OK, how do the rest of you deal with it? I've got painful tendonitis in my left thumb/wrist, making it nearly impossible to play for more than a few minutes. I'm in physical therapy, and I think it's getting better, but it's been over 6 months with this. Suggestions?
2 2011-01-28 00:52:41
Re: FAVORITE SONG LINES (68 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
Great lines from everyone. I'm partial to Dylan, especially Idiot Wind (mentioned earlier), but no one's included Leonard Cohen yet. He's got a way of turning a phrase in a song that sounds so profound, but makes you wonder why you didn't think of it first.
"But I feel so close to everything we've lost/We'll never, never have to lose it again" ---Tower of Song
"I'm cold as a new razor blade" ---So Long, Marianne
"Everybody knows that you've been discreet/But there were so many people you just had to meet/Without your clothes" ---Everybody Knows
Of course, Elvis Costello has plenty of them, too. My favorite:
"I said, 'I'm so happy, I could die'/She said, 'Drop dead, then' and left with another guy" ---(The Angels Want to Wear My) Red Shoes
3 2010-03-19 00:55:59
Topic: Need chords for "Make a Circuit with Me" (1 replies, posted in Song requests)
By early 80's rockabilly group The Polecats. Don't need lyrics, and I think I've got some of the chord pattern, but can't quite make it sound right.
Help, please!
4 2009-11-22 19:06:02
Re: Setup question (6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
Thanks to all. My main concern was damaging my guitar; I don't feel too worried now about going up or down 1/100th in gauge.
5 2009-10-25 19:05:40
Topic: Setup question (6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
I've got a new(er) acoustic guitar that I haven't had a setup for, largely because it seems to play just fine. However, I like to change strings about every 6 months or so, and I like to try different gauges. Not too different (.010, .011, .012), but on my previous guitar, the guy who did the setup said "It's set up for .011's now," as if putting a different gauge on it would destroy my guitar.
Is there that much of a difference in the lighter acoustic gauges that the guitar's truss rod needs to be adjusted every time you change? I have no experience in doing this on my own, and wouldn't trust myself anyway. Suggestions?
6 2009-08-05 18:18:12
Re: need help (26 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Paul,
First, I agree with Zurf. Start by playing the songs you like any way you can.
Second, listen to the recordings, and try to play along a little. You'll find that you can pick out some strum patterns pretty quickly that way.
Third, use your practice time to experiment. Do stuff you normally wouldn't: pluck chords for a hard rock tune, bang out hard & fast on a ballad, etc. It can give you practice at stuff you're not as comfortable with, and can open you up to very different interpretations of songs. Example: I like to play the Eurythmics' "Right By Your Side", the swing/calypso song, as a downbeat alt-country tune, slow and methodical. Sounds nothing like the original, but it comes off pretty well (IMO).
Keep at it, and you'll get closer to where you want to be. Of course, I've been playing for a few years and I'm still not Mark Knopfler yet, either...
7 2008-12-07 20:05:33
Re: I NEED SIMPLER ALTERNATIVE Bm and F CHORD (45 replies, posted in Acoustic)
Many great suggestions in this thread. Here's my $0.02 (US):
Depending on the song, you may even be able to shorten the chord form from the posted "cheats". If you're picking more on the high strings (G-B-E), go ahead and ignore the low strings (E-A-D). That makes F look like xxx211 and Bm look like xxx432. You don't get much (any?) bass sound, but if you're already on the treble side anyway, it won't make that much difference.
Another option: change to a different chord altogether. This works better if you're writing a song yourself than playing someone else's, but every now and then you can work something in to give an established song a little different sound, and make it your own (and easier to play). For example, when I started out and had problems with F, I sometimes changed it to Fmaj7 (xx3210) instead. Different sound, but it can keep you moving with the song while you improve on the barre. I did that with a song I was writing because I just couldn't get the barre to sound like anything, and now I like the sound of it better in that song anyway.
Last, and I hate to sound like everyone else, but practice improves play. When you're at home alone, go ahead and play that F with three dead strings in it every time. Every time. Over and over and over again. Soon enough, you'll only have two dead strings, then one. I won't guarantee you any better than that, because that's still where I am most of the time. My boss plays professionally and says that he still routinely hits 5 out of 6, and sometimes less than that. At least we're in good company.
8 2008-10-17 02:16:44
Re: Bridge pins (6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
Thanks for all the input, especially Guitarpix. Since the sound that I've got with the guitar right now is pretty bright & jangly, I think I may go with the ebony pins and see how that works out. I've been able to find ebony at a few places locally, but the brass pins seem to be harder to find right now.
And for the future, I'll look into changing the bridge & nut to the same material. However, since I just bought this guitar, I want to keep my additional expense to a minimum for a while!
9 2008-10-16 00:59:45
Topic: Bridge pins (6 replies, posted in Guitars and accessories)
I recently purchased an Art & Lutherie cedar guitar. I changed the strings and several of the end pins crumbled apart at the bottom of the pin (cheap plastic). They're holding up OK, but I started thinking about replacing them. Does anyone have experience with either ebony or brass pins? I'm thinking of going with brass pins with a mother of pearl inlay. Do they add any tone to the guitar, or do they just look cool?
Thanks in advance for the advice, folks.
10 2008-09-01 01:25:38
Re: where is everybody from? (242 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
Joe, 42, playing for 2+ years, from Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Nice to see the wide world represented here! Great range of geography, age, experience, and sense of humor!
I mostly strum chords, but a little of my classical training comes out, especially to accompany my daughter's violin lessons. If there's ever a good reason to start playing, that's it.
11 2007-07-23 03:58:39
Re: Strumming patterns and chord progressions (4 replies, posted in Songwriting)
For strumming patterns, I drift back to a few familiar ones all the time too, but I've been successful by consciously practicing a different pattern than normal to a basic I-IV-V chord progression (whichever you like best). Try a reggae pattern (up-rest-up-down-up), then a rock pattern (down-down-down-down), then anything you want to make up yourself. Play slowly at first, then build up once you've got the pattern.
For chord progressions, right now I think I dream in D. Everything I try to write seems to gravitate to D-A7-whatever I feel like next. G is the obvious, so when I want to sound different, I go instead to C or maybe E. You should keep trying more difficult (and different sounding) chords as well; it will add a great deal to your writing arsenal. I, like most everyone else on Chordie, have had lots of trouble with barre chords. I got around it at first by playing Fmaj7 (xx3210) instead of F (133211), and now I like trying to mix in other major 7ths (Dmaj7 - xx0222, for example).
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I tend to write lyrics and music at different times, but I'm not sure if either is "first" more often. I'll write down some nifty-sounding chord progressions when I'm goofing off with the guitar, then later I'll look through a few sets of lyrics and see what might fit together.
12 2007-07-22 14:30:36
Re: What's everyones favourite and least favourite genres of music? (23 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
I think that what you like has a lot to do with (1) what you heard most during your "formative years", and (2) what station in life you occupy at the time. For me, #1 was 70's-80's rock, with a little folk and classical included. I hated country, liked but just couldn't get into R&B, and wouldn't have known world music from anything. Add 20 years, and now it's 70's-80's rock, with a little of everything under the sun included. I'm listening (and trying to play!) more Woody Guthrie, Johnny Cash, Lead Belly and Hank Williams (I) than I ever thought I'd care to, and I'm also listening to Beck, Nine Inch Nails, A Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, Brazilian folk, West African and klezmer--sometimes even a little polka.
I also think that every style of music has its good and bad points, and (as with most things in life) most practitioners only get to a level of comfort and stay there, as opposed to truly excelling. That's why when I turn past a country station, I can't stay there for more than 30 seconds, unless they're playing something that is either really innovative or classic. Since I'm more comfortable with rock, I can leave the station on the local modern/alternative station without changing it, even when the songs start to sound the same.
Hope this makes some sense; hope all of your horizons expand over time faster than your waistlines.
13 2007-06-26 01:52:55
Re: sick names for bands (30 replies, posted in Chordie's Chat Corner)
Couple of local bands from various points of my youth:
Sleazy Jesus and the Splatter Pigs (from Cleveland: actually a scream to watch them play; it was part rock and roll, part performance art, part drunken stupor)
...and the sickest band name I've ever heard...
Granny's Hole (Columbus--one of the band members killed another guy and hid out for months, even though he had easily identifiable facial and neck tattoos)
It's always been a game with friends whenever an interesting/lurid/sick phrase comes up, to say, "That would make a great name for a band!". If you think about it more, you get a LOT of possibilities for YOUR next band name...My current favorite: Pollo Sashimi.