petelanger
Forum Replies Created
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@JILLC please don’t worry about the F-ing mini F! Just leave out the low E string entirely for now. It sounds very similar, especially if you manage to not strum that string or position your index finger just lightly over the E-string so it’s muted).
Every player struggles with that chord and with several of the barre chord shapes along with a few other open shapes as well. You must try to find some enjoyment in the journey! We don’t have a Scotty to beam us into the universe where we’re excellent players.
Don’t forget that you ARE LEARNING when you struggle! And conversely, if you’re not struggling, you’re probably not learning very much (quite possibly nothing at all)!
The most important thing is that you come to play your minimum 10 minutes every day. Do your best on the challenge, mark it complete! You should only “practice” beyond that if it’s enjoyable, so probably don’t go to the mini F all of time or at least not for an entire practice session. Do something enjoyable that you learned in a Challenge recently or whatever pleases you!
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I had the same feeling with the pic when I started 2 years ago. Fortunately I didn’t know how to fingerpick or strum with just my natural extensions so I struggled through. Over time you just get more comfortable with the pic. In the beginning I used a thin (o.46 mm) as this helped me to not scrape the strings so much. You might find it useful too, but don’t get hooked on them. You really need to move to stronger pics to play properly, the sooner you transition the easier it is. 1.2 mm is good but I’ll use the 0.96 mm most of the time.
When I’m doing the daily challenges I make a point of looking away from my picking hand as much as possible. Sure I’ll have to look to start off but I don’t let my gaze linger. You have to train your hand to find the strings without looking. The same goes for fingerpicking, the more you do it, the less mistakes you’ll make.
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Well done, Braden! Lovin’ your rhythm, that really flowed right there!
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This whole week is a palm muting extravaganza! Guess you didn’t see that coming!
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Lots of people plow through those because they aren’t total beginners. See if this link works for you: https://tonypolecastro.com/lessons/pot-of-gold-2-2-2-2/
You should get an email invite next Monday.
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Do what you gotta do to make it work. Always try the stretch, lifting the neck of the guitar can help get better hand position. Also try moving the exercise up the neck where the frets are closer together.
Some might tune their guitars down 2 half steps and slap on a Capo on the second fret, now you’re still playing the same notes if you move up.
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Ughh StewMac nut file set costs $138! That’s nearly the price of the guitar I’m fixing. Might have go for a lower grade set.
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Again, worth the listen even 2 months after Christmas. Are you tucking your fretting pinky under the neck when it’s not fretting a note? Just curious, sometimes my fingers trip each other up so like to watch other’s handywork.
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I may have been one of those wise guys you mentioned! lol
But I’ve always appreciated your enthusiasm, thanks for sharing your experiences on TAC!
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So beautiful @DiscostewLA !
I didn’t click on it immediately because I usually don’t like hearing Christmas songs out of season, but I shouldn’t have hesitated. What a treat!
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Also consider the skill courses, lots of useful stuff in there.
Just to reiterate, you never have to back track or worry about playing catch up. The challenges repeat in a cycles but the subject matter is repeated even more frequently in different challenges. You always want to move forward and be on the same page with everyone else in TAC because that’s where the discussions happen under the challenges.
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Thanks @Skyman911 for your concern. I am up to the task, I’ve been handy since I was a teenager building various things out of wood or leather as I was growing up. I worked as a handyman in my parent’s motel from age 16 until about 24 as well as maintaining my cars until they started making them where you needed specialized tools just to change light bulbs. I’ve also built entire houses as a real estate investor here in Florida.
I’m really just trying to setup my guitar for the experience. I want to learn how to setup a guitar myself, probably going to build one eventually. So I need some tools and the proper hardware and I’m retired so I have time to watch videos.
Mine being a low end unit, I don’t have to be concerned about ruining anything. It has already served me well as my learner acoustic. I do have another one to play that used to be my wife’s. Even before the onset of arthritis a few years ago, she had not played her guitar since 1989. It’s a Takamine F-340 from the mid 70s, a nice but full size guitar lacking a cutout. For everyday playing I just prefer my little cheap Rising G1 so I’m going to see if I can bring her back. If not, I’ll have acquired some helpful luthier tools and learned a few things in the process so it’s still gain.
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Yeah, I just ordered a fret rocker after watching some videos on the subject. I had been using a my Action Ruler to check the frets and it works somewhat. But you want a proper Rocker with 5 different length sides so you can check 3 frets at a time all the way up the neck. I also ordered feeler gauges (0.002″) so I can test for raised frets.
Yes I agree, it’s good to practice these things on a cheap guitar so that when I have a more valuable one I will have honed my luthier skills.
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While I’m waiting on nut files, I tried sliding a spacer under the original nut. That doesn’t resolve the issue, so this is what I’m thinking:
the saddle needs to be raised instead of the nut.
Now that checking again it seems the 15th fret is somehow raised, and that seems to be causing all these weird problems.
Evaluating again the 15th fret is very high. Would you recommend filing it down? -
@Bill_Brown nice resource! Thanks!