Back From Beautiful Burlington!

Took a ten day trip visiting family in Connecticut and exploring Vermont. The Burlington area was beautiful, though the colors have not changed yet. On Wednesday, I took a 20 mile bike ride alongside Lake Champlain. No, I did not see Champ, but I did behold some gorgeous scenery. I will definitely be making a stop in Burlington again.

The Sox did not crumble as I previously predicted. They finished strong and swept the Angels in typical fashion. The Angels have little success against the Red Sox in the playoffs. Here’s hoping that the Indians can get it done this week. ALCS starts Friday, and the Sox have made it once again!

Plenty has happened since being on hiatus. Ron Paul has raised 5 million dollars in record speed. Finally the media has to take recognition that those for liberty are serious. Buh bye McCain! You’re done, even before you know it. Move over Romney and company, here comes a real man. Beware Hillary, we’re coming to stop you too. You have no chance if you face off against Dr. Paul.

I created an adsense account, debating on putting it up on this site or not. Not that this site generates a lot of hits, but the extra cash could come in handy. If not, I’ll probably just put it up on my very inactive guitar blog.

After being out for about 10 days, I feel more at ease with everything. The world moved on without my needing to go to Drudge Report every hour, or checking the lines on ESPN. Oh yeah, the Patriots continue to roll over their opponents. Dallas v. Patriots this coming Sunday. Finally, a game worth watching.

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Tedious While Necessary

After years of playing the guitar, I have decided to devote some of my practice time with exercises. I have a book I dusted off, the Guitar Grimoire of Scales and Exercises (I think that is the title, after all, I just dusted this off). I’m going from the very beginning of page 1 and slowly going through the multitude of exercises and scale patterns. After playing the same scale with the suggested picking pattern over and over, I’m wondering if I’ll be considered a legitimate shredder.

Playing songs is fine and dandy, but learning to actually play the guitar with proficiency is more important. I have some technique due in large part to my 1 year of guitar lessons. Seeing more experienced (and better) players with their bad habits has been a real eye opener for me. It is so common to see over playing. Some common mistakes my humble experience has given notice to:

1. Elbow Hinge: A player uses his elbow to strum the guitar, without any wrist action whatsoever. The average guitar neck is maybe 4 to 6 inches (guess) wide. Using the elbow to do the work of the wrist is tiring and can hamper the guitar player’s ability.

2. Down Stroke Picking Pattern: While this can be necessary, some are actually limited to only down strokes when picking a tune. I have made it a point to practice various picking patterns (see above), and the most basic which should be used is alternate picking.

3. Great Sound, Lousy Chops: I’ve been to plenty of shows where the guitar’s performance was based solely on the amount of foot pedals and distortion in use. Great sound is an acquired talent, but if the chops are lacking, I quickly become bored. The person took time to work hard so that he could buy the best gear. Perhaps some of that time and money would be best used to actually learn how to play the guitar.

4. 1st Position G Chord: Some have the habit of playing this most simple of chords with their ring, middle, and pinky finger. Try using the middle finger in place of the ring, the index in place of the middle, and the ring in place of the pinky. Then you can use the pinky to add sus’, etc.

5. Intonation: If your intonation is off, take it to shop and have your guitar set up. Please, you sound terrible when you reach beyond the 12th fret.

6. Old strings. Now that is just being lazy. And make sure you tune them properly, if not, they’ll never stay in tune.

That is all for now. I won’t pretend to be even a good guitar player, but mastering some of the basics will take you pretty far.

Learning the Ins and Outs of the Electric Guitar

I’ve been playing the guitar for about 10 years now and I have never cared to take notice into what makes the guitar a guitar.  As long as I had a cable in between my amp and guitar and cranked everything, I was happy.  Sad, I know, but it is the truth.  Until recently.

Now I’m starting to understand what those two pickup thingys are.  I’m actually going to replace my humbucker with a real  Duncan, I just haven’t decided on the model yet.  I haven’t been too satisfied with the sound my guitar is outputting, and according to some wiser friends, a cheap and effective way of resolving that is to trash the stock pickup for a better one.

I have a Schecter Diamond Elite 006.  This was a surprise Christmas gift from my better half.  Along with my 30 watt Marshall Amp, I was in business that year.  About a year later, I added to my collection by purchasing my D-03 acoustic guitar.

Anyway, I am finally becoming fascinated with how the electric guitar works.  As a mostly acoustic player, the versatility of the electric guitar is really appealing.

Basics of Guitar

I’m going to attempt to place some lessons for beginners of the guitar on this site.  While I still consider myself pretty new, I do have 10 years of experience, and some head knowledge.  Also, I find that teaching others usually establishes those lessons to the teachers.

Not that I have many users here, but this can be totally interactive.  Since this will require drawings and pictures, the first lesson will probably be posted later this week.  Keep looking…