jorgemac
Forum Replies Created
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Some new songs would be nice, a reggae song or 2 would be cool. I wonder if Tony even checks in daily to see how his site is doing?
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Loraine, I don’t think we can access that site any longer. Down loaded it last year and I get an error message every time I try to open an older lesson.
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Well said J.J.
If you want to learn songs, 1st, learn how to play. then songs will fall into your lap. It always amuses me when members, seemed shocked that this is not a “rote” form of song learning and say “When are we going to learn a song”?
Just our fellow students who want to eat a piece of delicious pie but don’t think about learning how to cook. DUH…
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I hit 80 yrs old in August and have improved my picking a lot since I joined in April 25′.
I was always curious about finger and hybrid picking and now do almost all of the lessons using hybrid picking. Didn’t really become involved in the hybrid style until starting TAC but it has become my favorite method of almost all of my playing.
Don’t know if that is a fault that I’ve picked but it isn’t how the instructions of the lessons are explained. it does float my boat on down the stream though.
I also do stretch the lessons into other guitar keys and fret board locations not suggested in our daily lessons. Also a lot of slides, hammer on’s, pull offs not in our daily instructions. Don’t think of it as a “bad habit” though. I try to keep the same lessons interesting by discovering new ways to play and add to them.
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A Taylor mini is a fairly well put together guitar right out of the box. They are considered easy to play and have a shorter scale length which does make it easier for a newbie to learn to play.
J.J. has it right, go to a music store and play the same riff/song on as many guitars as you can. Don’t allow yourself to be embarrassed by that 14 year old kid who is playing like he knows what he is doing. You’ll get there with some dedication and practice.
Play some of the more expensive guitars if you can. Most of us started out trying to learn on an inexpensive guitar and couldn’t understand why it was so hard to play. Think of it like learning to how to drive in an 30 year old old farm pickup with a stick shift and a bad clutch Vs. a new BMW.
I have been playing guitar so long that I have a bunch of really “cherry” guitars but do remember trying to learn on an guitar with a twisted neck and the string height a good quarter of an inch above that crooked fretboard.
No wonder I quit after a couple of months. Finally bought a decent guitar and was shocked at the difference in learning with a good tool.
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What a great tune, thanks for that.
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Sorry can’t figure out how to attach the lesson modification sheet I made up.
But if you want to play this lick in the Key of G just move the whole lesson down 1 string and play the same positions a 1 string lower. Or to play the lesson in the Key C, Move move all of your picking positions back toward the head stock 2 frets and start the lesson the the Bass E string 8th fret C note.
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The only wa I know to figure out what other tones sound good with strummed chord is to know what notes are available in that key that music you are strumming. That is where scale practice comes in.
The music scale in the key of C is – C, D, G, E, F, G, A, B flat and B.
B flat is the dominate 7th scale tone and the B note is Major 7th tone in the Key of C. Most of us use the dominant 7th note when playing a 7th chord. More advanced guitar players, like jazz style players, will use the major 7th tone a lot. Both notes are available and add a different tonal “feeling” to what you are playing.
If you practice this scale on your fret board you will learn to know what fret positions are available to pick when playing any chord in the key of C. you will also learn where the notes are located on the fret board.
All of this will involve much practice time. I actually like guitar practice time as i learn so much that i can add to my playing.
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BTW I make an G chord using my thumb over the 3rd fret of Bass E string and it is barely touching the 5th string to deaden it, so that a chord strum doesn’t activate a tone from the 5th string. My index and middle fingers hold down the 3rd fret of 1st and 2nd strings. It is my usual go to G chord when playing rhythm guitar.
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Many moon’s ago, in my guitar journey, I began began using my pinky, instead of my ring finger when fingering the E, A, D and sometimes the Em and Am chords in the 1st position . This allows me to use the index finger when making almost any form of a barre chord. The other advantage is either the middle or index finger is left available to add other notes to the chord. It is just automatic now , to finger most of those chord shapes using the pinky and freeing up another finger to to add embellishments to your picking while still holding down the basic chord shape. Was it easy to do, no, but over time it became a natural movement.
My question would be how can you take this issue and add to your playing. what other strings can you fret, in that key you are playing in, that will fit into the chord you are trying to play? can you add a 9th or dominant 7th chord tone by using that pinky to hold down some other string?
Django Reinhart did just fine playing guitar with just to fingers making all of his chord shapes.
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Learning Music is like sailing on the Pacific ocean. There is not just one way to sail. There Are many different ways to move across the water. A long time ago I decided I didn’t want to pick a tune exactly like it was taught in a lesson. I wanted to learn how to play a song like my meager mind heard that song.
I’ve started to reach a place in my learning and playing where The melody is not set in stone. There are walk ups,, walk downs pauses, adding extra notes to a scale, changing timing of different sections of a piece. Just all kinds of things that only happen if you play a lot.
If you hear a folk guitarist and a jazz musician play Mary had a little lamb, each of them will have a different interpretation of the melody. They didn’t get that from only a book or online lesson. They experimented within the framework of the song and their years and hours of playing guitar. You have to learn to play the “right way” and then you need to learn how to pick a tune using all of the hard earned and long hours of playing to interpret what you hear in your head when playing that song.
For me it isn’t something that I can explain, it just “happens” as you gain experience and that only happens by playing with a joy of and a discovery of a slight changes that sounded good to me. I remember learning “All along the watch Tower” and how the tune has evolved over the years. Each time I play the song I play it slightly different than I played it a year or 5 years ago.
I look at a song tab and run through it a few times loosely , maybe start at half speed to see where the holes are that I might want to experiment with a few extra notes, usually within the scale, and sticking fairly close to the melody, just to make the song more of a personal experience.
For most of us, i think experience and practice open up the mystery areas.
Start by learning the song scale backwards and forwards.
Learn to practice with a metronome. That will take time
Learn how to play 2 of the 4 beats in a measure and having beats 3 an 4 available to walk up to the next chord change. Just like our lesson on Friday. that is a start.
If you actually want to learn to play guitar realize that it is a life long journey that after you learn some basic stuff will be full of amazing experiences.
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Has your guitar had a set up? What gauge strings do you have on you guitar.
If your guitar is “hard to play” there are things you can do to help your self have an easier time of it.
If you have thick strings, .12 or .13 on the treble E string it can chew up your fingers if tuned to the normal guitar tuning.
E, B, G D, A E tuning has a lot of tension for a newbie to hold the string down and form chords.
If you don’t know how to set your own guitar up so that it will be easier to play take it to a good guitar tech and have a set up done. Also start with a thinner set of strings like a set of .10’s. This will make it much easier for you to learn how to play.
When I play one of my guitars set up with heavy gauge strings I will tune all of the strings down one whole note so there is less tension on the strings.
if you have a tuner that you have put on your head stock just tune down your strings to
D, A, F, C, G, D.
That is a whole step down and it is easier to hold the strings down as they have less tension tuned down like this.
You play the the same chord positions you already know but your chords are a whole note lower. This makes no difference if you are not playing guitar with other people.
A “C” shaped chord will now be Bb chord, or a whole note lower. A G shaped chord will actually be and F chord. So you practice exactly the same as all of you lessons demand.
if I’m playing with other guitar players I just capo on the 2nd fret and we are all playing in the same tuning then.
I actually like the deeper tone of a guitar that is tuned down and my singing voice seems to fit it better.
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the normal major G scale is G, A, B, C, D, E ,F#, back to G.
The major Dominant 7th scale does include the F note
G, A, B, C, D, E, F, back to G.
The scale I use for G has both the dominant(F) and the major(F#) 7th note in the scale.
G, A, B, C, D, E, F, F#, back to G. your choice what you want to use.
The Dominant G7 has a different sound, more bluesy, than the G major7 chord which to my ear sounds more”sweet”.
When picking G chord lick I usually use the dominant 7th note or bend it up to a major 7th tone. Again personal choice for each picker.
When playing in the Key of F I sometimes walk down from a CM7 chord to a Bb chord to the F chord.
M = major
m = minor
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An easy way to do the walk ups is to learn the walk ups for A, D, G, C, and E by going to the 5th fret of the fret board.
The 6th to the 3rd strings root note is the same note as the 5th fret note on the the string above it.
to Do a A chord walk up you simply go to the string above the A string or the bass E string, go to the 5th fret of the E string and walk “backwards to the 3rd fret note of G and pick the 3rd fret G and the 4th fret G#, then Pick the first note of the A string 5th note as you root note of the A chord and form the chord shape and strum. Walla! you have just completed a 2 note walk up to the A chord. Repeat the process to walk up to the D chord by beginning your walk up on the string above it or the 5th A string.
To do a 4 note walk up to the A chord just back the note walk up on the Bass E string to the first fret of that string and “walk up” 4 notes – F, F#, G, G# and drop down to the open 5th fret note of A and pick the note then form the chord and pick the A chord.
If you practice learning the note name on each of the first 5 frets of each string a “light bulb” will turn on and you will be shocked to learn that you can find any note for any string by learning where the notes are located on each string, what a revolutionary idea….
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I wasn’t a newbie when I started this program but I definitely picked up a lot of techniques by going through mostly all of the Skill section lessons. That is what Saturday and Sundays are for. I don’t have other social obligations so can spend time trying to continue to improve my guitar picking. I’ve continued to revisit them and still pick up stuff from those nuggets.