Skyman911
Forum Replies Created
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Tension between the shoulder blades could be a result of a few things. Holding the guitar too high, causing pinching in the shoulder blade area could be something caused by sitting on a couch and playing. I know it does for me. If I’m on the couch, I need to be sitting right on the edge of the couch, and not leaning back into the couch. Same reason I always use a strap. If I feel slack in the strap, it tells me I’m leaning too far forward. This puts stress on my back when I lean or bend too far. Also, doing the warm ups that Tony teaches may help relax the back as well, eliminating some tension. I personally think posture is extremely important for playing. Holding the guitar in a comfortable relaxed posture removes tension from your body and your mind.
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Oh I wish. Enjoy the show.
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There are so many choices out there for smaller guitars. I’m sure you’ll get many answers. As one who has gone through way too many guitars, I would suggest playing as many as you can. Hopefully you have access to some good guitar stores. Try not to just buy what someone else suggests as it may not work out for you. That said, some of the favorites seem to be:
Taylor GS Mini
Baby Taylor
Martin LX1 Little Martin
Martin Jr series
Gibson Humingbird
I’m sure others will chime in with their favorites.
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Many famous guitar players had small hands/fingers. Nancy Wilson, Paul Simon, Prince just to name a few. No reason one with small hands or fingers can’t be proficient.
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What @petelanger says is good advice. There is no perfect way to hold the guitar. What is comfortable for you is the best position. Some classical players hold the guitar on the left leg with the neck almost vertical. So, find what works for you, and don’t be afraid of experimenting with different positions.
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What type of guitar do you have? Is it a full sized guitar?
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I think you can spend as much time on each lesson as you want. The 10 minute deal is mostly just to keep one progressing. For me personally, I spend about 10% of my playing time on TAC daily Challenges. The rest is my time to play songs, work on new songs, or just goof around with my guitar.
I’ve probably forgotten more songs than I know. I don’t really have a playlist per se either. I do have a large binder of songs that I refer to often. I love coming back to a song that I had kind of forgotten about. Almost like meeting an old friend again. I’m always working on something new though. Often I don’t even finish learning a new song as I tend to get bored and loose attention. I’m sure it’s my ADHD coming out as well. I couldn’t just play a few songs over and over and over again. That’s also what I like about TAC. Something different every week.
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Nice!. If you know the Am Pentatonic scale, there are some real fun blues backing tracks you can jam along with. The Thrill is Gone by B.B. King is a great one.
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Congrats!
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Congrats. Way to stay consistent!
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Depending on the song I’m playing, I use a modified mini F. Index finger on the first fret of the B string, middle finger on the second fret of the G string, ring finger on the third fret of the A string, and the pinky on the third fret of the D string. I kind of use the fleshy part of my palm to mute the high E string. And, if you can, you can use your thumb to fret the first fret of the low E string. You don’t need to use your thumb though to get the similar sound as the mini F. This way you don’t need to barre the B and E strings with your index finger. I use both depending on what song I’m playing. You may want to try it, it may be easier for you, and it sounds pretty much the same.
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@CamiB, curious what pick you are using? Have you experimented with different picks, material types, and thicknesses? I have a few thumb picks and don’t care for them and just use my thumb.
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@CamiB, I’m here in Salt Lake City, Utah, and have spent a lot of time in Vegas. There are a bunch of good guitar stores there, and most will have a selection of used instruments. Guitar Center may have the best deals, however their salespeople aren’t the most knowledgeable, and most of the Guitar Centers I’ve been in, don’t seem to keep consistent humidity in their guitar rooms. Not hard to find cracked or warped instruments there. Check a few out, and play some guitars. My first real guitar was a Taylor Big Baby. It’s a 3/4 sized guitar, and is very easy to play. The sound is pretty amazing for a cheap guitar. They can be found used for around $300. I had a Taylor GS Mini that was a great little guitar, better build quality that played well. The sound wasn’t as good as the Big Baby.
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I tinker a lot. Sometimes when I’m just not feeling it, I just tinker and have fun with different chord progressions, random chord progressions, and just spontaneously play. I sometime surprise myself with a cool lick or sound. I feel this helps with being creative and exploring different aspects of the fretboard.
The key is, I’m always having fun, no matter what I’m doing. This wasn’t always the case. The fun only arrived when I learned to accept where I was in my guitar journey, and stopped being upset at where I wasn’t. If you’re always disappointed in where you aren’t, you’ll never have fun. And IMHO, if you’re not having fun, you’re not progressing.
Brandon, I really hope you can find this nugget. I can tell you really want to learn and play, and I think you’re further along than you may give yourself credit for. So many words of wisdom here. Please don’t give up.
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Have you ever looked into some personal instruction? TAC is great, and it is one of my tools I use. However, as good as this program is, I don’t think it can replace personal one on one teaching. Maybe find a teacher that can do like a one month class, maybe once a week. I did personal instruction along with TAC for just over a year. My teacher really liked the TAC lessons, and I was very open with him about using TAC as well. He did feel like some of the lessons were pretty advanced for some beginner players.