes get a good quality instrument...they get better with age  its always good to have a "guitarist" close by too......get some books,practice.... | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/31/2006 9:19:11 AM | I'd offer to help , but I am left-handed and play that way.
In a music store, I am like a eunoch in a harem.  
I walk in , there are 4,634 guitars hanging there - and two lefties. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/31/2006 11:01:57 AM | I always love the feeling when I learn something new on my guitar. I've learned to play songs I grew up on and I've been very determined and persistent!
It starts out kind of frustrating when you are trying to figure out a riff by Jimmy Page or Joe Perry. They make it sound so effortless.
I had to laugh recently when I was trying to learn "Draw the Line" and "Dream On" and I was wondering how the hell did Joe get his finger on that particular note so damn fast?
The magic part was just playing the riff over and over, no matter how BAD. After about the 500th time of the same damn riff, I noticed my brain took over and did it automatically.
Whoa
A Happy Toon | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 3/31/2006 10:15:09 PM | ^^^^^
Hahahahahaaa nice one Toon...yup...
....oh I remember trying to rip up "over the hills and far away" for hours on end....
....I've been thinking I should try to pick out steve howe's "mood for a day" to get me going on different styles....fabulous piece of music....
....and no more tabs for me...tabs promote mediocre guitar playing....gotta train that ear....
....oh and Late, great page you posted earlier....having theory explained to me like that has got me thinking about paying for a few lessons with a good teacher...
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 4/1/2006 2:57:10 AM | I mean, the headstock is never above my head....how do you mean to sling the guitar for adjusting the strap?
This is for beginners, so they develop proper wrist posture, and thumb positions.
Proper wrist posture means "straight", not bent wrists. Thumb positions should be such that the first joint, second joint of the thumb, and the "pad" of the palm corrosponding to the thumb, do all the work of "squeezing" the strings, leaving the fingers relaxed, and able to move more efficiently. Look at your hand, what's the biggest muscle?
Where this pays off is simple, ergonomics via physics - leverage = economy of motion.
The strap should bear ALL the weight of the guitar, leaving both hands free to play, not hold the guitar. You should be able to sit down, with the guitar still on the strap, and not your lap supporting the guitar. Place your picking hand on the strings, past the bridge, your hand should be over an imaginary spot above the solar plexus. The headstock should be no lower than eye level. sitting or standing.
This not only prevents nerve damage from carpal tunnel syndrome due to "bent wrists", as it allows for full access to the entire neck while keeping the fretting hand straight, it prevents "cramps", "fatigue", and callouses on the fingertips of the fretting hand due to inefficient leverage, and improper technique.
The start is always hard, as your fingers cramp and bleed, and you think that it will never improve - but that soon passes.
Cramps, bleeding, and callouses; aren't something you have to "work through", ...they're a symptom that you're holding the guitar "wrong". | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 4/4/2006 11:43:40 PM | I have found myself abit stuck in a box when it comes to soloing, so I have opened up more pentatonic postions, utilize more in relative keys, more scale runs...very nice. Also...I have started superimposing pentatonics from different keys...for example, on the "I", in blues, say, I will draw from a minor pent starting on the V, for a few beats, just before the "IV"...and take it back to a relative major..or targeting some of the outside notes.
Any input regarding this theory would be helpful please.
Also...working with arpegios around altered chords...like the A7/13...on a normal A7 for example...again any ideas to expand on this would be awesome, thankyou. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 4/5/2006 2:06:18 PM | Any input regarding this theory would be helpful please.
I find a better way to look at improvising melodies, is to; "play the changes", as opposed to "superimposing" scales, licks, and memorizing stuff. This allows your solos to sound improvised, and phrased, as opposed to the rote/regurgitation of memorized scales and "boxes" (yuck).
Nothing to memorize, ....just note what happens to the 3rd and 7th degrees of the Key's Major Scale.
Two notes............
Often, playing over a I,IV, V blues progression is best looked at by noting the location of the three Dominant Triads of the I,IV,V chords in the context of the key's Major Scale, and observe that the 1,3rd, and Dom7th, notes of each of the three chords, will either fall directly on the notes of the scale(V), drop the 7th a semi-tone (I), or drop both the 3rd and 7th a semi-tone (IV):
(The DomV triad) the 1, 3rd, and Dom7th degrees of the chord, correspond the the Key's Major scale's: Fifth, Major Seventh, and Root degrees of scale.
Hence, when playing the V chord, use the notes of the Major Scale of the key unaltered in your melody.
(The Dominant I triad) the 1, 3rd, and Dom7th degrees of the chord correspond the the Key's Major scale's: Root, Major Third, and Dominant 7th degrees of scale.
Hence, when playing the I chord, use the notes of the Major Scale of the key with the Maj 7th scale degree, altered to the Dominant seventh degree in your melody.
(The Dominant IV triad) the 1, 3rd, and Dom7th degrees of the chord correspond the the Key's Major scale's: Fourth, Sixth, and Minor Third degrees of scale. Also note that shifting the Minor Third requires that you also alter the Maj 7th degree to Dom 7th (Chord formula rules).
Hence, when playing the IV chord, use the notes of the Major Scale of the key with the: Major Third alterd to the Minor third, and the Maj 7th altered to the Dominant seventh degree in your melody.
Looks complicated, but really it's a matter of only altering (or not), the Major Scale's 3rd and 7th degrees in order to "play" the right notes when improvising over this progression. Just add chromatic passing tones where phrasing calls for them, and start and end phrases using tones that start, or resolve to what ever chord is there, re: root, third, dom7.
"playing over the changes"
Try to phrase naturally, "think" what you're playing, be aware of "breathing", make it part of your phrasing. Listen to horn players, they HAVE to breath, ....it makes what they play "flow". Try to avoid metronomic structure, .....nobody talks like that, ......think of how you would "say" something, with pauses (commas), and resolutions (periods). This is how to make it "musical" as opposed to sounding like you've memorized a bunch of familiar patterns.
Most of the blues players I see, stitch together their favorite licks of the stuff (that they listen to), that they can mimic, , .....and you can tell, ......might as well sample n' loop it with your PC's sound card, same thing..
Also...working with arpegios around altered chords...like the A7/13...on a normal A7 for example...again any ideas to expand on this would be awesome, thankyou.
See above: the 9th, 11th, and 13th degrees never change (Minor, Major, Dominant ....all the same), ....just realize that these examples you give ie A7/A13, are Dominant chords ie: "A7 triad" and follow the Dominant triad rule above.
Understanding this, opens everything up, because whether you are playing a Minor, Major, or Dominant form, the 1,2nd,4th,5th,6th,9th,11th,13th degrees never move, only the 3rd, and 7th do (and of course, the root).
This is why I call my method, "Rock, Paper, Scissors".
"Outside" playing? ......a symmetrical scale based on the Dim7 chord, a semi-tone above the IV chord, will always bring you back to the I chord, while only changing the root of the Dom IV (play the IV as a Dom7 - 1,3,5,7b ....and raise the 1 a semi-tone, this yields a Dim7 chord a semitone above the IV {"tritone" in the key}, arppegiate it and the scale will yield a "root" tone), also, a symmetrical scale based on the IV Aug7 (subsequent major thirds off the root of the V root), will bring you back to the "leading voice" of the I chord "going" from the V to the I, the Maj 7 being the second last note before the progression "goes" to the I "from" the IV. (valid, considering the template above re: V to I).
This is also a common, blues- "turn around" resolution, or, ....even used when starting a blues tune on the V chord.
Again, ...may seem complicated, but this is very simple to learn (will have diagrams explaining this soon).
It's as simple as counting to seven, doing the alphabet to "G", and understanding a few simple rules. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 4/6/2006 9:10:18 AM | montreal guy
im left handed and I want to learn the guitar, do you think its better to buy a right handed guitar and learn or attempt to play left handed and have the problems of finding a left handed guitar
second question how long should one practice daily if one is pressed for time because of work? | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 4/6/2006 3:07:12 PM | Well, I have friends that are left handed that have played right, and that certainly makes life a lot easier. You will always be able to pick up any guitar in the world and play it, if you do that.
If you play left handed, it's not that much more expensive. You WILL have to have the nut and bridge reversed, and that's a one time cost. Normally, you can do some negotiations at the store and get a deal on having that work done. The good part is that you will get a guitar that's perfectly set up, with new strings, and intonated properly.
Buying a left handed guitar directly can be quite expensive, as they are rather rare.
It depends on how "lefty" you are. I can do many things right handed, unlike some lefties. When it came to guitar playing, I just found it too hard to do. Strangely enough, I can now pick up a right handed guitar and do simple chords quite easily.
My particular problem is that I like finger picking, which requires a certain dexterity in the picking hand. Simple strumming and chording would certainly be easier.
As for practicing, the quality of time is more critical than the amount (on a daily basis) . If you can concentrate 100 percent on enjoying the time spent playing, it's far better than "forcing yourself" to.
After the initial period, when you are more concerned with understanding the basics and building strength and coordination, you can do that rather easily.
If you do not enjoy the time you spend practicing, then it slows you down.
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 4/6/2006 3:34:48 PM |
Well, I have friends that are left handed that have played right, and that certainly makes life a lot easier. You will always be able to pick up any guitar in the world and play it, if you do that.
It is interesting to note that there are no left-handed:
Pianos
Violins (Hey! .....no sword fighting in the orchestra pit!)
Flutes
Trombones
Etc.
As for practicing, the quality of time is more critical than the amount (on a daily basis)
True, but, ...anything less than a half an hour 4 times a week, ...and you will not progress, I won't even take on a student who cannot meet a minimum of a half-hour a day (practice, not noodling), as it's a waste of my time, and theirs. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 4/6/2006 3:57:39 PM | Late,
I really respect what you bring to the discussion here, and not just on topics concerning guitar. I still have to publically thank you for that "Santa Clara" link (as I did on my blog), which is one of the most interesting links on the net, imho.
I think one of the critical things for the begining guitarist is to start by falling in love with the instrument. Once that is done, then you will naturally find more time to play. It also depends on personality, and where you want to go with it.
For me, that's just for personal expression and release. I've never been big on theory, and that suits my purposes while playing. I have picked some things up over time, and that's greatly added to my ability to enjoy playing.
There was this incredible article I read about being a guitar player , in Guitar Player magazine in the early Eighties. It focused on how guitarists differed greatly in their approach to playing the instrument.
It brought to my attention people like Django, who had only two good fingers left to fret (primarily) with after a fire. He had played before, but after that he managed to become a virtuoso that many still consider a true genius. I don't think many guitar teachers would have held out much hope for such a student, but I figure you might ( knowing you a bit from reading your posts).
There are also people like Richie Havens, who tuned a guitar to an open chord and invented their own style. Haven's is more like a percussionist in his approach to the instrument, as can easily be seen in those Woodstock clips.
Those people that love the instrument, and spend a lot of quality time with it will certainly always be the best. Hendrix was often found asleep on his back, still holding his guitar, in his younger years.
One can still have a part time hobby with a guitar, and enjoy it. | |
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| learning to play guitar
Posted: 4/6/2006 4:46:01 PM | I think one of the critical things for the begining guitarist is to start by falling in love with the instrument. Once that is done, then you will naturally find more time to play. It also depends on personality, and where you want to go with it.
I taught for a while at a music school where conservatory training was the focus, and aptitude tests were given to prospective students.
I ain't a conservatory teacher, I have my own method, ....when asked to test a student I would ask three questions:
Do you know the alphabet to "G"?
Can you count to "7"?
Do you really want to play guitar?
.....The only way to pass this test is to answer all three questions, "yes".
One can still have a part time hobby with a guitar, and enjoy it.
Yup, and understanding the body of knowlege that all music is based in is deceptively simple. You can eat soup with a fork, spoon works better though, ....same effort for both.
It brought to my attention people like Django, who had only two good fingers left to fret (primarily) with after a fire.
The musician I collaborate with, is right-handed, ....had to learn lefty because two of his fingers (middle, ring, the index finger was one of the first ever re-attachments) on his left hand were torn off by an escalator when he was 4, ....about 55 years ago. He is an amazing musician, he plays almost as many different stringed instruments as I do, he has no grasp of theory, ....he writes great tunes, still ...... he is limited to what he can do, like a painter with only one colour on his palette, ......he still makes great music nonetheless. But he calls him self a non-musician, ...because he is a "stylist".
The fact remains, it takes just as much effort to learn to play an instrument via understanding the reasons that some things work, some don't, as it does to learn by mimicry, or memorization. The difference is, the learning experience is a lot LESS work down the road, if you have a solid grounding in the basics.
If you can count to 7, do the alphabet to G????
The body of knowlege that explains all there is to know about harmony and melody, ....is literally at your fingertips.
My friend learned to play, because people told him he wouldn't be able to. Sometimes, revenge is a good motivation. | |
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