[DiscostewLA]

There are a lot of lessons where I stop and should ‘ouch my thumbstick!’

I try to do all the stretches that others post and I find it releasing to put the tip of my on the top of the heel of the guitar and then stretch my hand downward while my thumb rests on the heel and I find this provides be a nice stretch.

I’ve been playing pretty consistently for 2+ years now and still get sore. I’m sure I’m squeezing too hard on chords and things – so my finger pressure is something I’m always trying to be conscious of (but not always actually ).

I don’t have a very long thumb so wrapping my thumb for barre chordes hasn’t worked out well for me and I think that’s a big area where if I could figure out how to do the thumb-wrapped barre chords I would save a lot of ‘thumbstick’ use where I’m using a lot of that thumb muscle to make a full barre chord sound clean(ish).

You are not alone. Rock on.

[DiscostewLA]

THanks for sharing your music and your vulnerability. I find I’m most compelled to listen/watch when an artist is sharing something of themselves beyond just the music they are playing. I was just watching the Elton John and Brandi Carlile special and your voice reminds me of hers. I wish you all the best for a healthy heart and spirit and more music.

[DiscostewLA]

Congratulations on your milestone!! Rock on! 🙂

[DiscostewLA]

Thanks so much albert_d. 🙂 Been trying to find a new classical piece to start working on. Hope you are doing great and have a nice weekend ahead and get it in some good guitar time. 🙂

[DiscostewLA]

Thanks so much Braden. Been going through some life stuff and haven’t been able to record for a bit but hope to get back to posting some new stuff soon. I really appreciate your kind and inspiring feedback. Hope you’re doing well and have a nice weekend ahead.

[DiscostewLA]

Fantastic – happy New Guitar Day!! There’s nothing worse than a guitar that you dread playing, and nothing better than a guitar that inspires you to play. WIN WIN!

[DiscostewLA]

Thanks Rick! I really appreciate it. 🙂

[DiscostewLA]

Thanks so much – yeah some of the movements really flow naturally in this and are fun to play through. Hope you have a nice week ahead!

[DiscostewLA]

Thank you Marisa – hope you’re doing well! 🙂

[DiscostewLA]

Hi Beth, thanks so much for your kind words! I work on these usually one bar at a time and then one section at a time and then finally piecing the whole thing together. Then once I get the whole thing together I try to practice few times each day at different times (especially at morning and night if possible) and that tends to help me memorize and build fluidity. And once I feel comfortable I’ll start working on my next song to learn and keep practicing the one I just learned. It took me all together about 3-4 weeks to ‘learn’ this all the way through and I’ve been playing it almost daily for 3-4 weeks now and still stumble on many of the same parts I did in this video but it’s getting better – and I’m still not sick of the song. Yeah, Bach. 🙂

• This reply was modified 11 months, 3 weeks ago by  DiscostewLA.

[DiscostewLA]

Thank paul!

[DiscostewLA]

Thank you!

[DiscostewLA]

Thanks so much!

[DiscostewLA]

Thanks Philb! 🙂

[DiscostewLA]

Yeah it feels good when it all comes together but it also falls apart quickly. :).

The Taylor in the videos is a 714ce w/Sinker Redwood top. The Taylor on the bed is a GS-Mini koa+ which is what I mostly practice on because it’s small and light and I can play it on the couch or in the backyard or at the park and still sounds great.