[Bill_Brown]

Congrats @Dirk_R 👏👏👏 Happy 1st TACiversary 👍🎂👍

[Bill_Brown]

Yes @OhWowMan , I use that 2-3-4 shape along with the 1-2-3 when playing an open G – just depends on which chord I’m transitioning from. If I’m coming from a D or an A, then I’m going to the 1-2-3. If I’m coming from an Am or a C, then I do the 2-3-4. Hope that makes sense. I only use the 4 finger G when a picking pattern or an exercise calls for it. When playing a song, I use one of the 3 finger G’s when playing open chords.

[Bill_Brown]

Well played @Marty69 👏👏👏 A great listen🤩, thanks for posting👍👍

[Bill_Brown]

Hi @Dirk_R , I can only speak of my experience. The 1st acoustic that I bought was a D10EJr and I loved it – it became the only guitar that I played. When I joined TAC and started playing every day, I started to notice that I was having pain in my picking side shoulder. I couldn’t hardly throw anything overhand, just underhand. I thought it was because of my posture while playing. I started doing the TAC stretches and working on my playing posture, but it wasn’t really working. My son-in-law is a PT and gave me several exercises to do. I still had pain in that shoulder – assumed it was caused by arthritis and just thought I’d have to live with it.

One day last January, I decided I wanted to upgrade my guitar. Went to the local music shop and was looking at the new Gibson G45 model and a Martin D15m (both dreadnoughts – solid wood – US made). The sales person also showed me the 00015m. I noticed right away when I was playing the 000 that I had less pain in my shoulder. It’s amazing that those couple of inches made that much difference – changing the angle of my upper arm and releasing the tension (and pain) in my shoulder. So I bought the 000 and have been playing it since, and hardly experiencing any shoulder pain what so ever. And I can throw overhand once again.

YMMV

BB

• This reply was modified 4 years, 10 months ago by  Bill_Brown.

[Bill_Brown]

Picking hand shoulder problems is why I went from a dreadnought to a 000 body style guitar. I know you just got that D 10 Jr @Dirk_R so if it’s that picking hand side that your having pain with, then you need to cut back on playing time and either way, see a Doc – don’t full around and procrastinate – just do it!

[Bill_Brown]

Hi @JeffM.22 , I’m using Martin Lifespan 2.0 custom lights (11 – 52) and not experiencing any sound problems with my hammer-ons, except when an adjacent finger is muting the string or I’m not hitting the “sweet spot” between the frets. So I don’t believe the problem is with the strings your using.

[Bill_Brown]

Very nice sound (as usual) @charlie_d 🤩👏👏👏 I like how you used the pinch-drone technique (as presented in the lesson) to create some excellent melodies👍👍 Very nicely done Charlie, I enjoyed listening😎

[Bill_Brown]

That was really cool @JoeW 😎👏👏👏😎 Awesome blues sound👍👍🤩 I definitely enjoyed listening to that😜 Thanks for posting Joe!

[Bill_Brown]

That’ll keep those digits limber @Mcdonnell.jacqueline@gmail.com 👍 Welcome to TAC🎸

[Bill_Brown]

That’s an awesome routine @SongBirdie 👍👍

[Bill_Brown]

Another awesome performance @KevinZ 🤩👏👏👏 I agree with @Loraine 👍 you looked like you were having “just outright fun” with that one – and so did I😎 That was a cool arrangement and I could feel your inner Stevie Ray😱 I don’t recall ever seeing any of your posts where you played with a pick, was that a first🤔 I “Really Truly” enjoyed listening Kevin, looking forward to your next post🎸

[Bill_Brown]

That’s a “Really Truly” nice small win @MikeGaurnier 👏👏 I too have been trying to work on finger picking since joining TAC, 11 months ago. In fact, I’d never done any finger picking before TAC. It’s a style of playing that I admire, but have had difficulty with execution to the point that I tend to shy away from it. I still have difficulty with using the thumb for alternating base while trying to get the other fingers to hit the right strings in the correct order with proper timing – I do much better with a flat pick. However, with last week’s (new) challenges and this week’s challenges all focusing on finger style playing, I found today’s lesson came together nicely for me – once I got the picking pattern down. Then I thought that just playing 2 chords for the entire piece was a little boring, so I started looking at other chords in the Em/G major scale to see if I could add to this, using that picking pattern – not just marking the challenge complete like I’d done in the past with other finger style lessons. So, yes, I’m seeing real progress in my journey with TAC, with thanks to this community and TAC members like you Mike, who help inspire others to get over their hurdles while outside of their comfort zone, and overcome.

[Bill_Brown]

Very nice @Michael_Green 👏👏👏 I enjoyed watching (and listening) as you danced with that Em scale all over the fret board🎸, creating different melodies at each area👍👍 Very nice, thanks for posting😎

[Bill_Brown]

@Dirk_R , I traded it in on the 000, in hindsight, perhaps I should have kept it because they only gave me about 50% value for the trade. Maybe you can still return yours, if you want, for full price? Most of those places have a decent return policy, around 30 days.

[Bill_Brown]

Thanks @charlie_d , you too✌