|
I've been doing the lessons and beginners songs, but I've also been learning riffs and easy songs that I like on the side, just to keep motivated while playing relatively boring stuff from the beginner songbook.
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2012 14:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 08:32 |
|
|
melodic exercises aren't any more fun than chord exercises. Might as well eat your brussels sprouts and do both.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2012 15:20
|
|
|
Vincent Valentine posted:Single-note patterns are okay too, and it doesn't have to be some super-famous song or musician, just something to learn with. Try some 60s guitar/surf groups, like The Shadows, The Ventures or The Surfaris. Always fun little ditties to play, either on your own or with a guitar playing buddy.
|
|
#
?
Jan 7, 2012 17:05
|
|
|
Anyone ever experiment with string dampeners? Are they significantly better than just using a hair-tie?
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 07:56
|
|
|
I am getting into guitar, and just PCS'd to South Korea...leaving my guitar behind until the movers ship it to me. My things aren't slated to arrive until March, but I want something to play around with until then so i don't completely lose what little bit I learned before having to leave. Is picking up a cheap travel guitar worth it, or should I just suck it up and wait? I really miss it already, and have also considered a classical guitar or mandolin to play with until my acoustic gets here. I really just want something with strings to play, but don't want to "double-dip" on an acoustic guitar, I guess. Any suggestions to cure my guitar withdrawal?
|
|
#
?
Jan 8, 2012 09:25
|
|
|
cactuscarpet posted:Try some 60s guitar/surf groups, like The Shadows, The Ventures or The Surfaris. Always fun little ditties to play, either on your own or with a guitar playing buddy. I went through a lot of old surf songs and settled on a few. They aren't hard, but they're difficult enough to be challenging and fun enough to play that I'm not getting bored. It's been years since I heard any of them so I kind of forgot they existed, so thanks for the suggestion it really helps.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2012 10:38
|
|
|
Any particular acoustics I should give a good look at specifically for folk/fingerstyle stuff? My last martin got smashed by my brother when moving apartments (dont go there) and I need to replace it. Budget is flexible. $1000 - 2000. I like warm / full tones. I'd just go play a ton but I moved pretty far from any good guitar shops, so some direction at least would be helpful.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2012 13:31
|
|
|
Could I buy an electro acoustic and just use it as an acoustic, or would it have worse sound quality or something than a plain acoustic? There are very few left handed acoustics and a built in tuner also sounds handy!
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2012 22:41
|
|
|
My old roommate had an Alvarez electric acoustic and it sounded great on it's own, I actually don't think I ever saw him plug it in.
|
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2012 22:57
|
|
|
This looks perfect in that case, unless anyone knows otherwise?
Infinite Monkeys fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Jan 9, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 9, 2012 23:17
|
|
|
How would one go about reducing the volume of an accoustic? I was thinking of buying a feedback reducer (or whatever those rubber plugs are called) but I don't know how efficient it would be? Any homemade solution that wouldn't be too much of an hassle to put on/remove and wouldn't risk damaging the guitar? My neighbors haven't yet complained that I play horribly for 30 minutes to 1 hour every day and I'd like to make sure it stays that way. Last year the apartment just over mine had a guy playing guitar semi-regularly in it and we could hear every not ring perfectly. It was quite enjoyable because he was good but it would have been torture if he would have sucked and I don't want to force that on everyone. KingColliwog fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Jan 10, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 00:10
|
|
|
Rolo posted:My old roommate had an Alvarez electric acoustic and it sounded great on it's own, I actually don't think I ever saw him plug it in. I own two electric acoustics and the biggest reason I own them is the built in tuner. I've had one for 2 years and still have never plugged it in.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 01:31
|
|
|
KingColliwog posted:Reducing acoustic volume. From what I've read the best two options are to just play without a pick or to block the sound hole somehow, I don't know if that includes the rubber plug thing you were talking about. I've only played solid body electrics but lately I've been practicing a lot of chord work and strumming, so I think I'm going to pick up a cheapo Ibanez or Epiphone acoustic. Am I wasting my money if I only drop like 130 bucks on one? It'll just be something to dick around with when I don't want to plug anything in.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 02:21
|
|
|
Rolo posted:From what I've read the best two options are to just play without a pick or to block the sound hole somehow, I don't know if that includes the rubber plug thing you were talking about. With an acoustic there's no excuse not to go around to your local guitar stores and try them out till you find one that sounds good for that price. They exist, you just won't know until you play them.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 06:53
|
|
|
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLiZ0jCzpdA Can anyone help me with one of the chord shapes (on the first song) I see an obvious Amin, and C/G, but I cant tell on that third one. I think its a Gsus4, but anyone verify sanity for me? edit: Just incase anyone cares at all; it is indeed Gsus4 after finally getting home to my guitar Walked fucked around with this message at 04:53 on Jan 11, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 19:19
|
|
|
KingColliwog posted:How would one go about reducing the volume of an accoustic? I was thinking of buying a feedback reducer (or whatever those rubber plugs are called) but I don't know how efficient it would be? Any homemade solution that wouldn't be too much of an hassle to put on/remove and wouldn't risk damaging the guitar? I haven't done this myself, but a friend of mine was saying that he's done just this by filling the body with cotton balls, essentially. They'll trap a lot of sound and basically dampen it. He was saying he did this as a solution to the feedback problem on an acoustic/electric but I imagine it would also do a fair job of dampening the volume.
|
|
#
?
Jan 10, 2012 21:45
|
|
|
Rolo posted:From what I've read the best two options are to just play without a pick or to block the sound hole somehow, I don't know if that includes the rubber plug thing you were talking about. Paramemetic posted:I haven't done this myself, but a friend of mine was saying that he's done just this by filling the body with cotton balls, essentially. They'll trap a lot of sound and basically dampen it. He was saying he did this as a solution to the feedback problem on an acoustic/electric but I imagine it would also do a fair job of dampening the volume. Thanks a lot, I'll go with the feedback plug route first since it's only 5-6$ and very convenient. The cotton balls thing is cool too, but it would be quite a hassle and not very practical if I want to alternate between dampened and not.
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2012 03:36
|
|
|
I have a book on flamenco that has everything in sheet music. Is there a site online that I can look at to try to translate it?
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2012 21:38
|
|
|
http://www.musictheory.net/lessons might help - basically you're going to have to read music here, but it's not that hard to learn. Learning to do it quickly and consistently is the harder part!
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2012 21:45
|
|
|
Help. I am rather solid at all things fingerstle (nowhere near good, but I can comfortably finish songs). I cant strum to save my life. 16th notes = hosed. Any particular exercises / things I can do to improve my ability to strum faster? Or am I in for a world for hating life with a metronome for a while? (obvious answer I suppose)
|
|
#
?
Jan 11, 2012 23:46
|
|
|
Metronome will be your best bet, but one thing I like to do is play 8ths and occasionally throw in some 16ths, so you are doing short bursts at full speed but not for so long that you can't keep it up. What exactly are you trying to play? Are you struggling with the upstrums, or just moving fast enough, or keeping time or what?
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2012 00:13
|
|
|
Walked posted:Help. I'm assuming you are ok with 8th notes. So if you can do 8th's at 120bpm, thats 16th's at 60bpm (and 4th's at 240bpm) so just do it like that. Play 8ths at 120bpm for a bit, drop your counting down to 60bpm and play at the same speed, count it 1 e + a, and there you go, you're playing 16ths.
|
|
#
?
Jan 12, 2012 03:28
|
|
|
Can someone school me up on the Stratocaster? There's about a billion variations on this (Standard, Blacktop, Roadhouse, Lone Star, Classic, American Special, and then all the Artist Series ones) and then I hear stuff like American strats, Mexican strats, etc. If I go buy one, what should I be looking for? Are there any good strat clones (not just in shape, but in sound)? Also, I've noticed there are quite a few variations on the pickups (humbucker + 2 single coils, 2 humbuckers, etc). Is there a standard setup?
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2012 16:44
|
|
|
I like typing poo poo so I'll keep chatting until someone who's actually informed shows up! The standard Strat configuration is three single-coils, some of the others (like the Lone Star) throw in humbuckers instead which gives a very different tone, I don't know if they'd be considered 'the classic Strat sound' but it gives you some other options. They'll have some other features too. Have a look through this crap for a general idea: http://www.fender.com/en-GB/products/index.php?bodyShape=Stratocaster%C2%AE§ion=guitars (click the series links on the left) American and Mexican strats are just made in different countries - I think some models are only made in a particular place, but generally the difference is manufacturing quality. People always talk about the American ones being best because of the attention to detail, sometimes the materials and components and so on, but you'll notice people saying that Mexican (MIM, Made In Mexico) and Japanese and Korean factories are turning out really high-quality instruments now, so you can get a great guitar at a lower price. This is just general babble so look up some reviews and try out some instruments, but yeah. What's your budget?
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2012 20:52
|
|
|
KingColliwog posted:Thanks a lot, I'll go with the feedback plug route first since it's only 5-6$ and very convenient. The cotton balls thing is cool too, but it would be quite a hassle and not very practical if I want to alternate between dampened and not. So I just bought it and tried it quickly. It works very well and is very easy to put in/remove. The guitar still has quite a bit of volume, but it will help make sure it doesn't annoy my neighbours.
|
|
#
?
Jan 13, 2012 20:55
|
|
|
What's a good and not super expensive metronome? I really need to buckle down and use one regularly, but I don't care for my iPhone app and am bewildered by the myriad options online.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 10:12
|
|
|
It's a metronome, it's a bit of quartz (sometimes) and a piezoelectric speaker, just get whatever's cheap and has the range of BPM you want.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 10:14
|
|
|
ibntumart posted:What's a good and not super expensive metronome? I really need to buckle down and use one regularly, but I don't care for my iPhone app and am bewildered by the myriad options online. What iPhone app are you using? There's got to be hundreds of metronome apps. I use and love Guitar Toolkit.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 10:26
|
|
|
Korg MA-30 is pretty sweet.
|
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 15:26
|
|
|
I like my Korg TM40. It has a tuner and metronome. You can use both at the same time (It has a guitar input and a mic for tuning) so when I am playing scales I can see the notes as they are played to a metronome beat. I also use it for when I do fretboard learning exercises to make sure I'm hitting the correct notes. Added to that, I can then enable the metronome to learn notes at a set tempo as well. (Ie. Play all the B notes on each string, in order, at 40bpm, starting from low E to high E and back down.) I never realized how handy having a dual purpose device could come in so handy. Just throwing that out there. Metronomes are a huge turbo boost to playing speed and memorization I've found. $23 on Amazon, $30 at Guitar Center. Philthy fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Jan 14, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 14, 2012 21:24
|
|
|
baka kaba posted:What's your budget? Under a thousand.
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2012 18:56
|
|
|
Would I regret a Marauder over a regular Strat as my first 'own' guitar?
|
|
#
?
Jan 15, 2012 23:11
|
|
|
crm posted:Under a thousand. Something worth keeping in mind, while an American standard will be around the limit of your budget, they've got much better resale potential than a Mexican made if you decide you want something different down the track. On that note, have you checked second hand prices in your area?
|
|
#
?
Jan 16, 2012 10:50
|
|
|
Jamz posted:On that note, have you checked second hand prices in your area? Craigslist in my area always seems to have a LOT of American Strat and Teles up for sale from family guys who just gave up playing after they found out how much practice you really need to put into it. Near mint for $500-700 compared to $1000ish new. Except for the guys who went all out and got a signature model and expect their money back. Philthy fucked around with this message at 22:52 on Jan 16, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 16, 2012 22:47
|
|
|
Another question - I've got an Ibanez Artcore AS73 and I'd like to make it sound better. Aside from strings (I'm using D'Addario) what can I do to improve it? I'm guessing pickups are the single best option, what would you guys recommend?
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2012 17:38
|
|
|
crm posted:Another question - I've got an Ibanez Artcore AS73 and I'd like to make it sound better.
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2012 22:50
|
|
|
Your amp's kinda the important thing, everyone always says a crap guitar will still sound good through a decent amp, but not the other way around. Pickups can change the sound of the guitar quite a lot, plus the actual type of strings you use (different brands and different materials - D'Addario have a bunch). Don't forget to play with your amp's knobs too, and don't scoop the mids too much. What don't you like about it as it is?
|
|
#
?
Jan 17, 2012 23:38
|
|
|
baka kaba posted:Your amp's kinda the important thing, everyone always says a crap guitar will still sound good through a decent amp, but not the other way around. Pickups can change the sound of the guitar quite a lot, plus the actual type of strings you use (different brands and different materials - D'Addario have a bunch). Hahah my biggest problem is that I hear it next to my teacher's G&L Legacy and it pales in comparison  I've got a Mustang I amp (got all the neat modeling, but...) so that might be a good option to upgrade. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/gl-tribute-series-legacy-hb-electric-guitar--black/502722000001000 On this - what does the "1-Tone w/ Push/Pull to split coil of bridge humbucker" mean? crm fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Jan 18, 2012 |
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2012 06:02
|
|
|
Picked myself up a strat the other day, I couldn't honestly tell you the tonal difference between a MIM and MIA strat, but half of the cost was via trade-in of a Bass, and this guy is going to have some resale value in 2, 5 or 10 years time. I have promised myself tho, that I will not be buying another guitar. Coming from an entirely metal and rock background I was sure I was going to go apeshit over Explorers, Les Pauls, Ibanez Superstrats and all that - but I just couldn't get over the mud that came out of almost all of them in comparison to the sound of a single coil on maple. I just love it more than anything else, and I'd better given how much it set me back. Now I just need to find some inspiration beyond Clapton, Gilmour and Hendrix. 2011 Fender American Standard in Sienna Burst with a maple fingerboard: http://i.imgur.com/9rmCA.jpg
|
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2012 16:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 08:32 |
|
|
Southern Heel posted:I have promised myself tho, that I will not be buying another guitar. Give it time  . As for inspiration, check out some Joe Bonamassa. He is an awesome blues man if you like Clapton, BB King and the like.Posted about this a few pages back, but my dad's friend was saying he was going to make me a custom strat for my birthday. Well the wood finally came in and he's started carving that bad boy out! It looks like it's going to be black with a maple neck and a white pearloid pickguard with EMG single pickups. So basically my best guess is that it's going to be David Gilmour's red and black guitars smooshed together. I asked him to send me some pictures of the birthing process, hopefully he does so I can share them.
|
|
#
?
Jan 18, 2012 23:15
|
|