The OS Guitarists thread

[Guffers]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

Man I'm kind of sick of guitars right now. I have a concert level handmade classical guitar that cost quite a lot back in 2005 when I purchased it. Now with 3 weeks until my final recital/concert its developed 'dead zones' along the first string. Basically the notes sound dull and without resonance. So all of the phrasing I've been working on is now rendered ineffective. I have a really cool duet that has some awesome scale runs that crescendo right up to notes on the E string and now they don't work at all because the crescendo just dies at the final note.

So now I begin the process of trying to borrow a guitar whilst selling mine off so I can buy something different and better. Trying to sell a concert level lattice braced classical guitar is going to take freaking forever...

Sometimes I wish I just took up the piano instead...sometimes...

Any takers?

[Hooe]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

Ended up going with an Ovation. Pictured here are my old standy (Fender Stratocaster HSS) and my new weapon of choice (taken with a crappy cell phone camera, yay).

Played it for an extended period of time today and my fretting hand is beat. Not used to playing an acoustic at all. I need to break myself in, haha.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

Nice. Is that acoustic-electric is strictly acoustic? Where did you get it?

But yeah, going back to the acoustic is fun. Until recently I had been playing my electric almost exclusively, but I noticed my shapes were getting kind of messy and my strength was kind of plateauing. Practicing on the acoustic regularly definitely builds up your strength and keeps your chords and shapes clean.

Now time to go learn some good arpeggio songs.

[Hooe]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

Nice. Is that acoustic-electric is strictly acoustic? Where did you get it?

But yeah, going back to the acoustic is fun. Until recently I had been playing my electric almost exclusively, but I noticed my shapes were getting kind of messy and my strength was kind of plateauing. Practicing on the acoustic regularly definitely builds up your strength and keeps your chords and shapes clean.

Now time to go learn some good arpeggio songs.

It's a acoustic-electric. I got it at Guitar Center in Fredericksburg, VA; we used to have a place called Apple Music in downtown FXBG that I would have gone to instead, but it seems that they have closed...?

Either way, I'm happy with what I got.

[eXperiment63]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

I personally don't like Ovations due to the bowl-back. If the depth of it is an issue, you could get a thinner bodied a/e guitar like my Ibanez.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ibanez-AEG20E-Flamed-Sycamore-Top-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-103036620-i1166458.gc

That's my first real acoustic. I have since moved on to a much more expensive, and better sounding, guitar. But I still pick that bad boy up from time to time and put it through it's paces. The feel of the neck is amazing, as is it's playability.

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

What are some good beginner's level sheet music songs?

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

So, today I had decided I was going to learn the A minor scale. I probably should have learned about relative majors and minors before hand to save me the trouble because I already know my C major scale and positions. I felt like an idiot when I found out that the notes in the A minor scale are the same as in the C major scale. Oh well. At least this gives me the opportunity now to learn two things at once.

With that said, what is a good spanish sounding scale? I was thinking something along the lines of say the Desperado and Once Upon a Time in Mexico soundtracks.

Also, are baritone guitars worth the investment? I really love the sound of those old Ennio Morricone riffs, so anything I can do to get that style and tone is interesting to me.

I've also been eying some Gretsch guitars pretty damn hard lately. I love the style of the Pro Jet with Bigbsy, but am having a hard time convincing myself of its necessity to me. I have a Les Paul Epi, which is pretty damn gruff when I want it to be and if I were to get a guitar for a more rockabilly and surf tone, it would probably be something along the lines of a Gretsch G5120 Electromatic. Thoughts?

[Guffers]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

The Phrygian mode is very spanish sounding. Its the minor second on the first step that gives it that quality.

Baritone guitars are awesome! I would love one but they are expensive and I'm happy trying to master a normal guitar for now.

If your going to get into learning scales then do some research on the CAGED system. Its a great way to open up the fretboard and it shows you how to connect the dots between different positions.

PS. My own little guitar update: I finally finished my degree in classical guitar. I did my final recital last week and was actually really happy with it! It was 50 minutes of music that I had been working on for the last year and it all seemed to come together. It feels great to finally have a sense of completion.

[Hooe]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

I'm compelled to post the Circle of Fifths for reference, in light of Fresh Tendrils' post.



To be honest, I never really understood any of it at all, but having read FT's post and realization and subsequently thinking about it I think I have an elementary handle on what the listed relation between the major and minor keys are.

[RedZoneD25]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

WTFitsDaveyJ and his brother dominate a Silverchair cover

Sorry, I'm not cocky, just riding that natural high that comes from recording. lol

[Fresh Tendrils]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

I'm compelled to post the Circle of Fifths for reference, in light of Fresh Tendrils' post.



To be honest, I never really understood any of it at all, but having read FT's post and realization and subsequently thinking about it I think I have an elementary handle on what the listed relation between the major and minor keys are.

What does the middle circle relate to?

It is interesting how different you play the A minor scale from the C major scale considering they are all the same notes and same fingering patterns.

Since you can play A minor scales over C chords (and vice versa) is it okay/good to mix A minor and C minor chords. For instance, say you start for a measure in A (or Am), a measure then into D, then instead of going into E say you did a measure of F and then a measure of C. Is it "acceptable" to mix them like that or not? I haven't toyed around with it on the guitar just thinking of stuff in my head, so if its "wrong" it probably sounds wrong on the guitar too.

Anyway, learning music theory is like learning how the universe works. It seems like no matter what you know, whenever you learn something new it seems to rock your very world and shake your core knowledge to the point that it feels like you knew very little beforehand.

[Matt Diesel]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

WTFitsDaveyJ and his brother dominate a Silverchair cover

Sorry, I'm not cocky, just riding that natural high that comes from recording. lol

That is really good, bro. Real tight.

I have played since the 8th grade band.

I used to unofficially major in guitar in college to become more appealing to the opposite sex. I became rather adept but I hardly play at all anymore. My rare gigs nowadays usually consist of "This Old Man", iCarly theme songs and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" for my daughter.

[Matt Diesel]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

What are some good beginner's level sheet music songs?

House of the Rising Sun by the Animals.

Real good for arpeggios and chord change practice. Sounds good and its easy.

[RedZoneD25]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

That is really good, bro. Real tight.

I have played since the 8th grade band.

I used to unofficially major in guitar in college to become more appealing to the opposite sex. I became rather adept but I hardly play at all anymore. My rare gigs nowadays usually consist of "This Old Man", iCarly theme songs and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" for my daughter.

Thanks a lot. That's exactly why I started playing, but I picked it up when I was 12. Almost a decade of distortion. Nothing wrong with some iCarly though!

[Guffers]

Re: The OS Guitarists thread

What does the middle circle relate to?

It is interesting how different you play the A minor scale from the C major scale considering they are all the same notes and same fingering patterns.

Since you can play A minor scales over C chords (and vice versa) is it okay/good to mix A minor and C minor chords. For instance, say you start for a measure in A (or Am), a measure then into D, then instead of going into E say you did a measure of F and then a measure of C. Is it "acceptable" to mix them like that or not? I haven't toyed around with it on the guitar just thinking of stuff in my head, so if its "wrong" it probably sounds wrong on the guitar too.

Anyway, learning music theory is like learning how the universe works. It seems like no matter what you know, whenever you learn something new it seems to rock your very world and shake your core knowledge to the point that it feels like you knew very little beforehand.

The middle circle is all of the relative minor keys. You can substitute chords if they feature similar notes but it can get complicated and is mainly reserved for jazz players. The most common substitution is the "Tritone sub" Basically any dominant seventh chord can be swapped out with the same chord a tritone apart. eg. G7 would become C#7.

I don't really understand all of the possible permutations as I'm not a jazz player, there is a reason people go to university and study this stuff for years!