[jorgemac]

From all of your posts that i have read i know you have a good heart and a strong mind.

I don’t envy your situation in any way but you have the strength and the support of this community behind you. I know you will win this battle and be making many barre chords in the future.

[jorgemac]

Thanks Moose, wasn’t aware of this.

[jorgemac]

Correctio, I should reread my posts before posting them. The D to G chord changes – the anchor fingin the ring finger, note the index finger, sorry for the error.

[jorgemac]

Great advise as forever i neglected the thumb placement on chord changes. I have corrected that but it would have saves a lot of time and effort if i had learned to reposition the the thumb when needed. This is also helpful for learning to use barre chords and palm muting techniques.

Many chord changes become easier if you develop a “guide” or “anchor finger that stays on the same string and fret when changing chords.

When I play the D chord to the 4 finger G Chord my my ring finger is my anchor finger. It doesn’t move. the same with Em to G. The index finger does not move from the B string 2nd fret during the transfer from Em to G.

Or C to F. the index finger is on B/1 for the C chord and merely Swings down to cover the open treble E string to form the 4 string F barre chord or stay on B/1 for the 3 string F chord.. There are a lot of other examples if you search them out. D to Bm or GM to the 3rd fret 4 string G. 5th fret Em to G or G to Em.

There aren’t any short cuts but if you practice these hints others and myself have offered it will keep you busy and off of the mean streets… it will help you.

[jorgemac]

Early on I would print out the tab and above the chords I would write up or down arrows for pick striking directions.

[jorgemac]

The card system is a great idea, thanks.

[jorgemac]

I am more advanced than a lot of the pickers on this site so I took and completed the 30 day course on a Sunday afternoon. then started the normal 5 day program on Monday. I have taken many of the skills courses on the week ends and continue to brush up with these quite often. Being retired does offer a lot of time to fill and my guitar skills have improved every week by devoting time and energy to guitar practice.

i also print out every daily lesson and do go back to favorites to keep up with those learned or learning skills. Some of the TAC members just save the lessons on their computer. I like the printed versions better.

I just purchased another 2 inch binder as this one is overflowing after 10 month’s on TAC. I am fortunate to not have any hand or finger limitations to hinder my guitar growth But other famous guitarist like Djando Reinhardt figured out how to become a giant among early Jazz guitaist despite missing a finger or 2 so I know you will figure out how to pick despite your crooked appendages . Good luck

[jorgemac]

Remember to tune the strings down whole or half of a note to make it easier to press them into chord positions. Today I am playing on a treble to bass tuning of C#,G#,E, B, F#, and low bass string C# or a note and a half down from regular tuning. It just has a magical tone to my ears.

The ol Texas blues legend Lighting Hopkins voice changed as he aged into his 60’s and 70’s, so he Just tuned his guitar down to accommodate that aging cracking voice change. Smart man…

[jorgemac]

Hey Cami, Since you are retired you should have plenty of time to browse different guitar stores. In the old days you could find good used instruments in pawn shops. Google las Vegas guitar shops/stores.

I’ve picked up a beater before at thrift shops, estate sales can be great for finding a jewel, or some yard and garage sales, have fun with the search but you need to research buying a used guitar, probably google again. Again, I prefer guitar tone and playing action over looks . If anyone in your retirement community plays, check with them.

Things to check when looking for a used guitar.

Does the neck have a truss rod so you can adjust it? Is the neck warped?

How worn are the frets? Is the bridge loose. How much of the bridge saddle is showing?

If only a little of the saddle is visible make sure it has a truss rod so you can adjust it. You might be looking at a neck reset , again$$$.

Any body or neck joint cracks? Most of the time these can be repaired but that does cost $$$. How long has it been since it was played regularly? Is the case in good shape?

Buying a used guitar Is like that 1st date. You have to be really careful that you examine everything to see if you want to go on a 2nd date.

[jorgemac]

I don’t usually buy new guitars. The used instruments have usually been played some and are closer to being broken in. Most of the time new guitars sound new and don’t have much of a personality. Used instruments that have been played regularly give you and idea of how the guitar will sound. Playability and tone are the most important aspects of a guitar, to me. If the instrument looks a little rough, well, so do I. So, it fits my personality better.

[jorgemac]

The Taylor Student model nylon string guitar gets a lot of good reviews. I haven’t played one but let me know if you find and have a chance to pick it.

[jorgemac]

I have 3 hybrid nylon string guitars that I do play as well as my steel string guitars. You might check some of them out . Las Vegas has a bunch of guitar and music stores, I’m sure. They are definitely easier to play than the steel string guitars and the better models do have decent tone. Some are acoustic electric. My favorite hybrid is the Taylor 712 that I bought used a few years back. I also Have a Takamine P3FCN that is a mid level price instrument that you can check out.

[jorgemac]

Smaller gauge strings on the electric make it easier to pick sometimes. I’m not bad on an electric guitar and just a little better than mediocre on the acoustic guitar. I like the portability of the acoustic instrument and after many hours of practice I can get nuances out of the Acoustic guitar that I like the tone of better than that electric picking.

I get much more enjoyment out of acoustic accomplishments. You can get a good set up done on your acoustic guitar. Drop the strings down to a more comfortable size, though you do lose a degree of tone. I use 12/57 or 12.5/53 strings on my acoustic instruments. But started at 10/53 ‘s and worked up to the 12’s every other string change to reach what works for me. To avoid a lot of finger tip soreness every time I increased string gauge I would tune down to the tuning I describe below, for a week or two and then increased the pitch a half a tone at a time until I was picking on “normal” tuning of the larger gauge string set.

If you find your current guitar string choice hard to play just lower all of the strings down a full tone, treble to bass string tones D, A, F, C, G, D. This makes the strings easier to hold down. Or find a model that suits you better in all of the after holiday sales. If you are playing with others just capo on the 2nd fret to return to regular tuning. Acoustic seem much more personal so, for me, it is a personal preference choice.

[jorgemac]

This thread did develop a special character of it’s own. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. For a long time I had terrible strumming and rhythm problems until i started using the metronome. I used to hate the metronome and avoided it as it forced me to actually clean up my strumming and picking issues. But It helped me organize my strumming patterns as I slowed it way down and found out how to strum and pick in a more consistent manner. Good Luck in your Guitar journey.

[jorgemac]

Skyman makes a great point about the joy of playing guitar. Being loose and noodling is just having fun. But even when noodling I’m surprised at how much i pick up just messin round that i actually use. usually not immediately. But, over time some part of the noodling does creep into different Progressions.

This morning I was doing the 3 string to 4 string noodle on the first 5 frets. G5, F, C, Am, C, F, Dm to BM7 to Am and ended on C.

G5( E/3, B/3, open G)

to F(E/1, B/1,G/2)

to C (open E, B/1, open G

to Am( open E, B/1, G/2)

to 4 string C (open E, B/1, open G, 4/2

to 4 string F

To Dm (E/1, B/3, G/2 and back to C of your choice.

I mixed and matched these chords for a few minutes and threw in the Partial B Major 7(B/3, G/2, D/3 and walked down to A minor to C.

great fun.