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The discomfort is a result of tension while playing. Stretching will mitigate the effects of tension, but won't resolve the underlying problem. Usually, tension is a way of forcing the fingers to act independently, rather than learning to relax them for independence. There are some relaxation/independence exercises in the intermediate/advanced thread.
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Aug 15, 2011 02:15
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Any tips for a beginner a couple months in, struggling with picking up the strumming patterns in songs by ear? Given the chords to a song and the pattern they're strummed in, I can play along just fine. But give me the chords to a song and ask me to listen to the track and work out how to play along with it, I'm pretty well lost. More often than not I can count the beat of the song, but I can't make sense of what the guitar is doing at the same time. I've spent the last hour or so trying to work out the rhythm in the first 8 bars of this song, with slowed down to 50%: The Mountain Goats - Magpie I'm fine with the interlude that pops up at 00:54, but anything more subtle than that and I struggle to stumble upon anything that feels right  .
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Aug 15, 2011 07:00
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Jamz posted:Any tips for a beginner a couple months in, struggling with picking up the strumming patterns in songs by ear? The first part of that tune is in an 8/8 time signature which fits into 4/4 time but his strumming is based around a 3+3+2 so instead of counting 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + you are going to count 1+a 2+a 3+ with an even pulse. If that makes any sense, I feel like I'm not explaining it well. In a broader sense will say that learning to strum is either the easiest thing to learn for some people or the hardest for others, you have to learn to learn by ear too and you will get better at it as time goes on. Learn as many tunes as possible and eventually you will recognize rhythms that you've already learned. But patience is what's key here, two months in guitar time is nothing and if you can pick up anything by ear yet you are doing quite well. Hollis Brownsound fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Aug 15, 2011 |
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Aug 15, 2011 13:15
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Can you tap out the rhythm on a table? The first thing is to hear the pattern, so you know what you're trying to play - it sounds like the guitar is playing single strums with a more muted/percussive strum before each, daaaaaaaa buh daaaaaa buh daaaaaa. The strums sound like downstrokes each time (try playing all upstrokes instead and you'll hear the difference in feel), so the percussive strums are probably upstrokes since your hand will be going down-up-down-up. BUT there are a couple of times where instead of going 'buh daaaaaaa' he does a triple strum instead, like 'dagadaaaa' - if you start this on an upstroke you'll end on an upstroke too (up-down-up), but that last strum sounds like a downstroke, so you'll have to start on a down which will break your down-up rhythm. So keep your hand moving for the main rhythm, and throw in the triple down-up-down strums as an off-pattern special move. As far as the structure goes it might not be written at such, he does a lot of live takes and when you sing and play simultaneously it can affect your strumming pattern - so it might be impromptu variation, and it's up to you if you want to learn it strum for strum, or get the overall core structure and mix it up a little. The mandolin or whatever makes it harder to hear exactly what the guitar's doing (especially with the percussive strums), but if you listen for the exact sound in the intro you'll find it easier to pick out later. Find a live solo video too for more hints! In general though when you're strumming you keep your hand moving at a constant rate, down-up-down-up, and you let it contact the strings when there's a strum - that's basically it. Sometimes you have to move at double speed for 16th-note 'dagada' strums that show up, but it's basically a constant movement to the beat that you don't need to think about at all. If you can hear the strums, you can play them! If you haven't already done so, it's worth running through some basic rhythms (like the Rhythm Guitar Basics videos here) just to get the general idea down - that technique will cover 95% of rhythm guitar in songs
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Aug 15, 2011 20:33
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Caddrel posted:I was recently having some problems with discomfort in my fretting hand, especially when practicing fast chromatic patterns (like 345434543... etc on a given fret). Thanks for posting this. I'm still dealing with fret hand cramps and tension issues myself, though a lot of the time I seem to be getting them in the area that runs from my palm to my thumb. Also, I still have issues with nailing extraneous strings either above or below when I'm upstrumming, though this is primarily when I'm aiming to hit two or more strings anyway, such as in the main riff for Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath". Another issue I'm having is fret hand position, a lot of the time my hand wants to rest so that my fingers are at a diagonal, which makes stretching between 4 frets (such as in the power chord bit of Hells Bells' main riff) easier, but can mess me up on transitions to other frets and strings. Beyond that, I'd actually like to take a college course in music theory, and am taking lessons ($12 for half an hour with a really good tutor who enjoys playing the stuff I want to play (read: metal)), as well as noodling away on bits of tab and faffing around with Hal Leonard DVD/booklet combos
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Aug 18, 2011 09:37
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CitrusFrog posted:Thanks for posting this. I'm still dealing with fret hand cramps and tension issues myself, though a lot of the time I seem to be getting them in the area that runs from my palm to my thumb. In regards to your fret hand position, where do you usually keep your fret arm elbow? I've noticed when I first started playing that I've kept my elbow close to my body. Try to flare your elbow out more to keep your hand perpendicular to the guitar neck.
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Aug 18, 2011 14:57
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lazerwolf posted:In regards to your fret hand position, where do you usually keep your fret arm elbow? I've noticed when I first started playing that I've kept my elbow close to my body. Try to flare your elbow out more to keep your hand perpendicular to the guitar neck. You basically summed up the problem and gave me the solution right there. Thanks.
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Aug 19, 2011 06:02
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I restrung my guitar a couple of days ago, and I keep having to retune it which I've been told is normal for nylon strings. However the thin E string feels really really tight in comparison to all the others, is this normal or is there something I can do to change it?
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Aug 20, 2011 13:02
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if it's in tune it's fine.
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Aug 20, 2011 16:04
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minema posted:I restrung my guitar a couple of days ago, and I keep having to retune it which I've been told is normal for nylon strings. However the thin E string feels really really tight in comparison to all the others, is this normal or is there something I can do to change it? Next time you restring it you could leave a little more slack on that string before you start winding it, so you end up with more turns around the peg. I don't know how much it helps, but I once pulled a string tight (no slack) and it broke while I was tuning up so I guess you can definitely have it too tight
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Aug 20, 2011 17:17
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baka kaba posted:Next time you restring it you could leave a little more slack on that string before you start winding it, so you end up with more turns around the peg. I don't know how much it helps, but I once pulled a string tight (no slack) and it broke while I was tuning up so I guess you can definitely have it too tight It won't make a difference, save going out of tune more often. Pitch is the product of length, diameter, and tension. At a given neck scale and string gauge, the tension has to be the same to produce the same pitch. The amount of slack on the peg won't affect the string's flexibility, but that extra length will stretch like the rest of the string and go out of tune.
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Aug 21, 2011 02:06
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All of the Agile AL-3000s have got nickel plate hardware, however this one: http://www.rondomusic.com/al3100whitegold.html has got gold hardware. For some reason I'm really liking this white guitar a ton, but I have no idea if this gold hardware is any good/better/worse than what all the other types of ALs have got... Also, Agiles are quality, right?
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Aug 21, 2011 15:41
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Yeah, they're great for the price. My only problem with the ALs is the weight, they super heavy, even for LPs. And contrary to popular belief, heavier wood is not necessarily better wood. In any case, it's probably not the best hardware, and gold hardware wears pretty easily as it is. Personally, I don't mind the worn gold look, but if that'll bother you, you should go with something with black or nickel.
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Aug 21, 2011 18:13
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CalvinDooglas posted:It won't make a difference, save going out of tune more often. Pitch is the product of length, diameter, and tension. At a given neck scale and string gauge, the tension has to be the same to produce the same pitch. The amount of slack on the peg won't affect the string's flexibility, but that extra length will stretch like the rest of the string and go out of tune. Yeah actually you're right, I was thinking more along the lines of the tension on the entire string (not just the vibrating length) being distributed over more material and reducing the stress, but that's more about reducing breakages - I don't even know if it's true, it seems to make sense and I've never broken a string since I started doing it though. But yeah more winds will pull the string over the nut at a sharper angle and make it feel stiffer to fret and bend if anything. You could try a lower string gauge though minema, I don't know what you bought but you might be able to find a set with a thinner E string but about the same gauge for the lower ones
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Aug 21, 2011 20:08
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Many nylon string manufacturers make both high and low tension sets. You could try a low tension set but honestly I find playing high tension to be a little easier especially if you play with your fingers. Edit: A very quick google search turned up[ this site. http://classicalguitarbuilder.com/march_news/October_Newsletter.html How to select string tension To find out what string tension works best for you buy a low, medium and high tension set of the same series and manufacturer. Lets use D'Addario as an example and choose the Pro Arte series J43, J45, and J46 sets. Use a peg-winder to change strings and try the three sets out over a few day period. Go back and forth between sets until you determine the tension you like. Once you have selected the string tension you prefer try a few other brands in the same tension. I suggest, for the sake of comparison, you choose silver plated bass sets. Some classical guitar string manufacturers that offer excellent quality strings are Savarez, Hannabach, La Bella (the 2001 Professional series) and D'Addario. If you have settled on the string tension that feels right for you and tried a number of brands you have probably found some classical guitar strings you are pleased with. Use the set you like the most as a comparison set. Keep the tension the same and... Hollis Brownsound fucked around with this message at 21:14 on Aug 21, 2011 |
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Aug 21, 2011 21:10
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Dolphin posted:
I've been using this site for the past few days and it's been really helpful, would recommend to anyone just starting out!
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Aug 24, 2011 04:44
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What's the best way of holding one's hand to mute a string between two others? Example code:
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Aug 26, 2011 05:13
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With the side of your index finger, given you're fretting that C# octave with your index and whatever other finger. edit: not the side, side, the fleshy bit beyond what you're fretting with.
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Aug 26, 2011 05:16
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Pretentious Turtle posted:With the side of your index finger, given you're fretting that C# octave with your index and whatever other finger. So I just lay the index finger down on them like a fret-hand muted barre chord? I try that but I think I've still got some finger independence issues to iron out, when I attempt it my hand seems to want to stiffen up which faffs my tone up.
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Aug 26, 2011 06:23
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CitrusFrog posted:So I just lay the index finger down on them like a fret-hand muted barre chord? I try that but I think I've still got some finger independence issues to iron out, when I attempt it my hand seems to want to stiffen up which faffs my tone up. Yep! As long as you keep practicing, it should feel natural in no time at all.
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Aug 26, 2011 08:13
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Pretentious Turtle posted:Yep! As long as you keep practicing, it should feel natural in no time at all. Awesome! I saw someone mention (either in this thread or the intermediate/expert one) an exercise for improving finger independence so I'm going to give that a whirl too while doing other stuff like watching TV
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Aug 26, 2011 08:15
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He is WAY way better than he is giving himself credit for! He catches on to rhythms fast I am really impressed as always with his sexy self. Since I am his girlfriend and we live together I could be bias naw he is really good.
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Aug 26, 2011 08:19
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I've been playing guitar for a couple of years and have a couple of questions: How do I train myself to consistently pick fast notes on a single string? When playing a long string of 16th notes I find that my upstrokes get caught up on the string slowing my downstroke and it's rather difficult to just strike the string with the very tip of a pick. Any tips? Also, any suggestions for playing something like a 16th triplets trill? One appears in Black Sabbath's NIB verse, for example. Finally, are there any good resources out there for ear training?
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Aug 26, 2011 12:29
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sweetly insane posted:He is WAY way better than he is giving himself credit for! He catches on to rhythms fast I am really impressed as always with his sexy self. Since I am his girlfriend and we live together I could be bias naw he is really good. Flatterer. pokie posted:I've been playing guitar for a couple of years and have a couple of questions: I have had some success with using sweep picking exercises because they rely as much on upstrums as they do downstrokes. Focus on keeping your hand in exactly the same position on the way up as it was on the way down. I caught myself angling the pick so the downstrokes slid off, and that was what was catching it on the way back up. From there, focus more on accuracy than speed, use a metronome while you're doing it so you can internalise the feel of the timing and you make no screwups. Once you have that, you can work on upping the metronome speed some. Small steps lead to success, just hurtling in and trying to play at a fretmelting speed will teach you bad habits. Also, for ear training I saw this excellent site posted here in this thread. http://www.musictheory.net/exercises
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Aug 26, 2011 19:08
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pokie posted:I've been playing guitar for a couple of years and have a couple of questions: 1) Start slow with the metronome. Just do exactly what you're trying to do - 16ths on a single string. Start on open low E, NOT PALM MUTED, and see how 60 bpm works to start. Whatever you're able to do, do on every string - open and not muted! If 16ths at 60 is too fast you probably have a technical issue to address, so slow it down to 8ths at 60. Watch your picking angle and aim for a pretty much flat pick on the down and the upstroke. Do not rest your palm on the bridge or mute the stings with it (in fact wean yourself off any form of "anchoring" the right hand to the guitar). Keep your forearm stationary and try to pluck with the wrist, using the thumb and index to hold the pick, but not squeeze it. Avoid wigging the thumb around to pluck, that's what your wrist is for. Since you say your pick hangs on the upstroke, definitely work on keeping an even picking angle and letting your wrist do the work. Make sure your aren't angling your hand down like a punker chugging out muted downstrokes. 2) The sextuplet trill requires work on alternate picking, legato (hammers/pulls/slides), and rhythm in general. Basically, take the same approach as above, but apply it to those techniques separately. As each skill improves independently, the combination will also improve. Sextuplets are really easy to botch at higher tempos and that hang up with the upstroke will destroy your rhythm if left untreated. Again, work with the metronome and start really slow, like triplets at 60. Work your triplets up a little bit then set the metronome back to slow and try sextuplets. 3) There aren't any "good" resources for ear training outside of a genuinely interactive, educational setting. But, good-ear.com, teoria.net, and iwasdoingallright.com have some decent interval, chord, and melody exercises. Try to pick up songs by ear when you can, identify melodic patterns and chord progressions that recur in different songs, things like that. Most of ear training is learning how to focus, the notes will reveal themselves. If you really want to get your ears going, start reading music and practicing singing from the staff. Solfege is a great tool. CalvinDooglas fucked around with this message at 02:31 on Aug 27, 2011 |
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Aug 27, 2011 02:25
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Thanks for the tips. 16th notes seem to be going well up to 90 bpm then it gets a bit crazy - it seems like I must use just the tip of the pick.
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Aug 28, 2011 06:11
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Oh man I bought an electric guitar with the intention of plugging it into my computer to use as an amp. It seems like this is not possible in realtime? Oh well, amp next month or something I guess  .
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Aug 29, 2011 02:53
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A5H posted:Oh man I bought an electric guitar with the intention of plugging it into my computer to use as an amp. It seems like this is not possible in realtime? Oh well, amp next month or something I guess It is possible if you use an overdrive pedal, or really anything, to boost the signal to your line in port. I run Amplitube through a Boss bass overdrive pedal with the effect disables and it sounds very nice. You could do the same with your un-distorted guitar signal, but it wouldn't sound as good as a simulated amp.
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Aug 29, 2011 08:53
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A5H posted:Oh man I bought an electric guitar with the intention of plugging it into my computer to use as an amp. It seems like this is not possible in realtime? Oh well, amp next month or something I guess I did this during the interrim period between buying my guitar and my amp, because I had a couple of 1/4th" jacks and a spare 3.5mm audio cable and found it was quite possible, however the brief lag between hitting the strings and hearing the audio made it incredibly difficult to use. Once I got my amp (a Mustang I) I was able to use the USB connector and jam either directly through Amplitube or by funnelling the signal into Ableton (which allowed me to use all kinds of additional stuff, like Rammfire)
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Aug 29, 2011 13:50
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Yeah, even with a dedicated audio interface and a finely-tuned computer you're always going to get some latency. Depends what you're doing, if you just want to bash away and play some tunes with really heavy delay and other effects then even a big latency might not bother you, but if you're playing along to something or actually practicing then the lag will throw your timing off. You could look around at messing with buffer settings in whatever you're piping the audio into - there's a video here that shows you how to change them in Reaper (he also installs a low-latency driver at the start, you don't have to do that but it should improve the latency for onboard audio and soundcards too). If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's usually a good idea to run guitar through some kind of amp simulator so it doesn't sound rubbish, and with recording software (Reaper's free to try out) you can add effects plugins to play through, and there's a lot of free ones.
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Aug 29, 2011 15:38
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A5H posted:Oh man I bought an electric guitar with the intention of plugging it into my computer to use as an amp. It seems like this is not possible in realtime? Oh well, amp next month or something I guess Get one of these Line6 Toneport GX. They're just shy of $100CDN and you get about 10x the amp and effects toys that you would with a $50 Craigslist Special. VVV Getting a lovely amp will leave you with a lovely amp... this gives you awesome amps and is upgradeable. As always it's ultimately your choice, and this was just a suggestion. meatcookie fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Aug 29, 2011 |
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Aug 29, 2011 16:19
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If I'm going to spend that much I may as well just get a lovely amp? I was expecting to be able to literally plug it in and play through garage band or something. Nevermind I guess.
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Aug 29, 2011 16:26
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Oh Garageband? You could try what this dude is doing http://www.ehow.com/video_2375346_reduce-latency_-garageband-tutorial.html If that 'optimise for live playing' thing isn't already checked then that should help, no idea if you get any better control than that. Closing any other programs (so Garageband is getting all the computer power) might help too. You're still gonna get some delay no matter what though
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Aug 29, 2011 16:43
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Well I have a mac and a PC. So just whatever will give best results for least money.
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Aug 29, 2011 16:47
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A5H posted:Well I have a mac and a PC. So just whatever will give best results for least money. An amp costs $150 or less.
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Aug 29, 2011 16:49
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Noob guitar question- I'm playing with a small global guitar now, I borrowed it from a friend; and can't really find much about it on the internet. I went today to look at good beginner guitars, the ones I looked at were a: Austin Mahogany Dread - $169.99 Alvarez Acoustic RD-8 - $169.99 Austin AAZO D - $129.99 I'm leaning toward the Alvarez, but I would love to hear some goon opinions. Please and thank you!
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Aug 30, 2011 05:19
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I think the best option is to get a knowledgeable friend help you find something on Craig's list or at a pawnshop. Through personal noob experience I've discovered that it's not a great idea to get a new guitar early on - there is always something cheaper and nicer if you are willing to buy used.
pokie fucked around with this message at 07:09 on Aug 30, 2011 |
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Aug 30, 2011 05:37
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Decent second hand guitars are a great deal. Since most people don't play their instruments very much, there's a good chance a guitar gets more use at Guitar Center than in the hands of someone who sold it to a pawn shop.
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Aug 30, 2011 06:45
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I just saw this Ibanez Gio on Craigslist for $50:  The owner says there's some "wear and tear" that consists of "a few small nicks and scratches around the body but nothing really noticeable, and of course the normal pick guard wear. The output jack at the bottom is a little loose, but that is probably an easy fix." Is this a rip-off? I've never played a note in my life, but $50 seems ridiculously low. Basically I'm looking for a cheap beginner's guitar, but I want to put enough money into it that it won't be a frustrating piece of garbage.
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Sep 1, 2011 21:56
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Probably not a rip-off, Gios aren't worth much at all really. My first guitar was a Gio, and you could do much worse.
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Sep 1, 2011 22:01
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