jorgemac
Forum Replies Created
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Like Moose I’m pretty much involved in music practice throughout the day. This course 1st thing each day. Which ever song we are working on I usually also check on Songster to see if there is any lessons that involve what we are working on the week. I have a couple of binders that are next to my music stand the contain all TAC lessons in one of them. The other binders have songs or other exercised that i try to incorporate throughout the week. So I am picking up one of my many guitars through out the day and going over something musical, maybe exercises or scales or developing licks in whichever key I’m working with on that given day. Sometimes I just noodle and the time slips away.
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Simple exercise to help you with pick use. Form an basic A minor chord – index on B/1(B string 1st fret), ring finger on G/2(G string 2nd fret) and middle finger on D/2(d string 2nd fret). Then with picking hand Down stroke D string, upstroke G string, Down stroke D string, upstroke B string, then stum the chord with an up and down stroke. Change/rotate your picking pattern on the 3 fretted notes and do your basic up and down strum again. Do the same thing in other chords in the key of C using the B,G, and D string for fretted notes.- 3 note F chord, open note G chord, 3 string C chord. Some times you will need to use the pinky on the treble E string, usually at the 3rd fret G note on this exercise. You can walk this 3 string fret positions on up the neck and practice your picking and strumming patterns at different fret board positions or put a capo on every 2 frets or so to repeat the pattern. Enjoy
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Both Moose and Skyman cover the ways to anchor your picking hand while “picking” notes. If your are a finger picker you probably anchor your pinky on the guitar top or anchor your palm on the bridge while picking out each string. Now you just need to learn how to use a anchor point while using the pick for single or double string picking. Check out the Hybrid picking lessons in the Skills section located on the left hand side of the opening site page and add some practice time for that to learn another way to pick the strings.
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You just need to make the print smaller on your printer function page. i just scroll down the the function page and open the more settings function then adjust the scale function down to about 65 to 70 percent until it fits inside of the display page comfortably. i have to do this all of the time. Hope this helps
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That is what I like about the Yamaha, very portable and with a fairly long charged life. Good tone for something that can sit on a desktop. Lots of bells and whistles too.
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Hmmm, thought about it but haven’t pulled the trigger yet. I think it is lack of confidence as I don’t think I can sing worth a spit and could definitely use some help. I did buy the Idiot’s guide to singing awhile back but probably need some professional help too.
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Welcome, Like you I am older- 79 and I’m not involved in any other form of social online sites. I’ve played off and on like many of the members and do learn something out of each weekly set of sessions. I doubt if many of the members are as accomplished as you are but we do enjoy the community of wanna be guitar pickers and sharing ideas with each other. I retired and moved from the bay area 4 years ago to the central coast area and do love spending way to much time on trying to improve my playing skills. My technical guitar/music knowledge far surpasses my playing skill. So this course works well for me and helps me develop guitar ideas and has the added benefit of a social outlet with so many people who just enjoy learning to play the instrument.
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I love it, thanks for sharing
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Huh, that’s cool
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Pete next time you change them out think about the tone benefits of a thicker gage string. I’ve gone from 10’s to 11’s to11.5’s to 12 and once in awhile 12.5’s. For me the tone benefits of a heavier gage just sounds fuller to me. As I said earlier I start the heavier gage string down a full tone to D,G,C,F,A, D and increase it up a half tone every week or so when I walk up to thicker strings. The finger tips seem to be able to put up with the change that way. You can always capo up 2 frets when playing with other pickers.
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It is Special when you find a string that works on your guitar. Just like you said it gives that instrument a new lease on life. I tried some of the martin strings and the ernie balls and changed them both out after a couple of weeks. For whatever reason every instrument seems to be temperamental regarding what you string them up with. It does lift you up when you find that perfect match. Keep on chugglin everyone.
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The first rule of music is If it sounds good, it is good. Fundamental finger picking is as described index, middle ring and sometimes pinky are assigned treble strings to generally pick. If you aren’t comfortable with the 3 finger approach modify it to fit what you are trying to accomplish. Sometimes my thumb is down on the G string and I’m using the middle and ring or sometime only the middle finger, especially with 2 or 3 string brush up stokes. I trained with the 3 finger method but I don’t feel locked into using it in a ” book style” format. I use the pick and 2 finger picking a lot. These Hotel California exercises can be done finger style also and the tone is completely different from using a pick. I have been practicing this song, since the last time it came around in almost exclusively finger style. It seems to suit my ears just fine, but have many many hours into trying to learn this style. On Songster there is a Hotel California finger style version that is fun to practice with.
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I usually do keep my practice lessons to short 10 – 20 minutes each session, but I may do that 3 or 4 times a day. or… I might only do the lesson once. I do spend way too much time on the weekends playing guitar just because I enjoy it so much. And what I have learned over the weeks does build up over time. I was fortunate that I know guitar music theory and note location on the fret board fairly well and that has helped me greatly. Like most of us I can say that I am a much better guitar player than I was when I started back in April of this year.
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First, welcome to a new world for you. Hope you learn to enjoy it as much as many of us do. Always use what works for you but practice learning how to stretch your fingers. In the skills section there is some exercises to help you loosen up your fingers. I use a therapeutic squeeze ball and Chinese steel therapeutic balls to help me strengthen my finger and improve co-ordination. Some famous guitar pickers have learned to compensate for missing fingers and many of us deal with arteritis or other limiting disabilities. But our love of the guitar and our love of learning how to pick has helped us overcome these things. Good luck.
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Finger style House of The Rising Sun, Hesitation blues and maybe and original that I’m working on then I ask them what they do really well. And they get this blank look on their face, there eyes start darting around, sweat breaking on their face. and they strutter something incoherent and walk away… It reminds me of how I felt before I was comfortable playing in front of people.