Comments for guitarkadia

Comment on Yeah, Tap That Axe! by emon

emon — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:34:03 +0000

Maybe gonging the guy was part of their plan to create controversy. Who knows. Will email you re: interview.

Comment on If Inanimate Objects Can Sync Themselves… by emon

emon — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:03:51 +0000

Chris: Thanks for sharing your routine; very informative! It goes back to a post you’d written about goal-oriented practicing. II know what you mean re: getting better after not playing much during breaks. I guess stepping back a little helps what you’ve learned come together.

Comment on Yeah, Tap That Axe! by Suldog

Suldog — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:40:42 +0000

Magnificent. The last fellow reminds me of seeing a performer on “The Gong Show” back in the 70’s who played guitar but had no hands. He used his hooks to pick and slide. I especially remember that because one of the total a-holes on the panel “gonged” him before he could finish. And he was actually pretty damned good; would have been decent playing even if he had hands. I couldn’t believe there was anyone so cruel (and tasteless) in the entire world.

By the way, probably going to be a while before I can finish that interview. I would really, truly love to give you some audio or video of me playing, but I have no amp at present. I have the access to a studio (although a voice recording studio - not quite the same) but just haven’t gotten the pep to hook it all up and make it work through the equipment here. I will, but I don’t know when. Or maybe I’ll actually break down and buy a damn amp and a cord and… Yup. Sometime.

Comment on Non-Guitar Dosage: One Apartment and Six Drummers by emon

emon — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:59:08 +0000

Kudos to being same person!

Comment on Non-Guitar Dosage: One Apartment and Six Drummers by Chris

Chris — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:15:19 +0000

I think we are the same person, Emon. I have a post with this coming up on New Years day!

One of my favorites.

-CD

Chriss last blog post..An Interview with Charles Mokotoff

Comment on If Inanimate Objects Can Sync Themselves… by Chris

Chris — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:13:57 +0000

My routine is to not have a routine! Well, sort of. During the school year, I have a time only routine. I shoot for at least 3 hours/day, more if I have time that day. Out of school it’s…whatever. I have a few goals to accomplish over this winter break, which I’m well on my way to to doing. But it’s break, and I play guitar all the damn time, so I tend to ease back a bit. I almost always mysteriously get better after not playing much during breaks. It’s weird.

Other than that, I spend about 30 minutes on “technique” which includes a basic RH warm up and some arpeggio patterns. Sometimes slurs for the LH, sometimes not. I usually break my practice into hour sessions, as I can’t stand sitting there for more than that. I usually chunk that hour up into half hours and work on a specific piece or section during each half hour. As I get better at a given piece I can practice more of it in a half hour, while I’m just starting those thirty minutes may be spent on a few measures.

I played in band from a young age (clarinet and later upright bass), so I think a lot of my sense of time comes from that. I did have a problem with speeding up when I was first starting classical, but it was a nervousness issue. I wasn’t trying to suggest that people not play with a metronome, but I think guitarists put too much emphasis on playing with one. Everyone should be able to play with a metronome without a problem, but there’s a time for using one and a time for not. Knowing when to put down that metronome is a valuable skill.

-CD

Chriss last blog post..An Interview with Charles Mokotoff

Comment on If Inanimate Objects Can Sync Themselves… by emon

emon — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 06:29:45 +0000

Chris: I agree with you about playing with others, but you’ll see the problem arises when you’re in the studio or playing with an orchestra. But maybe I’m getting ahead of myself there.

In the beginning stages of learning, it helps to practice the basics - scales, chords - with a metronome, just to keep the speeding up in check. I had that problem and had a bit of a problem keeping in sync with the band. Went to basics and practiced scales and stuff staying on 60 bpm.

Would love to know what your routine is like when practice.

Kaitlin: Thanks for the tip. Will check it out.

Comment on If Inanimate Objects Can Sync Themselves… by Chris

Chris — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:47:17 +0000

I’m going to have to play the devils advocate here. I hate metronomes, and they didn’t really make me any better, faster or cleaner when I was just starting. I was a metronome junkie during undergrad, but I don’t think that’s where my sense of time came from. I do think metronomes are good for creating tense guitarists, and tense guitarists don’t last long..

Want to be an awesome musician for the rest of your life? Start playing with people from day one. I fell into playing with a band at church every week. Best experience of my life. Can you imagine having a weekly gig four months after starting guitar? I was awful, but I got better really quick.

Find people. Play with them. I was lucky enough to have a “partner in crime.” A friend was a drummer, same guy who played at church every week, and we jammed together a lot–A LOT. Just experimenting, and messing around; writing music and playing our favorite songs.

Playing with someone, anyone, is the best way to learn how to sync with other people. I recently jammed with my friend again; we haven’t played together for a few years. But that chemistry we’d had before came right back. It was a lot of fun.

-CD

Chriss last blog post..Monday Motivation: New Year Edition

Comment on If Inanimate Objects Can Sync Themselves… by Kaitlin

Kaitlin — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:12:03 +0000

There’s another cool TED video about spontaneous syncing. It’s about lottery tickets and fortune cookies.

Kaitlins last blog post..Collages

Comment on Europa by Weeping with Ukulele | guitarkadia

Weeping with Ukulele | guitarkadia — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 05:09:02 +0000

[...] I’ll never forget the part in Woody Allen’s Purple Rose of Cairo where Mia Farrow accompanies Jeff Daniels with a Ukulele in a store. It made Farrow very cool to me. Some people have taken the Ukulele and shed a new light on it. Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is a good example. So is Brittni Paiva. [...]

Comment on Weeping with Ukulele by emon

emon — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:26:57 +0000

Thankyou, Al! Would you be willing to share your arrangement with us once it’s done? Would love to hear it.

Comment on Weeping with Ukulele by Al

Al — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:44:01 +0000

Great analogy between choosing an instrument and choosing a partner. I think in both cases people should play the field before settling down with ‘the one’.

I think making a less mainstream choice of instrument makes it easier to be yourself since there’s more room for innovation.

Just to connect your last two posts, I’ve been arranging Davy Graham’s Anji for ukulele - not an easy job!

Als last blog post..Buy a Ukulele: What’s Best for a Beginner?

Comment on Good Cooks Eat A-Lot by Weeping with Ukulele | guitarkadia

Weeping with Ukulele | guitarkadia — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 14:55:20 +0000

[...] It made Farrow very cool to me. Some people have taken the Ukulele and shed a new light on it. Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain is a good example. So is Brittni [...]

Comment on Davy Graham: From DADGAD to Led Zepp by emon

emon — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 14:28:25 +0000

Thanks, Chris. It used to bother me too. But that was because I was less exposed to music other than the ones I owned. With the Internet and being able to watch and listen to all the other music around I am surprised there aren’t more similarities in the music,esp in Rock and Pop. Makes sense?

I didn’t know of Amazing Kat. Now that I do, I know what to avoid.

Comment on Davy Graham: From DADGAD to Led Zepp by Chris

Chris — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 21:26:39 +0000

Nice one, Emon. It’s really interesting to trace influences.

Kind of depressing though when you realize some of your favorites ripped things off. But good composers have been doing that for hundreds of years now!

“good artists borrow, great artists steal.”

Sometimes it doesn’t work out to well, though:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxC5P5O2ZrI

-CD

Chriss last blog post..Happy Holidays!