Guitar Playing

[kirennia]

Nice initiative posting up some stuff you've done, couple of comments though.

First off, less talking before it Was over half the video of you talking instead of playing, hehe.

Second, my only real suggestion would be to slow things down when practicing and learn the more aggessive pull offs thouroughly. There are a lot of fluctuations in the general strength you're plucking the string by. The bass note you're doing for example would sound a lot better as a background beat. Occasionally it's plucked quite violently, bringing it from a background beat into the foreground, disrupting the general flow of the song.



Something I was going to put in another thread but I guess most guitarists will read this. I really really hope all of you are stretching before playing. When I first started a long while back, I never bothered and to a degree, even today I don't stretch all that much but it began to ring home a couple of weeks back.

Two of my friends, both studying for a performing arts type music degree came back with completely messed up tendons. The first guy plays the saxophone, keyboard and guitar and because of his lack of stretching, his arms strength has been comprimised for upwards of a year. As you can imagine, that aint good for a music degree so he's been forced into learning sampling. It's so bad at the moment, he can't even write a txt message on his phone.

The other has a similar condition after playing the double-bass, bass and guitar. He was part of a band who at the time were called 'Matt Sellers and the scientists'. He went to the doctors one day and basically was unable to play at all because he'd managed to get tendon damage through not being taught proper techniques. He's been told his hands may never be the same again and so he backed out of the band. A couple of weeks later, they ended up getting a gig supporting Joss Stone in amsterdam.

The chance of a big break could be there for anyone, he missed his for the time being Just thought I'd post this up as a bit of a warning towards people. Learning technique IS worth it, not just for speed. Warming up is also just as important, don't end up in the same boat as they have

 

[Flintlock]

I agree with all that for sure kirennia. Definitely too aggressive on the bass strings at times. Working on that. Stretching? Never heard of that before though, or warming up come to that. How do you go about them? I should think your friends were living on the guitar and other instruments. I think people like myself - and probably the rest of the budding guitarists visiting here - only play for short periods at a time. A good thing too by the looks of it.

By the way just the tune for string bending is here:

YouTube - Bar Room Blues
[youtubevid]Xrz5Gv9Wl8Y[/youtubevid]

Crude recording. Oh well.

 

[Mojo]

Stretching? Never heard of that before though, or warming up come to that.

Stretch hands out and flex them a bit, wave your arms in the air (like you just don't care) Same as sports folk do pretty much, I stretch a little but I mostly warm up with mellow playing and finger exercises on the fret board. I have had aches when I just dove into some fast riffs (which sound crap without a warm up anyway) Flexing a bit while you are walking to your gear room and most people will be OK I am sure. It depends how hard you play I guess.

 

[pikeh]

just old your hands in hot/warm water for 5 minutes before a serious Guitar sesh.

(edit: not for so long that they start getting wrinkly and soft)

like mojo said, i usually warm up by doing some simple pentatonic progressions.
played for about 8 or so years, and havnt had a problem with my hands since i started, but i wouldnt take anything for granted.

 

[kirennia]

I agree with all that for sure kirennia. Definitely too aggressive on the bass strings at times. Working on that. Stretching? Never heard of that before though, or warming up come to that. How do you go about them? I should think your friends were living on the guitar and other instruments. I think people like myself - and probably the rest of the budding guitarists visiting here - only play for short periods at a time. A good thing too by the looks of it.

How many sports type people have come through brutal tackles, crashes or whatever with nothing but a few stratches and then been idling about having a laugh and hurt themselves though mate.

Guitar playing, because of the unnatural positioning of your hands will overtime do damage if they're not looked after properly. Even if it isn't something as dramatic as tendonitis or whatever it's called, arthiritis, carple tunnel, are both a possibility both in the present and later in life. I'd hate to one day wake up and not be able to play, even if it was some time in the future and I didn't play much anymore anyway

As for stretching, bend you fingers/wrist back, forwards, every which way before picking up a guitar. Play basic scale progressions to stretch them further, then start on a slow song you're comfortable with before going into anything technical. With most forms of exercise, always stretch down at the end too.


Nice playing of the song, like it Another thing I was taught which you may want to look out for is bending your fingers backwards. Of the three bones in each finger, I fail to remember what they're called, the top two have a tendancy with most players to bend backwards when playing (especially in bar chords and the like). Teaching yourself over time to only ever do that as a last resort will in general improve speed and positioning, and it's better for you

It's harder to do on an acoustic then an electric, especially if you have a high action. I've found I struggle quite a lot on the spanish type guitar but my answer was to get thinner strings and put it through an amp. An amp will help pick up every little error you do so makes you more precise and the thin strings mean the guitar is fighting you less, letting you pull off harder stuff then you may think you could before.

I'd suggest D'Addarios for the most part but I've even gone for elixir electric strings on my acoustic because of the sound quality and ease of use (and they last for a LONG time), even if it does loose a bit of volume. Been using them for a couple of months now and the sound hasn't dulled at all.