1 Topic by doctony

(0 replies, posted in Acoustic)

I'll try for the short version [A sudden shout: "Yeah, right!" ] --  Take a gander at the mixed bag comments made about the Yamaha "EZ PLAY-- AG/EG" [Acoustic Guitar/Electric Guitar -- 2 models of the 'electronic' variety] at Amazon and you'll see everything from "I love it!" to "This is not a guitar! It's simply a glorified TOY!" to "nothing more than an electronic gadget!" to "Ohh, for the love of reality and music, people, stop fooling around with 'tekkie-contraptions' [sic] and buy yourself  a real guitar!" and assorted mixed bag comments.

Hey, in addition to my 'real McCoy' acoustic guitars,  I own one! The Yamaha EZ-AG [Acoustic] electronic guitar even though the only differences between the 'electric' version to the 'acoustic' is the physical looks of the thing because the "string" set-up [right hand] is identical in both models and they are not tensioned strings but rather 'rubbery' to say the least while plastic 'buttons' form the fret 'strings' which, those 1" in width plastic buttons, 'are' the fret 'strings' . The 'electric' version also having a tremelo and USB connection. Plus other electronic settings as does the "Acoustic" version. To me, and BTW I have no commercial interests whatsoever in buying or selling guitars of any nature and what I have to say is simply 'user' comment, that said, to me, the 'electronic' versions of the guitar [or the piano for that matter where I use Roland synthesizers [and most recently a GEM RP-X piano dedicated synth] with dedicated JV/SRX piano plug-in modules] can have an excellent ADJUNCT use to the real thing! Now I'll explain what I mean by that!

Catch a very recent post where a guitarist comments on why the old 'D' string always seems to break when no replacement string is available and Murphy's Law is duly brought up [and wisely and realistically so!] by another writer. True enough, to be sure, but note the original writer saying,  "... when the urge to play..."  arises. Ahhh! The "urge to play" which to various and sundry folks like myself who are also life-long "night owls" can often and does happen [the urge to play] during the wee hours. Hey, fine, IF one lives alone  or has that dedicated music room where the 'sounds' don't travel but when there are 'others ' in the household who may not appreciate the, shall we say, 'zeal' [read: volume and higher increments of same therein as you 'get into it']  of your playing when they are trying to sleep! In my case, while my wife [after 36 years of marriage] enjoys the sound of the piano or guitar well enough, well, that doesn't apply during the wee hours [after midnight] when 'I' want to play and she wants to sleep but those 'travelling' sounds of an acoustic/electric guitar or acoustic piano cause a problem! Hence, the synthesizer and 'electronic' 88 key piano for the wee hours and those 'headphones' which duly solves the problem in place of my acoustic piano/guitars  but not suited for wee hour playing. Ditto on the guitar with the Yamaha 'electronic' version. I can play away [volume and zeal inclusive] and all the sounds are channeled into the headphones! Yeah, sure, one can go the 'phones' route with a solid body electric via the amp 'mic' thing but you still have that traveling sound and no need to mention the soul who 'thought' that an "acoustic-electric" would suddenly [and magically] become fully muted [!?] when plugged into an amp and then the phones were popped in to the amp or box! So for wee hour playing with 'peace keeping' headphones, the electronic versions of the guitar and piano have their uses!

Ditto learning chords and/or 'whatever' but, as I say, as an adjunct to the real thing versus a replacement. On the other hand, folks who may have hand/finger disabilities [** in one case a diabetic who must 'test' some 6 times a day with the finger stick thing praised the electronic guitar as, to use his word,  a "God-send"] of  'whatever' nature but desire to play guitar for personal enjoyment reasons just may find the electronic version as a means to realize that goal minus the heavy finger-tip callous thing or barre chord 'pressure' work out on the index finger.  I don't view the electronic guitar as a "toy" at all but a viable adjunct to the real thing for virtually anyone or when instrument 'volume' becomes an issue. The MIDI aspect of these electronic versions also offering all sorts of additional attachment instrument or computer connected tinkerings or, indeed, electronic 'instruction' built-in to the electronic version instrument itself.  I'm also on record as saying publicly that nothing beats the real McCoy, in effect, the 'real' acoustic piano or 'real' acoustic guitar or 'real' electric guitar in which to really learn the instrument becomes a given 'must' ==but== neither do I arbitrarily write-off the electronic versions of these instruments as 'useless' or 'glorified toys' or 'gadgets' or 'questionable learning tools' because they 'do' have their adjunctive and helpful uses to the real McCoy stuff!  Comments?

Doc Tony

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2 Reply by doctony

(4 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Hello, Doug! The whole issue of guitar barre chords can be fascinating because if one looks around the internet, countless posts and articles have been written about it because, IMO anyway, it is one of the areas where 'getting' good barre chords can become both a challenge ... and a frustration! I've seen articles that comment solely on finding the proper position [with each individual being physiologically different in their index finger as the article writer's premise] of one's index finger to 'form' the barre and the 'varying' results therein. The idea being that it's not 'only' a matter of applying sufficient pressure for the barre but so too 'where' the index finger of that particular player and his/her index finger  is positioned and 'then' come issues of guitar necks and certainly the strings one is using.

Interesting too -- and note that I'm hardly any authority on this [save as an often frustrated barre player who admittedly tends to do the open chord work-arounds when a 'full' barre is required!] -- anyway -- and simply quoting articles I've read from those who 'do' know and the guitar is their primary instrument, there are comments made that to some folks, especially new players, string 'differences' becomes a literal revelation! In effect, a new player may hear from another, "I'm using Extra Light  .010 - .047 80/20 bronze strings ... what are you using?" and the new player may have no idea what is being commented on!

Indeed, just as an experiment and with classical 'piano' students , I asked, "Do you play the guitar?" and if the response was no, my next question was this and I suppose I did the 'experiment' because, on another issue, the 'assumption' made at some beginning guitarist websites that the reader already knows the nitty-gritty mechanics of the guitar but that may not be true at all: "Look at this guitar, what would you think would be the FIRST string if you were reading a website that talked about 'tuning' the FIRST string?" and every single one of them pointed to the what they called "the fat string" as their supposed 'logical' interpretation of what constitutes the 'first string' or "string #1" on a guitar. Or I asked, 'what do you interpret as the LOW E versus HIGH E string on a guitar, and only 'one' of five knew it had to do with string 'pitch' versus 'physical location' with the others believing the "low E" was the string "closest to the floor" [!] and the "high E" closest to the ceiling [!] ! Then too, I read at a certain "beginning guitar" website and the webmaster comments in a particular thread, "I can't see using such "ridiculously elementary comments" [sic]  as the "fat string" or "thin string", they should already know that!" And to 'that', I say, says who! What's so wrong with presenting the stuff, as they used to say in my Army days, "by the numbers" ! Hey, how many times do folks seek information on 'whatever' subject and they find a website where in fact the folks know what they're talking about but after the 3rd or 4th sentence, the reader gets lost because the stuff quickly gets too technical for what is, to the author at least, considered "ridiculously elementary" -- sure, it's always 'ridiculously elementary' when one already 'knows' it, yes? I've actually seen some forums [not here] where a poster pipes up, "These are "newbie" questions and should be addressed to "new player" sections ... " as if to suggest such types were, what, 'born' playing guitar when in fact 'whatever' is played by anyone is essentially based on the input and experiences of others -- reading or visual variety!   


Doc Tony


Watch now, a detractor somewhere in Omaha: "Zzzzzz Zzzzzzz Zzzzzz!"

;-)

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3 Reply by doctony

(2 replies, posted in Acoustic)

As Jim says, "Huh?"

You're right, Jim, when I double-checked ... it was ==30== songs [not my mentioned 20] on the Eagles "Oz Land" tour DVD! I've duly corrected same! ;-)  [please note the smiley]

OK .. OK.. but in some defense, I did indicate the first part of the post was O/T [Off topic] stuff with the HD DVD player vs HD DVD disk matter and, hey, if you can wade through the "Pythagorean Comma" thing in your sig, well then, can ol'  Joe Walsh be any less perplexing?


Doc Tony


"Generosity! That was my first mistake! [...] Shows you, sooner or later, you must pay for every good deed!"  ["Calvera" [Eli Wallach] in the classic flick, "The Magnificent Seven" ]

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4 Topic by doctony

(2 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Someone must have tracked down my email at  Amazon  [reviews] and not a problem as I welcome email as a great way to exchange info whether it's the piano or the guitar! In any event, the writer stated, "Doc -- I have that DVD [**  TWO disks for 'regular' DVD and ONE disk for the "HD" [High Definition"] version -- BTW, this is off topic but watch out for that one, the HD DVD disks now being heavily discounted because as many folks may now know, the USA has 'halted' the production of HD DVD disks [see the Amazon comment on that issue] so the result was HD DVD prices falling drastically ==but== some folks had the erroneous idea that HD DVD's were a sort of picture quality 'super enhancement' kind of thing but the fact is that HD DVD's will ONLY play on a HD DVD player! While the HD DVD --player-- IS in fact backward compatible with the ability to play 'regular' or non HD disk DVD's, the HD DVD 'disk' itself will ==NOT== play on a standard DVD machine! So too, some folks also forgot that to 'get' HD even with a HD player, one had to also have a TV or monitor that was HD ready! And you ONLY got the the top of the line 1080 "p" or "i" 'resolution'  if you used an HDMI connection cable and your monitor or TV was so equipped with an HDMI slot for the cable , otherwise you only got 720 HD resolution! Those HD DVD disks per se are 'not' backward compatible and 'require' an HD DVD player to be viewed! A word to the wise! I bought an HD DVD player from Amazon in early 2008 and when the decision was made by the industry to stop producing HD DVD disks in the USA, Amazon offered a $50 rebate credit which I got and used!]

That all said, I get, "Doc -- I have that Eagles 2004 Australian ["Oz Land"] tour and when you mention "out-takes", where are they?" At the very end of the DVD and I don't mean the bonus piece, the end of the DVD where the credits are being shown, there's a short intro to an Eagles tune and then to the right of the screen are some brief out-takes after the 2004 tour was over with comments by Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Don Henley. Funny! Example -- the usual dead-pan  Joe Walsh [great player, Joe!] and he makes with "Well, Irving  [** Irving Azoff-- Eagles management] and I lived in a car and ..  " -- at this point Frey bursts out guffawing and says, "You and Irving lived in a CAR?" and Joe Walsh says, still as dead-pan as ever, "Yeah, for a little while .. then Danny Fogelberg [** 1951-2007] moved in and things got a little crowded."  Or Henley and the interviewer says, "So at the end of a given concert, do you have any 'particularly' favorite song you like to do?", and Henley quips, "Yeah -- the last one in the set!" Great DVD that one! 20 songs and an extended band of great musicians -- I'd give anything to take Mike Thompson's place just for one tune on that 8 1/2 foot grand piano! I also thought Steuart Smith was excellent as an additional lead guitar as were the others like Scott Crago on drums, Will Hollis on keyboards and the 4 "Mighty Horns".  So the piano [in addition to multiple keyboards] was a Yamaha grand versus a classic Bösendorfer [** Ahhhh, the mellow sounds that come forth from a Bösendorfer grand!] but hey, a grand piano is a grand piano with even the 'electronic mix' versions sounding great! The word was the Eagles had some =50= mixed bag well known name guitars on hand although the Fender and the acoustic-electric Takamine [among others -- each song, different instruments] were in ample evidence. I like the idea that the Eagles themselves comment that they get just as much enjoyment going 'acoustic' and doing harmony pieces as they do 'electric' or as Walsh quips, the "jamming hour" .  "One Day At A Time" -- great tune by Walsh as was his "In the City" ! But then, all the tunes in that tour and DVD were/are great! IMO.   

Doc Tony


PS: If anyone reading this is from 'Down Under' and living in Melbourne -- the crowd at that Eagles tour looked huge -- how many folks does the Rod Laver arena hold?  And how much were the tickets for that tour? Stage or "nose-bleed" section up in those multi-tiered seats? How were/are  the acoustics in that arena?  Just curious.

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5 Reply by doctony

(8 replies, posted in Acoustic)

That 'was' better for that, how to phrase it, second syllable vocalization, so to speak, on those Goom-EEE, gloom-EEE [phonetic rendering], ear-LY, emp-TY thing. Funny enough and depending on the way one sings or sort of hums along with it [and it does sound great on a 12 string!], I first used the 'A' as Russell Harding does [as he states in his post] and it was then I decided to seek out the 'original' piece by Lightfoot because the use of the 'A', while it can work, took away the 'haunting' chord and quality of the song but here's the thing -- the original shows ONLY the Asus2 for the vocal renderings of Goom-EEE, earLY, etc. whether the word is sung fast or simply high or low pictched! And the original recording has, as far as I can detect, only one chord on those words, the Asus2. I don't know, maybe it's just me but the combination Asus2/A [Goom-MEE] will work although there is a slight adjustment to be made [at least to me] vocally if that is done but it does sound better! 

But then too, I've seen times where I see the music of 'whatever' tune and try it and declare the old classic in perhaps one or two particular sections of the tune, "that CAN'T work!" until the player may just show up and his/her rendition of the song uses a vocalization that fits the chord he/she used in the transcription! Perhaps this also explains why various song transcriptions by 'whoever' state that the rendition and the chords are the interpretation of that particular person who may hum or sing the tune differently than others and hence fit the chords 'they' prescribe for the tune where to others on the face of only having the music or chords but not the voice who did the transcription to go with it, ahhhhh, comes the 'that can't be right' thing. In effect, and being fair about it to transcriptionists, who is to say without hearing the way they do it and hence their chords to what they believe is good vocal to chord pitch/harmony. I love that song but that Asus2 still remains a bit of a mystery to me but that's what the original piece shows! 


Doc Tony

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6 Topic by doctony

(8 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Here's the deal -- the chords [various websites] say 'yes' but, alas, the 'ear' says 'no' ! 

Put another way, what am I missing! Naturally, I do a post on 12 string tuning and with the 12 string in hand, what better tune for the 12 string than Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" [Sidebar: I hear if you capo the 'second' fret, you can play along with the original tune] -- anyway, here's where my ear is in rebellion, so to speak, the progression is Asus2/ Em/G/D/Asus2  and I've seen that in countless chord renditions for the opening of the tune ==but== when the Asus2 chord falls on, how do I express this, bear with me, the "mee" in "gumee" or indeed the [** phonetically rendered now] 'mee' in "gloomy" or 'tee' in "empty" or 'lee' in "early", the Asus2 sounds, well,  out of pitch yet I don't know anything else that works 'but' the Asus2 chord,  sooooo, what am I missing or doing wrong? Try it yourself -- "On the 'big' [G on 'big' ] lake they 'call' [D on 'call'] Gichee  Goo [OK with the Asus2 on Goo] ==but== when completing the word and vocalizing the 'mee' in 'Goomee', the Asus2 sounds odd to the ear! What am I missing in this great and haunting tune?

Doc Tony

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7 Topic by doctony

(1 replies, posted in Acoustic)

First, credit where credit is due because in reviewing some of the Chordie 'tips' posts, I came across a post by "Oilymike" made on 11-19-07 at 22:07:35 and he mentions the website get-tuned.com. This is golden! It's also free  and offers a wealth of ONLINE TUNING stringed instruments  ranging from the guitar to the violin to the cello, et al! All kinds of info to boot including alternate tunings but the plus side is that you simply identify your specific instrument [I tried it with my Fender 12 string], click the specific string with your mouse and the 'sound' of the string you're tuning will begin at 1 second intervals until you click it to stop. This avoids the old mouse start/stop repeat thing by 'continuously' sounding the string you're tuning until 'you' stop it. 

The website is get-tuned.com and here's the specific webpage for the 12 string tuning:

http://get-tuned.com/12_string_guitar_tuner.php

If for any reason the above click-through doesn't work, simply go to the get-tuned.com website and look to the left of the website page and click "ONLINE TUNERS" -- once there, pick your instrument [6 string, 12 string guitar as well as various other stringed instruments] and, voila, a picture of the instrument appears with the strings all labeled and all you have to do is click the box below the picture where you'll see the name of the string as illustrated and identified in the picture, listen to the repeated tones and tune up! Decidedly worth a gander!


Doc Tony   


What's that? Yeah, I use those electronic tuners too [IMT-500] or the classic 5th fret manual thing but sometimes on the electronic stuff that 'swinging needle', so to speak, can be a real drag to get spot-on or the 'green' OK indicator can 'vary' with the plucked string and so, if at home anyway and in front of your computer, hey, this website offers the in-tune "strings" one by one [quite handy for the 12 string or those new to the 12 string and the 'octave' tunings on certain strings] and all you do is click, listen and tune! Free! And no sign-in hassles. 

Get this -- I run into a player who loves the 12 string and says it's "the only way to go" and then I comment, "Yeah, but the 'one octave up' tunings on certain strings can be tricky ..." and so help me I get interrupted with  , "WHAT 'octave' tunings?" [!] Shows you once again , it boils down to 'whatever works' for each individual player.  But perhaps that explains 'alternative tunings' to begin with , yes?  Not to mention the old chestnut of "the rule is ... that there are really no rules."  Hey, switch to my piano for a moment and one sees literal 'tomes' written on "the vital importance of proper posture at the piano" [sic] and then watch vintage DVD's of Glenn Gould! So much for the "vital" issue of piano "posture"!  Can you believe [for those of you also into piano or the "keyboards"] Glenn's famous home-made folding chair [** made for him by his father when Glenn was a kid] and which he absolutely insisted using even during his concert recital days is presently under glass in a Canadian museum dedicated to "GG" [Glenn Gould] !

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8 Topic by doctony

(4 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Interesting few days and music a la mode and another case where my classical piano playing passion took second fiddle [no pun intended] to the guitar. Anyway, the song [available on Chordie] is vintage but still a grabber, "Flashdance ... What A Feeling" [sic] and a quick attribution: 1983-- Lyrics by Keith Forsey and Irene Cara, music by Giorgio Moroder] and featured more than once in the 80's flick, "Flashdance" . Good tune to get the best of both acoustic worlds, fingering 'and' strumming plus a rather rapid change of tempo so it's a good chance to do a little bit of everything. Cajoling my wife to sing the tune [or at least hum the thing] while I play it is another matter!

What's that? Yeah, I still get "Barre-itus", so to speak, so when the frequent B minor barre chord shows up in the tune, I do the alternative B minor [individually, 4 notes, X,X, F#,B,D,F#]  . The F# minor is no problem since it's a partial barre at best and those I can do decently and sans the 'pause' thing but the full 6 string barre, well, rather than do the old pause-city routine  or, worse still, have the barre chord show up with at least 2 strings DOA and I don't mean 'X' notation stuff either, I simply do the available, shall we say, 'work-around'  same chord alternatives! It's not that I've given up the ship on barre chords but let's just say I'm still working on it. Hey -- a player at the get together let me try his guitar as he tried mine [I had on hand my 12 string Fender and the "Little Martin" LXME] and the other player was using the Takamine EF261SAN acoustic-electric which I really liked -- low action too and it comes standard with XL strings to boot ranging from [** in inches vs mm] .009 to .047!  Very nice sound! [Sidebar: Here's one for you -- just for the exercise, go to your search engine and type in the words "how to pronounce "TAKAMINE" .." and you'll see no fewer than 10, that's 10 'different' pronunciations at multiple websites! I finally found one guitar forum where one poster says, and I'm quoting now, "This may help ... I'm of Japanese extraction but still speak Japanese and the way I pronounce it is [phonetically] "TAH-KAH-MEE-NEH" with no emphasis on any particular phonetic syllable [...] and I'm only saying this because when I recently heard "Take-a-meany" and "tock-a-mine", hey, something had to be done!" [sic].  A smiley was then added to the comment by the writer of that post. 

So, and getting back to "Flashdance... What A Feeling", if you want both fingering [extended intro and song lead-in as repeated -- A-E-Bmin-F#min-D-A-G-E] and strumming and a night/day difference in tune tempo, but good practice for same, give it a try! Another one that works well on the acoustic and fingering/strumming mix [although it's generally done 'arpeggio' style on the electric]  is "Van Diemen's Land" by the "Edge" in U2. Also a vintage tune but a keeper! Speaking of vintage tunes and U2, that "Rattle and Hum" DVD with U2 I'd equate most positively with the 2004 Eagles 'Oz Land' tour DVD. Great stuff!


Doc Tony

PS -- Just to clarify a couple of matters -- First, Chordie has the song listed as "What A Feeling"  [Irene Cara] -- second, both the intro and then the lead-in are the same chords when it begins, with the 'A' chord, "First, when there's nothing, but a slow glowing dream ..." , you should get -7- beats, if you will, out of each chord plucked down/up with the fingers and then SLOWLY but 'fluidly' move to the other chords with 7 beats each  and the progression [given above] is a neat sounding one. The intro, you alone, then the singer [or yourself] with the same chords again because the chord progression repeats itself. Of note, most renditions of the song will actually notate "begin to strum here" and the tempo really gets into high gear. The 7 chord lead-in tho' and plucking them each 7 times is pleasant to the ear, at least IMO. The chorus part must also be fluid so new players should practice the chord switches until they become automatic. BTW, on the Takamine EF261SAN, not cheap, but it's, and again IMO and so stated, just as great sounding as many a comparable Martin, Seagull or Taylor acoustics I've heard.  Runs about 1K and change [most quoted price, new, at various US guitar commercial entities is $1,049.00 ==WITH== the hardshell case included.  -- Doc Tony

****

UPDATE PS#2 -- I probably rate a D- for 'clarity' and threw everything off with my comment of "plucking them each 7 times is pleasant to the ear"  -- let me try that again and this piece of the post was mostly geared to new players since I note that besides long-term seasoned guitarists, the forum also has its share of brand new guitar players -- anyway, what I meant by the '7 times' was the plucking of each individual string contained in the chord  in that tune progression [** it helps if you ever saw or have the "Flashdance" DVD and the flick begins with a synthesizer simply doing the A chord in full arpeggio mode] and that's what I meant, 'arpeggio' playing via the fingers on each 'individual' string of the chord doing the chord string by string with the fingers and then after working the fingers down the individual notes of the chord,  simply coming back up on the same chord!

For new players, two prospects open up -- you learn acoustic fingering [versus the pick over-reliance in acoustic playing] AND an appreciation via the 'ear' how important it is to watch for those chord 'X' notations! All too often, I'll see brand new players stumming or randomly trying to pluck ALL of the strings and disregarding the 'X' string ["do not play"] notations in the chord books with the resulting dissonance then getting lost in the shuffle with the zeal of actually playing a tune without pauses!

With fingering, the thumb becomes the bass note 'hammer' so to speak but the new player quickly realizes that while there are options on the E chord which has no 'X' stuff and fully 'open' , the, as a quick example, normal 'D' chord only requires the 4 string D-D-F#-A with the X-X  on those 'missing' bass notes but if plucked  in the 'What A Feeling" tune would have the 'ear' rebelling forthwith! This, of course, does not apply to so-called alternate D chord applications. I find that brand new players tend to sometimes strum or try to finger-pluck 'all' the strings but just as quickly learn via the ear that there are very valid reasons for 'X' don't play or string 'mute' notations! The 'What a Feeling' extended intro and verse continuation with the same chords before the strum begins can be rather nice on the ear especially if done fluidly since it's not a tune that lends itself to any 'positional' pauses ... not to mention the rapid and then sustained fast tempo increase.

Doc Tony


Hey, you know by now my love of "flicks" [movies], so, does this line from a music oriented flick ring a nostalgic bell with you?  "Does he want to be a musician ... or an airline pilot!" [pauses] "Mr. Martelli, are you finished setting up your ... equipment?"  [** "FAME" [1980]  -- 'Mr. Shorofsky' [Albert Hague] to 'Bruno Martelli' [Lee Curreri] ]. And the follow-up line as bellowed: "MR. MARTELLI! [3X repeated as Martelli launches the multiple synths into a Beethoven piece] --"THANK YOU! ONE instrument at a time will be quite sufficient!"

;-)

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9 Reply by doctony

(7 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Indeed, Nela -- and an excellent tip -- in fact, a similar comment in terms of having the guitar 'higher' while standing to facilitate the barre chords [at least in terms of how he felt comfortable with it and recognizing that each player does what works best for them ... and ditto with the piano too, I'll add at once] was made by well known session guitarist, Steuart [sic] Smith. In one case, and with regard to the Eagles "Farewell I" tour in Melbourne, Australia [AKA "Oz Land"],  one viewer noticed that in Steuart's 'double neck' guitar, the so-called 'normal' position of the 6 string and 12 string position on the guitar necks  was 'reversed' because Steuart said, essentially, "... it works better for me in that position ... " and he also plays the guitar high on the chest -- and there you have it. 

Sidebar: It still amazes me that when folks hear I play classical piano [as a passion] and then I mention names like Joe Walsh or indeed Steuart Smith and others, I get, "YOU like that kind of music?" as if to suggest that it's somehow 'odd' for someone to really enjoy doing, just as one quick classical "war horse" piece  example, the 2nd movement of Beethoven's "Appassionata" and then in the same breath comment about someone like Joe Walsh or the playing of Steuart Smith with the Eagles! The 'why' of such reactions escaping me forthwith! In fact, I have friends who will see my acoustic guitars and the usual comment is, "Ohhh, you're into 'classical' guitar or 60's era 'folk' music?" [!] believing that if it's an 'acoustic' guitar, well, isn't everything 'electric' ! Then I say, "Hey, remember Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young -- how many 'electric' guitars did you see when they played together?" and the now expected response is along the lines of, "Well, yeah, I remember them  .. but the 60's/70's  stuff .. ." In desperation , I advise them to get the Eagles 2004 "Oz Land" tour  and check out the amount of times the Eagles go "unplugged" just as often as they use the solid body electric stuff. Great DVD that one, the Eagles Melbourne tour and catch those "out-takes" with Joe Walsh and his usual trade-mark 'dead-pan' interview voice delivery, to wit, the Oz Land interviewer: "So, Joe, how would you compare this Australia tour [2004] with the Eagles compared to the last one?" and Joe Walsh, 'being' Joe Walsh of course, duly quips, "Well, I 'remember' [!] this one  ... which is good."  Ahhh, if I could play like Joe Walsh [or Steuart Smith], I'd be well satisfied!

I still find tho' that the 'majority' of players [guitar and piano, or, as they say, "keyboards" when waxing on those 'electronic' versions] do so for personal enjoyment as oposed to making a living at it full time.  But that being the case, and I agree with many others who have made this comment, that if there are any 'rules', it really comes down to a case of "no rules" [within reason of course] or, put simply, whatever works for the player and what he/she finds personally satisfying! I did a bunch of reviews on Amazon specifically concerning classical piano and I'm certain I offended the ultra purists out there in the classical piano genre when I 'defended' so-called piano 'fake books' or so-called "adaptations/arrangements" [read: not as the composer wrote the piece but alternative methods or 'transpositions']. While I 'did' argue that certain classical pieces simply sound  better if played 'sic' [** "as written" -- and don't chuckle at this mentioned meaning of the Latin word 'sic' because in one of my Amazon reviews I got, are you ready for this, "Who are YOU to make a 'value judgment' [!!] and say the song is "sic" [!], it sounds good to me!" [sic] ], hey, what is the big problem or "sin" with doing an 'adaption' or easier key/chord 'arrangement' [guitar, piano, 'whatever'!] of the piece! This business of the ultra purist making with the old tired axiom of, "Play it as written .. or not at all!" is, IMO, pure bosh! One plays for their 'own' enjoyment and their 'own' pleasure and if one [or 'group' therein] feels good about the results, that's all that matters!  Perhaps 'that' explains where virtually 'any' song has its 'adaptations' or, indeed, chord transpositions! Or as some websites phrase it after the song [variations] and its accompanying chords, to wit, "easy" -- "difficult", but so what! One always maintains the absolute option of moving from the 'easy' TO the 'difficult' version, yes? Or the 'adaption/arrangement' to the writer/composer 'sic' piece!     


Doc Tony

Go to forum: Acoustic

10 Reply by doctony

(7 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Hello, Doug! Just back from a few days in Vermont on piano related matters. An excellent tip on the guitar barre chords! My error was concentrating far too much on the index finger pressure to form the barre [with rather poor results to boot!] rather than [and only with your comment does it dawn on me! A dead give away that the guitar is not my primary instrument, yes?] -- anyway, only with your comment does it dawn on me  to consider the 'angle'  aspect(s)  [both body and guitar] of forming the barre versus solely the index finger pressure issue [but 'not' changing either body or guitar neck position] which indeed makes quite a difference! In effect, I was simply repeating the same error over and over again and this explains why at least two of those barre strings would generally be DOA! 

It got so that when I wanted to practice barre chords if only to maintain where they were and not forget them entirely, I'd "cheat" and by that I mean grabbing my Yamaha "EZ-AG" 'electronic' guitar and doing the barre chords without the DOA since it was so easy to fret the barre with those plastic button "strings" on the fret board! Naturally, when I returned to the normal acoustic [I use, among others,  a Zager CE-80] and despite that guitar having been professionally adjusted in terms of lowering the strings, the same problem came up. As a result, I tended to avoid barre chords altogether or do the 'alternate' [like the B minor] chord shapes to readily avoid the barre.  Your angle or "classical position" approach to the problem is golden!

Oh, one correction on my own post about felt picks for any readers --  I didn't mean to suggest that the felt [but solid] felt picks used for the bass guitar was the way to go to soften the sound of the acoustic guitar while practicing because these felt picks specifically for the bass guitar can be quite hard. I meant to say the rather thick and quite 'flexible' felt pick as the one that lessens the volume. Here is where the guitar shares the 'volume' issue with the piano -- one gets the urge to play [piano or guitar] during the wee hours and the sound tends to 'travel' even through a closed door so softening that volume becomes an issue. In the piano, the best approach is the synthesizer with dedicated piano modules and those headphones on an electronic '88' piano and for the guitar [acoustic] that rather thick and flexible ==felt== pick can help tremendously to reduce the volume but 'not' to be confused with the 'hard' felt bass guitar picks which can be every bit as loud as the plastic picks!

BTW, I run about 80/20 finger/strum 'mix' meaning that on the acoustic guitar I do about 80% finger picking and 20% pick [Fender 'thin'] strumming since certain songs just about mandate a strum although I think a 'combination' of the two is often interesting to experiment with! 

Regards and thanks again, Doug!


Doc Tony

Go to forum: Acoustic

11 Reply by doctony

(7 replies, posted in Acoustic)

Hello, Doug, and thank 'you' for your comments which are equally spot on! I guess my comment was a reaction to those websites or individual players who simply tell various novice players out there to 'expect' the finger pain but they all too often say nothing about callous formation moderation! In fact, some actually suggest, and I quote, "... play until they bleed, if you must, but keep playing and the fingers will get used to it" [sic] -- the problem with that "advice" being the danger factor of literally damaging the fingertips and, another reality, new players, and as you well know having taught new folks,  they will attempt to avoid the painful or initial blister  forming part of the fingertip callous which is generally square in the middle of the fingertip where it normally should be and, as a negative consequence, they'll place the finger in an awkward string depression position to avoid the more painful area and the poor results, playing wise, becomes quickly obvious! It's often difficult to get through the mesage of 'moderation' .

Indeed, even with the piano and I've been with that for over 40 years, the student will attempt a piece far beyond their musical experience and then become quickly frustrated because they just don't have the experience to play the more advanced pieces correctly or at least, fluidly. Conversely, you get the brand new guitar player and when he/she can't 'play along' with a Jeff Beck type, suddenly the easier tunes or bottom line 'basic' chord mastery or scales work becomes too 'boring' and not to mention your quite excellent point that 'string' players in fact require that requisite 'dues' to master the 'correct' depression of the strings. It takes time, to be sure!

Indeed, to this day, and noting that my piano is always first in my musical endeavors, I still find, after all these years,  doing guitar 'barre' chords  as particularly trying.  I know folks who can do barre chords as if they were born doing them but I personally have difficulty with them where, truth be told, at 'least' 2 strings will be, shall we say, "DOA" [Dead On Arrival]  when 'I' do the barre chord thing!  I keep thinking that there is some magical cure to perfecting a decent guitar barre chord and getting the index finger to do what it's supposed to do for the barre and the old thumb squarely in the middle of the neck thing but, I suppose as Franz Liszt said on the piano, the ultimate "secret" is, as Liszt put it with regard to the piano, the three-fold "secret" of piano mastery:  "practice, practice ... and more practice."

Oh, this one in passing -- some time back I got,  "In the piano, there is the "quiet pedal" [sic], but what about the guitar when I want to practice?" -- I recommended what is often advertised as a "bass guitar pick" but has the plus side double-duty of appreciably lowering the volume of the guitar, the ==FELT== pick! I also call it a "practice pick" -- it does the job! I solved the acoustic piano sound, especially during the wee hours when I want to play, via an 88 key 'electronic' piano which affords what my downstairs acoustic piano does not, those headphones! Not to mention using a Roland XV-5080 [and Gem RP-X] synthesizer having dedicated piano module "patches" built-in and direct to the electronic piano via a single MIDI cord connection so no computer is even needed! But the acoustic guitar still holds its charm with me and I keep it up -- and those left hand finger callouses! And yeah, as they say, I still tend to avoid the guitar barre chords but that popular and in many tunes "B minor barre chord" still sees me using the 'alternate'  non barre B minor!  Liszt was/is right! Practice,  practice and more practice! But 'moderation' [fingertips or tricky guitar barre chords inclusive] has its place! Guitar or piano ... or whatever musical instrument!     

Whew! That all said and quite possibly placing some folks in the forum into Zzzzzzzzz-land, I'll lay back for a spell and read the other forums and threads. There is always something to learn here and there. Great website! I especially like the forums and the wealth of tips and techniques out there from seasoned players and the website idea of guitar chord semitone  transpositions! Helps with the piano too! 

Regards and thank you! 
 

Doc Tony

Go to forum: Acoustic

12 Topic by doctony

(7 replies, posted in Acoustic)

First, confession time, my primary instrument and long term passion is playing classical 'piano' although I still enjoy the equally satisfying diversion, if you will,  of playing my acoustic guitar. Problem:  If the piano gets too much of my time over the guitar, the left hand 'chord' fingers tend to lose their callouses and then it can be a case of going back to the proverbial square 1, viz., getting those callouses back again!

IMO, the primary reason some guitars "repose" in the closet or in the bag/case, is the hassle of going through the left hand  finger callous thing ... again! You know the drill: the guitar, for whatever reason(s), is put aside for some time and then when the spirit moves, out it comes and after a few tunes those classic string 'groove' appearances show in the fingers followed by the, shall we say, pre-blister stage, then the blister [and the finger tip pain to the max] itself makes its appearance and it can take weeks or months to get the fingers in shape again with regard to the callous stage and, bottom line, pain free playing!

Here's the thing -- especially for beginners -- and if I've heard this once, I've heard it a thousand times from those who begin the guitar but then abandon it, "I really wanted to stay with it .. truly so .. but my fingers [left hand] are killing me.. it's as if I placed them on a stove and burned myself.. it's 'that' painful!" Well, it 'can' feel like that but I think the greatest error is made when those first [and indeed painful] blisters appear generally on the index, middle and ring finger and new players figure they should just keep going even to the point of doubling or tripling their efforts during this stage but this can be fraught with problems! Space the time out and let your fingers 'gradually' get used to the string press process. The tendency to go overboard can do more harm than good! Let the fingers 'adjust' over time where daily practice  remains  entirely doable but not in 'hours' or 'marathon' playing versus 'sensible' finger adjustment 'sessions' as the fingers adjust gradually. You'll often see [new players] what looks like small circular but initially white colored 'raised' looking blisters and this is the PRE-callous stage where caution becomes the byword where the 'proof' is playing and very quickly noticing how your fingers begin 'talking' to you ... as in "Owwwwwwwwww!" -- don't go overboard at this stage -- over time those white looking 'pads' on the finger tips will grow darker and begin to harden and get tougher by the day but don't 'assault' them during the hardening process! Take your time! And when they do start to harden where playing becomes a pleasure versus an agony, keep up the guitar because if too much time goes by [measured in weeks in some cases versus months] of non playing, the body itself will tend to repair what 'it' sees as fingertip 'damage' [!] and, voila, you're back to square one all over again! Or, worse, the guitar is relegated to the closet or guitar bag! Stick with it but 'moderation' is the key! It's been my own experience over the years that the 'majority' play a musical instrument for personal pleasure  versus dedicated commercial interests so, bottom line, hey, what's the great rush! Let the fingers 'adapt' to their new role, so to speak, and enjoy! 

Doc Tony

Go to forum: Acoustic