Showing posts with label in. Show all posts
Showing posts with label in. Show all posts
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Do You REALLY Think You Can Learn Guitar in 7 Days
Right now on Amazon: Master the Guitar in 7 Days $.099
Seriously? Wow, why the heck has it taken others so long? And were talking Mastering the guitar, not just playing it. Heres a dose of reality, its not going to happen! Yes, you can learn a 2 chord song in 7 days. Will you have it mastered? Doubtful. Is it a song youd be proud to show your friends? Hey, you guys want to jam on Skip to my Lou? Google play guitar in 7 days and youll be shocked and amazed at how many courses there are. Heres the hot tip of the day, save your money. Beginning guitar, getting better at guitar, mastering the guitar is a long term investment of time and money. If it were possible in a short time, there would be a lot more great guitar players.
OK, how long does it take?
The guitar is a very versatile instrument. Ive had students who took lessons for years, and Ive had students who were happy with knowing enough chords to strum and sing some songs. Remember, its not how long youve played, its how many hours you put in. I can tell you that it wont be a week or even a month. The big secret is that like every other worthwhile skill it takes time, dedication and practice. Getting by the total beginner stage in about 6 months is a good goal. The most important consideration is how good to you want to be?
Are these courses any good at all?
Surprisingly, Im going to say yes. I just cant imagine advertising something in that way when Im sure they all know its not going to happen. Theres good material in a lot of the lessons, theres even good stuff available for free. The problem is in making outrageous claims. Playing and learning guitar without a teacher involves lots of self discipline, the ability to decide if youre doing things correctly, and being able to not want or need any feedback. You cant ask a DVD, a CD or a book a question. Without being able to actually watch a student its very difficult to help solve problems. So, do you want to save a few bucks and be a do it yourselfer? Or, are you willing to make the sacrifice and spend the time and money to get started the right way?
Seriously? Wow, why the heck has it taken others so long? And were talking Mastering the guitar, not just playing it. Heres a dose of reality, its not going to happen! Yes, you can learn a 2 chord song in 7 days. Will you have it mastered? Doubtful. Is it a song youd be proud to show your friends? Hey, you guys want to jam on Skip to my Lou? Google play guitar in 7 days and youll be shocked and amazed at how many courses there are. Heres the hot tip of the day, save your money. Beginning guitar, getting better at guitar, mastering the guitar is a long term investment of time and money. If it were possible in a short time, there would be a lot more great guitar players.
OK, how long does it take?
The guitar is a very versatile instrument. Ive had students who took lessons for years, and Ive had students who were happy with knowing enough chords to strum and sing some songs. Remember, its not how long youve played, its how many hours you put in. I can tell you that it wont be a week or even a month. The big secret is that like every other worthwhile skill it takes time, dedication and practice. Getting by the total beginner stage in about 6 months is a good goal. The most important consideration is how good to you want to be?
Are these courses any good at all?
Surprisingly, Im going to say yes. I just cant imagine advertising something in that way when Im sure they all know its not going to happen. Theres good material in a lot of the lessons, theres even good stuff available for free. The problem is in making outrageous claims. Playing and learning guitar without a teacher involves lots of self discipline, the ability to decide if youre doing things correctly, and being able to not want or need any feedback. You cant ask a DVD, a CD or a book a question. Without being able to actually watch a student its very difficult to help solve problems. So, do you want to save a few bucks and be a do it yourselfer? Or, are you willing to make the sacrifice and spend the time and money to get started the right way?
Monday, September 2, 2013
Simple Wiring in the Music Man Axis Style
Sometimes simple is best. This is what you can think when you're looking on the Music Man Axis or some Charvel guitars. The MM Axis is a two pickup guitar with a simple, 3-way toggle pickup switch and one pot – volume. This is completely enough if you want to get just clear, distinct signal – especially if your guitar is made from some high-grade wood and got some nice pickups.
This is the wiring diagram for that kind of axe:
Saturday, August 24, 2013
Are You Spending Too Much Time in Your Comfort Zone
Practicing what doesnt need practicing.
First of all, yes, reviewing old material is good. What many beginning guitar students do is practice what they already know, not what theyre supposed to be learning. I hear the "thats too hard" excuse many times in the course of a week. Usually it means, "its easier to play what I already know". The way to improve your guitar playing is to be trying new songs, picking techniques, working on rhythm and all the other things your teacher is showing you.
Getting distracted.
Where do you practice and how many times during practice is there an interruption? Cell phones, the internet, texting, television, way too many distractions. I even had a student tell me one time that he had the radio on in the background while he practiced! Upon further questioning, he assured me that it was at a very low volume and not at all interfering with what he was doing. Wow.
Goals during practice.
Is it possible to have set goals and still have fun playing the guitar? Absolutely. There are times when you do need to be completely serious, but there are also times when you can let go. I encourage my guitar students to make a game out of practice. See if you can play the song or exercise a certain number of times without a mistake. See how slow or how fast you can play. Make up words to the songs, you get the idea.
Get out of the comfort zone.
Everyone needs to push once in a while to keep improving. Problem areas include never being able to memorize a song, going back and playing songs that are way too easy at this point, and never totally finishing a song. If there are still trouble spots, FIX THEM. Dont practice mistakes, and dont avoid the harder passages. Almost every song has at least one, so work it out.
First of all, yes, reviewing old material is good. What many beginning guitar students do is practice what they already know, not what theyre supposed to be learning. I hear the "thats too hard" excuse many times in the course of a week. Usually it means, "its easier to play what I already know". The way to improve your guitar playing is to be trying new songs, picking techniques, working on rhythm and all the other things your teacher is showing you.
Getting distracted.
Where do you practice and how many times during practice is there an interruption? Cell phones, the internet, texting, television, way too many distractions. I even had a student tell me one time that he had the radio on in the background while he practiced! Upon further questioning, he assured me that it was at a very low volume and not at all interfering with what he was doing. Wow.
Goals during practice.
Is it possible to have set goals and still have fun playing the guitar? Absolutely. There are times when you do need to be completely serious, but there are also times when you can let go. I encourage my guitar students to make a game out of practice. See if you can play the song or exercise a certain number of times without a mistake. See how slow or how fast you can play. Make up words to the songs, you get the idea.
Get out of the comfort zone.
Everyone needs to push once in a while to keep improving. Problem areas include never being able to memorize a song, going back and playing songs that are way too easy at this point, and never totally finishing a song. If there are still trouble spots, FIX THEM. Dont practice mistakes, and dont avoid the harder passages. Almost every song has at least one, so work it out.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Tone Switch in Gretsch Style
In this post I will show you my idea for a Gretsch style guitar tone switch. It's a three position (cap1 - off - cap2) low-pass filter selector. It can be a very useful tool, if it's well tuned.
In my circuit, I'm using different capacitors values than Gretsch. I'm also using a SPDT on-off-on toggle switch, which is easy to buy and comfortable in mounting.
The lower value tone cap will help you in getting fat overdrive tones.
The higher value capacitor is good for clean, really smooth sound.
I've got three version of this wiring. One is for classic Filtertron pickups (Gretsch, TV Jones). Second is for use with Fender style single-coils. Third is for PAF style humbuckers and P90's.
Diagram:
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