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I recently started practicising on my acoustic guitar and focusing on finger picking.  This uses a lot of open position notes so I've been praticising my scales in the Open position

As I already know lots of scale patterns it was a bit intimidating to be faced with 5 new patterns. However after a while I
began to recognise similarities between open scale patterns. For example the C major scale is hardly any different from the one I am used to playing except that some of the notes don't need to be fretted. 

C Major Scale

E    F    -    G
           
B    C    -    D
           
G    -    A   
           
D    -    E    F
           
A    -    B    C           

E    F    -    G

I'm confused about what Singing in Harmony means and what possibilities there are for writing and singing harmony

Let me give an example

A Song in the key of G has three bars of G, C and D. and the first note is a G note. so I find G on my guitar and sing

but when I hear people singing it in an ensemble people sing at different pitches

assuming that they are not just singing horribly - how many different notes can they use in place of my G ?

Bin a bit busy. I was learning the F shape barre chord- it took me the whole year

No, seriously,  working to keep a job going in the downturn, looking after a kid and a teenager.   

I have been going once a week to an adult education class. I was playing electric but I have taken up acoustic again more recently because it was time for a change of style.

We're an intermediate guitar class and we have played a couple of ensemble pieces in public. At Christmas we played 'Come as you' are by Nirvana and Silent Night.  Just before Easter we played 'Blowing in the Wind' and 'Mull of Kintyre'.

That was the first time I've played in a group and it takes new skills.  Playing in time helps - especially if its an arrangement for several players but so does following the right order of intro, verse and chorus.  I have been known to shorten a 8 bar count-in to a two bar count-in and to miss the a repeat of the verse. However that was fortunately in rehearsal.

switching back to acoustic also meant learning new things.  all my caged shapes which I played up the neck are now being played at the other end of the guitar with loads of moved fingerings to include as many open notes in each shape as possible. thats doing my head in at the moment. learning scales is always  a pain. especially when you thought you already knew them.

I recently joined Soundclick so I can share my recordings with other people. 

I will be making some rythym tracks for others to use as they wish (as part of a collaborative process) and I'll possibly post a song or two.

Is anybody else here on Soundclick ?

John

http://www.soundclick.com/members/defau … johnnywas5

Does anybody start a song with the lyrics

I've got to try that because I can put together a chord progression but I've got no lyrics I need to get out a notebook and write down some words.

but how do I know how long each line of the lyric should be (how many syllables)

or doesn't it matter ?

I suppose I'm used to thinking about poetry writing. I wrote some poetry when in school you started with he first line and then copied the rythym and each line was the same length. my poetry was okay (nothing great)

how does writing lyrics differ ?

I want to write rock, pop, reggae. I probably won't be doing Hip Hop, Rap or Prog Rock operas.

Bin going to guitar classes for a while

they are Morley College London and its about eight people and a tutor. we do some warm ups,  play some songs and then while one person plays a twelve bar another improvises

its great for intermediate guitarists (and I've been playing a long time) to practice in front of other people who understand that playing guitar at any level aint easy and don't make judgements

its really got me back into practicising. theres a lot of value in having a deadline to work on a song (and thats next week) and the discipline to focus on a couple of pieces and really get them good

I have to take my guitar to work cos its on the way and when I say that I'm taking lesson people assume that I'm a begginer but the lesson is never too late to get some help.

I've just got back from holiday taking my ozark travel guitar and an book of songs

http://www.ozark-acoustic.com/guitars/3330.html

its actually not bad to play. the lack of a big round body makes it difficult to hold properly ecuase you cant rest it on your leg but it has enough volume to practice with and for me its a practice thing. two weeks with little to do is two weeks with some time to practice my scales and refresh my fretboard memory. especially if the midday temp is 40 degrees.

and its very light.

I know the martin backpacker is quite similar and there some electric travel guitars too

I'm not sure my guitar counts as hand luggage on a plane - different planes have different requirements but its worth checking

and the strings are quite heavy. I could change them for a different set but the dealer recommended against very light strings because they exert pressure on the neck (-edit - not sure about this -)