Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Warming Up

Recently, a guitarist I admire a lot put me in my place.  Not in a bad way, but he reminded me that I need to follow my own advice and not be big headed about what fundamentals I should be working on.  He did this with one of the easiest technique building exercises out there.  One that I had been prescribing to students for years.

I'm going to refer to it the same way he does:

The Warm Up

Simply put, the Warm Up is an exercise that is mostly non-diatonic (so it doesn't follow a regular scale) and is more about developing good left and right hand technique and less about music theory.  In fact, I'm pretty sure we can ignore music theory for a minute on this one.

We will start at the lowest string (E for guitar, G for ukulele*) with our index finger. Number off your fingers from index to pinky as one two three four.  This should correspond to the first four frets of the instrument.  So, first finger, first fret and so on. Now play the tab below:



Notice that we are moving ascending chromatically up each string four notes regardless of any music relation.

The point here is not to make music, although you can do it in a rhythmic way.  The point is to develop our left hand fingers' touch and the tone we get on the instrument.  Also, we can either pick or finger pick the strings and work on our right hand technique as well.

Now, once we have done this up to this point, we need to move back down the strings again. Before we do this, we slide up one one fret. Then, play your way down in the following fashion:


Dave: Wait, why don't you descend chromatically on each string as you come back down.

That was actually a question I got.  Like how I did that?

You can do that if you want.  But, by following the pattern above, you are breaking your fingers up from thinking going-down-a-string-is-always-descending.

Now, once you have gotten to the highest point you are comfortable playing (something like twelve or fifteen frets; maybe ten if you are on a soprano ukulele) we need to come back down the neck.  We'll do this in a similar fashion, only this time we will descend on each string. So, it will look like this:

This time, we are descending.  As you guess it, we will work our way back up the strings again in a descending chromatic manner.

The Good Part

So, this is a good exercise and I encourage you to do it slowly and thoughtfully at first trying to get your fingers doing things right rather than fast.  Once you can work your way up and down without any mistakes, you then want to get out our good friend Mr. Metronome.

The examples I have for you above are in eighth notes.  Playing at a slow speed, say 60 bpm to start, work through the exercise up and down without stopping.  Once you can do this in time at whatever speed you started at, move up a few clicks (like say 63 in our example) and try it there.

The goal with developing speed is starting slow.  You need time working something slowly to get the muscles in your hands working together and using their memory (muscle memory) first before you can speed up.

Bonus

Four bonus for today:

1) After going up and down, take a moment to stretch out the muscles in your fingers and hands.  Think like you are a soccer player.  You would end up with a major injury if you walked out of your locker room and started playing a game without a warmup and stretch.

2) Do this every day to build it up.  You don't always have to start slow.  You will know where to start as you get more proficient, but always start at a slower speed than you are wanting to work up to.

3) To work on your swing rhythm, try using the metronome as if it is only clicking on beats 2 and 4.  So if you are wanting to go 100 bpm, you need to set it at 50 bpm.  Then count 1, click, 3, click to get yourself moving. This will be hard and suck at first, but it will payoff loads later.

4) Finally, the patterns of up and down that I gave you above are a starting point.  You can, if you feel up to it, work on alternating fingers in inventive ways.  For instance, instead of 1, 2, 3, 4 try 1, 3, 2, 4 going up and then 4, 2, 3, 1 going down.  Mix it up and make those fingers start to think for themselves!

* Yes, I know that re-entrant tuning that would not be the highest string.  Let's imagine that you have a low G tuning for a minute.  Also, ignore the possibility that you own a baritone uke.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

How to Buy a Guitar


I've been spending a lot of time at my favorite guitar shop lately, Guitar Syndicate, and I have come to the conclusion that there are a bunch of people out there who play guitar who need help.  They need help figuring out how to buy a guitar.  The guitar buying experience is extremely personal and exciting, but when you make a mistake doing it, you can end up with an instrument that is just no fun.

For beginners, I would say that the best thing to do when buying your first guitar is to talk to your instructor and have them help.  Most of us (instructors) are happy to help.  Have your instructor not only help you pick one off the wall, but play it too in order to really hear what the guitar is capable of.


If this is not your first guitar and you aren't a beginner, then here are a few steps to walk through that I'm sure will help.

First: Budget accordingly

Know how much you are going to be able to spend before your drool dries on the first one you picked off the wall.  This includes not just how much cash you have in your pocket and how much you may be getting on a trade, but also three other very important factors:
  1. Case or Gig Bag (if not included)
  2. New Strings (almost every guitar will need them)
  3. Setup (by a pro)
Also, realize that retailers are not there to be nice, they are there to make a profit.  There may be some room for wheeling and dealing, but you shouldn't expect to get a 20% discount because you are a self proclaimed master of negotiations.

On the same token, if you are trading in a guitar, don't expect to get every penny you put into back.  In fact, take the total that you have spent on it (minus strings and maintenance), and divide that by half.  That is about the only reasonable expectation.  (Lastly on trading in or selling: know everything you can about what you have.)

Second: Know what you need

Notice the word "need".  It isn't spelled w-a-n-t.  Six months from now, where is this instrument going to be in your toolbox (so to speak)?  Are you needing acoustic or electric?  If acoustic, does it need a pickup?  If electric, what kind: solid, semi-hollow, or hollow body?  What sort of tone are you looking for?

It might seem silly, but write this stuff down on a piece of paper and take it with you to the shop.  Keep yourself on track with what you are expecting to get out of this.  Take a pen with you to jot down notes in case that may change a bit as you shop.

Third: Talk to the salesperson

At most shops, the salesperson is going to be a great ally in finding what is right for you.  Don't treat them or think of them as a used car salesmen.  Tell them what your budget is and what you are looking for.  They spend all day with that inventory and likely played everything on the wall as it came into the store.  They know that stock way better than you do!

Fourth: Try it out

This is where most guitarist start to fall off a bit. Not because they don't play around with what they want, but because they don't play to test, they just play to play.  Every function that this guitar has should be examined.  Check the neck, frets, tuners, pickups, bridge, tailpiece, body, etc.  Are there any visible places where some tech work is needed?

Plug it in and play clean at every possible tone and volume setting.  This is very important.  Don't plug it into an amp, max out the amp's lead or crunch settings and start wailing away.  You won't hear the guitar, you will just hear the amp.  Play it clean first for a good long time on more than one amp, then play with the dirtier tone settings.

Also, if you are adding this to an existing rig, bring in your amp and toys.  Try it out through your stuff to make sure it sounds good.

Five: Sleep on it

The worst thing about buying anything is the emotional part.  We can get super excited about stuff and not think it through.  Once you have played with the guitar and put it through it's paces, take a step back.  Go home and wait a night then come back the next day.

There is no need to be overly urgent here.  Guitar shops don't turn out that many sales every day and you shouldn't be afraid that someone else will get it.  Sure, that is possible, but if it happens then just take the hit and move on (that guitar wasn't good for you anyway).

This part of the buying process is why I try to not bring cash (or cards) with me when I'm shopping.  Shop one day, buy another is always a good strategy.

Six: Second opinion

Another good reason for waiting a day is to bring someone else with you to check it out.  Maybe it is a band mate or a fellow guitarist or your spouse.  It doesn't matter who as long as they are willing to be honest about how they think the guitar sounds.  Maybe you can't pull off a pink guitar and you need your best friend to call you out on that!

Finally

It may feel like this is a lot to consider when going out shopping for your next axe, but remember that you will likely be making at a minimum of a year's investment in this thing. Or perhaps longer.  Plus, whether you are spending $300 or $3000 that may be a large chunk of change to you.  Make sure you know you are getting what you need and want out of that.

In the end, with a little patience and wisdom, you could be getting more than a guitar.  You could be getting a good friend.

~Danny