Search options (Page 2 of 3)

I don't want to throw a spanner in the works here but I have always found that singing the words, even if it's just in my head helps me to figure out the chord changes and map the song in my head. I think that I tend to listen to the words more than the music when I hear a song. When I do sing then the chord ghanges seem to figure themselves out without me having to think about them. That does seem backward to all the advice I see in the forums here but it just seems natural to me. I guess we are all different!
I used to play bass in a band that was out most weekends and we had to throw in a couple of new songs each week so playing new stuff is a skill you kind of pick up. Having said that, the six string is a whole different ball game. Some songs are quick, some can take months to get right and some I can't play at all!! Keep plugging away though, it's fun trying, even if the songs never pan out the way you'd hoped. I keep a ring binder of songs that I play and at the back are the ones that I can't do. I come back to them regularly and I've actually conquered one or two which lets me know I'm improving.

Best of luck.

I'd never heard of one of those so I looked it up. Very nice! You'd have to be very good all year to get one I suspect!

I once saw an interview with Dave Gilmour who said that this was his driving force for playing guitar, being able to solo without thinking about it. He said that when his fingers produced what he was thinking automatically then he knew he had cracked it and could finally produce the music he wanted to. On the same programme, Eric Clapton said pretty much the same thing.
I suppose, if you can whistle a solo without thinking about the notes you're producing then it's possible to do it on the guitar. Be prepared to spend an awful lot of hours praticising to get to that level though!

The problem with proving the existance of God is a bit like Catch 22. God cannot prove He exists because the whole basis of any religious belief is free will. He asks you to obey certain commands and if you chose to do so you will be rewarded. If God was proved to exist then, by default, so would Hell. People would then not follow God's commands because He asks them to but because they don't want to go to Hell. In effect, the word of God becomes a very real threat.
God as The Creator must therefore remove any possibility of His existance being proven.
The upshot of this is that if God exists we will never be able to prove it and if he doesn't well, we won't either.

Ah. My bridge has string ramps cut into it which explains why it works okay even with a low saddle. Nice information there everyone thanks for the help. There is always something new to learn. I think that's one of the reasons why the guitar is such a wonderful thing to practice. And also why this is such a great website.

Two questions:
1, What does "underset" mean? I've not come accross that term before. Sounds a bit serious though.
2, Why is it a problem only having the saddle 1/16 above the bridge? I've got a guitar that is a bit like that. in fact the guy that sets my guitars up for me actually sanded the bridge in front of the saddle so the srtrings missed it and the guitar sounds and plays great.
Just interested that's all.

Boy that would be lovely to do but I just know what mine would turn out like. I'd be putting the strings on in a suit of armour!!
Think I'm with zguitar on this one.

I agree with Pat here. There are some songs you just can't get.
I can play and sing a whole lot of songs but there are some that beat you no matter how you try. For years I tried to nail Louie Louie by Richard Berry (and a whole lot of other artists) but can't do it for love or money. I can sing it and I can play it but can't do both at the same time. I think it's like patting your head and rubbing your tummy at the same time.

You are obviously a man of great taste!!
Have to say, the tone is up there with any guitar I've heard in any price range and the build quality is superb.
Very happy bunny!

F as a Barre is doubly hard because it's so close to the nut. I think that it's a really good test of a guitar's setup if you can barre a chord on the first fret. Try putting a capo on the first fret and if it makes a barred F easier then it may well be worth getting the guitar's set up checked.
I say this because I just got my guitar back from having the setup done and it is amazing how much easier the barre chords seem. Especially F and B flat.
Can't help with the fingering though, only practice can do that!
A word of advice on based on my experience of practising to get barre chords to work. Always follow a song you can't play very well with one that you can. I found that I would try and try and try get it wrong every time. By the end I was close to throwing the guitar and got quite disillusioned about how bad I was. The upshot of this was that I would not pick up the guitar sometimes. Bad Bad Bad!!
In the end what did it for me was to play songs with barres in them in between songs that I could play well and to just play them through once. Sing along and if you miss the chord just carry on and get to the end then switch to a three chord belter that you can play with your eyes closed. Suddenly I found that I could just play them without really noticing and still retained my enthusiasm to play.
Best of luck everyone.