Tenor and Classical Guitars

[Down Up Dick]

Well, GVlog, thanks again for the info. I think I’ll continue on with it and see what happens. It’s too new to judge right now,

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, my CG Thigh Cushion is less than satisfactory. For one thing, it holds the guitar higher than I like, and I feel it should be somehow adjustable. It feels okay on my thigh, but getting up to get something is awkward to say the least. It seems to me that the foot pedal is much more useful. I think, though, that some kinda footstool would work better. I’m gonna work on that next.

BUT! . . . I’m beginnin’ to feel that maybe Classical Guitar is not My cup of tea. It’s seems very fussy and picky. I just wanna play music without being burdened by the playing position and the alternating fretting and the awkward (for me) lefthand positioning. One of the reasons I picked CG to learn, was the absence of, my nemesis, lots of chords, but I know that they’ll get me later, so I’d still have to face ‘em, I guess

I just dunno . . . I usually struggle ‘til I’m struggled out, then go on to something else. I’ve been lookin’ at Fingerstyle on and off too, and I find it maybe more interesting and much less fussy. Perhaps that’s the way to go.

Anyway, I guess it’s just Onward and Upward . . . It’s a new day today.

 

[clear]

The trouble with a cushion, as you've noticed, is that it isn't very adjustable. You pretty much have to try each one and find the one that fits you, i.e. probably should buy from somewhere with a good return policy.

Here's a video on guitar positioning:

It's not shown, but he was using an adjustable guitar support in the above video, which you can see here:

A guitar strap is also an option that's getting more popular. I use one and it holds the guitar in position without needing my hands:

Of course, many use the tried and true footstool. Here's my classmate using one (he's looking at the fretboard and not music; he's memorized the music):

To try a footstool, you just need a bunch of book. Pile them on the floor to the height that you like. Once you decide that you like the footstool positioning, them buy a footstool that can be adjusted to the height of your stacked books.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, I‘m working on a little Finger-style for a change from CG. Yesterday, I made some progress with the arpeggiated accompaniments. I’m studying the Travis Picking too and beginning to understand It better, but, as usual, I need some more speed. Chords, chords, chords . . . ahhh, me . . .

I’m usin’ the foot rest and didn’t have any back pain yesterday. I do like it better than the thigh cushion. The cushion would probably be okay if it was somehow adjustable.

 

[Rllink]

Well, my CG Thigh Cushion is less than satisfactory. For one thing, it holds the guitar higher than I like, and I feel it should be somehow adjustable. It feels okay on my thigh, but getting up to get something is awkward to say the least. It seems to me that the foot pedal is much more useful. I think, though, that some kinda footstool would work better. I’m gonna work on that next.

BUT! . . . I’m beginnin’ to feel that maybe Classical Guitar is not My cup of tea. It’s seems very fussy and picky. I just wanna play music without being burdened by the playing position and the alternating fretting and the awkward (for me) lefthand positioning. One of the reasons I picked CG to learn, was the absence of, my nemesis, lots of chords, but I know that they’ll get me later, so I’d still have to face ‘em, I guess

I just dunno . . . I usually struggle ‘til I’m struggled out, then go on to something else. I’ve been lookin’ at Fingerstyle on and off too, and I find it maybe more interesting and much less fussy. Perhaps that’s the way to go.

Anyway, I guess it’s just Onward and Upward . . . It’s a new day today.

Well there is a reason they call it a discipline and I'm just too old to be disciplined.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, I did all right with CG (Yeah, right!) yesterday and again today. Maybe some of it has gotten through the fog. I’ve been singin’ a lot lately too. No chords in singin’!

 

[Down Up Dick]

I recently bought The Classical Guitar for Dummies, and I’ve gotten quite a lot from it so far. Ha!! That means that I’m finding lots of wrong stuff that I taught myself before.

Anyhow, I’m liking it pretty well, though I can’t say I’m playing a great deal better — ahhh, well . . .

 

[Ms Bean]

Just in case folks are interested, I'll add another source of free educational material.
https://www.hochweber.ch/guitar.htm

The bulk of it is written for guitar (but you could play it on guitalele). Under the letter i) More there are two books for solo ukulele (easy and advanced).

I'm not sure when, but I'll try to work through some of the beginner material.
I've restrung my guitalele with Hannabach 890MT strings to allow guitar tuning. There is/are so much more information, tutorials, challenges available on YouTube etc to get started with guitar.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Yeah, Ms Bean, you’re right, and thanks for the info.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, my CG learning has been stalled for a long time while I relearn all the stuff I taught myself incorrectly In the past. My fretting is wrong, my picking was wrong, my seated position was wrong, and I can’t find the same string with a finger on each hand. Other than those things, I‘ve got it down pat! Oh yeah, my fretting hand seems to be over petite too. The C chord is a . . . well, ya know.

Every time I correct or relearn something, something else that’s incorrect crops up. I don’t really mind, if the correction is interesting or fun to do, but it would be nice to move ahead a few pages in the book.

I‘ll keep slogging on for a while, but I only have a few years left and only so much patience.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Amazing! I’ve been working on my fretting the “CG” way ‘til my left hand fingers look like claws, and my “CG“ pickin’ fingers constantly twitch i - m - i (and sometimes “a“ also. And now, my left leg sorta feels less uncomfortable floating in midair.

AND . . . now, all of a sudden, I’ve found that I seem to be improving! Can you believe it? I can even play the C major chord and some of the others too, without stretching my fingers to the breaking point, and I’m now often frettin’ and pickin’ on the same string — Great!

Anyway, I think I’m ready to go back to my books now. I hope no more old “lessons“ pop up.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Good session (pretty easy stuff though) last night. Anyway, I’m on my way again.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, I got a little tired of the one (or two) string exercises, so lately I’ve been playin’ tunes usin’ dots. It’s slow, but it’s more interesting then the exercises. I’ll go back to ‘em when my guilt pushes me to do it.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I’ve become a little tired of Classical Guitar. I don’t like it’s fussiness and rules. I do like Classical Music, but I’m really more into folk music on the guitar. I also don’t like the foot rest or the thigh rest or the guitar add-on thigh rest or the not-standing rule. I could just ignore all that stuff and play as I wish, but I usually try to do stuff by the rules until I no longer do.

Most of the stuff that I’ve been workin’ on for the past weeks will transfer to Fingerstyle which I’m also interested in. I’ve also been workin’ on a bit with folk music. So right now I’m gonna continue working on left hand position and playin’ tunes with standard music notation.

So my Classical Guitar studies are now on hiatus.

 

[bbkobabe]

I’ve become a little tired of Classical Guitar. I don’t like it’s fussiness and rules. I do like Classical Music, but I’m really more into folk music on the guitar. I also don’t like the foot rest or the thigh rest or the guitar add-on thigh rest or the not-standing rule. I could just ignore all that stuff and play as I wish, but I usually try to do stuff by the rules until I no longer do.

Most of the stuff that I’ve been workin’ on for the past weeks will transfer to Fingerstyle which I’m also interested in. I’ve also been workin’ on a bit with folk music. So right now I’m gonna continue working on left hand position and playin’ tunes with standard music notation.

So my Classical Guitar studies are now on hiatus.

'Figured you would come back around eventually... welcome home!

 

[Down Up Dick]

Well, all I wanna do is play stuff better than I do without all the frustration. I shoulda stuck with the winds I guess. I had a lot better time with them.

 

[clear]

Well, all I wanna do is play stuff better than I do without all the frustration. I shoulda stuck with the winds I guess. I had a lot better time with them.

Definitely play what you like playing. No need to force yourself to do things you don't like; it's a hobby after all!

However, there are no "rules" in guitar (and that includes classical guitar). In only rules are the ones in your head; release them and just enjoy the extra strings ... should you ever decide to go back to playing classical guitar. Also, classical guitar can do folk music nicely

 

[Down Up Dick]

Definitely play what you like playing. No need to force yourself to do things you don't like; it's a hobby after all!

However, there are no "rules" in guitar (and that includes classical guitar). In only rules are the ones in your head; release them and just enjoy the extra strings ... should you ever decide to go back to playing classical guitar. Also, classical guitar can do folk music nicely

I agree with your post. It was very Clear — Ha! However, I like to follow the rules, after all, that’s what they are there for. They are a big part of why I study this stuff. Sometimes I enjoy the learning more than the playing. More and more, people are just doing whatever feels good and pretending they are learning . . . but in their way.

Classical Guitar is a very structured way of playing. If one doesn’t want or isn’t able to play it that way and plays it differently, in my opinion, he/she is simply playing around with stuff on a Classical Guitar. Another case in point: The ukulele was, again in my opinion, once a simply tuned, mostly strummed instrument used to accompany singing and dancing, but, in the UU, it is much different with a lotta folks. This of course is perfectly okay. After all this is America the Land of the Free, and we can do whatever we wanna do, however we wanna do It — Yay!

So, that’s what I’ve done. Right now, Classical Guitar just ain’t my cup of tea. I’ll continue on playin’ my guitar, but I’ll be trying to learn (correctly) Fingerstyle now. Thanks for your post.

 

[Rllink]

I understand Dick in the case of classical guitar. It is a discipline. It is called that for a reason because the mastering of the discipline is as much a part of it as the music. That is the challenge of it.

Sure, you can play anything on a classical guitar but that doesn't make it less challenging classical guitar music. It is the same as people who say they are playing bluegrass on their ukulele. There is no ukulele in bluegrass. People can play bluegrass songs on ukulele but it isn't ever going to be bluegrass.

 

[Down Up Dick]

Right on. That’s the way I feel. If one plays a CG standing with a shoulder strap and finger picks, it just ain’t Classical Guitar.