--> Share things you've learned about guitar

[Vic Lewis VL]

I hope I won't reincarnate at all. That'd really be the bummer of the year.

Only if you were still alive.....mind you, I could see YOU having some fun! "Right, I'll do the rhythm - Arjen, keyboards - Sleutelbos, see to the drum track, will you? And Promedics, you can look after the bass......"



Vic

[KR2]

I hope I won't reincarnate at all. That'd really be the bummer of the year.

Everything is recycled, Ignar. Better get used to it.

[kblake]

SING SING SING !
I found once I reached and acceptable level of being able to change chords smoothly my playing stagnated....
Mainly I think because I would play a progression or verse once through and get bored with it..
I would never play whole songs (just noodle) and after doing this for several years I started trying to sing along and it was like trying to pat your head and rub your stomach.
But it seems to be getting a lot easier, it seems that concentrating on singing has freed up my guitar playing.

Now don't ask me to post anything because I won't my singing is horrid I only sing alone at home with all the windows and doors closed !
So SING SING SING...

Cheers
Keith

[Vic Lewis VL]

Now don't ask me to post anything because I won't my singing is horrid I only sing alone at home with all the windows and doors closed !

I felt like that a few years back - till I realised that if I wanted feedback on my original songs, it was no good recording an instrumental version of them. So I bit the bullet and recorded vocals. I STILL don't like listening to my own voice on recordings - but once you've done it a couple of times, it becomes easier. I suppose you could equate that with stage fright - but until you actually try it, you'll never know.

So take your own (and Travis's!) advice, and sing, sing, SING - you might be pleasantly surprised at the feedback you get. At the very worst, you'll get plenty of pointers and advice about how to improve your singing voice.



Vic

[DylanBarrett]

When you think all the pain has gone - spend an hour a day holding a full G and practice bending the G string on the fourth fret.... Not at the same time...of course..

Rock...ouch...on!

D where did I put my... ah, here they are...

[crkt246]

I hope I won't reincarnate at all. That'd really be the bummer of the year.

Same here.

[jason brann]

Peterson Stroboflip from Zzounds - $200
String Action Gauge from Stewart-MacDonald - $18.95
.002 to .025 feeler gauge from Advance Auto Parts - $5.00
Capo from Zzounds - 15.00
A Truss rod tool - Free (Should have come with the guitar)
Screw drivers - Free if you can find where you left it last (Standard and maybe phillips - small and medium)

Knowing how to setup your guitar - priceless.

i actually do my setups by eyeball and feel. works for me. just need the truss rod hex wrench and screwdrivers.

[jason brann]

short of smashing your guitar to smithereens(unless you're sponsored and get 5 new guitars a gig), do pretty much whatever you want to on it. for instance, they say don't just noodle in e minor pentatonic all day, but i have, and now i can play some seriously decent blues without even thinking about it. just play and do whatever you want. i don't know if it's true for everyone, but i know i have an internal drive to create and sound better than i do, and i let that be my guide. i guess if i only had 20 minutes a day to play, i might structure practice, but since i'm more limited by my own drive and physical endurance, i pretty much just work on stuff until i'm satisfied, bored, or give up in frustration until i can do it later.
i was once told to work on my "rhythm" by a guitarist i admired. it was meant as work on my rhythm guitar playing, but instead i took it to mean work on beats, syncopation, strum technique, that sort of thing. so i spent nearly a year just beating the crap out of my acoustic, pissed off and frustrated that he thought i couldn't keep a beat and determined to prove him wrong. it's funny in retrospect, but i have pulled off some stuff that's actually shocked me when i heard the playback. not to brag, but i honestly didn't realize i was doing what i was doing. now i mostly work on leads, but sometimes i remind myself to sweat out those grooves. coming up with original rhythms and cleaning up the slop.
also, people say stuff about quality over quantity, but i find that if i jam out on pretty much whatever i feel like for more than a few hours for three or four days, it's like i reach a whole new level of playing for the next few days after, where i feel all sorts of freedom and creativity. the world even looks brighter and everything seems less heavy. it's a great way to get rid of depression.
also, listen to a lot of music. listen to all sorts of styles. if there's music you hate or don't understand, listen to that until you understand why it was made. if it's boring or uncreative, let it go, but if it's just something that bugs you, there may be something to it that you're not aware of, and you're just angry at your own inability to understand it. if i hadn't given bob dylan or neutral milk hotel or this or that another chance, i'd have missed out on a lot.
but the more you learn, like it's been said, the more you see in front of you. i'd like to learn to write better, sing in something better than my monochromatic little voice, come up with more interestingly structured songs, work on melodies and harmonies, master the bass and drums (right now i'm pretty much stuck in one style on both, and that's basically what happens naturally and easily), slide guitar, alt tunings, two hand tapping, some classical, metal and jazz chord progressions i don't really get, and put out an album where i play all the instruments and sing. and most important of all, make a good living as a musician. screw jobs you don't feel any internal fire for.

[matteo]

one thing that i learnt recently: you can be able to perfectly play a track in your bedroom, playing it alongside a click or a cd, and have some difficulties to do it in a band! That's because when you're playing with other people you have to really listen to what they're playing. In a jam situation somebody could play a wrong part and you have to be able to keep on track all the same. To give you an example: a couple of reharsals ago I was shocked not to be able to play the intro of a Motorhead song (rock'n'roll by the way): after a lot of mistakes and several listening of the original cd I realized that there was a drum-pattern to use as a reference to play that intro. Of course playing the track along a click I had neglected the importance of this drum-pattern. Actually the following reharsal paying more attention to the drum-pattern (and not just to the basic pulse) i managed to play that intro perfectly in time.
Another thing: to be able to play a complex rhythm on guitar you have to be able to play it with voice or clapping it, so it is very useful to play with hands before trying something on guitar

Cheers

Matteo

[cnev]

matteo,

Your right about playing along to CD's. Once I get a song down I usually practice it along with the CD and for the most part to me I always think I'm right on the beat and when I do this I am. But when we play it with the band the first time it isn't neccissarily the same since the tempo is never exactly like the record and/or sometimes someone plays something slightly different that I'm not used to hearing and it will through me off until I realize what's going on. There are alot of songs where the drummer keys a change by changing his rhythm or whatever. I get used to playing along with how the original recording sounds and key off that...works fine everytime, but when our drummer plays something different or adds fills that aren't in the original recording then you have to adapt. I guess it's all part of the process.

[matteo]

hi mate

nice to hear that i'm not the only one who sometimes has troubles in jam situation! In my case it is also worse 'cause my drummer never plays the same fill twice times: the ending of the songs is each time totally different from the previous one. I resolved to forget the original song and follow what he's doing!!!

Matteo

matteo,

Your right about playing along to CD's. Once I get a song down I usually practice it along with the CD and for the most part to me I always think I'm right on the beat and when I do this I am. But when we play it with the band the first time it isn't neccissarily the same since the tempo is never exactly like the record and/or sometimes someone plays something slightly different that I'm not used to hearing and it will through me off until I realize what's going on. There are alot of songs where the drummer keys a change by changing his rhythm or whatever. I get used to playing along with how the original recording sounds and key off that...works fine everytime, but when our drummer plays something different or adds fills that aren't in the original recording then you have to adapt. I guess it's all part of the process.

[DylanBarrett]

After barre's there's flatpicking... Not to mention trying to play along with a 'live' drummer.

Rock on!
D

[KR2]

You mean there's life after barres?!

[DylanBarrett]

Unfortunately Ken, yes...

Oh yes, and truss rods - marvellous...

Oh yes, and so many tunes and so little time...

Rock on!
D

[daven]

As an old guy new to guitar:
The pain in your fingers goes away.
As soon as you can play two chords and strum, play a song and SING! It'll never be easier to put the two together than now.
Try chord changes with your eyes closed, it's amazing what you can do if you don't think it to death.
Changing strings on an acoustic guitar is way more work than on an electric bass.
If I play every day and try the things I can't do every day, in a few weeks I can do them.
A to D is easy.
My fingers know how to fret a G.
G to C is hard, today.
6 string barres are almost impossible, today.
Who needs an F anyway.
5 string barres are impossible, today.
I'm a better, calmer person if I play guitar every day.