Flatpicking tutors

feeds@kickapps.com (bonefamily) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:51:54 PST

As I find myself venturing more and more into really liking bluegrass, can someone recommend some good tutors to guide by? I am mainly a blues and folk player, and though much of the blues scales seems to fit pretty well with the bluegrass soloing, there is still somethere there to be desired. Any recommendations? Also, how about some 'grass backing tracks? Thanks.

Looking for others to play with

feeds@kickapps.com (bonefamily) — Sun, 30 May 2010 13:58:46 PST

Well, I live pretty much in the boonies of central Ohio. Corn fields from eye to eye's view. I would like to know if any of you have any ways of finding others to play with. I would love to find a few players, and just have some good 'ole fun. There are only a couple of very small music shops around, and they don't really advertise for jam sesions and the like. Maybe post an add in a local paper? How do you all find others to pick with?...

Different pick shapes

feeds@kickapps.com (bonefamily) — Fri, 07 May 2010 01:23:01 PST

I admit that I have always used the standard teardrop style picks, and I've always used the slightly rounded, pointed end. Of course I see other style picks with different shapes and wonder how they are best used - especially the three different sided picks. I see that both Red Bear and Blue Chip make them, and have a standard teardrop point coner, a sharper point corner, and a more rounded corner. Just out of curiosity I tried using one of the rounded corners of my teardrop pick (celluloid), and though it felt foreign, I was liking the different tones I was getting. I am curious to hear what type of corner you all use for what styles of tones. What are your preferences and why?...

I ordered a Blue Chip

feeds@kickapps.com (dmcowles) — Tue, 04 May 2010 08:41:18 PST

I finally caved in and ordered a Blue Chip 50mm pick today. A year ago I spoke with Matthew Goins about getting one and he said he only accepted paypal. After a chat with my friend Robert Feathers, a champion flatpicker and Blue Chip endorser, I went to the website and found I could now use a credit card, so it's a done deal. I'll report on my thoughts after I've had it for a while.

I always liked Setzer's playing...

feeds@kickapps.com (bonefamily) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:58:27 PST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-ZB-SzK8lE&feature=fvw

So, you're a quite skilled player... but

feeds@kickapps.com (bonefamily) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:10:38 PST

There's always room for improvement, right! I'm curious to hear how many times you skilled guitarists pick up your guitars on a weekly basis. I myself have been playing for 30 some odd years and I find myself currently picking up my guitar about three times a week on average. Somtimes to perform, somtimes to just play some songs, and other times to just doodle around. There used to be a time many years back where I would pick up my guitar with a purpose before actually picking it up, be it work on scales, work on specific lessons, work on a set list, etc. - but now, unless I'm performing, I mainly just pick it up to doodle around. There's been times I have a bit of guilt thinking that I should be working on something or some style that I don't know well yet, but it's mostly just kicking back. I am teaching my wife and oldest daughter to play so I guess that can count for some less guilt :). How about you all?

just some random guitar playing thoughts

feeds@kickapps.com (Waldener) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 15:11:35 PST

I just got back from a lesson today and I was thinking about how I starting playing guitar in a sort of unconventional way, especially for someone who's been taking lessons since pretty much the beginning of my journey. Basically when I started playing, my teacher and I kind of recognized that we had to start learning what I wanted to learn, we had to do stuff with fingerpicking and sounds that were really a part of my musical upbringing so that I could get addicted to the instrument before I broke down and started doing the traditional grunt work that most people get out of the way early on. My first couple lessons focused on different styles of playing, mostly in the folk genre, as well as different voicings of chords. From there we kind of moved into learning songs and keeping me busy and entertained so that I would stick with it. I did a little bit of some blues lead work in the first couple months but not much. After that I pretty much denounced all things that involved lead...

Singing and Playing...

feeds@kickapps.com (CodyJames) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 04:44:59 PST

I've been playing guitar for 7-8 months now and I'm coming along fairly well. My chord changes are pretty smooth and I've learned to incorporate runs and licks, so I decided it's time to start adding vocals to the songs I'm learning. Well I don't have any trouble singing, but when I try to play the guitar, and sing, it's like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy. I focus on one or the other too much and screw one of them up. For example, if I focus on singing, my guitar playing becomes really terrible and off beat or out of rhythm and if I focus on playing I can't sing! I can't find the balance point... It's very irritating....

My question to all you musical veterans is, will I eventually get the hang of it if I keep practicing, or am I just doomed to be a silent guitar player, playing repetitive chords with no lyrical content over and over and over....

I Am The Man, Thomas

feeds@kickapps.com (BJ of Indiana) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 12:53:21 PST

Anyone with the best (easiest) way to play this one? Might want to try it at church Easter morning... singing will be the hard part...yikes!
thanks...

BJ

What do you think of my curriculum?

feeds@kickapps.com (DABO) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:32:48 PST

I’ve been taking guitar lessons for a couple of months now. I’ve had five lessons, once every two weeks. I went into the lessons knowing “cowboy” chords and barre chords, how to do some basic fingerpicking, and how to play a number of old folk standards. I had played guitar with friends 30 or so years ago – John Denver, Bob Dylan, stuff like that. I never learned music theory.

I love to sing, but don’t sing very well, so I decided I wanted to learn to play more “instrumentally”. I found a teacher locally, whose style I like and who has experience teaching. FYI, here’s a couple of YouTube videos of him:

Maybe I like this one because the Grateful Dead did a...

OM?

feeds@kickapps.com (BJ of Indiana) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:36:36 PST

I like the Cort mahogany OM a lot and would like to buy it.. However, I have some questions and problems.

I have only dreads. I think i've mentioned that where I come from, there are "flat tops"and that's it.

How do you play an OM differently than a dread? I know they are good for fingerstyle, but is that all they are good for? I mainly strum, but do some finger strumming, not precise note picking the way many of the very talented people on this forum do.

I'm a big guy ( 6-4/290) and at times when i've held it and played it, it looked to me (in a mirror) like I was holding a uke! That is probably the most unsettling tome...the uke feeling. It's a really good guitar, though. I keep telling myself it's a guitar...only smaller than a dread...

All the specs are right up there with a normal guitar, just the size of the body is an OM.

I'm OM ignorant, so your...

index finger pain

feeds@kickapps.com (Random Works) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:21:12 PST

I have battled pain in the tip of my index finger on my fretting hand. Just in case anyone has the same malady, here is what helped me a lot. I conjectured that the tip of my finger was repeatedly making contact with the fingerboard, and that is an impact, even though the finger is cushioned there. I had previously kept the nails on my fretting hand super short, as short as I could get them without getting into the 'quick' I grew the nails out some and now the pain is not worth mentioning. Once in a while, I can feel the nail contact the fingerboard, but it does not affect the sound and does not bother me.So the slightly longer nail is providing help.

I was not having as much trouble with the Eastman due to the frets etc, more so on other guitars, and the extra nail really helps.

Hope this can benefit someone else

PS, the Eastman still rocks

You're In The Band! (Unplugged)

feeds@kickapps.com (BJ of Indiana) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:56:41 PST

Has anyone used these book/cd learning packages? They don't have tab. I don't read music. I really only want to do the rhythm guitar parts (now) but it would be nice to have the tab to make sense of things. The author is Dave Clo (from around Nashville).

Relative difficulty in playing different guitars

feeds@kickapps.com (DABO) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 08:32:50 PST

This question is a little premature, since I haven’t had my Eastman for very long, but I’m wondering….

I’ve been playing the Blueridge BR-160 as my one and only guitar for a while now. I love just about everything about it. But I was having difficulty making some quick chord changes (for instance, getting my pinky in the right place on C7 when playing “Yesterday” - Bb, C7, F in three consecutive beats). I’m a relative beginner, and that’s probably the main culprit. But I thought that the string spacing was also a factor.

Now I have an Eastman with wider string spacing and a shorter scale. I thought that both of those differences would make it easier to play than the Blueridge. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Eastman.

capo placement(s)?

feeds@kickapps.com (BJ of Indiana) — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:37:17 PST

Haven't had any music at church in some time. However, the have gotten the piano lady to play again. So, I took a guitar and we started doing ok with the first song in C (her main key), but they switched to B-Flat for the rest. That sort of put me out of action. Didn't have my capo with me, but doubt i'd have known which fret to put it on it if I had.

What keys/frets can I do to simplify things like that. I've seen bits and pieces, but not a true "cheat sheet"

free video: Rhythm Guitar & Nashville Numbers link to free video

feeds@kickapps.com (BJ of Indiana) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:27:07 PST

Go to this site www.moderncountryguitar.com and in the free video column it should be the second one down. I downloaded it and believe it is still available.

I not only got a lot out of the lesson, but I love the guitar he is using! Would appreciate any comments.

Merry Christmas & thanks...

BJ/Indiana

Discovery!

feeds@kickapps.com (Pappy) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:46:08 PST

Thought I would see what all the hub-bub about alternate tunings was all about, and other than one song in Drop "D" I haven't tried anything else. So I looked at DADGAD because there were chords readily available for it and enough tabbed stuff to try it out.

Interesting, I can see the possibilities; but I was intrigued with the "bluesey" sound you can get out of it when you noodle around and push it a bit. I was looking for a bottle to make a slide! So now I'm off on another tangent.

I'm going to have to change my signature to "So many genres, so little time"

About string preferences

feeds@kickapps.com (dmcowles) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 07:42:56 PST

Okay, here's something I've wondered about for many years. It seems that on every guitar forum I frequent, every time someone starts a thread about strings there are wildly divergent opinions expressed about a particular brand of strings. I'm thinking specifically about Elixirs, for instance, or the "coated vs. uncoated " diatribes that go on and on. Is it possible that the dramatic variations in the way certain strings are experienced are the result of simple differences in the way people hear things? Differences in style of play? Just plain taste? (I suspect taste is probably the #1 most sensible answer. ) Differences in types of guitars? ( I don't believe that one for a second, having just read several comments to the effect that Elixirs sound terrible on all Martins! ) I'm one of those people who has yet to find a set of Martin brand strings that does...

Beginner Flatpicking Question: Resting on the string below

feeds@kickapps.com (Linsen) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:05:04 PST

Hi you flatpicking experts,

I was looking at some basic flatpicking techniques in the last few days and came across this very basic 'up down up down' exercise taught by Brad Davis. The way he teaches it, you're supposed to 'rest' the pick on the string below the one that's being picked on each down pick:

youtube link (yeah, don't laugh, it's really that basic and I'm that much of a beginner).

Now, I was wondering: What exactly is the purpose of this 'rest'? Is it to build accuracy as to prevent you from accidentally hitting the wrong strings? Is it for muting the string below the one picked? Do you still do it when you're starting to speed up the picking? Why no rest on the upper string on up-picks?

Sorry, if these questions seem stupid or irrelevant, but I'm just trying to penetrate this matter.

Thanks...

Maple Musings

feeds@kickapps.com (Pappy) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:45:11 PST

Having played my maple SJ for a bit now I've come to some observations and opinions about this guitar.

First let me post this description of maple pulled off the Luthiers Merchantile site "Maple is well known for imparting bright tone to an instrument, with excellent separation (a guitar with good separation allows each note of a chord to ring independently as opposed to sounding thick or clustered). It has long been a popular choice on the Gibson Jumbo series because the bright tone helps balance out the boomyness of guitars that have a large body."

This is a pretty good description of what's going on with my Collings SJ, especially as it is a copy of a Gibson J-185. One notices the separation immediately, which I like. However, it also makes this guitar more unforgiving than either my rosewood or mahogany. Part of it is the responsiveness of the Collings over the other guitars, and part the tonewood.

It will not let me get away...

Playing Technique