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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Posts by cytania
It's more likely that your strings are warming with playing not the top. If it's the pickup then you won't notice the dull airiness when the amp is turned off.
Before you label your Takamine 'a bad one' have it looked at by a good guitar store. A full setup can check things like the truss rod, saddle pins, tuners and intonation. A good setup can breath fresh life into most guitars.
You'll certainly see an improvement with new Martin Strings. The old ones will be quite dull by now.
I'd say it's a bit early to looking around. Wait till you can define what you are after; 'wider neck', 'lighter sound' etc.
Hi Ken, nice thing about using your own guitar is the familiarity factor, if you are playing solo it can help you feel ready. Players often have all sorts of things they do before a performance. Even if it's just one song. Lost my capo before going out one evening. I knew I could borrow one at the venue but I also knew I couldn't do my warm-up at home, so I cried off. I also have a lucky t-shirt but we're getting close to superstition there...
I can go round a guitar shop and pick the best guitar there, but I also know that there are other shops which'll have a dozen guitars of the same quality (often cheaper). The trouble with being able to hear the good ones is you get the nagging feeling you should buy them. And yes sometimes I do regret not purchasing straight-away, particularly the second-hand oddities. I come back a week later and someone else has bought it. Darn...
Try looking up GAS or Guitar Aquisition Syndrome on the net, sounds like you might have early stages. Since your 40th is a way away nothing says you can't keep trying guitars and leaving printouts of the ones you like around the house. I've got my sights on a Taylor 110e after trying one amongst many others and maybe I'll win the other half over in a few months. Inbetween whiles I'll drive shop assistants mad though...
Hi Upyerkilt, I've used standard tuners on my bass and they actually manage very well even though that is several octaves below standard. You need a real advanced tuner like the Boss TU2 to intelligently say what you are tuning, the rest just resolve the main note.
If you are ever bored around the house you can try clipping your contact tuner to household objects. This is how I know my electric toothbrush is in C!
RH, on my first guitar course someone turned up with their guitar perfectly in tune but one octave too high. Strings were incredibly tight but being a beginner they didn't know how they should feel. Aferall there's all that talk of developing callouses and finger strength!
Only reason you see electro-acoustics down as easier is they often have cutaways and smaller/shallower bodies which makes them easier to hold.
Electric guitars do take less finger strength, the strings are usually lighter and the neck longer. A low action is possible without affecting the sound since this comes from pickups. With acoustic you don't really want an ultra-low action since alot of the sound comes from pumping and working the strings as you pluck/strum. Stick with it and eventually your fingers will toughen up.
Worst thing you can do in music is to stand stock still. Whether you tap your foot or sway like a loon you are physically getting with the beat. Metronomes can really help. The more you internalise a regular beat the better.
The exception is old-style folk music where the meter is highly variable for dramatic effect, but even there you need to know what the rules are, don't kill the pace to make the words easier.
Fender has been on a bit of a buying spree of recent and yes they own alot of brand names. That isn't to say that these are all now made at Fender factories and sound the same as classsic Fender models. Beware of making decisions based on corporate ownership (pre-CBS is totally bogus) or country of manufacture.
Wow Cameron, you certainly got well away from your budget there! Korina is one of those woods you really only see on top end models. I'm not convinced it has huge benefits but you won't find other makers doing it cheap.
The good news is I still reckon you can find the feel and sound you like in the $300-$600 mark. Just let the salesman know you are looking for something like Martin without the price premium and they'll understand.
Hope I don't come over as anti-Fender, it's just that I went through a whole rack of their affordable offerings a few weeks ago (I' sure they do a great guitar in the thousand dollar mark but then every manufacturer does) and found nothing to like at all. But it's personal taste. What I am saying is don't just choose from the Fender line-up like somehow they cover the whole rainbow of sounds. They don't...
Don't get hung up on finding your true pitch Seersha. It can vary and song melodies are as important as key. The thing with the capo is you can check yourself before sining in front of others. Fridays I sing all my songs once before going out to perform them. Sometimes I may have noted down fret 2 but somehow I can't make the high notes, so I drop to fret 1, yep that's working. Next song I thought was capo on fret 3 but it sounds wrong, I try fret 4 I'm singing a bit higher now, that's working better.
Some players I've seen even start a song then realise they need to change the capo. They say 'excuse me singing down in my boots there!', slide the capo up and start again.
Learning to use the capo will open up so many things...
>I want it to sound like I heard it.<
This all depends on the original song. Alot of simple sounding songs are actually quite complicated recordings with all sorts of studio tricks used. For instance Free's 'Alright Now' has 3 guitar parts all playing slightly differently. Same for 'Honky Tonk Women' by the Rolling Stones, there are Keith Richards playing diferent tunings, different stringings etc.Try looking for the artist doing the song unplugged or live in concert. Usually not quite the same...
Other thing to bear in mind is alot of stuff on chordie is peoples 'this works for me' versions. They may have missed passing chords, hammer-ons, run-downs and all sorts. Sometimes they are just plain wrong.
You'll find folk and country songs are much more rooted in real guitar playing. Same goes for singer-songwriters who perform solo with guitar.
What you want to be doing is listening to yourself and asking. Is this a whole song? Does it flow without pauses and jerks. Is the timing regular? Are your vocals telling the story and making the notes. If you are getting all this together people will forget the precise shape of the original. Thats why some cover versions put a whole new spin a song...
Wood is what gives an acoustic it's distinctive sound, Cam, usually the top is most important. Spruce is most common and is close to white under a clear varnish, it gives a bright commanding sound. Cedar is also well liked and comes up orange/yellow, it has a warm, intimate sound. There are others but koa is rare and pricey. I played an all mahogany Martin last week, very dark delta blues sound as I remember.
Use of maple in back/sides will make a guitar brighter and more trebley. Heavy varnishes make a guitar louder unplugged but also more ringing and maybe a bit shrill...
Martin's cheapest guitar is the DX1, this is a sort of green experiment. It's laminate, the grain you see is just a photo-print, but it's made from sustainable forest resources. It's better than it should be thanks to the Martin strut magic but at the $570 price point you could get a solid top guitar in proper wood from other makers.
Keep an open mind, if the salesman bothers you ask him which models are solid tops and it'll keep him occupied while you listen for tone. Don't bother too much about where a guitar was made, user your ears...
Hi Cam, when a maker gets things right there is often a 'family resemblance' in their guitars, so what you liked in that Martin should be reflected in Martins lower down the price scale. Did you note if it was a spruce or cedar top (koa anyone)?
Other way of going about it is start regular checks of the craigslist and ebay type sites. Ebay itself is a real rats den, real sellers rarely come up now, look for Martin and acoustic sites and maybe post in wanted sections. Bone up on the Martin models and the typical secondhand prices. Oh and all the usual 'watch-outs' apply. Meet the seller, check for cracks, work the price.
If you're playing on your own it's hard to do an actual solo, however in a lot of songs it's good to give the audience a brief break from singing. Mostly the verse is repeated, or just a portion of the verse, sometimes a variation on the chorus. A classic country gambit is to play the verse with nice choppy chords and plenty of swing attitude then bring the vocals back for the last line before going into the chorus.
It's a mysterious business Roger, I recently started working most songs out from a C chord. I have two very similar songs that go C G C G with occasional F at peaks throughout. Yet they are still a fret apart. Pace and attitude most be part of the answer. One song is slower and more aggressive, the other faster and prettier...
I'll post more if I'm ever sure of what I'm up to...
Nothing wrong with Fender's quality today Cameron but they are primarily an electric guitar maker. Their acoustics range has always been an attempt to cash in on the distinctive Fender headstock look.
If you can save up enough to double your budget then a Taylor 110 dreadnought can be got for around $600. You should be able to hear and feel the difference over the competition. Widely available too...
First 3 chords E A & D, then a simple strummed song that uses just them. Next lesson 2 more chords G and C. Plenty more songs that use just those 5. Few lessons in introduce Em and Am chords, more songs open up. Build confidence and maybe even try singing along before revealing B7 and F. After that a basic clawhammer/travis fingerpick but I'm probably getting way ahead there...
Don't know that particular model but I'm unimpressed by Fender acoustics in general. To my ears they sound dull and utterly uninspiring. Check out other makers like Crafter, Faith, Seagull, Godin, Yamaha, even Recording King. All of which I've found models at your price point that beat Fenders into a cocked hat...
I thought humidifiers were only for players down in Arizona...
A capo is a little bit of metal and rubber that clamps over the guitar neck and raises the pitch to whatever fret you're at. This is very useful if you find yourself playing a song but singing too low (or too high). You try the capo on various frets till you find one where your singing is natural and unstrained.
As regards playing and singing. Pick easy songs and work out if the chords and singing change at the same time or not. In country songs you often deliver a line in one chord then make a change then change back to deliver the next line. In folk songs the chord often changes before you sing the line of that note (allowing you to feel the note in your chest and sing to it). Blues and pop songs often change and sing at once.
The good news is that as you practice a song it gets ingrained just like the way your fingers remember chords. Once you master how a lyric goes you won't have so much trouble with it. Keep singing and your voice will lose it's rough edges and you'll get more able to judge if you are out of your natural range (use the capo). Every night I start singing with an easy belter to clear my pipes and open things up. Then I move down my songs towards the hard ones like 'Arthur McBride' (the edge of what I can do at present).
Rebel, are you planning to play this like a regular guitar or flat on your lap with a slide? Reason I ask is Dobro is synonymous with lap playing. Usually the nut is changed to give a high action but the make seems to recommend itself to the country/bluegrass lap styles. Excuse me if this isn't what you're up to, I believe Dobros are fine guitars in any use (never seen one in the flesh though).
With electrics there are 4 classic options.
The Strat type - light wood body, low powered pickups. Gives a thin, focused sleazy sound. Think Hendrix and Clapton
The Les Paul type - heavy wood body, high power pickups. Gives a fizzing, bass-rich sound. Think 70s heavy rock and metal, like Gary Moore and Jimmy Page.
The Tele type - light body, raw sounding pickups. Gives the classic country sound but also used by Joe Strummer and early Zeppelin.
The Semi 335 type. Like a Les Paul but with some jazzier, bluesier sounds too. Can feedback though...
Doesn't need to say Stratocaster to be a Strat-type, in fact you'll find the best value away from Fender Squier. Check out ESP's PB series modesl offering P-Rails pickups, they're trying to give 3sounds-in-1 there.
Other thing you want to think about is getting an amp that can do plenty of sounds. Something like a Line6 pod for home practice or a Line6 spider amp. Maybe a Zoom multi-effects unit. Classic rock effects is a distortion pedal modified by a Wah pedal, gives you instant rock.
Now hit the shops and see what gets on with you. Don't set your heart on something that looks good on a web-page (like a BC Rich) but will turn out to be uncomfortable to play (like a BC Rich).
Hopeful, first off always try with no capo, open this always sounds louder and fuller. Not working? Then just try the first 4 frets. Although you'll eventually know your personal key range there are often surprises in song melodies.
Crevs, if you look at my song sheets you'll find all sorts of capo remarks crossed out and written over. Your voice is a flexible thing, as you sing it loosens up, as you become a regular singer your voice improves/broadens. So it's worth checking old songs to see if your capo position required hasn't changed too. I always check my voice is still on for the capo positions selected before going out for a session.
Sounds like a decent shop Seersha, the remark on the neck wasn't so they could hit you for a low trade-in price and it sounds like you've got a collectable guitar there. Necks can warp even when well kept, it can simply be the luck of the wood sometimes. If the neck was out of adjustment your strings may have been buzzing against the frets which is usually a nasty sound. Well done on naming your guitar, it's the first step to bonding with your guitar and becoming one with the music...
Have you got a strap on that guitar Fish? I used to get back pain until I got a broad leather strap. This was just sitting down practice but a strap does mean you aren't tensing to hold the guitar on your knee. Other thing I'm thinking is that your singing technique may be the trouble. Are you finding your right key or straing to make the recording pitch? Do you warm-up first? Plenty of throat clearing and belching when I get ready to go out singing...
Never been sure what travel guitars are for. If you're after less baggage I'd look for a parlour guitar with a proper fitted case. If you're after a quiet practise tool then check Yamaha's silent guitars but since I like to sing and play I can't help but be heard. If you like the cool look then go the whole hog and get a flying V ;-)
Hi Seersha, you'll only find your true range by picking songs and singing along. When you can't sing it or your throat strains then clip on the capo and try 2nd or 4th fret. If those aren't close go up or down one till you can manage the song comfortably.
Couple of tips
1) As you sing in practice your voice will warm up and songs that first you found rough will sweeten and become easier to make shine.
2) When you play in front of people you get a bit more adrenalin and sometimes you can sing an whole semitone (1 fret) higher.
2) Even when you find your key it may worth transposing chords. I've just taken 'When You Say Nothing At All' out of G and into key of C. In both cases I was playing on 3rd fret so it as actually Bflat but somehow Eflat suits me and the melody more.
3) Watch out for little trills and peaks pro-singers often put into a song. You don't usually need to do these. The true melody of a song will reveal itself.
4) There are some songs that just don't match in with your range well. Born singers are lucky enough to have wide ranges where this isn't true and with use and practice all our vocal ranges widen.
5) Some songs just match in with particular styles of speaking and accents. If you stumble on a lyric it may just be because you wouldn't say it that way. Sometimes it's alright to change them, but..
6) Some lyrics can't be messed with, you have to learn to breath and pace them right and then the song and guitar chords become far clearer.
To come back to your main point I've noticed that major chords tend to be confident and happy but minor chords tend to be sad and reflective. Sounds obvious however alot of pop songs tend to use the trick of a happy message with a minor key or a mournful song in a major. This somehow balances out, suggesting a silver lining to every cloud.
The real basic division in songs is between 12 bar blues derived stuff (3 chords) which tend to make '-- shapes on the fretboard and Western European progressions which work round a h shape. I'm sure Jerome and NELA can explain better. Don't worry about those for the moment concentrate on clear singing and keeping guitar and vocal together...
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Posts by cytania
