hey Tom,
yes, you discovered that getting your guitar set-up, at least the first
time, is very important.
YOu don't necessarily have to do it every year, but you'll know if
things atart to drift.
YOu know, there are so many different ways of playing the guitar, you
know Jeff heely played it in his lap laid down.
YOu know, if it works, at least to some extent, it's right.
but a good guitar instructor can show you the basics and you can modify
from there.
there is no really wrong way to play the guitar, every which way your
fings can go and are possible to go can make a chord and you can bet
somebody has used it.
Everything from plane jane chording to putting the thumb over the top of
the neck wrapping your hand around and catching that last note that way,
or using your right hand to tap harmonics like eddy van halen on the
song spanish fly,
I'm sure you've heard that, amazing what he did with a classical guitar,
anything you can imagine being done with a guitar has probably been
done.
and to quote your old saying, if it sounds good, it is good.
I think though that your thoughts of getting a good local instructor are
a wise move.
Maybe I can call you on the phone and help you a bit too.
Let me get past the christmas stuff 'grin'.
At 04:37 AM 12/19/2011, you wrote:
Hey folks,
Here's a little report on my guitar adventure and a couple of
questions.
I've been doing endless research on the web for weeks now trying to
have at least some idea of what I'm talking about when it comes to
guitars. And like every instrument, there's a heck of a lot more to it
than we think. Although, sheesh, you'd think I would have learned this
by now. Oh well. It's been a very interesting adventure.
Next I borrowed my nephew's guitar to give it a shot. He hasn't played
it in years. So, just like the last time I did the same I decided
after only a few days that it was simply too cruel and inhumane
punishment and couldn't imagine how guitarists do it. And yes, I knew
it should be set up, but not knowing any more than the concept of the
process, which made perfect sense, I couldn't imagine it making any
real difference on such a guitar gorilla. I think it's an Ibanez, but
I keep forgetting to ask.
So, before I gave up again I said, what the heck, and brought it in to
be set up. I got it back yesterday. All I can say is, holy guitar
tech, batman! It felt like they gave me a new guitar. The difference
was absolutely mind blowing. Heck, by last night I was whamming
through a chord progression, doing quick mutes, and even tossing in a
body slap here and there. I couldn't believe it. And my fingers aren't
even sore. I can feel that I've been playing, but I wouldn't call it
pain. And previous to this setup it was literally impossible for me to
play one chord. It took every last ounce of strength I had in my left
hand just to get one out of a dozen attempts to kind of, almost,
vaguely sound like some kind of a mangled chord. And after that long 5
or 10 minute session I had to quit because my fingers were screaming
so loud I couldn't even hear what I was trying to do. So I'm
completely sold on annual setups. And most importantly, I finally have
some real inspiration to play the guitar.
In practical terms, yesterday was my first real day on the guitar. So
if I can get a chord progression going in one day I think I should be
able to enjoy the guitar, which is what's most important to me. So,
needless to say, I'm pumped about it.
Okay, and now for the questions.
Right now my main focus is on chord fingering. Of course coming from
the piano on which we have a linear playing surface wherein we can
play the 3 inversions of any chord from top to bottom through out the
entire range of the instrument with nothing more than rotating finger
positions, the guitar neck is more abstract to me. But I assume
there's got to be some logic to it other than memorizing a thousand
specific fingerings. I've watched a ton of YouTube videos, and in one
of them the guy referred to the most basic chords by a specific name,
which I don't remember now. And I'm not talking about major, minor,
sevenths, etc. This was specific to the fret fingering and I assume
neck position on the guitar. I know how to figure out most chords, but
don't see any logic on how to apply it to the guitar. Of course the
range you want to play in as well as preventing your left hand fingers
from getting tied up into nasty bundles of knots are obvious. But I'm
assuming there's more to go on than that and a trial and error method.
I've spent the last couple hours googling blind accessible guitar
chord charts and just guitar chord charts, and all I got was a bunch
of tab sheets for songs with blind in the title, a bunch of stuff from
a band with blind in the name, and a ton of purely visual chord charts.
So I'm wondering if anyone has or knows where to get a readable chord
note/fingering chart. And I'd also be interested in any links to
accessible tab sheets.
And just as a final note, boy, there seems to be quite a few really
good guitar lessons available on DVD now. But it's hard to tell if
they're too tied to the video. Although I must say, I've been pretty
impressed at how many folks posting YouTube videos realize that just
watching someone play isn't going to do much of anything even for a
sighted person. So while they use the cameras as an adjunct to the
lesson, they still explain in detail exactly what they're doing with
every finger, fret, and string. But of course these are just a pile of
little snippets. And conversely, I can't believe how many YouTube
videos that say: learn how to play insert song name here, are
absolutely nothing but a video of someone playing the tune. Not a
single word is spoken. I figure these folks just want to watch
themselves.
My biggest concern at this point is to get my left hand positioned
correctly. I know how easy it is for a beginner to make things work in
the wrong way when they're just learning the basics. But then it
becomes a very painful reality check when they get to the next level
and realize that their incorrect hand position makes getting there
impossible, so they have to start all over again and go through the
difficult process of trying to break a bad habit and learn a new one.
I'm actually considering trying to find a true professional
instructor, which usually isn't easy, just to get me started and
mainly to watch my every move and make sure that every physical aspect
of me and the guitar is correct. I believe this is one of the most
important aspects of playing an instrument that is most often unknown,
overlooked, or simply ignored because we don't think it's that
important.
Okay. Enough babbling for now. Thanks for listening.
Tomster the bombster, guitarist extraordinaire! Heh!
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