jumpinjeff
Forum Replies Created
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Does that information get you closer to your guitar goal or the way I see it and also why my answer was direct….it is a distraction and will do nothing but get in the way of your progress. You are paying for a teacher….let the teacher teach. What is the point of knowing that unless you are unsure of the method? I am trying to drill down and save time and energy for play and progress.
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Hi Fingers!! @BrianSantos , I spent last weekend with him and we sang Apple Jack about a thousand times through. “play a song, let your banjo ringggggggg!!!!!” It is burned into my brain. Happily so with the memory of the joy it brings to the grand! Time for a Tone-versation Zoom?!
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the exact amount needed to get better without being bored!
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Been thinking about this question for a few days now, @Loraine lays out fantastic mechanics for how to get faster changes but there is a mindset also that takes much longer to develop (thus the need for ungodly repetition in order to achieve success). Mindset: embrace the absence of tension in playing…. I will say it one more time because it is that important to speed precision and accuracy,… the absence of tension is the key to those three things, speed, precision and accuracy. it all comes down to this, exploring the art of using the least amount of pressure to get a string to make the sound you want. I found this to be a long process but once clued in, it added a new level of enthusiasm and interest as things went into higher gear as a result of relaxing but it is more than relaxing. Relaxing may be less accurate than “removing tension.” Tension. That is the word. Mind tension, body tension. There must be enough to make the sound but not an ounce of pressure more. In mind time is the stressor creating tension. speed management it the key to mental tension. If I chased speed I was always behind, but I could slowly sneak up on it. Shout out to @Carol-3M-Stillhand for introducing this concept to me.
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Perfect Question, It grabbed me and gave me pause to think! Improvisation could be one note but does not have to be….adding in harmonize notes add lovely sonic texture. I use a rake technique across 4ish strings muted, also providing texture. Those are examples of “What you do is up to you” and “If it sounds good it is good”. Specifically what happens is the rhythm of the chordal structure is maintained for 4,8,16 bars (whatever is agreed between the players) or a backing track, the Improviser then adds a melodic contribution over the chordal structure.
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Well done @drbrow and congratulations. The daily bites have me hooked as well.
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Fretboard Wizard is a guitar specific musical theory course. I found success because Tony made the complicated plain and easy to understand. Best money I spent for music knowledge by a long shot. I had always wondered why I could play all the notes in a C scale and not all the major cords to make a nice sound. Fretboard Wizard answered that question and about a thousand others I had been meaning to figure out.
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it is not the stretch it is how the stretch is done. I found exponential increase in flexibility when I learned to stretch for release not for tightening. Especially with the tiny muscles and connective tissue in the fingers and hands. Think silly putty. Stretch it too fast and it breaks: slowly and it stretches into long thin threads.
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Best all around pick for the money is Dunlop Ultex 2.0. On the exotic side….I love Snakewood as a pick material and thick 2.5. I mess around with other woods too, Amboyna, pink ivory wood, BRW. This was whittled down from ten types of wood to my faves. I like Blue Chips but not all the time. They slide on the strings almost too much and cost is a detractor. For fast strum training I worked the Jim Dunlop Nylon .60. This was a training pick, the dynamic range is narrow compared to the effort needed to produce the change. This is a loud pick: the pick itself makes sound as it strikes the string. I am not big on that sound which reinforces my use as training pick only. Great though for the purpose of working speed (another way of saying, “how much can you relax while playing”). I can see if you are having grip problems how the Primetones are useful. I used to have that issue until I figured flat picking was all about balance in the same way riding a bike was about balance. Once you get it you no longer fall off. Just know that balance is the key and you will get it. Just keep going. Lastly I have a little mother of pearl pick that I have been experimenting with for a few years. Mother of pearl is a hard material, the hardest of all of them and it is the fastest. This pick requires the most precision. It only takes the very tip of the pick to strike the string any more and it gets awkward feeling. It took me the most time to get a desired sound (precision seems to come to me exclusively through time), the rewards though are worth it. I even made picks out of turtle shell (it was road kill), not a fan. I have tried paper, various plastics including credit cards and any other material that makes a little ping sound when dropped and hits the ground. I put speed bevels on all my wood picks. Forgot to include that important developmental detail. The advantage of the wood picks is I can reduce the pick to string contact noise to almost nothing. I have been working many years to find a way to achieve this effect. Closer every day! Have fun. It is one of the least expensive ways to play around with your acoustic sound!
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yes!!! conceptually on the mark! It just does not feel the same in the mouth as the other. next morning and I am still chewing on it in the best of ways. Thanks Fletchy.
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How fun is that! Tons! says me. Oh man, there are some glittering lures hanging in those trees right above all the thorniest of weeds. Think I will keep going inbetween but every bone in my body wants to check out the glitter. Reincarnation anyone…no, I am staying on the path. SWR <3!!!
I almost forgot! You just wrote my favorite lyric: Truth a mantra, raison d’être. So much fun to roll around the inside of the mouth….words Fletch words. -
Bluey: I had to look that one up. Mom, Dad, Bingo and Bluey. At least there weren’t tons of lyrics to memorize. : )
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the best though is when they sent it out the window on a kite string and 20 minutes later they reel it in. OMG that was some musical bliss.
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The frame for the improvisation is definitely rehearsed and agreed. Within this frame the improvisation can be the melody exactly (if there is one) or you toy with the notes in the melody to see what else sounds good finding little motif variations. Two or three single notes can combine to make some fun, cool sounding combinations. Those notes plus your rhythmic choice is the nuts and bolts of improvisation.
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Hey @petelanger , I think we have been hitting the benchmarks every month lately. Jan.-Aint No Sunshine, Feb.- Wagon Wheel, Mar.- Hotel Califonia, Apr.- Old Man.