For xmas, my wife got me a subscription to a guitar magazine: Acoustic Guitar, which I've really been enjoying. I was reading an article in it the other day about some guitar player named David Wilcox and they highlighted a really wonderful quote: "The dynamics on the guitar have so little to do with how loud you make it and a lot to do with how soft you make it."
I'm a linguist and the semantics are almost self-contradictory. Setting that aside though, I think the point is really apropos for me at this stage. Lately, I've been working on learning different strumming patterns and I have a huge temptation to wail away at the instrument. I find that if I hold back and concentrate on making strums that sound good, rather than feel good, that it starts to sound like music!
my progress in learning how to play the guitar
parlor guitar
electric guitar
travel guitar
the nice guitar
the old standby
2 comments:
Hey Mike - way too cool that you're learning to play the guitar!
I'm learning to play the bass now & it's feeling like I should've been playing it all along. The only really weird thing is getting used to trying to sing & pluck one string at a time. Rhythm guitar is much easier for that sort of thing... But the bass is making so much more sense to me musically. Maybe it's because I've never liked high pitched notes of any sort.
Anyways - to reply to your stuff here:
Doucement - that's the way it is w/ all instruments. Singing too. It's the hardest thing to do but it makes the most 'music'. But, if you feel like banging away on your guitar - do it! When the time for softness comes, you'll know when to do it. Hence(!), I disagree w/ your last sentence. Feeling is the root of music.
Classical Gas - too weird on the Clapton thing. I'd never heard that. I've ONLY ever heard it attributed to Williams.
Definitely keep humming along - you're a better singer than you give yourself credit for.
Sore hands - really try to relax while playing. Stop when it hurts. Keep at it & the muscles will come. I keep re-finding that out everytime I pick up an instrument (or 3) after months or years of not playing! I can go for 1.5+ hrs at a time now - after plugging away at it day by day.
I'd love to hear ya play someday! We definitely need another trip to Tucson......
BassPatep
Mike, great blog!
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