The ARP Musician and Gitfiddler thread

Discussion in 'Lounge' started by Mac Daddy, Apr 14, 2008.

  1. Mac Daddy

    Mac Daddy Pickin' Da Gitfiddle

    Well was talking to psYk about fret hand positioning for barre chords and he suggested starting a thread like this. I know there are other musicians and guitar players here and might be a good way for us to share and learn.

    First a quote :D


    Q: How many guitar players does it take to change a light bulb ?
    A: One hundred ... 1 to change it and the other 99 to stand around and brag about how they could do it better


    Now on to the first topic fret hand positioning which is crucial. What I am demonstrating is a technique I was taught while I was taking classical guitar lessons in college. PsYk has issues with his wrist to begin with but this should help him. Even I had issues before I used this technique.

    1) Position your thumb in the center of the neck
    2) Extend your wrist to eliminate pressure on your
    fingers and thumb

    I included pics and if you do this correctly you should feel no pressure in your wrist, fingers or thumb.

    In addition to the pics including an original tune from my old band the Storm Kings that uses many funky barre chords lol. Thanks to Adrian providing a techARP host for this .. Cheers dude :thumb:

    http://www.techarp.com/dmack/mdjs.rar
     

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    Last edited: Apr 14, 2008
  2. The_YongGrand

    The_YongGrand Just Started

    Woohoo! Another guitar player here! Classical guitar!

    And I'm also into a little bit of blues now - Otis Rush's All My Love. :)

    (I'm still having troubles with the pick, but I squeezed out the 1st riff!!) :haha:
     
  3. Mac Daddy

    Mac Daddy Pickin' Da Gitfiddle

    Holding the pick is an involved process too but usually comes down to personal preference. Thumb and index .. thumb and middle and thumb and ring fingers I have seen used by different players.

    Let me know if I can be of any help and the link for Jazzy Stuff is up :D
     
    Last edited: Apr 14, 2008
  4. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    Wewt!

    I really hate Barre Chords... :?

    But I am getting semi decent. I just hate it when a string falls in the 'crack' on my finger joints and ends up sounding muted. :\

    Hey, can you show me how to do this one Barre? I'll tell you what it is when I get home (its in my tab book) because I just can't seem to visualize it.

    Yeah, holding the pick is a lot about preference. I know a few other buddies of mine who play and they all hold em differently.

    I like to hold mid way so I can dig in. :p

    As for hand position, I'll take a pic when I go home. I feel some pressure on my thumb. :o

    Thanks!
     
  5. The_YongGrand

    The_YongGrand Just Started

    To have effective barre, you gotta make the index finger straight, and try not to apply too much pressure. And also, try adjusting the barre by the index finger all over the strings, and then slightly push and tug until all of the strings do not sound damp.

    Agh, really difficult to explain it by words. :haha:

    Let me share to you guys about the difficult barres:

    Personally, the most difficult barre for me is, maintaining a full barre and then with the little finger (4) and the ring finger (3) at least 2 frets away from the barre finger. That is from one of Aguado's very difficult etudes. I never even bothered to finish playing it because it is very tiring piece.

    Another one is using the little finger as the barre to cover the 1st 3 treble strings and the first finger is pressing the lowest F on the guitar. That one is from Bach's Prelude BWV999. Seriously, still I could make mistakes out of it until now, at least I could like stumbled on it two out of 5 plays of the same song.

    The peculiar one is from Tansman's Danza Pomposa - some of the barre doesn't cover ALL the strings, but you must barre the last 3 bass strings together while the another half of your barre finger doesn't touch or away from the other 3 treble strings.

    From what I see, many electric guitars have quite low action - so barring will be much easier. :D
     
  6. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    The prob I get is when you have a hammer on, and 2 pull offs across 3 frets (like frets 3, 5, and 6).

    |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
    |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
    |----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
    |--0-0-xx-0-0-xx-6-6-6--0-0-xx-0-0-xx-6p3h5-5--0-0-xx-0-0-xx-6-6-6--0-0-xx-0-0-xx--xx-x--|
    |--0-0-xx-0-0-xx-6-6-6--0-0-xx-0-0-xx-6p3h5-5--0-0-xx-0-0-xx-6-6-6--0-0-xx-0-0-xx--xx-x--|
    |--0-0-xx-0-0-xx-6-6-6--0-0-xx-0-0-xx-6p3h5-5--0-0-xx-0-0-xx-6-6-6--0-0-xx-0-0-xx--xx-x--|

    I love arpegiating Barre Chords though. :D
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2008
  7. Mac Daddy

    Mac Daddy Pickin' Da Gitfiddle

    Cool The_YongGrand and I usually play everything on acoustic with high action before I play it on electric ;)

    PsYk there is a lot of that in Dee by Rhoads will try and take some position pics up for ya :D
     
  8. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    Sweet bro.

    It's funny how I know two acoustic only players that have trouble using a pick but for me, I feel weird not having a pick. :o

    I guess just the different nature of music. :think:

    Chugging on 16th notes with my bare thumb on the 6th string would make my thumb raw... :shifty:
     
  9. Mac Daddy

    Mac Daddy Pickin' Da Gitfiddle

    I rarely use a pick on acoustic guess your right on nature of music :think:
     
  10. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    Yeah since I play more rock / alt / metal using a pick is almost a must.

    The only song I tried without a pick was the intro to stairway to heaven. :mrgreen:
     
  11. Mac Daddy

    Mac Daddy Pickin' Da Gitfiddle

    Try Dee to start then Midsummers Daydream by Rik Emmett is a tough one :mrgreen:

    The_YongGrand on the blues Stevie himself said it was a "tricky one". Give Scuttle Buttin' a try its off of the album SRV - Couldn't Stand The Weather" ;)
     
  12. The_YongGrand

    The_YongGrand Just Started

    I see. I'll try to listen to the SRV a little bit more often.

    Still, I can't get John Mayall's "All My Love" outta my head. Fortunately, I think I could play this with my brother together since we have two amps and 3 guitars. :beer:

    Meanwhile, I love to play a small baroque ensemble. I really dying for it haha. Vivaldi's Mandolin concerto is really intriguing and amazing too. :mrgreen:

    Also, I have been planning to make a small Fuzz Face and any of those distortion pedals since I have some knowledge acquired from my college/university about these pre-amp stages. It seems that they love class A and class B ones since they distort well. But too bad I can't really make the vintagey feel because I couldn't get those classic PNP transistors (AC128 or something else) and all I have are the generic 2N3904s and 2N3906s. :D
     
    Last edited: Apr 15, 2008
  13. Mac Daddy

    Mac Daddy Pickin' Da Gitfiddle

    Cool and John rocks and on your bro :beer:

    On Classical I prefer Paganini and the 24 Caprices lol :shhh:

    On Electronics I built my first amp. I am an EET. Tubes are warmer though we have a Peavey XXX stack at the studio that would warm your heart :thumb:

    PPS: On those transistors you need Darlington pairs
     
  14. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

  15. Mac Daddy

    Mac Daddy Pickin' Da Gitfiddle

  16. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    Peavey Valve King it is! :thumb:

    Don't really want to spend too much of a pretty penny.... for now... :p

    When I become a raging solo maniac that can shred scales in my sleep then I'll upgrade. Muahahaha.
     
  17. The_YongGrand

    The_YongGrand Just Started

    Paganini is very difficult - not even my level. Wow - you must be very advanced level if you can play all the caprices. I struggled like mad in Bach's Gavotte BWV1006/a and I realized that it is ABRSM Grade 8 piece. :faint:

    Only thing is, I could only attempt some of the Grade 7 pieces like Alonso Mudarra's Fantasia in the Manner of the Harp of Ludovico and Bach's Allemande from BWV996.

    Wow - and you are an EET too! I am currently studying Biomed Engineering, but I didn't study so much and deep in electronics so the only thing I know is basic Analog Electronics, some circuit theory and basic electronics for now. I most probably end up working in the hospital fixing broken medical devices, but that's just it - I can always improvise! (building cyborgs in future! haha! :haha:)

    Oh, Darlington pairs! I'll keep it in my mind and put my schematics on the paper. Somehow I wish to have those thermionic valves, but they are too difficult to be obtained.

    And Peavey's makin' good amps too. :D
     
  18. Mac Daddy

    Mac Daddy Pickin' Da Gitfiddle

    Biomed is a good field and not an easy one either cool stuff and best of luck with your studies. As far as the caprices and other pieces I found difficult at first there are programs online that allow you to slow the recordings down to 1/2 speed. Its just a matter of time and practice :)
     
  19. PsYkHoTiK

    PsYkHoTiK Admin nerd

    Request for a pic of a B major @ the 6th Fret... :p

    after barring with the index, I can't seem to pull my middle finger down to the 2nd string (I think).

    Barre chords are painful... :(
     
  20. The_YongGrand

    The_YongGrand Just Started

    Just now I spent the whole morning trying to squeeze out the John Mayall's All My Love, and I got only 20% outta it.

    Then I tried "Stepping Out", ugh, more tough. I gotta improve my picking skills. :haha:
     

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