jorgemac
Forum Replies Created
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What is the address for the help desk? That doesn’t sound right at all when multiple members are having the same issue.
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That is the lesson I worked on today. Great fun.
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When I open the site it lists we are on lesson 23 when today’s lesson should be 17.
How do you contact who ever to fix this? Thanks
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I can’t remember which 70’s, 80”s folk artist is was, but he did a video on nail maintenance. He layered his finger nails with , I think it was either fiber glass or silk cloth and acrylic finger nail polish. 1 of his songs said “if you need a friend you can count on me”. he was huge way back when.
I used to get my right hand layered, I think it was acrylic at salon and it would hold up for month or so. If you have never entered he world of a nail salon it can be quite an experience.
Now I mostly hybrid pick and most of the fingering is using the ball of my fingers more than the finger nail. Softer sound though.
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That’s not good, Loraine. I’m month’s away from 80 now and really have to walk a lot to help keep my agility and balance going strong. i usually take my walks on the street surfaces as the sidewalks are trip zones for old folks. Soon I will need to resort to a cane if I don’t keep up with the walks. Hope you are back at practice soon.
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Lot of great guitar builder’s in Canada. I have 3 larrive’e Guitars that i do enjoy picking. He is close to me here in California now. But he started in Quebec.
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I played a couple of guitars yesterday that I thought were good and don’t break the bank.
Yamaha FS-TA
Guild OM- 140CE
If you can afford to but another guitar in a year or so the Taylor GS-mini has a shorter scale, therefor easier to finger chords. It would be a perfect learner for someone who knows they will probably buy a larger concert or Dreadnaught guitar in the future. Good Tone but has laminated sides. If you buy a new one they do sell used for a decent return price.
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Personally I avoid Guitar Center. I was looking at some of the Guild all wood series guitars. they look interesting. An entry level all wood Taylor is always a safe bet. What is your budget? Most of the all wood models don’t start until $500.00 or up.
Used guitars are a great buy if… the neck is straight, It has a truss rod so u can adjust the action the frets are not too worn and you don’t need a “perfectly pretty” guitar.
I bought my used Yairi Folk FYM66HD guitar(LOOK IT UP, one of the best all mahogany guitars out there) it had a cracked body due to being dropped, that had been professionally repaired and it is a daily player and one of my go to instruments.
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Pete which of the apps do yo use the most?
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If you are hunched forward so you can see the fret board while you play this and the tension of trying to be a “perfect” guitar player always tightens my back up. My best guitar picking is late at night when I am relaxed and just “picking and noodling.
Visit the skills section for the posture exercises and start your guitar practice with these to help you release any anxious tension. Guitar playing is supposed to be fun but most of us want to play “perfectly” so we practice with tension that can be centered between our shoulder blades. A good comfortable chair like Pete mentioned will help you develop good guitar playing posture. I use an office chair also and have removed the arm rests so I can hold my guitar properly to practice. I’m so used to it that i take it with me when I play with friends. Yes they chuckle at me but it is my Lionel comfort blanket, that’s a Charlie Brown reference.
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First, this has developed into a guitar learning community that does share all of it guitar issues with each other a learn from our fellow TAC members trials and challenges of learning to play guitar.
This method of learning teaches you how to learn to play guitar through slowly learning how to play a bunch of cool songs. Every day of practice will help develop a certain guitar centric skill. Yes, you will learn the basic’s of songs and the style of guitar playing needed to master that song. You are not expected to master that song in a week, but learn some basic guitar skills that will help you develop into a more rounded player. All of us struggle together every week and share our small wins and areas we are having trouble learning. we try to help each other over those humps blocking our guitar learning journey. Then you will revisit that song in a few months and will be surprised how much you have grown as a guitar player.
When I, now, play songs that I tried to learn and play before joining with this community of guitar students all of those songs now flow effortlessly through my fingers with the skills I’ve learned in the short 9 1/2 months I have been a TACer For me this method of learning works.
welcome aboard the TAC guitar train.
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First a better guitar will not make you a better player if your aren’t going put in an honest effort to improve.
I play D’ardarrio XL string – 12/53 and 13/56 usually tuned down. i can afford them and they fit my needs. Every guitar player develops their own personal string choice. Cheap strings don’t hold their tone very long. If that is all you can afford then expect to change strings quite often to keep a good tone.
When 1st starting out 10’s were fine. As you start to develop your chops you will probably start playing a heaver gauge string as you will learn you can pick with more “character” to your tone with them.
OK Story time. When I bought my 1st grand daughter a guitar, in her junior high school year, I tried out all of the inexpensive guitars in the guitar Store. To my surprise I kept coming back to one of the cheapest guitars offered because it has, to my ears, the best tone for a starter guitar. The action was good and the tone was as good as guitars way more expensive. I finally bought it for her and she loved it for many years.
The point being buying a guitar is it has to fit you. Before you go to a music store to purchase another guitar learn to play one simple 3 chord song. Doesn’t matter what the song is just something you can kind of play for at least 1 verse. then you have something to compare different sounds coming from the instruments you are going to try out. Try to not be embarrassed by your lack of skill as people all around you are blowing your mind with their guitar picking. Just explain you are new to this and trying to find a first guitar that you feel comfortable with. Most real players will offer you all kinds of advise but take it with a grain of salt as you are your own individual and need to pleae you, not anyone else with this guitar choice.
Research online for different “best guitars” in your price range. If you can play 1 verse in a song or a lick such as Tuesday’s “Gone to long” lesson challenge you can repeat that over on all of the guitars you try out and you will find a guitar that grabs your ear and heart. Do not buy on your first day of checking. Salemen might try to pressure you but do not make any commitment until you have thought about it for awhile. This could be a lifetime commitment. It is important to you if you are really going to learn to play guitar.
I have huge expensive dreadnoughts, some simple parlor and medium folk style guitars. They all have a different sound and I will rotate between most of the smaller and folk size guitars on a weekly or sometimes a daily basis. I haven’t touched a large bodies guitar in a long time, except for my Gibson 200 that is just a magical guitar but isn’t as comfortable as the smaller bodies.
All guitar woods sound different also. Guitars made with all solid wood will age and over time and develop there unique sound.
Ply body wood guitars will sound the same 5 years from now as they do today. Ply bodied guitar with a solid top will develop a little bit of character but not like a solid wood body guitar. I have a Taylor mini that is a solid top guitar/ply body guitar and does sound good but the sound has not evolved much from the day I bought it.
Again research online “best acoustic Guitars” online in your price range and see if you can find something that will help you learn to play and is also fun and easy to play.
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Hey Pete, Lighter gauge strings would probably help. I haven’t looked up that model as far as string size that comes with it, new. But learning how to change strings is very easy to learn how to do. Tony has a video on changing strings on his site.
If the string gaugge is either .012 or .013, even an half step tuned down will decrease the finger pressure needed to hold down a string. The Alvarez RD8 acoustic guitar is a very inexpensive basic entry level guitar and probably did not have any set up completed on it. A good set up from a good guitar tech will help but will cost almost as much as the guitar purchase price. For the same money you can probably purchase the guitar tools needed to make the same adjustments a tech will make.
If you are handy with your hands and a a good learner you can do a simple set up using online videos. Neck and saddle adjustments, new strings at an appropriate gauge could make a big difference in playability.
Other items that would help you achieve a better guitar tone would be to replace the guitar nut and the bridge saddle with bone material, instead of the plastic items that came with the guitar. All of this is an easy way to learn how to make simple guitar adjustments that improve playability and guitar tone.
I am a guitar snob and a tinkerer and am always messing with something on my guitars. I find it enjoyable.
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There are so many ways to mute
1. palm
2. slight finger lift off string and just muting those strings.
3. fingernail slap and variations.
4. finger across strings and plucking those strings, I’m sure there are a lot more variations.
For this song I do curl the fingers and place the fretting hand pinky across the strings and slap the strings fairly lightly and then slide my muting down in a slight 3 finger strumming stroke. This is one continued motion. I also achieve different tones by where my bent finger nails strike the string, close to the bridge or over the sound hole produce different muted tones.
Another method is the middle finger up stroke instead of the finger nail approach.
Pinky over the strings and use an middle finger brush stroke for a different muted tone and then your fingers are in position to pick the last 2 notes of this mute. For me this is easier and I vary the 2 approach’s for different tones.
Each has different mute tones and also where on the strings you strike them also affects the sound – close to the bridge or closer to the fret board end. To me, all are valid ways to to mute.
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As a Viet Nam vet and sufferer of PTSD, I appreciate all of the vets who have helped me and still help many other people who gave so much and received so little in return. Thank you.