has come and gone. It’s really a lot of fun doing this stuff. Today I used the Ibanez AEL-50, last night the Taylor 810. I’m taking the Tak EF341C with me for the third session. Like them all and they all have a different voice.
The retreat location actually backs up to the wildlife refuge. SU was telling me that they hear the gators mating call last night. I asked her if they went walking down by the bayou! Saw one of the velvet red-headed woodpeckers that we have in Shoreacres, pretty things they are.
Oh well, back out to the woods. Logged in to LST for a peek and saw that Hamous had found a live version of Comfortably Numb on YouTube. Nice. Never will forget that concert in Rice Stadium in the poring rain with lightning and thunder. Awesome!
This may be off the wall, but I’ve dabbled a bit in guitar playing for a couple years now, but never really bothered to get any good. As a matter of fact, I’d be basically starting over again if I picked it up today, due to just not doing anything for the past several months (daughter’s brain surgery and all that). I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I’ve prayed about it, and I’m thinking that God wants me to develop that skill for Him to use. I’ve been operating the front-of-house audio for my church for a number of years now, and I’d like to grow beyond that into playing. Other than persistence, do you have any suggestions for a guy who can learn, but isn’t musically trained or anything???
As a matter of fact, I do have a couple of Ysuggestions. I faced the same thing several years ago. You know the song, Lord i Lift Your Name On High? It’t perfect for learning. The chord progression repeats itself, so you get a lot of practice changing chords. G-C-D-C-G, G-C-D-C-G, etc., then bridges to Em-Am-C-D.
Play it over and over, those chords and changes are used in thousands of songs. Plus, you get to worship while you practice.
Another cool tool is the cut capo. You hear the sound in a lot of Christian music, an extra “ringing†of the B-E strings. Google cut capo. You play a lot of chords with one or two fingers. Here i Am to Worship and Amazing Love are two songs with that sound.
Don’t practice, just play. Practice after you’ve played enough songs to want to do harder stuff.
Oh, and have your guitar setup properly. Makes a world of difference.
Thanks for the input – I’ll give that a shot. I’ve gotten my acoustic set up by way of upgrading the nut and saddle (why they make a relatively nice solid top guitar with plastic nut and saddle is beyond me) so the intonation should be OK. I need to get my cheapie electric checked out, though…
Here’s the acoustic – not the top of the line, but seems to be decent overall (again, with the nut and saddle upgraded, and some new strings)…
Duh. Forgot the link:
http://www.washburn.com/products/acoustics/dreadnoughts/d10s.aspx
Those are great guitars, I’ve had a couple of them. I’d bet you noticed a world of difference after the setup. That’s why so many people buy a guitar, get all excited, then put it in the closet after their fingers are bloody and never get better. The guitar industry would do themselves a huge favor by setting guitars up correctly at the factory.
Yep. There is an audible difference, especially in the sustain. It was relatively cheap for the upgrades, and made so much difference that I’m not sure why they don’t just do it in the factory…