It is with great sadness that I heard of the death of Gary Moore. From Belfast, Ireland he was only 58 years young. How fragile life is and how short is the time that we have on this earth!
I admire many guitar players, and Gary Moore is among my favorites. In many ways his playing epitomizes the blending of Blues and Rock. His fiery playing had a real no-apologies element to it. Gary's playing is loved by Blues cats, Rockers, and Metal heads alike. He brought passion to Skid Row (not the metal guys), Thin Lizzy, and to a successful, peer and fan-admired solo career.
If you want some serious inspiration and a bevy of licks and techniques to learn from, go to YouTube and watch some Gary Moore videos. One that stands out in my mind is his live rendition of Hendrix's Red House at the Fender 50th Anniversary jam. Riveting! Just watching Gary let you know that every note he played came from his soul and a deep passion for music.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of Gary. Thank you, Gary Moore, for bringing a richness to Blues and Rock music. May you rest in peace.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Some Thoughts On Learning Guitar...
I just wanted to wax a bit philosophical about learning and playing the guitar in general, in hopes of encouraging those that are stuck in whatever level of progression you may be stuck in.
Just remember, the longest journey starts with a single step. It doesn't matter if it takes you a week or a month or whatever to make that/those step/steps, the only way to further yourself is to take the step ! Looking at a guitar won't help, talking about guitars won't help; the only thing that will help is to pick up the guitar and practice. If it takes you a steady week to learn a chord, that's alright. At that pace, you will know 52 chords in a year ! If you are struggling, don't panic. Your ear will improve, your dexterity will improve if you just start simple. More importantly, simply start !
Playing guitar or doing anything worthwhile (exercise, writing, cooking, singing, etc.) involves starting with the most basic things and building on those simple things. Eventually those things begin weaving together into something more satisfying. Also, playing guitar is not an exercise in perfection, but an exercise in creativity. It is a journey that never ends. That is why life should be more about the journey itself and not the destination. The destination will take care of itself. Don't miss the joy along the way by constantly worrying about your arrival. In reality, you never "arrive" at a final destination when you play guitar. Your journey always continues and is punctuated by satisfying stops along the way. Don't be concerned about the pace of others on the journey. Don't let your fears of your limitations or what others may think derail you from your journey or stop you from climbing aboard in the first place ! Rock On ! visit www.playbluesrockguitar.com
Just remember, the longest journey starts with a single step. It doesn't matter if it takes you a week or a month or whatever to make that/those step/steps, the only way to further yourself is to take the step ! Looking at a guitar won't help, talking about guitars won't help; the only thing that will help is to pick up the guitar and practice. If it takes you a steady week to learn a chord, that's alright. At that pace, you will know 52 chords in a year ! If you are struggling, don't panic. Your ear will improve, your dexterity will improve if you just start simple. More importantly, simply start !
Playing guitar or doing anything worthwhile (exercise, writing, cooking, singing, etc.) involves starting with the most basic things and building on those simple things. Eventually those things begin weaving together into something more satisfying. Also, playing guitar is not an exercise in perfection, but an exercise in creativity. It is a journey that never ends. That is why life should be more about the journey itself and not the destination. The destination will take care of itself. Don't miss the joy along the way by constantly worrying about your arrival. In reality, you never "arrive" at a final destination when you play guitar. Your journey always continues and is punctuated by satisfying stops along the way. Don't be concerned about the pace of others on the journey. Don't let your fears of your limitations or what others may think derail you from your journey or stop you from climbing aboard in the first place ! Rock On ! visit www.playbluesrockguitar.com
More On Tab vs. Standard Notation...
Greetings Future, Present, and Past Guitar Players!
I recently got a comment at www.playbluesrockguitar.com about the importance of learning to read standard notation. I would like to emphasize that I believe it is a very important discipline, but it's importance and application to what you are trying to accomplish as a guitar player should be weighed carefully.
I can't tell you how many complete novices to guitar I see trying to work their way through a beginning guitar book or following the advice of a stodgy teacher that is showing them how to read notes and play dinky melodies like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". If that beginning student decided to pick up guitar so that they could play Blues or Classic Rock, they may just as well throw the guitar in the water and watch it go gently down the stream !
Playing guitar is a daunting task for most people and it is important to reach some early initial milestones to remain interested in playing. For most, learning to play "Smoke on the Water" gives infinitely more satisfaction than being able to read "Ode to Joy" from a chart and pluck it out on a guitar (sorry Beethoven!). I know that you have to learn to crawl before you walk. I just hate to see new students learn to crawl in quicksand. So many of them just end up sinking.
One comment pointed out that few people that start playing without reading music rarely go back and learn how to read. I submit that even fewer that start playing by reading only ever continue to play at all !
My advice ? Don't eschew learning to read standard notation. By the same token, realize that the careers of nearly all of your guitar heroes began by someone getting a guitar and copping licks from friends and records (those weird big flat vinyl things). Learn to read and apply Tab so that you can boldly seek out your favorite licks and songs on the internet and in magazines, thereby launching you more quickly and ever higher into the sublime Stratosphere that is Guitar Playing (O.K., that was a little too dramatic, but you get the idea !). Rock on Brothas and Sistas !
I recently got a comment at www.playbluesrockguitar.com about the importance of learning to read standard notation. I would like to emphasize that I believe it is a very important discipline, but it's importance and application to what you are trying to accomplish as a guitar player should be weighed carefully.
I can't tell you how many complete novices to guitar I see trying to work their way through a beginning guitar book or following the advice of a stodgy teacher that is showing them how to read notes and play dinky melodies like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat". If that beginning student decided to pick up guitar so that they could play Blues or Classic Rock, they may just as well throw the guitar in the water and watch it go gently down the stream !
Playing guitar is a daunting task for most people and it is important to reach some early initial milestones to remain interested in playing. For most, learning to play "Smoke on the Water" gives infinitely more satisfaction than being able to read "Ode to Joy" from a chart and pluck it out on a guitar (sorry Beethoven!). I know that you have to learn to crawl before you walk. I just hate to see new students learn to crawl in quicksand. So many of them just end up sinking.
One comment pointed out that few people that start playing without reading music rarely go back and learn how to read. I submit that even fewer that start playing by reading only ever continue to play at all !
My advice ? Don't eschew learning to read standard notation. By the same token, realize that the careers of nearly all of your guitar heroes began by someone getting a guitar and copping licks from friends and records (those weird big flat vinyl things). Learn to read and apply Tab so that you can boldly seek out your favorite licks and songs on the internet and in magazines, thereby launching you more quickly and ever higher into the sublime Stratosphere that is Guitar Playing (O.K., that was a little too dramatic, but you get the idea !). Rock on Brothas and Sistas !
Brushes with Equipment Greatness
Let me lay out this story. Perhaps some of you have experiences that are similar. I suppose if any of you have been playing seriously for any length of time, something like this has probably happened to you:
The year ? 1981. I am a Senior at Del Norte High in Albuquerque, NM. I have been playing guitar for approximately 2 years. At this point I am figuring out that knowing how to play has a positive effect on females and a negative one on males: both are desired outcomes. My first electric was a black Memphis Les Paul copy. Not a bad guitar; bolt-on neck, stayed in tune decently, served it's purpose.
I decide to go into a pawn shop here in town to see what I could see. In one shop in particular there it is ! The Holy Grail of guitars. A Les Paul Goldtop. As I look back now I am guessing it must have been about a late Sixties model. It was in great shape and felt more solid and wonderful than anything I had ever played.
I looked at the price tag: $600 ! Crazy expensive for me at that time. I was a sacker at Skaggs-Alpha Beta an got barely over minimum wage. I was probably making about 4 dollars per hour. But I had to have this guitar. It was a major step forward in guitar-playing evolution ! I could just hear my Dad telling me how nuts it was to spend that much on a guitar. The pawn shop owner allowed me to put it on lay-away, so I did. I worked and scrounged to get the money and got the guitar.
Later that year my brother (Darren Dalton who played bass) and I wanted to form a band with a drummer friend of mine named Andy Martinez ( who also went by the name Leandro James). I had one problem. The amplifier that my girlfriend had sounded horrible (solid-state Baldwin keyboard amp with push buttons) and the Marshall half-stack that I was able to borrow on occasion was no longer available. I was broke from putting gas in a 1973 Cutlass Supreme and smoking marijuana. Since I had recently acquired a set-neck Memphis Les Paul that played well, I decided to trade the Goldtop For a Marshall Combo at Wild West Music here in town.
Looking back I now know why the guy at Wild West was so attentive to the transaction and willing to make the straight-across trade for the Combo. As a dumb 18 year old kid, I wasn't totally hip to what that Goldtop was really worth. God only knows what it would be worth now. $10,000 ? $20,000 ? Ugh !
Well, that is the story of one that I wish I had back. More proof that youth is wasted on the young !
The year ? 1981. I am a Senior at Del Norte High in Albuquerque, NM. I have been playing guitar for approximately 2 years. At this point I am figuring out that knowing how to play has a positive effect on females and a negative one on males: both are desired outcomes. My first electric was a black Memphis Les Paul copy. Not a bad guitar; bolt-on neck, stayed in tune decently, served it's purpose.
I decide to go into a pawn shop here in town to see what I could see. In one shop in particular there it is ! The Holy Grail of guitars. A Les Paul Goldtop. As I look back now I am guessing it must have been about a late Sixties model. It was in great shape and felt more solid and wonderful than anything I had ever played.
I looked at the price tag: $600 ! Crazy expensive for me at that time. I was a sacker at Skaggs-Alpha Beta an got barely over minimum wage. I was probably making about 4 dollars per hour. But I had to have this guitar. It was a major step forward in guitar-playing evolution ! I could just hear my Dad telling me how nuts it was to spend that much on a guitar. The pawn shop owner allowed me to put it on lay-away, so I did. I worked and scrounged to get the money and got the guitar.
Later that year my brother (Darren Dalton who played bass) and I wanted to form a band with a drummer friend of mine named Andy Martinez ( who also went by the name Leandro James). I had one problem. The amplifier that my girlfriend had sounded horrible (solid-state Baldwin keyboard amp with push buttons) and the Marshall half-stack that I was able to borrow on occasion was no longer available. I was broke from putting gas in a 1973 Cutlass Supreme and smoking marijuana. Since I had recently acquired a set-neck Memphis Les Paul that played well, I decided to trade the Goldtop For a Marshall Combo at Wild West Music here in town.
Looking back I now know why the guy at Wild West was so attentive to the transaction and willing to make the straight-across trade for the Combo. As a dumb 18 year old kid, I wasn't totally hip to what that Goldtop was really worth. God only knows what it would be worth now. $10,000 ? $20,000 ? Ugh !
Well, that is the story of one that I wish I had back. More proof that youth is wasted on the young !
Understanding and Setting Your Guitar's Intonation
Making sure that your guitar has the intonation set up correctly is vital to the guitar's ability to play in tune all the way up and down the neck. It's pretty simple to do and will make all the difference in how your guitar sounds, since the foundation of you and your guitar sounding great lies in being in tune.
Different gauges of strings need different "compensation", or changes in the overall string length to adjust for physical variations of each string, thereby requiring different individual string lengths. That is why almost all electric guitars have individually adjustable saddles within the bridge or tailpiece. The exceptions would be a Gibson style combination stop tailpiece/ bridge that has no adjustments. But you will notice even on these types of bridges the intonation is usually "preset" to allow for at least more correct intonation. Acoustic guitars cannot be adjusted either, but you can install a bridge that has at least some compensation to make it play more accurately in tune, particularly as you move up ( toward the body) the neck.
To set a guitar's intonation, you will need a tuner and a small (sometimes quite small) screwdriver. the first order of business is determining how close each individual string is to having the proper intonation. Start with the low E. With the string tuned to pitch, fret the low E at the 12th fret. Try and simulate the pressure you would use when playing; I have seen people setting intonation that may fret the string with too much force, especially since the guitar may be lying on a bench. This can have the effect of causing the fretted note to sound slightly sharper. I know it sounds anal retentive, but it can make a small difference in your final result. The goal is to have the open string and the 12th fret note to both be in tune to E (or whatever the case may be). The rule of thumb is simple: if the fretted note is sharp, adjust the saddle further away from the nut, thereby increasing string length. If the fretted note is flat, adjust the saddle forward (towards the neck), thereby shortening the string length. You may have to loosen the string slightly before you make the adjustment to minimize stress on the string. Usually slight adjustments can make a big difference. It will take a bit of trial and error. Proceed through all the strings until they have all been adjusted, then check one more time as things can magically change slightly as you progress.
Let's review:
Different gauges of strings need different "compensation", or changes in the overall string length to adjust for physical variations of each string, thereby requiring different individual string lengths. That is why almost all electric guitars have individually adjustable saddles within the bridge or tailpiece. The exceptions would be a Gibson style combination stop tailpiece/ bridge that has no adjustments. But you will notice even on these types of bridges the intonation is usually "preset" to allow for at least more correct intonation. Acoustic guitars cannot be adjusted either, but you can install a bridge that has at least some compensation to make it play more accurately in tune, particularly as you move up ( toward the body) the neck.
To set a guitar's intonation, you will need a tuner and a small (sometimes quite small) screwdriver. the first order of business is determining how close each individual string is to having the proper intonation. Start with the low E. With the string tuned to pitch, fret the low E at the 12th fret. Try and simulate the pressure you would use when playing; I have seen people setting intonation that may fret the string with too much force, especially since the guitar may be lying on a bench. This can have the effect of causing the fretted note to sound slightly sharper. I know it sounds anal retentive, but it can make a small difference in your final result. The goal is to have the open string and the 12th fret note to both be in tune to E (or whatever the case may be). The rule of thumb is simple: if the fretted note is sharp, adjust the saddle further away from the nut, thereby increasing string length. If the fretted note is flat, adjust the saddle forward (towards the neck), thereby shortening the string length. You may have to loosen the string slightly before you make the adjustment to minimize stress on the string. Usually slight adjustments can make a big difference. It will take a bit of trial and error. Proceed through all the strings until they have all been adjusted, then check one more time as things can magically change slightly as you progress.
Let's review:
- Tune string to pitch
- Observe tuning of string when fretted at 12th fret
- If tuning is sharp at 12th fret: move saddle back. If flat: move saddle forward (towards neck). May have to loosen string to perform this, then tune to pitch to check your progress.
- Repeat on all strings and check all strings one more time when done
- Strum and shred (if you want, I know I would!)
Superb site for repair advice, replacement parts, and supplies for guitar!
A most excellent website to service almost all of your guitar repair and replacement needs is www.stewmac.com . Stewart MacDonald has all kinds of repair advice, along with the tools and supplies to carry them out. Dan Erlewine runs the place and is sublimely knowledgeable and just a cool, nice guy. They have training DVDs, on-site tutorials, guitar building kits, tone wood, hardware tools: you name it ! They will even send you a free catalog at your request. Roll up your sleeves and get into some serious guitar DIY !
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Welcome to the PlayGuitarGuy blog! Feel free to check out articles and comments on guitar lessons, guitar repair, and general advice on effects and amplifier usage and settings. You will also find useful links to other Sites that can help you on your journey. All comments, stories and advice are welcome, but will be screened to filter out unsavory content. Don't be a Hater!
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