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Category Archives: Technique
Feedback: How to Crush It or Sing With It!
Feedback is a blessing and a curse. Sometimes it is the sweetness of sustain, while other times it is killing your performance. Let’s a take a look at what it is and how to channel it for musical nirvana. Feedback: Understanding It Before we can really know how to either defeat feedback or use it, […]
Playing With Time: How to Spice Up An Old Song
So you want to do something different and spice up an old song. You’ve heard all of these old Christmas songs a million times and now you need to play one yourself. Going with the traditional arrangement is a safe bet when leading a sing-a-long but where’s the fun in that? I just finished watching […]
<span class="entry-utility-prep entry-utility-prep-cat-links">Posted in</span> Encouragement, Technique
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How to Learn Fingerstyle: 16th Century Greensleeves
I taught myself how to play fingerstyle guitar at an early age. I’m not great at it, it is not the most orthodox approach but it gets the job done and I have been able to build on it over the years. As one friend said to me recently, if your method works then it […]
4 Ways to Boost Your Pick Technique: Get Control!
Your pick technique may be your weakest skill. It’s great that you know all the chords. Having a grasp of notes and scales is handy but your rhythm and arpeggios fall apart. You may be missing one or more of these techniques and losing control of your pick. Once you have chosen your pick, let’s […]
Should I mic or go direct?
Mic or go direct is a good question and the answer is not a simple one. Is this live or for recording? What sound are you trying to capture? What do you consider is part of your signal chain? Acoustic or electric guitar? So many questions… Let’s get started. I answered a post on the […]
<span class="entry-utility-prep entry-utility-prep-cat-links">Posted in</span> Gear, Guitar, Technique
<span class="entry-utility-prep entry-utility-prep-tag-links">Tagged</span> condenser mic, direct recording, mic, mike
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How to learn music by ear: Missing opportunities?
You may be missing valuable opportunities to learn music by ear if you are using a tuner and if you are avoiding singing along with the notes you are playing.
<span class="entry-utility-prep entry-utility-prep-cat-links">Posted in</span> Encouragement, Guitar, Technique
<span class="entry-utility-prep entry-utility-prep-tag-links">Tagged</span> Guitar, tuning
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It’s all about the tone, man
I have a friend name Tony whose email address starts with: The Tone. He sings for The Shades of Blue Orchestra which is a local swing orchestra and he does have “the tone”. If you enjoy the classic vocals of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony Bennett, you will love this band. But we’re not […]
<span class="entry-utility-prep entry-utility-prep-cat-links">Posted in</span> Guitar, Technique
<span class="entry-utility-prep entry-utility-prep-tag-links">Tagged</span> fingerstyle, flat pick, guitar tone, rhythm guitar
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Let’s try a little fingerpicking
A fellow guitarist and I were talking the other day. I mentioned that my fingerpicking is a kind of pseudo classical style thing I developed early on in my playing. He could tell I was clearly dogging my technique and offered this encouragement: “Anything that gets the job done is acceptable.” Just because I did […]
Guitar Practice Makes Perfect?
Building on yesterdays topic, Time to Practice, a good friend of mine who has played jazz guitar for many years sent the following for the more serious guitarist: From Tom Monaco: One of the most important things for anyone to learn and grow in music is practice. Many guitarists are self-taught, using a variety of ways […]
Time to Practice
Feeling like you don’t have time to practice? You work all day and get home exhausted. The kids need your attention, your spouse would like some time, you have obligations,… Where do you find the time to pick up your guitar and play? Time can easily derail what was an honest effort to learn or […]