petelanger
Forum Replies Created
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The Quicks Start Guide is your friend. The diagram shows where to find it, and here is a link https://tonypolecastro.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/TAC_User_Guide-v5.pdf
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Go easy in the beginning, while you’re body is getting used to holding your instrument and attempting to activate muscles in ways they never have before!
Link to warmup stretches: https://tonypolecastro.com/courses/guitar-players-daily-stretch-guide/
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Tuners can be finicky devices. I’ve been very lucky with my Fender tuner, it seems to give me a clear reading in a stable manner. I have another one that came with one of my guitars, sometimes I’ll hook them both on the neck to sort of calibrate. That one is not as stable in it’s reading, flickers the green (lock indicator) a lot more but when I’m nicely tuned they agree with each other.
I will usually tune with a pick rather than a bare finger, I think it’s more reliable in producing a steady vibration in the string. I would imagine that it’s best to pick near the 12th fret (middle of the string) for optimum energy transfer, although I don’t do this, it just occurred to me that strings might vibrate slightly irregular. Speaking of irregular energy transfer: have you ever seen video of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapsing?
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NpsDLes2bWM -
Yeah, I did fail to mention it’s fine to have the strap go to the end of the neck but just make sure it’s not hooked onto any strings. Even if you just feed a little strap under the strings and around the back of the neck, you can attach to that.
I’ve never been fond of that setup, don’t really know why? if your guitar is neck heavy (and one of mine was!) I imagine balance is probably less troublesome with the strap on the end of the neck.
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Oh yes @Bayvu2 , while it’s a setback it may very well have a silver lining if you do what have planned. Absolutely work on your right hand technique! To make it more pleasurable to your ears you can experiment with alternate tunings. Drop D for example will allow you to play some beautiful melodies with just one finger on the fretboard.
Wish you the best through your surgeries and recovery time!
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@Wenda you might try adjusting your arm position so it puts less stress on the wrist. Play around with your neck height and the position with respect to your body(imagine a line that runs from shoulder to shoulder, where is the guitar neck relative to this line, Is it parallel? On a sharp angle forward or backward? You want to have the guitar close to the body but perhaps not too close. Try to find that position where you are in a good balance while reaching up and down the neck.
With the height, maybe horizontal neck is not ideal for you right now; as you are learning to get comfortable with your guitar it’s ok to bring things closer and more approachable and you can bring those tuning knobs closer to eye level? Play around with positions until you find something that works best.
Do watch the stretching courses that Tony put together.
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I didn’t have wrist pain either but I believe it depends on body posture, how you hold your guitar and how long you play without a break. I always kept my sessions short early on.
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When starting out TAC you follow the steps 1 and 2.
Then you move into step 3 which is Start Daily Challenge. You should have links in your email to get you there. If you are having an issue finding the Challenges I would contact support.
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The Quick Start Guide that Jorge mentioned above lays it all out. It’s not very complicated.
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Somehow I’ve been called to do this @Skyman911 ! Thanks for all the many ways you have helped me in my journey!
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Awe thanks, that was a wonderful compliment. You have been a lot of help and a shining example for me, @jumpinjeff
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You wouldn’t want to have the guitar strap hooked around your strings, this could cause issues. The strap should be attached to both sides of the body. Yes you may have to drill a small hole to attach a button on bottom of the neck heel.
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Interesting (very old-school) website, I did save it to my favorites. A treasure trove of information, it seems!
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What were you in when you lost your place? Here are some links to various series that a new member 30 days in might be at:
30 Days to Play is here: https://tonypolecastro.com/courses/30-days-to-play/
5 Day Routine is here: https://tonypolecastro.com/courses/5-day-guitar-routine-challenge/Daily Challenges: https://tonypolecastro.com/home/
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Palo Alto, that’s interesting. Actually one of the few places in California that I’ve actually spent some time in. I was there in ’76 and again in ’89. The headquarters of the telecommunications company my Dad worked for was in Palo Alto: Farinon which later was absorbed by Harris Corp