Back to Square One

I spend the past couple of nights doing maintenance on my guitars and gear. After a decade of neglect, the POTS started to get really dirty. I picked up a set of DeoxIt from Radio Shack and that did the trick. A can of DeoxIt D40 would have been better. The Ibanze was setup for 10 guage strings and it has a metal bar above the nut that makes it impossible to get to the truss rod without removing the bar first. I'll trying replacing the 9 guage w/ 10 guage strings first and see if that fixes the problem. It'll be nice to have different guages on each guitar for a fresh feel.

I don't like the sound I been getting from my fingers now that I'm playing with minimal distortion. I'm going back to the basics to relearn all the chords to make sure my fingers are optimally places behind the fret. I'm changing my right hand technique to be softer as to not overpower the strings.

I guess I'll go learn some simple Christmas songs.

New Strumming Practice

I have a functional transcription of "I Fought the Law" until just before the sing along. Unfortunately, it's all in my head. I usually screw up the patterns when I try to put it on paper, so I won't. That's good enough for now and I'll concentrate on my strumming technique instead. I'm going to simplify the rhythm pattern for this song and slowly build it back up. Initially, I'll keep my right hand strumming at a 8th notes pace, up and down consistently. Even when no chords are being struck, my right hand will keep the same motion, but not touch the strings. Here are the steps.
1. Strum along with song. No chords and string muted.
2. When comfortable with above, strum with metronome. No chords and string muted.
3. Increase speed.
4. Same as 2, but with actual chords.
5. Increase speed.

Not sure yet how to scale this. Should I repeat this practice with 16th note pace, or learn to switch between 8th and 16th note pace? I'll probably learn to switch between 8th and 16th note pace, because when I get up to 32th notes, I'm not going to keep that pace for the whole song. That'll likely cause injuries.

The goal is to strum fluidIy and right on the beat. No idea how long this exercise will last. I'll probably do other stuff in between to keep from being bored.

Grinded the Axe and Found New Attack

I notice buzzing on the low E and A strings around the 3 to 7th fret. Holding down the strings at the 1st and 22rd fret show that the neck didn't have enough curvature. The truss rod needed to be loosen, so the strings can pull the head in more. I didn't know where to get the tool, so I called up a local shop to order one for my guitar along with a new tremolo bar. Then a funny thing happened last night, I found a hidden compartment in my guitar case. I total forgot about it and it had the case keys, wrench for the truss rod, and my tremolo bar. A quarter turn counter-clockwise and the buzz went away. In fact, I could probably lower the action now, but I would rather spend the time practicing since my time so limited. My wife wouldn't stop nagging me until I went to sleep last night at 12:30, and I've just gotten done with bar chords practice and haven't even play a song yet.

The basic lessons at guitar.about.com show how to hold a pick. I remember now that was how I held it years ago. But then I read all those articles about how different players hold their pick and I settle into using my fingers tips to hold the pick. This was how some old blues guy held it cause it allow him more freedom to vary the angle of attack and create tone with his fingers. Well, it apparently sucks for rhythm cause it slips easy and is hard to strum consistently. I guess that's why my old picks all had holes drilled into them or had special grips, and my distortion was turned up.

My rhythm sound much better with this grip, but it'll take a while to get used to. I've decided to finish "I fought the law" instead of finding a slower song.

I Fought the Groove and the Groove Won

I had a hard time with transitioning between the different sections of "I fought the law". Though every part was really simple, I couldn't get the chours to sound right. It's not my playing this time, but it takes my mind a little too long to retrieve the off beat rhythm patterns of the 3rd and 4th beats in the measure.

This morning in my car, I realized that I had to approach this song differently than say a Rush song. I don't know much about the Clash, but the rhythm guy may also be the vocals. I found that if I concentrate on the melody, the rhythm patterns comes naturally. I need to think less and just groove with the song. That's cool. It's different than how I approach songs before.

Finding my weak points

I put my Satriani transcription away, so I'm forced to not go any farther with Summer Song. To achieve my goal of jamming, I need to play good rhythm first.

I went and got my self a 2 CD set of the Clash from Costco. I decided to try "I fought the law". I went on Olga and peek at the chords, but not the transcription cause I want to work on ear training too. I used Audacity to remove the vocals and went about figuring out the rhythm section. I found the my strumming technique is very poor. I guess the heavy distortion has mask this part of my playing. I did pretty good with this song, but I need something slow to work out my righthand issues first.

I'll learn Jingle Bells tonight cause my daughter likes it and maybe I can get my son to sing along too. After that, I'll work on a very simplify version of Brown Eye Girl. I got this song from an online beginner class at guitar.about.com.

I also sign up for a group class next month. I won't find out if I get in until the end of the month. If not, I'll start up private lessons.

Coming along

It's 4PM and my kids are taking a nap. I don't dare play my guitar right now so I'm updating this blog instead.

I stop the sheet music reading practice. The book I used was full to really shitty songs that just drove me nuts. I'm able to run through the 12 bar blues with the E-A-B7, C-F-G7, and A-D-E7. I'm pretty comfortable with the pentatonic scale in 2 positions. This is far more theory than Muddy had when he started I'm sure, so I should be able to do something with this. I have no interest in pointlessly playing licks over these chords like the lessons suggest. Instead, I'll write a song. I'll dig out my bass guitar too and see what I can come up with.

I had a hard time to quit learning Satriana's summer song. I started to sound pretty good playing along with the 1st minutes of the song, but it's too aggressive of a song to learn this early. I went and got a CCR and Crash CD. They got some simple songs that sound really good. I'll get the chord progression from olga.net and see how far I can go with it. I'll try to stay away from the professional transcriptions for now. I need to train my ears.

I found a really cool open source(free) mixer program call Audacity. I'm able to easily record a drum/rhythm section, then practice licks over them. I also took an MP3 file(Summer Song) and slow it down. I'm going to import a song in WAV format and see if I can take out the guitar track. If not, I'll see if it's possible to filter out certain frequencies.

I thinking about taking a group lesson at a local guitar shop. A friend of mine took these classes back in high school and he really recommended it back then. I'm more interested in meeting other people who are starting out than the lessons themselves.

Early Progress

I'm progressing through the sight reading book, but am not nearly as far as I was years ago. I guess I'll have to get used to that for a while. I play along with the drum machine on most of the common timing songs, 4/4. I record the rhythm section first and then play the melody part over it. This trains me to be aware of the "band" besides just my own playing. I do this for half an hour or more every other night. I love having crappy drum beats instead of that damn metronome.

For the practice sessions in between, I been practicing Summer Song by Satriani. That's a really bad idea. I need to stop doing this and get started with the 12 bar blues. I'm falling in the trap I did years ago of learning to play something really cool, but not understand the song structure. Style wise, I don't get much out of it cause I'm not ready to incorporate something as complex as Satch into my style. I'm really going to concentrate on developing my own style this time around instead of being a monkey. I know the other way leads to quick results, but it ultimately cost me to lose interest in the instrument.

This time, it needs to be fun and not work. I'll be damn I'll sit for hours learning to sweep pick exotic scale progressions. I don't listen to that stuff anymore.

Update my Gear

To achieve the goals I set earlier, I need to get a drum machine. After some web research, I picked up a Digitech RP50 at Guitar Center for $60. I also got a new box of 9 guage strings and picks for another $40. I financed this by selling off the Fender M80 for $130. It was sad, but I had no room for it besides the shed in my back yard. The guy who brought it already has a simiar Fender chorus amp and wanted to get a stero setup.

I also wanted to record the drum and rhythm sections so I can play over it. It's 2005 now, and I don't want to mess around with tape anymore. A portable Zoom PS-04 Palmtop Studio cost $200 new or $125 on craigs list. That's a great price and I'm still considering the used one. It'll replace my RP50. For now, I record on my PC, but I can't easily mix in a 2nd track without paying for more software. Since I'm trying to improve my guitar playing and not produce quality sound tracks, I'm leaning toward the Zoom unit to replace the RP50.

The setup I'm using now is plugging my guitar into the RP50. The RP50 plugs into my Soundblaster. Sounds comes out a set of quality PC speakers with a subwoofer. It's easy to record a drum track with a rhythm section. I can replay that recording to lay down a 2nd guitar part, but I can't record that 2nd guitar w/o new software or lots of work. I can also play a song on my iTunes while learning a song.

Gear and Setup

This is my starting gear as of last week.
1. '91 PRS EG - light blue/w white pickup guard. It's got a H-S-H configuration with 5 position toggle switch. It has an alder body and neck with rosewood finger board. It's has a vibrato bridge, but I lost the vibrato bar years ago. I don't use it much anyways, and I can just pull on the bridge when needed. It's got a nice warm tone with the humbuckers and a decend bright tone with the middle Single, but some new electrons and shielding should smooth it out more for the Santana tone. This is my main guitar now. It's very versitile in terms of tone.

2. 1990s Ibenze. Not sure of the model since it's go the USA Custom on the head stock. It's got a H-S-H configuration. This has a fix bridge and a bit too much bass. I used to play 11 guage strings, but eventually switched to 9 to brighten the tone up a bit. This guitar was made for shredding, so the neck is really thin, and the rosewood fretboard very fast. There's easy access to all 24 frets. I got this guitar cause I got sick of my strings always going out of tune on my previous guitar with a Floyd Rose style bridge. Great for metal and shredding, but you'll need to be quick with the Crybaby to simulate the chainsaw sounds. I took the strings off this thing to clean it. Haven't gotten around to restringing it back yet, but will soon.

3. Fender Squire 15 amp. This is a great little amp and I love the dirty sounds I can get out of it. The clean sound is not very clean, but that's no biggie for me. This was my first amp and it's pack a lot of personality.

4. Fender M80 Chorus combo. It's really great clean sound. This amp is very responsive. Partner this with the Ibenze for the ultimate shredder setup. It's also a very loud amp, way too loud for my needs.

5. Effects include a late 80s RAT and some pink DOD Fuzz distortion pedal I havn't used in 15 years. I also have a Zoom 9002 for time effects, but I need to replace the power reguator and possible some capacitors. I don't want to spend $15 and the time to fix it since it doesn't have a drum machine like the newer models. I'll save that for a side project later.

Born Again Guitarist

I started playing about 16 years ago. Some high school friends and I started a metal band. Since only the other guitar player and I ever practice, we didn't get anywhere. I haven't progress for the past 12 years and haven't touch my guitar for the past 4 years. Based on my family situation and the scaling down of my side business, I figure I'll have time for regular jam session with other people within a year. So one goal is to get very comfortable with the basic 12 bar blues while playing with a drum machine.

I'm also trying to get my son to take up an instrument again so we can jam together. He broke his viola a couple of years ago, but played the recorder at school for the past few months. I thought he got pretty good, but the class is over now and he lost his recorded. He seems to likes wind instrument. I asked him several times to inquire at school about the music program. I could easier do this myself, but I want to get him involved, which I hope will motiviate him. In preparation for playing along with him, I need to learn to sight read and play at the same time. I started this already since he's already ahead of me.

So my two goals are
1. Get comfortable with the 12 bar blues and a drum machine
2. Learn sight reading while also playing the guitar