The Guitar Thread

[Top_Cat]

Originally Posted by nikhil1772

Its been six months now since I bought my first Acoustic. Started learning,and now i m at a stage where i dont kno what to do.. seeing the notes on guitar pro and then playing kinda gets monotonous afterwards. so now,i cant play very well,nor am i a noob...worst situation imo. What next? Can you guys hear a song and pick up the guitar and play it without sheet music?

This is why you need someone watching your technique, making sure you're right on the tips of your fingers when you play, leaving a decent gap between the webbing on your hand and the bottom of the neck, etc.

And yes, I don't need transcriptions of songs but that's only because I was classically trained (music in general and guitar) and have been playing for years. Takes practice but a good way to start learning most songs is to pick the bass line first. Most bass players follow the chords so you can easily figure them out when you see what the bass is doing. Doesn't work when transcribing avante garde jazz, of course.

As for wrist position for left hand, if you remember four things, proper technique tends to take care of itself and you minimise the risk of long-term injury (and play better!);

1) Play right on the very tips of your fingers. Really exaggerate the arching of your fingers to make this possible.
2) When you get that right, you leave a gap of about 2-4cm between the webbing of your hand and the bottom of the neck. Make sure there is that gap at all times. Poor technique and playing happens when your hand is touching the bottom edge of neck.
3) Keep the tip of your thumb roughly lined up with the tip of your middle finger when playing chords, especially when sliding up the neck.
4) Imagine that someone has drawn a line from the base of the neck to the headstock which splits the neck into two halves. Keep the top pad of your thumb on that imaginary line when you play.

This link is reasonable;

http://www.theguitarsuite.com/lefthandposition.html

If you do the above you'll sound better, your hand will be more relaxed, you'll be able to play for hours pain-free and you won't get injuries in the years to come. That said, it's really hard to do this online so I suggest you get yourself a teacher, even just to start you off.

AgentTBY, I want your Tele.

The Gibson self-tuning guitars, I'm a bit curious because if you're doing lots of tuning changes on stage, they'd probably save a bit of time. I've heard they sound quite nice too. I'll probably have a better look at them once they've been out in the wild for a while because new tech stuff like that tends to be fine in a studio setting but fall over under heavy gigging pressure. My MIDI guitar has held up surprisingly well considering it's a good 18 years old; I guess they went all out to make sure the MIDI worked and stayed working when they made them because it really is a beautiful guitar to play.

EDIT: Anyone else given a Chapman Stick a go? I tried one the other day, very cool instrument. Only problem is that the only people who've taken it up on a regular basis are jazz wankers or world music hippies so the back catalogue on it is pretty esoteric and far too nice. I just wish a metal player would take it up and bash it around a bit.

[nikhil1772]

Originally Posted by Top_Cat

This is why you need someone watching your technique, making sure you're right on the tips of your fingers when you play, leaving a decent gap between the webbing on your hand and the bottom of the neck, etc.

And yes, I don't need transcriptions of songs but that's only because I was classically trained (music in general and guitar) and have been playing for years. Takes practice but a good way to start learning most songs is to pick the bass line first. Most bass players follow the chords so you can easily figure them out when you see what the bass is doing. Doesn't work when transcribing avante garde jazz, of course.

As for wrist position for left hand, if you remember four things, proper technique tends to take care of itself and you minimise the risk of long-term injury (and play better!);

1) Play right on the very tips of your fingers. Really exaggerate the arching of your fingers to make this possible.
2) When you get that right, you leave a gap of about 2-4cm between the webbing of your hand and the bottom of the neck. Make sure there is that gap at all times. Poor technique and playing happens when your hand is touching the bottom edge of neck.
3) Keep the tip of your thumb roughly lined up with the tip of your middle finger when playing chords, especially when sliding up the neck.
4) Imagine that someone has drawn a line from the base of the neck to the headstock which splits the neck into two halves. Keep the top pad of your thumb on that imaginary line when you play.

This link is reasonable;

http://www.theguitarsuite.com/lefthandposition.html

If you do the above you'll sound better, your hand will be more relaxed, you'll be able to play for hours pain-free and you won't get injuries in the years to come. That said, it's really hard to do this online so I suggest you get yourself a teacher, even just to start you off.

Thanks,will try the things u've suggested..
I've really started learning right frm scratch frm net tutorials.Think my problem is while playin riffs...I think I need a lot of practice changing chords. Any tricks there? And please suggest some good and easy riffs to start off with,.. As for a guitar teacher,I work for 6 days a week,n so its almost impossible to manage,I think I'll leave d job in some months to pursue MS..So until then,will have to be content with internet tutorials...

[Top_Cat]

Originally Posted by nikhil1772

Thanks,will try the things u've suggested..
I've really started learning right frm scratch frm net tutorials.Think my problem is while playin riffs...I think I need a lot of practice changing chords. Any tricks there? And please suggest some good and easy riffs to start off with,.. As for a guitar teacher,I work for 6 days a week,n so its almost impossible to manage,I think I'll leave d job in some months to pursue MS..So until then,will have to be content with internet tutorials...

Aha, you've hit upon the big snag with every new guitarist; chord changes. Learning chords is one thing, changing between them is another. The only thing to suggest is practice, practice, practise (with correct technique so you don't hurt yourself). Repetition of the same movements over and over again. Your fingers take time to build up the neuromuscular machinery to convert what is a complex movement of several fingers into one smooth movement, often referred to as 'muscle memory'. When changing from open chords (say C major to E major) work at making each finger move at the same time rather than one at a time for example.

As for riffs, a really good one as far as pop songs goes is the verse chords in Hotel California by the Eagles; tests a few different chords (Am, E, G, D, F, C, D, E), isn't too quick and promotes quick chord changes. That said, I reckon your best bet is (and this is really boring) to just change from one chord to the next. Same two chords. Over and over. Then try two more, etc. Don't worry too much about what your picking hand is doing. Sucks but it works. Eventually swapping between chords becomes much smoother.

As far as barre chords goes, stuff like arching of fingers is still crucial (slightly less so, though) but, again, just takes practice to develop the strength in the finger you're barre-ing with. Again, repetition.

[nikhil1772]

Originally Posted by Top_Cat

Aha, you've hit upon the big snag with every new guitarist; chord changes. Learning chords is one thing, changing between them is another. The only thing to suggest is practice, practice, practise (with correct technique so you don't hurt yourself). Repetition of the same movements over and over again. Your fingers take time to build up the neuromuscular machinery to convert what is a complex movement of several fingers into one smooth movement, often referred to as 'muscle memory'. When changing from open chords (say C major to E major) work at making each finger move at the same time rather than one at a time for example.

As for riffs, a really good one as far as pop songs goes is the verse chords in Hotel California by the Eagles; tests a few different chords (Am, E, G, D, F, C, D, E), isn't too quick and promotes quick chord changes. That said, I reckon your best bet is (and this is really boring) to just change from one chord to the next. Same two chords. Over and over. Then try two more, etc. Don't worry too much about what your picking hand is doing. Sucks but it works. Eventually swapping between chords becomes much smoother.

As far as barre chords goes, stuff like arching of fingers is still crucial (slightly less so, though) but, again, just takes practice to develop the strength in the finger you're barre-ing with. Again, repetition.

Yeah,repetition...I know.. I should do that often... I can change from Gmajor to Cmajor,and thats about it... Will keep in mind,the things you've said,again thanks.

[Son Of Coco]

I got an acoustic guitar for christmas, just working on putting more time into it. One of the problems is I'd like to be John Butler instantly when I'm really Harry Butler. Trying to make it something I do daily though. The tips on here are a good start!

[Agent TBY]

How do you guys play Em?

It really grinds my gears when people use their index finger for this chord, because I think it's pretty useless. Why not play the simple chord the way it's supposed to be played, and leave the index free for a quick chord change?

Then again, playing it on the 7th fret isn't too bad either.

[Top_Cat]

Fingers two and three for me, in the case of open Em. Don't do it often any more, though; generally I jazz it up by throwing in the 9th (F#, 4th fret, 4th string) and 15th (D, 3rd fret, 2nd string). Got into playing this chord when I was playing a lot of Dream Theater. To be honest, I got so used to doing it this way, it's actually quite a mental effort to play the more traditional Em these days!

[Flem274*]

My gear aint much, electric guitar is a Sonic something, which didn't cost much.

Haven't played in a bit, been having too much fun with my new novelty distraction, drums. My sister has a set.

[_Ed_]

My guitar is a cheap imitation stratocaster btw.

I'd love to have this beautiful thing though:

Mmm, shiny and sparkly.

[Top_Cat]

The Kaoss pad makes the guitar look like a toy but it's an awesome instrument and I'd love to have a play with one. Here it is in action;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-4lPjRsrIA

EDIT: And here's how to add a Kaoss pad to your guitar, should you have one laying around which you don't mind butchering.

http://www.unmaintained.com/forums/S...aspx?PostID=43

Wish I had the guts to do this to my Universe. 7-string Kaoss would be interesting.....

[dontcloseyoureyes]

I know it's an epiphone, but meh.

[Josh]

Anyone wanna sell a 35+ watt amp??

[Top_Cat]

My new pedal as mentioned in the first post arrived and I've given it a decent go at home and rehearsal. For those in the market for a pedal of any sort, I highly recommend this one. Your cheap pedals will do the job if you're tight but if you can spend a bit, getting a pedal with true bypass makes a massive difference to tone.

As fo the pedal in question itself, it simply sounds magnificent. The tremolo on it is smooth and the phasers are just out of this world. It's a more subtle pedal than others I've heard but still, it makes the sound of the guitar really cut through the overall sound of the band. Minor irritation, no light on it to say whether it's still on. That's been fixed on the latest model apparently. Still, awesome sound. I love it.

Anyone else got any pedal recommendations? It's hard to find a decent EQ so I could do with some there.

[Hoggy31]

Boss blues driver bd-2 goes off, best value pedal out there for sure.

[Steulen]

I've got a Peavey T-60 (electric) and a Fender Stratacoustic guitar, and a Yamaha 270 bass. Got the amps as well, but mainly plug them into my Line6 TonePort KB37 and on into the computer where GearBox provides all the amp models and Ableton Live turns my riffing into songs.

Despite being an utterly crap musician, I have almost finished my fourth song...so look out for that cheap download later this year