[OwenGL]

There’s one tip I’m not seeing here – but I read through quickly so I might have missed it. Ideally, your finger will hammer onto the string just behind the fret. This minimizes the amount of energy you need to use, though you want to keep that speed factor. Just like regularly fretting a string – the further you are from the fret, the more force you have to apply to get it to fret well and not buzz.

Of course, where your finger is able to reach will depend on where your other fingers are located and how much you’re able to stretch. Shoot for the ideal, but be realistic with your anatomy.

[OwenGL]

Mark,

I tried to respond yesterday, but my response disappeared when I tried to edit it. I’ll try again.

These are the things that have helped me. Take what helps, leave the rest behind.

1. Your reason for playing is all that matters. Any lessons or skills that won’t get you there don’t matter. That reason may change in the future. If it does, you can tackle the other skills you need at that time.
2. Focus on one or two key skills at the beginning. There are way too many skills to tackle all at the same time. When I first started a few years ago as a 40 yr old, I focused on open chords and strumming. Later, I added things like barre chords, hammer-ons, pull-offs, fingerstyle, etc.
3. The daily lessons that don’t directly apply to the skills I’m focusing on are given 10 minutes and then I move on to something else. It doesn’t matter if I get the lesson “correct” or up to speed, just that I spend 10 minutes on it. I see this as slowly building up a base for later when I focus on whatever skill is in the lesson.
4. Don’t try to learn/remember everything in the skills courses. You can always go back and retake them to pick up things you missed the first time.
5. Find simplified versions of songs you want to learn (youtube is great for this) and have fun with them. This really is why we picked up guitar – we want to play songs. I have never heard someone who says “I want to learn guitar so I can play scales” or some other specific skill.
6. The hardest thing of all – don’t compare yourself to others. We each have areas that we have focused on, so we tend to be better in those areas. It is easy to see others who have been playing for around the same amount of time that are good at all of these skills, but what we’re really doing is constructing someone that doesn’t exist that is good at everything.
7. You are exactly as good as you should be given the amount of time and focus you are able to invest in learning guitar. We aren’t kids who can spend hours a day playing guitar. We have responsibilities and obligations that demand our time.
8. Periodically try playing something you worked on in the past – you’ll find it comes much easier than it did originally and you’ll realize the progress you’re actually making.
9. When you are working on something in practice and you finally get it “right”, stop. Walk away and work on it again at some later time. If you end your practice sessions with some kind of success, you’ll be more motivated to come back and try again.

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Now for barre chords. No, you don’t have to learn them. There are plenty of professional musicians who never play barre chords. There are some benefits to barre chords, but they aren’t absolutely necessary. Also, take it slow when you learn them. It takes awhile to get the hand strength and technique right and can be really fatiguing.

Some reasons to learn barre chords:

1. They help you learn the notes up and down the fretboard, especially on the two lower strings
2. Sometimes it is easier to transition to/from barre chords
3. Since your index finger is acting like a capo, you can easily change the key of a song simply by shifting all of your barre chords up/down the same number of frets. (doesn’t work if there are other non-barre chords in the song)
4. You can play the same chords with different voicings. For example, you can play the D major chord the standard way on strings 1-4, but that leaves out all of the base. You could use a barre chord on fret 10 and use all 6 strings which makes it sound more full, but higher pitch. You could use a barre chord on fret 5 with strings 1-5 and get a little more base without going so high up the fretboard.

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It appears you aren’t the only one who is long winded. 🙂

btw, I see you’re from Montesano – my sister lives there. small world

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[OwenGL]

Thanks, everybody, for your kind words.

[OwenGL]

Just below the video on the right side is a tab link (to the right of the heart).

[OwenGL]

<div>I have the same problem with my pinky on my fretting hand. It just wants to curl inward. My callous is offset to the outside of my pinky because of it. It has gotten a little better with time, but I still struggle.</div><div>

For stretching exercises, I start on string 6 fret 9 with my index finger, fret 10 middle finger, fret 11 right finger, fret 13 pinky (yep, skip a fret). Alternate pick index, middle, ring, pinky. Move up to string 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 then work my way back down to string six. Then, I move the skipped fret between middle and ring finger, so frets 9, 10, 12, 13, up and down the strings. Then, move the skipped fret between index and middle, so frets 9, 11, 12, 13, up and down the strings. Then I start the pattern over, but move down a fret so I’m working between frets 8 and 12, then frets 7 and 11, etc until I get to frets 1 through 5.

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[OwenGL]

Use the last segment of your index finger to bar strings 2, 3, 4. Above string 1 your index finger is slightly raised (bend your finger at the joint) so it mutes the string rather than fretting it.

It is also possible to have your finger raised enough above string 1 to have it ring out open, but that is more difficult and tends to result in the string buzzing, so better to just mute it when first attempting this barre.

[OwenGL]

A picture probably helps.

[OwenGL]

It is because speeding up the video changes the pitch. I miss the old way with three videos….

[OwenGL]

It depends on what cord shapes you want to use. For example, if I like the cord shapes in the key of G, but the song is in the key of B, I would need to put the capo on the fourth fret.

The G chord is rooted on the 3rd fret 6th string. I need to move the chord shape until that G is now a B, which is 4 frets.

So, you pick the key that has the chord shapes you like, take the chord that key is based on, and move that chord until the root note is the root of the key you want. Count how many frets you moved, then put the capo that many frets up from the nut.

[OwenGL]

The “best” one is completely subjective. It depends on what you like best. I would watch reviews on youtube where they compare them. Use headphones so you can hear things more clearly.

You can also see if a local guitar store has some in stock that you can go try and hear in person.

I like my gs mini koa, but not for everything. Sometimes it is just too compressed sounding and I want something more open. I imagine the rosewood model is brighter.

The shorter scale length makes the stretches easier – probably helpful for arthritic fingers.

[OwenGL]

such wisdom 🙂

[OwenGL]

every day should be new guitar day

[OwenGL]

Yeah, her voice was beautiful!

[OwenGL]

thank you!

[OwenGL]

thanks!