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Help for a musically challenged future guitar player

nokry56 — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:25:56 -0800

Want to learn to play the guitar. Recently discovered the guitar I have is classical, not western acoustic. Can I still learn how I want? And other questions from a non-musical dreamer. I picked up a 1984 Garcia classical guitar. It was free so I can't complain, but I was somewhat disappointed when I realized it wasn't what I envisioned (steel string Western). I'd rather stick with what I have than investing money into another hobby I'm not fully committed to, but if I have to, I have to.

Here are my basic questions, which I haven't been able to find a solid answer on.

-Eventually I want to buy a steel string acoustic, but for now can I learn on this guitar then easily transfer my knowledge over to a Western style if I enjoy it as much as I expect?

-Should I use a pick? I know I COULD but is it proper?

-Do you strum on a classical or just finger pick one string or something?

-Will the beginners course located here work for learning how to play? The lessons seem oriented towards a steel string, and I'm not musical enough to know if it matters. What particular things should I look out for that I'll have to do differently with a classical?

-I plan to buy a kapo. Are there different kinds for steel strings vs. classical?

Any other advice/lesson sources, thoughts, explanations are welcome. I know nothing about music but am pretty motivated to learn the guitar.

Guitar ID?

fire&wings — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 04:35:54 -0800

Guitar identification... Photos here and here. What is that? Person playing it is Kazu Makino from Blonde Redhead if it helps..

Others like St. James Infirmary?

Baby_Balrog — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:53:25 -0800

My band does a great cover of St. James Infirmary Blues. What else should we do that's in the same vein? Here's a bozillion .mp3s of St. James so you can get a feel for it. It looks like it's been categorized under pre-war blues. It sounds great - we do it as a three-piece... guitar, banjo, fiddle with three-part vocal harmonies. It plays well on the fiddle - what other tunes capture this kind of dark, painful sound in a blues way that translates well to string band?

Help me be a standup guy ... with a guitar.

lpsguy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:20:44 -0800

Help me be a standup guy ... with a guitar. Okay, so it's been a little over two years since I started to learn to play guitar. It's going great. I'm progressing. I still love it. As a matter of fact, it's going well enough that my teacher asked me to play with her at a restaurant where she regularly gigs. Cool. I'm up for that. I was a standup comedian for a while so stages are not a frightening place for me.

Here's the rub: I just realized I've never played standing up. Yep, in two years of practing and even jamming with friends, I've done the whole thing sitting down. This week I threw a strap on the guitar, stood up and whoa, the whole thing was different. I had real trouble.

So ... help. Any tips to make this transition swift and painless? Or do I just have to play standing up a lot? Anyone else encounter this? How did you overcome it?

Going to 11 not necessary.

cmoj — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:32:57 -0800

How best to stay on beat, then find out how I sound to an audience. After playing guitar and singing for years, feeling pretty pessimistic about my ability I set my laptop (MacBook Pro) to record on its built in mic while I played a set's worth of material. Hey! I'm not bad at all, except my rhythm isn't so solid here and there (which I already knew.) If I can work that out, I'd be considering performing, which I've always wanted to do.

The thing is, a metronome doesn't help me. The flat tick. tick. tick. tick. isn't groovy at all, and ends up confusing me. I want to be able to make drum tracks that I can pipe either into an earbud or through a PA or whatever I'm playing through. I might even want to put in a rudimentary bass line. I could do this in garage band or anything similar, but what are my other options? Are there solutions that would let me (I'm not sure how to say this) queue up another few measures if I wanna keep soloing or do an extended outro?

The other part: How can I record myself in such a way that I'd have the best idea of how I'd sound to an audience? Will a 4-track recorder and a mic across the room do it? Will a mic through adapters give me significantly better sound on my MBP?

I wanna shred you up!

sprocket87 — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:14:12 -0800

Looking for recommendations of modern indie rock artists that aren't afraid to shred & solo - on the electric guitar, not a Casiotone. I'm a major music fan with tastes all over the board. For the past couple years I've been super heavy in the indie world. Much of what I've been listening to is quite, shall we say, "eclectic", and very experimental. I've noticed that prominent use of the guitar seems to be languishing in such music. It's present, yes, but subdued, scrubbed through a sea of effects, and diluted either into a wash of supplemental melody or a wall of noise. The Moog solo has replaced the guitar solo - and though that isn't a bad thing per se, I want to get back to my roots, so to speak.

I feel like I'm ready to go through an electric guitar rennaissance. I miss the riffs, energy, and lead of yore. Few 90's alt songs were lacking a decent solo, and I really miss that.

So, what can you recommend? I'm NOT looking for "classic" examples of solo-centric bands (classic rock, 90s alt, metal, etc). I've got plenty to choose from there (though, for examples' sake, Pink Floyd fits the bill nicely - really experimental music that employed guitar solos masterfully, yet weren't a silly shredder hair band either).

I'm looking for recent/up & coming bands that aren't afraid to turn the amps to 11 and bust out some righteous solos, or, at the minimum, that use the guitar in a technically impressive fashion, instead of just a yawn-inducing strum box.

Note: I'm not just looking for loud, power-chord-weilding indie bands (Glasvegas, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, etc). I love this stuff too, but I want to hear some riffs, man!

Examples:

The White Stripes (their older, more guitar-centric stuff - Ball & Biscuit, etc)
Apollo Up! (This is pretty much exactly what I'm talking about)
Some B.R.M.C.
Alberta Cross, a little
Eh... can't think of any others at the moment?

Don't feel that it has to be restrained to a certain genre, per se, but I'm not looking for pure metal (Uneath, Skeletonwitch, etc). Like I said, lots of easy choices there. I'm looking for more eclectic, indie-oriented groups that incorporate heavy guitar lead into their music.

Thanks!

Live bass guitar looping - how DID he do it?

monster max — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:01:33 -0800

A little while back I heard a bass guitar player with some kind of amazing live looping set-up - what on earth was it? I keep wondering what he was doing. All I could see was that he was grabbing (sampling) things he was playing, as he was playing them (ie while he was continuing to play), using foot pedals of some sort, and then incorporating those loops into the rest of the track. Amazing. But how?

VST for Linux?

Squid Voltaire — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:26:55 -0800

What do Linux people do for realtime music effects? I used to play around with AudioMulch and a whole bunch of sweet VST effects on my Windows machine, and it was great. You know, stuff like Transverb and the like.

Now I use Linux, and while there are a host of advantages, there is no VST (something about the license from Steinberg, I think?). In fact, the DAWs I've used (Audacity and Ardour) don't seem to be set up for effects processing at all.

I'm assuming that you are meant to do you effects processing upstream, and chain it into the DAW at the last step (I use JACK, so this wouldn't be a problem) but that's just a guess. So...

A) What do Linux people do for digital audio effects? Is there maybe a nice converter or emulator or something I could run that will let me use my old windows stuff?

and B) I presume that there's some sort of program that takes in audio, runs it through an effect, and spits it out again, right? What is it? I use Rarkarrack, but that's only good for a certain number of effects (and is also impossible to spell).

Any advice?

"I got all five senses and I slept last night..."

Inspector.Gadget — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:06:35 -0800

Soundtrackfilter: Please recommend to me mostly-instrumental, sometimes dark, contemplative soundtrack albums (or even compilations or regular albums) in the vein of Michael Andrews' work for Donnie Darko or Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd's soundtrack for Mysterious Skin. As you might imagine from me citing Donnie Darko, I'm also open to soundtracks with a considerable 80s synth cheese element - even better if the songs are tweaked a bit a la M83 to not be so cheesy. Anything on the brooding <> inspired spectrum is especially welcome. As a point of reference, I very much enjoyed the recent movie Brick and would like to find soundtrack or ambient songs that capture that sort of "pieces fall into place, and it's awesome/terrible" feeling.

Thanks in advance, hivemind! My guess is that anyone with broad exposure to ambient, modern classical, guitar-based instrumental, electronic shoegaze, post-rock, etc. albums is sitting on at least a few recommendations.

Five string guitar (non-bass): How can one be altered, purchased, or constructed by a non-expert.

jjjjjjjijjjjjjj — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:15:06 -0800

Five string guitar (non-bass), with a standard-width fretboard: Why am I not finding m/any, and how can one be altered, purchased, or constructed cheaply by a non-expert. So two years ago I bought a ukulele, and to my great surprise meteorically shot to proficiency. In a very few months of constant practice I became a solid player... not spectacular or virtuosic, but quite solid. More than just making me fairly dexterous and competent with fingering, the act of learning the ukulele made me feel like I finally "got" some crucial element of music--on a rudimentary but fundamental level--that had eluded me all my life.

I picked up a guitar 6 months ago and approached it with this new understanding, and with my previous diligence in practice, and there are too many goddamn strings on that thing. Well, put fairly, my issue is that the strings seem too close together for my feeble skills.

I know in my rational mind that many, many people with many different physiological shapes have become proficient--doubtless many less dexterous, and with much fatter fingertips than I--but I've driven myself to the point of psychological impediment. I can not play clean anything on the thing. No doubt that exercises or instruction would help me, and I may ask for help in that direction someday; but today my purpose is to ask for help with my dream: a Five-String Guitar.

In my searches, I found references to guitarists playing with only five strings, but just by omitting a string on a 6-string guitar. I also found a patent, and one single production model that looked to have a smaller-width fretboard. I found a family of instrument called a "tenor guitar" which looks to be a 4 string guitar, but I'm still curious about 5 strings. To further complicate, I've found 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and obviously 12 string guitars. I presume that the illuminati is suppressing five-string guitar production for some reason... this is the only explanation I have for guitars being available in every positive integer string configuration up to 500 except five.

How could this be bought or altered from an existing 6-string cheaply by a non-expert? I'm a handy guy, but have zero luthier experience. Also, what are some ways that it would likely be tuned? Anything else I'm not considering? Thanks.

What songs prominently feature acoustic guitar and glockenspiel?

muirne81 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:08:30 -0800

I'm a portrait photographer who is looking for music I can sync to a slide show of babies & little kids. So far I've been drawn to songs with folky acoustic guitar (think Iron & Wine) and glockenspiels (scroll down here to listen to "Nattopett"). I also like warm & tinkly cinematic songs (like the more upbeat songs on the K-Pax soundtrack). I've looked at production & royalty free music (Music Box, Triple-Scoop, X-Ray Dog, etc.) and nothing is really quite what I had in mind--it all sounds too "crafted for a commercial". What composers & artists do you know who use a lot of acoustic guitar & glockenspiel? Piano & violin are okay if they're not dark & moody. Vocals are okay too if they're not about sad things. :-) (I have an IP attorney who will be negotiating sync licenses for me, so that's not a concern.)

Is this a Jimi Hendrix song, and if so, which one?

XiBe — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:24:17 -0800

Is this a Jimi Hendrix song, and if so, which one? This audio file is a mp3 export of the module titled "Electric Church" (download link) by musician HitHansen.

This musician is known to sampling guitars from records, even tracking covers (such as "Experienced(x)" (dl), which covers Hendrix's "In From The Storm").

Thing is, while Electric Church obviously seems to be a cover (the synth "chorus" reminds me of...something), and a Hendrix one at that (the title being the clue here), I can't put my finger on which one. Listening to a hefty part of Jimi's discography on Deezer didn't help thus far.

Hive mind, will you?

Thank you.

Help me find new guitar/singer songs, please

jbickers — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 05:45:22 -0800

Help me expand my repertoire of vocal/acoustic guitar songs. So I'm looking to pick up more songs that I can perform, just me and my acoustic. My vocal range is midway between a bass-baritone and a tenor.

I'm looking for really cool songs (of all genres) that feature (a) relatively simple strumming patterns (so I can focus my energy/attention on the vocals), (b) great lyrics, (c) great vocal melodies.

Some songs that are perfectly typical of what I'm looking for are "To the dogs or whoever" by Josh Ritter, "Eden was a Garden" by Roman Candle (which is right at the top of my vocal range, perhaps a hair high for me), "Take back the city" by Snow Patrol.

So, what are some more? Indie, alternative, classic country, 1950s AM pop, looking for a diverse mix of awesome stuff. Thanks!

Help me play with my feet!

metajc — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 10:59:19 -0800

I play guitar with my hands and want to play beats with my feet. Can't figure out what kind of (digital) equipment I would need to accomplish this. I didn't get the idea from Bob Log III but he definitely inspired me push for it. I already fool around with a little bass drum and cymbal stand but it would be nice to be able to rig up some triggers (?) and a drum machine. Is that what I would need?

Any ideas for the fullest foot-powered percussion possible?

guitar squeaks

jschu — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:08:10 -0800

What is that squeak that guitars sometimes make, and where can I hear more of it? You know how sometimes a song that includes guitars will make the occasional squeaking sound? (heard in the first few seconds of this song, all over the place in this song, and throughout this one too.) What causes that? And can you please point me towards some more squeaky-guitar songs?

I am musically ignorant, but I love that squeak.

Six strings or four?

ocherdraco — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:20:06 -0800

I have never managed to properly learn how to play an instrument before. I'd like to be able to accompany myself when I sing, so I'm thinking of getting a ukulele or a guitar. Please help me figure out what I ought to be looking for. I have seen several previous AskMe questions about how to learn to play ukulele or guitar; this is not that.

One of the reasons I'm considering getting a ukulele is that in my previous (very brief and casual) attempt at learning to play guitar, I had a lot of trouble getting my hand all the way around the neck of the guitar (I had trouble with reaching things when I took piano, too—my hands aren't tiny, but they sure ain't big). At the same time, I don't want to be just another ukulele girl.

So, what I'd like to know:

Ukulele and guitar pros and cons, specifically in the context of a singer wanting to learn to play her own accompaniment.
What kind of guitar or ukulele should I be looking for, as a beginner with smallish hands and absolutely zero experience? Inexpensive models are a plus.
Where should I go to buy my first instrument?

I'm in New York, if it matters.

Starter acoustic guitar/learning to play guitar recs

decrescendo — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:50:32 -0800

I need to learn how to play guitar. I'd like to start on an acoustic so I won't have to lug an amp around all the time. What type of acoustic should I start off with and what is the best way to learn? Websites? Lessons? I could afford something decent but I don't want to be the guy who buys an expensive baseball bat when he can't hit for shit. What type of acoustic guitar is decent for the money? If I stick with it I want to be able to reward myself with a nice electric someday.

And how is the best way to start learning guitar? I'm fairly musical since I've been playing trombone for 15 years, but what's my best option for starting off?

Thanks.

I want to really understand the guitar.

Precision — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:08:33 -0800

How can I advance from being someone who plays the guitar to a real guitarist? I'm tired of the same old open chords and basic barres. How do I become a true musician on the instrument? Kinda long inside thingy. Some background on me: I took piano lessons through my childhood. I regret quitting, who doesn't? I played on the drumline in my middle school/high school band. I was quite proficient in mallet instruments, playing four mallet marimba parts in 8th grade.

I picked up the guitar a little over three years ago. I took lessons for about a month, and after that decided I'd learned enough for myself for then. My teacher told me I was advancing stupidly fast (mostly because I played every night until my fingers bled, often 6-10 hours). I learned the open chords (C, D, E, A, G, Emin, Amin, Dmin, G7, etc...), and exactly one scale pattern. I've spent the last two and a half years or so learning four to six chord acoustic songs that I like to sing. I guess over the time I've become better at picking up strum patterns, chord changes, rhythm and such, but I'm feeling extremely stagnant, and for good reason. I have zero skill in soloing/improv. Somewhere along the way I had a year of college level music theory and ear training. My knowledge of modes and how they relate to soloing over progressions and changes is extremely lacking.

I'd like to learn the instrument very well, and I'm willing to put in some hard work. If I had to break my goals down simply, I'd do it like this:

1. Learn the fretboard backwards and forwards, up and down. It frustrates me that I can more quickly form complex extended chords on the piano than I can on the guitar still. I want to be able to put my finger on a fret at random and know precisely what note that is.

2. Learn to play jazz guitar, both rhythm and lead. But, I'm not looking to memorize 4820 "jazz chords", I'm looking to develop the ability to build them myself on the fly. I'm also not looking to be able to solo over one scale pattern in one position, but to be able to seamlessly use the entire neck. I have some classical theory education, but zero in jazz theory.

The music I listen to is probably only classified as "indie rock", and that's kinda what I see my style as. Mellow, very melodic, expressive. My hero on the guitar is Chris Walla, not Satriani or Vai.

Lessons are out of the question, as I simply cannot afford them. I'm hoping for a few books that I can work through independently that will advance my mastery of the instrument. I'm not looking for the suggestion that "music is not math--just keep playing and you'll get there." No true, I've just been "playing" for over two years. I'm perfectly willing to put in some hard work every day, just need some direction. Feel free to memail me or anything.

Guitarist with hyperhydrosis and oily skin needs help

sid abotu — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:27:22 -0800

I am a borderline professional guitarist who suffers from hyperhydrosis (excessive sweating) and also seems to have developed a very oil-extruding physiology. Is there anything I can do to make it so that I don't have to wash my hands between each and every song? If not, what is the most efficient way to clean up and dry off my hands every five minutes or so? I am 39 years old and I have been playing guitar for 30 years. I play acoustic fingerstyle and I am pretty aggressive/hard in my approach to the instrument (but I don't dance around!). I don't eat an overly fatty or greasy diet and I am overall a pretty healthy person. I live in Ottawa, Canada, and despite what you might have heard this is an incredibly hot and humid location and my problem is particularly acute this time of year. I am open to suggestions of more moderate (and musical!) climates.

During the last decade my physiology has changed or some kind of perfectly awful storm of the extreme sweating I have always had (I think it is getting worse) and oily excretions has combined to make my favourite activity extremely frustrating and frankly it has made the prospect of returning to gigging scary. I wash my hands thoroughly using a standard bar of soap, rinse and dry, pick up my guitar and play a song and by the end of the tune my hands are wet and greasy. Hell, even just typing this question thus far (after having washed my hands for the 20th time today) I can feel the stickiness.

I am not OCD, this is a real impediment. Do any other musicians or folks who have dealt with this kind of situation have any guidance for me re. techniques to cope with this kind of problem? I know that there are dubious (nerve-severing!) surgeries for hyperhydrosis but I am not there yet: I am more interested in coping mechanisms that you might have discovered.

Bass Amplification by Simulated Emission of Reverberation

shoebox — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:55:15 -0800

What exactly is the difference between a guitar and bass amp? If I were to get the latter, could I plug in the former instrument and still get similar bitchin' sounds out of my rig? I am interested in learning to play the electric bass and am set to get a beginner model + practice amp. The problem is, I have a (really) shitty guitar from a while back that i can hack out a few tunes on, and would like to amplify it as well. I would much rather not invest in a separate amp for each instrument.

My readings tell me that putting a bass into a guitar amp is not the best idea because it might explode. But how about a guitar plugged into a bass amp? wouldn't that suffice? (research doesn't turn up much) would there even be any difference in sound or anything? If so, what cheap solution can I use to compensate?

Also, past ask threads have been very useful in helping me pick out models, but if any of you have recommendations for certain brands/products, please feel free to shout across the room/

A guitar book that's good for my wrists?

invitapriore — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:06:59 -0800

I suffer from a tendency to develop tendonitis in my wrists. Gyorgy Sandor's On Piano Playing has helped me learn to play piano in a way that keeps my wrists happy. What similar book exists for guitar? My wrists recently flared up again and I decided it was time for a technique reboot on the instruments I play. Sandor's advice, things like keeping the active finger(s) in line with the respective muscles in the forearm, has really helped me to play in a way that doesn't cause me pain or damage. I've been trying to apply his general principles to guitar playing (all kinds, but mostly with a pick), but the ways in which they might be applied aren't always obvious to me. Is there a similar book that you recommend for guitar, that focuses on anatomically healthy technique that allows you to get maximum effect with minimum tension?

What do I need to know about learning the pedal steel guitar?

MaryDellamorte — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:50:17 -0800

I am interested in learning to play the pedal steel guitar, what do I need to know? I know absolutely nothing about it, except that I'm told that it is hard to learn, which is one of the reasons that I want to learn to play it. I also love the way it sounds. How much do these things cost? Do they make student models? What are some good models? What will lessons run me? What are some good websites I should be looking at? Any other tips for starting out are welcome, thank you!

How can I make my Telecaster sound Hawaiian?

COBRA! — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 08:41:16 -0800

How can I recreate the Hawaiian guitar sound with a regular electric guitar (specifically a Telecaster?)?

Hit me with your best blues artist and album recommendations.

DrDreidel — Tue, 19 May 2009 12:03:58 -0800

Almost every type of music I love is inspired by blues. What are the quintessential blues artists and albums I should explore to really get a basic understanding of the genre?

How to transpose from guitar to banjo?

shesaysgo — Sun, 17 May 2009 07:08:31 -0800

How do I transpose guitar sheet music, not tabs, into banjo sheet music?