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Post by webdominatrix on Sept 17, 2007 14:43:16 GMT -5
With a friend of mine who was classically trained in music theory at some college on the east coast. He can play Flight of the Bumblebee on his acoustic! I can play...the first three chords of a Smashing Pumpkins song, part of a Murder City Devils song and quite a bit of Smells Like Teen Spirit. Easiest. Song. Ever. Also, my ex is giving me tips and pointers too. He's the one that showed me how to play the Nirvana song. I'm having so much fun with this although the tendons in my left hand hate my face. And I feel weird cause the fingernails on my left hand are super short (think nubs) while the fingernails on my right hand are long (think nail peeking above finger pad). I'll have to remember to start scratching with my right hand.
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Post by Kata6 on Sept 17, 2007 17:14:40 GMT -5
now I just need to get a guitar...and some more free time. Hmm....maybe this rockstar business will have to wait.
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Post by IDBUG on Sept 18, 2007 19:30:53 GMT -5
Hey Kata, how about drums? Or Keyboard?
Same here with the nails. I can't keep them short enough. And the ones on the right hand aren't long enough, keep breaking. So I keep painting the right ones with strengthener while cutting the left ones to nothing. (I'm left handed learning to play right-handed.) Kind of an uneven look. Once I noticed that my guitar teacher has sculpted nails on his right hand (for spanish guitar--built in picks).
Haha, I'll show you my Icky Thump if you show me your Teen Spirit. ;D
Actually all I have of Icky Thump is the bridge, but I think the rest of the guitar part is just pounding chords.
Right now, as for songs, I can play Paranoid (maybe the second easiest song in the world--except for its speed), Iron Man, Dim (by Dada), the main rhythm riff for Welcome Home (Sanitarium), and I'm working on "I Love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett & the BHs. For now, I'm just learning whatever he tells me to learn.
What kind of guitar did you get?
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Post by Kata6 on Sept 19, 2007 17:36:08 GMT -5
I'm jealous...now I REALLY want a guitar.
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Post by webdominatrix on Sept 20, 2007 12:20:25 GMT -5
I'm jealous of your Icky Thump skillz because we all know how much I love Jack White. I think learning I Love Rock and Roll would be bad ass!
As for guitars, I have two. A black Gibson cheap-o thing that I bought at Target (who wants to spend hundreds on something that you might suck at?). Then I've got the Ibanez acoustic that I borrowed from my ex indefinitely.
So I went to another lesson last night...ugh. Reading music is teh sux but the thing is, I want to know this stuff. I want to be able to know what to do when he says, "Okay play C 4 for me". I felt so cool driving home last night with a composer sheet that he had written my chords on.
And Kata, you should get a guitar. You know you've always wanted to be a super rock star chick.
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Post by Kata6 on Sept 21, 2007 10:14:40 GMT -5
I want a guitar so bad. I used have one when I was like 12, it was a cheap little guitar I got from JC Penny. I took some lessons and loved it. Then who knows what happened, I grew up and stopped playing and then it was sold at a garage sale. I have been wanting one so bad for a while now. I may just have to go get one.
You know what's kind of funny? Back when I had my guitar, I used to have to use a tuning fork to tune it, an actual piece of metal that used to vibrate and you had to try to match it to the sound. I was so terrible at it, I could never get the stupid guitar tuned. Apparently now they have electronic ones that do it for you...that rules. Maybe I'll ask for a guitar from Santa Claus.
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Post by webdominatrix on Sept 25, 2007 11:42:44 GMT -5
Yes, they have electric ones! My electric came with one of those but my teacher makes me tune by ear. Although I think I'm going to tell him to eff off about that for now because I was trying to do that on Saturday night and one of my strings broke. Nothing is more terrifying than having your face/fingers right next to thin wire that breaks due to tension and is probably traveling at 1,000 miles an hour. By your face. He's kind of a music Nazi which I would normally find annoying but we were friends before he offered to teach me so I can handle it a bit better.
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Post by IDBUG on Sept 27, 2007 19:28:54 GMT -5
I would have a horrible time tuning by ear because I'm not good at remembering pitches/tones. I can hear how different tones are different, or their relationships when you play two, but I can't hear something and say, "oh, that's an E". Yeah right. That is a rare talent and has to be built over time. Also, I can't imagine trying to keep a tuning fork ringing and then tune a guitar at the same time. No way.
The first time I ever tried tuning a guitar--using an electronic tuner, no less--I broke a string, didn't know what the hell I was doing. This was on the guitar on the wall at Target. Oops.
I would at least get a pitch pipe or something. Then you can hold it in your mouth and keep your hands where they belong.
And, here's something that's partly what your teacher wants:
tune the 6th string tune with help (pipe, electronic tuner), and then use that to get the rest.
You probably already know this, but here's how the strings relate to each other:
6th string, 5th fret = 5th string, open 5th string, 5th fret = 4th string, open 4th string, 5th fret = 3rd string, open 3th string, 4th fret = 2th string, open 2nd string, 5th fret = 1st string, open
or, shorter version: 6.5 = 5.0 (0 = open) 5.5 = 4.0 4.5 = 3.0 3.4 = 2.0 2.5 = 1.0
or even shorter: 55545
so you can tune the lowest one using a tuner or pipe, then you can tune the rest "by ear," that is, making them match. At least that would be a start to what your teacher wants you to do, haha.
(hope that made the least bit of sense)
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Post by IDBUG on Sept 27, 2007 19:30:32 GMT -5
one more thing: My guitar teacher plays Spanish guitar at a Wine Bar on Saturday evenings. Maybe sometime we can all meet up and go there. Nice alternative to coffee (btw, coffee cabana is shut down, did you know? ).
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Post by webdominatrix on Sept 28, 2007 19:23:31 GMT -5
F-ing A, yeah right! He just wants me to hum the scales and then listen for the vibrations to match or something...if he knew that I talked about it like a petulant teenager. Ha! And yeah, we do the 55545. Something funny when we were discussing how other people hold their guitar...he told me that his left pinkie is pretty much useless for playing and that I should pretend it doesn't exist. So I told him that I would now refer to it as my Yakuza finger. So when he went to do my sheet music stuff and showed me the PIMA finger placement thing, I MADE him write 'Yakuza' above the outline of the pinkie.
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Post by IDBUG on Oct 8, 2007 14:39:52 GMT -5
haha, yakuza finger. That's great.
how go the lessons?
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Post by webdominatrix on Oct 15, 2007 13:39:25 GMT -5
They're good. I couldn't practice or go to lessons for two weeks because I partially dislocated my shoulder playing kickball. But I go back this week and I can't wait!
How's yours going?
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Post by IDBUG on Oct 19, 2007 15:01:05 GMT -5
Wow, I'm sorry to hear about your shoulder, WD! Does it still hurt?
My lessons are going pretty well, although I haven't been able to practice as much as I wanted to this week. I've been racked with migraines most days. It SUCKS. I had to get a shot of toradol yesterday to make the pain stop.
Recent songs I'm working on include The Man Who Sold the World (as done by Nirvana) Lake of Fire (ditto)
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