[jorgemac]

BTW I turn 79 on the 15th of this month. You are never to old to become a picker.

[jorgemac]

I’ve always wanted to be able to play guitar, always. I’ve gone through phases where I learned rapidly and and years, yes, years where I’ve pretty much not improved and have quit many times. But for whatever reason I always have come back to give it one last try. After retirement I became serious about trying to improve my junkie guitar habit. This course has helped me take all of that old accumulated guitar muscle memory, unrealized guitar and music knowledge and finally begin to realize my dream of actually playing like I have always dreamed of. I’m currently rapidly in an explosive learning faze and loving every moment of it. My advise is learn the basic fundamentals, strumming patterns, basic chord 4 major chord patterns for a couple of music keys- C, G and D. Key of C chords C,F, G and A minor and practice a couple of strumming patterns so that you feel comfortable using the 4 major chords. Practice the C scale also and be sure to think each note name and you pick it. You can learn enough guitar music theory by reading up on guitar music theory on many online articles. will you be dazed and confused, at first you bet you will. But all of that knowledge will be available to transfer to your guitar playing hands and anyone who picks up a guitar and participates in learning to play a GUITAR PLAYER. Do not give up.

[jorgemac]

Almost pulled the string on a Takamine 132 but the guy wanted $150 to ship it 300 miles, so shut the deal down. Nice 10 year old guitar with a 2″ nut. i’ll keep looking.

[jorgemac]

Today I dropped down from 1.5 Primetone to 1.3 Primetone. It seems to give me more control for softer voicing while still able to bang out firmer notes as needed. Just part of the never ending guitar journey.

[jorgemac]

I am a Dunlop Primetone fan and just switched from the 1.5 down to the 1.3. I’m doing more Hybris picking and finger picking with a Black mountain thumb pick. The Dunlop primetone 1.3 seems to give me better control and a little more flexibility. Like most of you who have been picking for awhile I do favor a thicker pick. Dunlops don’t seem to wear out, I’ve been using the same 1.5 for 4 years, just thought I’d give the 1.3 a try for awhile.Better tone, more pick control for softer tones yet sturdy enough to bang on the strings as needed. Keep chugglin.

[jorgemac]

The guitar Strumming book “The First 100 Strumming patterns for Guitar can be downloaded from Amazon and you can also download backup tracks once you download it. I bought this and put it on kindle, which I think you can also download from Amazon. I liked it enough that I ended up ordering the book version which made it much easier to follow in the book while using the audio download. Just easier to follow along. Good Luck

[jorgemac]

The purpose with the down up stroke involves timing. For the longest time I did not learn how important this was. I just picked what I thought sounded cool. For me it made it hard to play guitar with other people who had learned how to stay in time. Now I try to practice any new music piece using a metronome. This helped me understand the importance of the down up strokes. If you are trying to learn a new song and you can’t stay in time it very hard to learn with any consistence. If you work to develop this it will make it much more enjoyable and you can improve your playing more quickly. If this is all new it will be frustrating but will pay off if you develop good fundamentals. Just start slowly and it will come to you.

[jorgemac]

Welcome, I’m just almost over 2 months new. One of my guitars is a Taylor nylon string guitar and I do play it here. I don’t want that guitar to feel lonely or left out so i have it in my guitar rotation, especially on finger style lessons.

[jorgemac]

Who knew… Thanks

[jorgemac]

Thanks for your thoughts, I’m waiting on the Ernie Ball strings . Think I’ll try them on the Martin 000-15 and see how they sound. I have an Alvarez Yiari Parlor PYM66HD that needs something to wake it up. I love playing it but want to wake up the tone a little. Any suggestions for a small bodied guitar like that. I had to give a big Yawn to the Santa Cruz Strings. They didn’t do anything special to My Larrivee C-03 Tony Emanual 12 fret model that screams with the D’arr’s XT’s on it. You are right about each instrument having it’s own personality. It’s up to us to discover that personality.

[jorgemac]

Bill, I’ll order the Ernie Ball Bell Bronze set today and give them a try.

[jorgemac]

I’m the same and change strings as soon as I detect any change in tone. Can’t help myself or stop from changing them out.

[jorgemac]

Hey Skyman,

Thanks for the knowledge. Every time, over the years as I have gone up in string gauge I have lowered the string tension by tuning down a whole note – D,G,C,F,A,D for a week or two of practice as my fingers need to toughen up to the thicker gauge. after a few days of the whole note drop I will take the strings down only a half note – D#,G#,C#,F#, A# and D#. After a few days of this I can then adjust back to regular tuning. That helps my fingers while they adjust to the different string tension. I’l just capo up if I’m playing with someone else until i return to regular tuning.

[jorgemac]

I belong to Songster and chordify. Chordify is great for a general feeling of how a song was originally sung and later interpretations but doesn’t break a song down, to actually how to play that tune. Songster is more specific, more note to note interpretations of a song. with fewer lyrics included. It took me along time to learn how to use Songster but now I use it often to help me get started on how a song is put together. It has a free section and a monthly fee section that is very helpful, if you take the time to learn how to use it. That being said you still have to put in the guitar practice time to learn the tunes.

[jorgemac]

I have important life changing decisions I have make every day. Should I change my guitar strings on any of the over 30 guitars I own. Do any of my amps need new tubes. You know, really important stuff, When I started using the new sign in procedure I was wondering what caused the change. I know I didn’t have any checks bounce or credit problems, except for the original problem of lack of funds to purchase another guitar that I knew would revolutionize my playing style, just like the other 30 guitars did. I didn’t take years to build an awesome learning environment online that helps me learn and enjoy a daily challenge that, mostly, I can handle. I’m new and I love my daily experience here online. If Tony needs to improve the security of my daily experience I’ll cut him some slack and wait to see if it improves or changes how I interact with all of you. That’s my .02 cents worth.