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Gorilla Salsa posted:The strap issue can literally be fixed with a toothpick. Just slide a toothpick in to the strap hole and screw in the strap pin in as normal. Pickups are easy to replace, and they probably don't need replacement anyway. (Can pickups really break? They don't have moving parts or anything... gently caress if I know. All I do is smash a pick against the side of the strings and I make horrible sounds. I will try the toothpick however, because that's an amazingly simple fix. Side Effects posted:It's probably just a bad connection. Check to see if any of the wires from the pickup and the toggle switch are broken or have become unsoldered, then it's just a simple case of resoldering the connection. Will do, would never have guessed the toggle switch could be the issue rather than the pickups themselves.
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Sep 12, 2010 17:03
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I've been slowly learning five-string banjo over the last three years and plan to buy an AL-2000 next week. Should I tune it in open G so the chord shapes and scales I know will carry over or just start learning from scratch in standard EADGBE?
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Sep 13, 2010 04:33
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TheGopher posted:Will do, would never have guessed the toggle switch could be the issue rather than the pickups themselves. That's the exact reason I haven't used the bridge pickup on my guitar in ~6 months. All it would take is a 5 minute trip to Radio Shack too, but I'm lazy.
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Sep 13, 2010 05:28
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The Proc posted:I've been slowly learning five-string banjo over the last three years and plan to buy an AL-2000 next week. Should I tune it in open G so the chord shapes and scales I know will carry over or just start learning from scratch in standard EADGBE? Unless you plan on learning exclusively Joni or something, probably standard. Do whatever you're going to play in.
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Sep 13, 2010 07:26
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I've just started to pick up acoustic guitar for the first time and I've got a few questions. I've already bought a guitar. I'm not learning with a pick much because I prefer to just use my fingers. How do I hold the neck properly? I've seen places suggest that you just touch it with your thumb. I tend to sort of grip it with my whole palm, like I'm holding a bat. Is this the right way to do it or will it just hold me back in the long run? Does anyone know some solid exercises for learning fingerpicking? I've seen dozens but I don't know which ones are best. Should I just do, like, all of them, over and over? I really want to build up dexterity in my right hand because I love the sound of fingerpicking songs. Finally, does anyone have any beginner songs to learn? I really want to stick with learning guitar, and I figure one of the ways to do that is to make sure there's variety in my practises, so I'm not learning the same song over and over. I apologise if these were asked in the previous thread, but I had a look through but couldn't find good answers (though I probably missed them in the 7000 or so posts). Thanks in advance  .
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Sep 13, 2010 11:24
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Coritani posted:I've just started to pick up acoustic guitar for the first time and I've got a few questions. I've already bought a guitar. I'm not learning with a pick much because I prefer to just use my fingers. quote:How do I hold the neck properly? I've seen places suggest that you just touch it with your thumb. I tend to sort of grip it with my whole palm, like I'm holding a bat. Is this the right way to do it or will it just hold me back in the long run? quote:Does anyone know some solid exercises for learning fingerpicking? I've seen dozens but I don't know which ones are best. Should I just do, like, all of them, over and over? I really want to build up dexterity in my right hand because I love the sound of fingerpicking songs. Make sure you pluck your bass note (most of the time the A string, but C for the C chord; the third chord will be D, so D for the D chord) with your thumb. Practice very slowly plucking the rest of the strings with a single finger. Don't pluck more than one string with the same finger. quote:Finally, does anyone have any beginner songs to learn? I really want to stick with learning guitar, and I figure one of the ways to do that is to make sure there's variety in my practises, so I'm not learning the same song over and over. This is where my knowledge fails. I know that Woody Guthry has some simple fingerpicked songs though.
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Sep 13, 2010 13:47
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Coritani posted:Finally, does anyone have any beginner songs to learn? I really want to stick with learning guitar, and I figure one of the ways to do that is to make sure there's variety in my practises, so I'm not learning the same song over and over. You could always just find a song you already really, really like and look up a fingerstyle arrangement of it. Unless it is absurdly difficult with harmonics and poo poo everywhere, you can work your way through it. I think I've posted this before, but my first song took months to learn. The next one took like a month, and so on, and now my repertoire is pretty big and I can pick up new songs pretty easily, depending on their difficulty (a new one I'm learning right now is giving me grief in some parts because the arranger is a baller classical guitarist and has impossible chords for plebes like me). I probably would have given up if I tried learning baa baa black sheep or some poo poo at the beginning instead of songs I actually like. By the way I started with a pick but haven't used it at all after starting fingerstyle (except for rock/distortion obviously). Not a big fan of strumming chords. Just play whatever you prefer!
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Sep 13, 2010 18:41
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Coritani posted:Finally, does anyone have any beginner songs to learn? I really want to stick with learning guitar, and I figure one of the ways to do that is to make sure there's variety in my practises, so I'm not learning the same song over and over. If you want the classic beginner song, House Of The Rising Sun. You'll learn a few standard chords and if you're going fingerstyle you can get used to picking the individual strings. If you can name some bands you like you might get some good suggestions, it helps to play stuff you enjoy
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Sep 13, 2010 20:21
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I unscrewed the cover to the toggle switch on my guitar last night and I don't think there are any loose or bad connections. I can't be sure because it's in such a tiny compartment I cant see much. I kind of want to replace it myself, because I can't really bear parting with my guitar at the moment for a few days, but I don't think I'm going to last very long with only being able to use the treble pickup. Then again, it'll be a lot of work becaues I haven't done any work to an electric beyond lowering the bridge. If I do need to take it in somewhere, I want to kill a couple of birds with one stone, and though I still am going to try the toothpick suggestion for the stripped strap hole, I'll probably see if they can repair it the "right" way. I'm not really sure what else I'd want somebody to check out, but I don't want to have to bring it back in for repairs any time soon. The only other complaint I have with my guitar is that I don't get much of a resonate sound out of it. Granted, you don't need much of a resonance when you're using a fair amount of distortion, but when I want to use just a little bit to add some crunch for a bluesy sound, my notes sound so... dull. Chords sound great, but the low-pitch individual notes have no real depth to them. The high pitch notes I can supplement with harmonics to add that wailing effect and make it much more interesting, but like I said, the low notes are so ugh. I have no idea how to get the sound I'm looking for, and maybe I need a pedal, strings, different pickups, a better amp, or better speakers.
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Sep 13, 2010 21:43
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Mini-progress report. Tomorrow is my third week of lessons with my instructor, this is where I stand at week three: - Can totally get my up-strums to ring clear and evenly finally. gently caress yes. - Chord changes in time are coming along. C->A, A->D, D-> G7 / G, A, etc all in time, rest coming along. - F-chord is pretty much good to go on fingering. Moving it or switching to it is a loving joke, however. - Starting to learn a few other barre shapes as well. - Can build major and minor scales on-the-fly, ideally with paper in front of me. This includes sharps/flats. - I still sound like poo poo, but coming along. Playing 75% on the acoustic; granted its a $500 acoustic and my rondo set me back $215, but I really do enjoy it more for some reason. The rondo has new strings, pickups, and a setup in the agenda though. Totally not sure where that leaves me in terms of progress compared to others, but I'm pleased with myself. Still trying to practice 1hr+ a day.
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Sep 13, 2010 23:09
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Coritani posted:How do I hold the neck properly? I've seen places suggest that you just touch it with your thumb. I tend to sort of grip it with my whole palm, like I'm holding a bat. Is this the right way to do it or will it just hold me back in the long run? If Dolphin happens to catch this, it might be worth putting a few links and some blurbs in the OP concerning proper technique, i.e. wrist angles, neck grip, holding a pick, finger positions, etc. and so on. To answer briefly, you'll often hear that the "correct" way to hold the neck is the classical way -- thumb behind the neck, palm aligned with the strings and fingers perpendicular to the frets so they have maximum access across the fretboard. There are some pictures along with a decent article here: http://www.ultimate-guitar-online.com/classical-guitar-lessons-3.htm . Classical techniques by and large are the "correct" techniques, but they're not everything. I say "correct" in quotes just 'cause I tend to think that the "correct" way to play a guitar is whatever way serves you best and gets what you want out of the instrument. I mean, I doubt that anyone said to Jimi that he was doing it wrong 'cause he used the "death grip/baseball bat" style grip and wasn't playing by the rules. However, I'd say that by playing with those classical techniques as a base and point of reference that you'll be able to more easily adapt your own technique. Classical technique scales better as you improve, I guess, if that makes sense. Meanwhile, I say these things having taught myself many, many wrong techniques since I picked up the guitar, and any purist would likely find my own technique atrocious, so take heed that I'm saying this in retrospect having blown the mission long ago. It's very difficult to get out of bad habits after the fact, and when I try to get myself to straighten out my form it's always frustrating and I end up abandoning any efforts real quick. Learn from my ignorance and try to start out doing the Right Thing and building up your own technique from a solid starting point rather than the more-or-less random flailing that was the basis of my playing style.
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Sep 14, 2010 00:38
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hello guitar goons. Any tips for harmonizing scale patterns,chord inversions, chord tone lead lines, and also any advice on creating strong chord progressions would be appreciated. I understand the fretboard decently well thanks to the caged method, however struggle when trying to compose 16th note funk style progressions.
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Sep 14, 2010 03:30
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classical technique sucks when you're standing
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Sep 14, 2010 14:58
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chordate posted:classical technique sucks when you're standing well you change posture but you don't lose the precision you get from practicing classical music.
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Sep 15, 2010 00:31
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baka kaba posted:If you want the classic beginner song, House Of The Rising Sun. This was my first song to learn Carter picking with. It's a great song. Chords as I play it are (Am) there is a (C) house in (D) New (F) Orleans (Am) they call (C) the Rising (E) Sun (Am) it's been (C) the ruin (D) of many (F) a poor boy (Am) and God (E) I know (Am) I'm one (C) (E) (Am) F is a barre chord that beginners often have trouble with, so I recommend playing it xx3211 using your index finger to fret the 1st and 2nd string, middle finger on 2 on the 3rd string and the ring finger to fret 3 on the 4th string.
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Sep 15, 2010 04:01
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Paramemetic posted:F is a barre chord that beginners often have trouble with, so I recommend playing it xx3211 using your index finger to fret the 1st and 2nd string, middle finger on 2 on the 3rd string and the ring finger to fret 3 on the 4th string. If you fret it as x33211 instead, using your pinky on the fifth string, then you are building better coordination for that barre chord. At least, that's what I've read.
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Sep 15, 2010 04:58
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El Kabong posted:If you fret it as x33211 instead, using your pinky on the fifth string, then you are building better coordination for that barre chord. At least, that's what I've read. It's closer to the full barre, so it's a better substitute, but that four string mobile chord is a shortcut you see again and again, as well as the 4 string movable D shape xx4232 and the movable B and Bm shapes xx4442 and xx4432. They're hacks and don't have the same full sound as the full barre chord, but they're pretty commonly seen. Edit: I guess what I'm trying to say is yeah, x33211 is a better substitute played with the pinky on the fourth string and the ring finger on the fifth string, and the middle finger on the 3 string and the forefinger playing 1 and 2. It's a more complete substitute because it gives an additional bass note and more closely mimics a full F-shape barre chord (it's playing the full chord shape of E). However, F barre has the following chords: FCFACF so you don't actually lose any notes from the triad playing it with four strings, but you do lose the two bass notes. Paramemetic fucked around with this message at 05:36 on Sep 15, 2010 |
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Sep 15, 2010 05:18
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I came across this site http://www.justinguitar.com/ and so far it's been great in helping me learn to play. For any newbies out there he does a good job of getting you learning to play through a series of YouTube video lessons. He even has practice sessions broken out recommending the best way to use your practice time. Maybe something good to toss in the OP for those who want to learn but don't have the resources for private lessons.
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Sep 15, 2010 16:43
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Lessons starting this Monday. Looking forward to casting someone an objective eye on my playing. Here's to hoping I haven't developed TOO many bad habits along the years. On a semi-related note, I've started looking for a vocal instructor as well. I want to suck less at everything.
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Sep 15, 2010 19:12
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Eh, I still have some bad habits but unless they're ones that make you injury prone or something it's not a big deal. I took 'lessons' for 2 weeks recently just to get a pro to look at my technique and he basically said that. In the end a lot of it is what you feel comfortable with. Like my fingerpicking hand is in more a lute technique position (they don't form a neat X when crossed, more like a ><) which means my index and thumb might interfere with each other, but since I vastly prefer my middle finger over my index he said it's not a big deal, just keep it in mind. Yeah not really a big fan of lessons or exercises. I just like to play.
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Sep 16, 2010 19:01
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Well, maybe "bad habits" is the wrong way of looking at it. I guess I'm also looking for good habits I didn't know existed. I sort of plateaued a few years ago, where no matter how much I played I seemed to still get stuck on the same old stuff, no matter how often I played, time after time, and then kinda stopped playing regularly. I guess since I'm getting back into things, I want to introduce some improvements into my technique while I'm still feeling more malleable. I was always sort of a stinker on lead, improv skills suck, and I know I favour my index and middle finger too much, and I'm hoping to expand my musical horizons a bit and learn some jazz. I dunno. Even if it's not what I expected, I've spent money on stupider things. If there's even a chance I get what I want out of this, I think it's worth a shot.
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Sep 16, 2010 21:12
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I don't think it's a waste of money even though it's not for me. If I ever plateau looking for a good teacher and learning a new style or something will probably be the first thing I do.
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Sep 16, 2010 21:13
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The most important thing for consistent improvement is to have a method, goals, and a practice routine. Having a teacher and keeping up with the homework will yield the best results, but if you can organize yourself effectively, you'll still see much better results than just jamming with the radio. It could be worth taking a couple lessons just to get an idea of your weaknesses and how to set up a practice routine. quote:I guess I'm also looking for good habits I didn't know existed. I would be careful not to assume that just any guitar teacher is a "professional" guitarist, in the sense of musical ability. There are a great number of teachers, guitar especially, who do not have great chops, but know enough to teach beginners, who are the vast majority of lesson takers. A "good enough" guitar teacher may not recognize subtle technical flaws or how to improve on already good technique. If you want a teacher who can give you direction and works to make you a well-rounded player, look for people with varied professional experience and lots of teaching experience. Probably not going to be some guy in the guitar store.
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Sep 16, 2010 23:44
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CalvinDooglas posted:I would be careful not to assume that just any guitar teacher is a "professional" guitarist, in the sense of musical ability. There are a great number of teachers, guitar especially, who do not have great chops, but know enough to teach beginners, who are the vast majority of lesson takers. A "good enough" guitar teacher may not recognize subtle technical flaws or how to improve on already good technique. The instructor I decided on seems to be pretty well-rounded, based on his bio. 30 years playing, 20 years teaching, got a cert from The Berkeley College of Music, then did a three-year jazz program at Humber. I might not be the greatest guitarist in the world, but I'm probably up there are a critic of pretty much everyone and everything. I don't doubt for a minute I'd be able to sniff him out immediately if he was just the kind of teacher keeping one lesson ahead of the student, so to speak.
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Sep 17, 2010 00:22
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dark_panda posted:I say "correct" in quotes just 'cause I tend to think that the "correct" way to play a guitar is whatever way serves you best and gets what you want out of the instrument. I started playing at a very early age, took a few years of lessons, went my own way and graduated high school from a fine arts private school where I learned classical guitar. My friends laugh because of how my body position, stance, the way I hold my guitar changes based on what I'm playing. There are times that I'm all 'Mr. Pro-classical dude' and later in the set I'm all Jimi with my thumb hanging over the neck. Some of this too will depend on your guitars, my thin necks really lend themselves to using my entire hand while some of the thicker necks (I'm really looking at my Les Pauls here) force more of a classical position to be comfortable, ESPECIALLY up on the high frets. My suggestion would be to learn 'correctly' at first, then over time you'll develop your own style, based more on what feels good to you. Now, on to the subject at hand. I recently bought a cheap little Les Paul Studio and had it set up to be a slide guitar, new raised nut, flat radius and all. What's a good resource for learning a Duane Allman/Derek Trucks style of slide? Books are great, video's a secondary option, whatever works out the best. I'm primarily interested in open-E tunings. Btw: Zo posted:I don't think it's a waste of money even though it's not for me. If I ever plateau looking for a good teacher and learning a new style or something will probably be the first thing I do.
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Sep 17, 2010 04:52
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quote:What's a good resource for learning a Duane Allman/Derek Trucks style of slide? Books are great, video's a secondary option, whatever works out the best. I'm primarily interested in open-E tunings. "At Fillmore East" and "Joyful Noise"
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Sep 17, 2010 22:01
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This is going to sound really dumb but is there a genre dictionary around, for something like which rhythms/sounds go with each? I realize there aren't fully agreed-upon definitions for what makes music "country" or "blues" and everyone hates that anyway but that's basically what I'm looking for.
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Sep 17, 2010 23:22
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chordate posted:This is going to sound really dumb but is there a genre dictionary around, for something like which rhythms/sounds go with each? I realize there aren't fully agreed-upon definitions for what makes music "country" or "blues" and everyone hates that anyway but that's basically what I'm looking for. I think genre distinctions are a mostly a product of instrumentation and vocal style. For example, almost any song can be played with banjo rolls and a fiddle and a lapsteel and it'll sound country as gently caress. Case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyzVXFIbSDM Just listen to the stuff you want to emulate and emulate it.
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Sep 18, 2010 08:30
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I know it's just been mentioned but is there any more tips for learning barre chords, I started learning acoustic around about January and was pretty chuffed after a few months at being able to get down most songs i put my mind too down. Using Fm7 to replace learning F properly, when I sat down and told myself I was gonna learn barre chords it was pretty much two to three weeks of anger before giving up the guitar in frustration. Just gone back to it in the last couple weeks and think it would be better to go in at the very least prepared this time so I'm not losing my mind, I've heard on an electric it's far easier and it does seem almost ridiculously hard to press down my strings even when im concentrating on just that. I feel like I'm waiting for the day that my brain will finally 'click' and suddenly my fingers will become twice as strong.
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Sep 18, 2010 20:07
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The Proc posted:I think genre distinctions are a mostly a product of instrumentation and vocal style. For example, almost any song can be played with banjo rolls and a fiddle and a lapsteel and it'll sound country as gently caress. Case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyzVXFIbSDM Right but I'm looking for something along the lines of common rhythms, not so much tone.
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Sep 18, 2010 20:22
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Chumpion posted:I know it's just been mentioned but is there any more tips for learning barre chords, I started learning acoustic around about January and was pretty chuffed after a few months at being able to get down most songs i put my mind too down. Using Fm7 to replace learning F properly, when I sat down and told myself I was gonna learn barre chords it was pretty much two to three weeks of anger before giving up the guitar in frustration.
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Sep 18, 2010 20:37
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chordate posted:Right but I'm looking for something along the lines of common rhythms, not so much tone. I don't think you're going to find any resources for genre by rhythm, since specific rhythmic figures aren't definitive of genre. You're not going to find anything that's a "jazz rhythm" or a "classical rhythm" because context is everything. You can find huge similarity between the rhythms used by Bach and Charlie Parker, and huge differences, too. You'd do best to start boning up on scores and listening to how musicians play with rhythm.
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Sep 18, 2010 20:38
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How would you guys play this: (natural harmonic on high e string, rest strum) I haven't seen harmonics mixed in with a chord like that yet and I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to play it (normally I'd touch with my right index and pick with my right middle finger, but obviously that can't work here). Right now I'm holding the chord claw-like, with my left pinky resting on the harmonic string and it's pretty delicate. Just more practice or is there an easier way? Zo fucked around with this message at 18:15 on Sep 19, 2010 |
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Sep 19, 2010 18:12
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Zo posted:How would you guys play this: (natural harmonic on high e string, rest strum) Ring finger on 4th string, Middle on 3rd. Index on 2nd, and pinky on 1st? Can't really think of any other way. It's not that hard.
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Sep 19, 2010 18:18
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Thoren posted:Ring finger on 4th string, Middle on 3rd. Index on 2nd, and pinky on 1st? Can't really think of any other way. It's not that hard. Doing that but can't get the first string to sound out very well. Especially since index finger tends to brush up against the first string. Oh well.
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Sep 19, 2010 18:21
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Zo posted:Doing that but can't get the first string to sound out very well. Especially since index finger tends to brush up against the first string. Oh well. You probably just need to practice it then it is a kind of awkward chord.
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Sep 19, 2010 18:40
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Thoren posted:You probably just need to practice it then it is a kind of awkward chord. Yeah, it's definitely do-able - practice the chord without the top string (let it ring open though, so your finger's not going to mute it) and add the harmonic later. Also this isn't necessarily easier but technically this is the same chord: x074<5>0 (harmonic on the B string)
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Sep 19, 2010 19:18
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I'm an experienced bassist who is working on his guitar playing but I think this isn't out of place on this thread if I can get an answer from someone more experienced than I; when working on lead playing do advanced players pay attention to what fingers are fretting which notes? I don't use my pinky a great deal and when I do it's not really a conscious choice, it's just the right finger for a particular note, but sometimes I feel like I could be using my pinky and I'd be able to move around much faster, and speed is essential seeing how I'm mostly a death/progressive metal player.
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Sep 19, 2010 19:23
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I'm no shredder but guitarists tend to use the one-finger-per-fret technique, where you have your hand in one position (say index finger over the 5th fret) and your fingers cover a box of four frets, with each finger responsible for the notes on the fret it covers. There's more to it than that (you can sometimes stretch, you might need to play more than one note at once, and if you're moving position it might make sense to fret a note with a different finger) but that's the basic idea. On another note, when I started playing I borrowed some books, and one was for METAL GUITAR. It encouraged you to learn whole-tone bends with every finger, including the pinky, which was real hard work - and I never did it, but it would have been useful! Short version - totally use your pinky
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Sep 19, 2010 19:43
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baka kaba posted:I'm no shredder but guitarists tend to use the one-finger-per-fret technique, where you have your hand in one position (say index finger over the 5th fret) and your fingers cover a box of four frets, with each finger responsible for the notes on the fret it covers. There's more to it than that (you can sometimes stretch, you might need to play more than one note at once, and if you're moving position it might make sense to fret a note with a different finger) but that's the basic idea. When you're shredding the minor scale and have to do, for example, two whole tone stretches (let's say third to fifth to seventh fret) then use your index finger, middle and pinky.[1] [1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES1RypBww_g (i love gilbert so much)
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Sep 19, 2010 22:54
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