Subject: Clap It Out
Clap It Out
August 23rd, 2017 at 8:35 am EDTHey Friend, One of the keys to clean guitar playing is learning to synchronize your hands. While they will often work independently of each other, there are many techniques that also require your hands to work as if they’re glued together. When o ...
Two Hands, Independent but Together
August 22nd, 2017 at 8:36 am EDTHey Friend, Another aspect of guitar playing that you don’t often hear talked about is the coordination between your two hands. As I’ve said, most of the focus goes to the fretting hand, but the picking hand is the one doing the work to bring t ...
Total Eclipse of the
August 21st, 2017 at 8:36 am EDTHey Friend, Sun. And you thought I was going to say ‘Heart,” didn’t you? Sorry Bonnie Tyler, you had your time in the limelight! Happy Total Solar Eclipse Day! Did you get your solar glasses? Yeah, me neither. This isn’t my first rode ...
Fast Times
August 20th, 2017 at 9:51 am EDTHey Friend, We had a bt of nostalgia last night and ended up watching "Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” Wow, I didn’t remember how many great songs were in that movie! Talk about the quintessential 80s film. We had most of the Eagles represente ...
If It Feels Good...
August 19th, 2017 at 9:58 am EDTHey Friend, Did you know that Eddie Van Halen is believed to have at least five different ways he holds his picks? In this response to a question he got from a fan, he actually tells a story about when he first started playing guiatr. He had a hard ...
“You’re Doin’ It Wrong"
August 18th, 2017 at 8:28 am EDTHey Friend, Don’t you hate that! Something I struggled with for a long time was the question "Am I doing "x" correctly?" There are plenty of people out there who are more than willing to tell you you're doing something wrong, or you should chang ...
Pinch Me, I Must Be Dreaming
August 17th, 2017 at 8:31 am EDTHey Friend, Soooo…. Yesterday, we got an email from the boss… First “communication" we’ve gotten since his abrupt departure last Tuesday (if you missed it, the county sheriff took him away in cuffs). We still don’t know any more than we ...
Pickin’ Picks
August 16th, 2017 at 8:35 am EDTHey Friend, Since we’re talking about picks and how they can affect your sound, let’s take a minute and think about different materials. Picks can be made from almost anything. In fact, if you have something flat and small enough to fit in your ...
The Touch
August 15th, 2017 at 8:37 am EDTHey Friend, Yesterday I talked to you about developing your touch - the way your picking hand approaches the strings. It’s pretty easy to hear the difference between the soft flesh of your finger or thumb plucking a string versus a pick. There is ...
Which to Pick?
August 14th, 2017 at 8:38 am EDTHey Friend, The pick (plectrum) you use also affects your sound. That isn’t something I considered at all when I started out. I’ll bet you didn’t really think about it, either. When I began playing guitar, I used thin picks because I thought ...