Hanging around on guitar forums i often see discussions about the price of acoustic guitars. Topics such as “best guitar for $xx?”, or “Are $5K guitars really worth it?”, or “Who needs such an expensive guitar?”.
I want to ramble a bit about what you get at different price points, and show how all guitars are not necessarily created equal.
The pre World War II Martins are sometimes called the Golden Age of Lutherie. Guitars from that era can command six figure prices. I don’t know if it was the craftsmanship going on in the Martin factory, plus the availability of Brazillian Rosewood and Red Spruce at the time. I have never played any specific guitars from this era, but tons of players say they sound outstanding.
There are many, myself included, that say the present is the second Golden Age of Lutherie. They are now more independent and small shop guitar builders than ever before. When I open Acoustic Guitar magazine i see ads for a ton of builders i have never heard of. Thanks to the internet and the ease of information exchange guidance for how to build an acoustic guitar is readily available online, at certain schools, and in a myriad of books. And there are a ton of talented builders out there.
Acoustic guitars are generally manufactured three main ways.
Factories are the big time manufactures. Folks like Martin, Gibson, Taylor, Larrivee, as well as locations over in Asia. Guitars in factories are built assembly line style. Every top, back, side, brace, neck, and other part of a particular model guitar is milled to the same dimensions and thickness. They have found dimensions that work for a particular model, and each guitar that comes off the line for that model is crafted to those dimensions. These places churn out hundreds of guitars a day, so there is no time to evaluate each piece of wood for density, stiffness, or tap tone, and then decide if its better suited to type of guitar or another. For example, two guitar tops that look identical can differ in density and stiffness. A stiffer top might be better suited for a larger guitar that is going to be strummed hard, and a less stiff top will be better suited for a smaller guitar played by a sensitive fingerpicker. But in this type of production model there is no time for this. So with factory guitars some of them will be exceptional, some of them will be not so good, and most of them will be right in the middle. There is nothing wrong with that, I have played some great Martins, Taylors, Gibsons, and Larrivee’s. This style of large production makes it possible to get into a well made acoustic guitar for a much lower price point than a small shop or one man builder. Its all economics.
The next step would be a small shop. This can be anywhere from 5 to 30 employees, so obviously a much smaller scale than the factories mentioned above. Examples include makers like Collings, Santa Cruz, and until his recent downsizing, Goodall Guitars. The smaller scale here means more individual pieces of wood can be evaluated. Heavier tops will be thinned so they respond well for the desired instrument. Lighter tops might be set aside for a small parlor guitar. Bracewood will be organized by weight and density. Generally each worker in a small shop will have a bench, with different folks doing different parts of the process. The head of the shop will perhaps float between each station, checking work and making sure things are done correctly. Guitars from small shops are much more consistent, and due to economies of scale, generally cost more as well.
The final step is a one man shop, or perhaps someone working with one assistant. At this level its possible to scrutinize each piece of wood, and spend alot of time making sure the right wood goes into the right instrument. For example when i had my guitar built, i went to the makers shop, played for him, and we spent some time, going through his wood stash and finding a responsive top for my lighter touch. Its also easier to customize things at this stage, such as a custom neck profile, scale length, or string spacing. Accordingly guitars built by a single reputable luthier are usually more expensive than a small shop, due to the time and labor that go into them.
So those are the three main scales at which acoustic guitars are built. Factories have made guitars good beginner guitars available for as little as a few hundred dollars. For $1200 or so from a factory you can get good instrument, made with all solid wood, and ebony fingerboard and bridge, and something that will last you a lifetime. Get up into $2500 and you are looking at small shop guitars. To get a guitar from a single luthier you are looking at at least $3000, up to as much as you want to spend.
So that bring me to my next topic. Folks often say, why do you need a $3000 dollar guitar, my $600 guitar sounds fine, and i love it. First off, that statement is relative to the player and the sound they want. When i was first starting out i did not know the difference between a $600 guitar and a $6000 guitar. Being new to the instrument my sensitivity to tone, playability, volume, sustain, etc were not developed. Over the years as i have become a better player and experienced more guitars i have a better idea for the sound i like and what works for me. In the end i had to go to a solo luthier to get that sound, and felt fortunate to be able to be in the position to do so. I think you should keep trying guitars till you get the sound you want, whether its in a $1500 guitar or a $5000 guitar. I truly feel that small shop or guitars built by one person offer a remarkable difference from a mass produced guitar. The attention to detail with the wood and voicing just takes things to that next level, to me. I suppose its like anything else. My computer speakers sound fine for music to me, but an audiophile would scoff at my setup, saying i am missing out so much of the music. My Toyota Matrix gets me around fine, and i don’t feel i need anything else. Other folks are going to want the luxury of a high end BMW. Its all about what you like, and want to spend your money on.
Does that mean a beginner should go i and spend a $1000 on their first instrument? Probably not, i say pick up a decent beginner instrument and if you think are you are going stick with it get something better a year down the line. But if you have the expendable income then go for it.
I am just lucky i don’t play violin, cello, or piano. Those guys have to take out a mortgage for a professional level instrument.
We have some great fingerpicking lessons here at Rhythmstrummer.com, most notably the two ones in our free guitar lessons section. I often see or talk to folks who want to learn to fingerpick the guitar, but do not really know where to start.
I think first it helps to identify what sort of music you want to play, though if you don’t know yet that is fine. There are kind of two schools of thought when it comes to picking hand position. The first are those play alot of alternating bass, and perhaps wear a thumbpick at times. Alternating bass style sounds best if you slightly mute the bass strings with the heel of your hand, which means dropping your wrist, which in turn puts your fingers at a different angle to the strings. I personally can’t play this way, it feels awkward picking the strings with my fingers and that i have no power. But i don’t play much alternating bass music, so don’t take my word for it. People like Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, and Tommy Emmanuel certainly don’t sound awkward.
The other position is a more classical position, with the wrist raised a bit, which to me gives the fingers power to pluck the strings. The finger plucks the string at an angle, not parallel, pivoting from the big knuckle, and drawing the tip of the finger back towards the palm. Be sure to keep enough tension in your finger joints so they don’t extend to much, which would cause you to brush the next adjacent string on your way back. I still have trouble with this. Try not to bounce off the string or bring the finger up after you pluck it, always follow through to the base of the palm. This may take some work.
So i just wanted to distinguish between those two schools of playing. Neither one is right or wrong, it just depends what kind of music you want to play. Some folks see musicians with a thumbpick and just think thats the only way to play, others think you have to study classical guitar. While i always feel some basic classical guitar training is good, both from a technique standpoint plus the advantage of learning to read music, it may not make sense if someone wants to learn to play alternating bass or country blues.
Moving onto simple songs. Besides the alternating bass lessons presented in the beginning of this post, i like House of the Rising Sun as a simple fingerpicking guitar song. It gets you in the mindset of assigning a certain finger to each string. We have a free lesson here which outlines the chords. For fingerpicking you are going to want to assign your index finger to the 3rd string, your middle finger to the 2nd string, and your ring finger to the 1st string. The main fingerpicking pattern for House of the Rising Sun involves what is called an appregio for the right hand. Lets take the first chord, A minor. You thumb is going to pluck the open 5th string, and then you will pluck the 3rd, 2nd, and 1st strings consecutively with the assigned fingers. The pattern is the same for all the other chords, except that the string the thumb plucks is going to change depending on the chord. The main rule of thumb, (pardon the pun), is that the string is the lowest note of the chord. So for the D chord its the open 4th string, for the F chord its the fretted 6th string, etc.
If folks are thinking about learning to take up fingerpicking guitar i hope that gives you some good basic information. And check out our free lessons for some easy guitar songs.
In this blog post i wanted to talk about some simple software for the musician wanting to do some home recording. I am going to assume you want to use your computer for recording, and have a simple interface box to get audio into your computer. There are usually two parts to recording with a computer, the software, often called a DAW, or Digital Audio Workstation, and the interface, which is usually USB or Firewire. The interface is what you connect your mic up to, and it converts the recorded signal into digital to be stored on the computer. Some common interfaces include the Digidesign Mbox, Motu Ultralite, Apogee Duet, or the Presonus Firebox. There are a ton of interface options out there, whether you are looking for two inputs or ten. But i digress, as today i wanted to look at software.
One of the first things to consider when choosing DAW software is will it run on your chosen operating system. Some options are Mac or Windows only, or example Logic Pro only runs on a Mac, and Sonar only runs on Windows. So get that part out of the way, make sure what you are looking at is compatible with your computer.
Secondly you want to make sure that the DAW software you are using is not restricted to using a certain proprietary interface. To my knowledge the only place you need to worry about this is Digidesign’s Pro Tools, it will only run with Digidesign interfaces or M-Audio interfaces which are Pro Tools M-Powered compatible. Not necessarily a bad thing, as Pro Tools is fine software and makes good interfaces. But some folks don’t like to be restricted in what they can use, so if that is you, think twice about making a purchase. Otherwise if you are looking at Mac software make sure it and the interface support Core Audio Drivers, which is the universal Mac audio driver. For Windows the equivalent is ASIO/WDM. So as long as your software and audio interface are compatible with those standards you should be good.
So what that out of the way lets look at some actual software. I will try to list a few different packages for both Mac and PC that i feel cover different areas along the price spectrum.
At the high end of the price point we have Logic for Mac. Logic was previously owned by Avid and was purchased by Apple around 2007. They then released Logic 8, which uses a similar visual footprint as Garage Band, and other Apple programs. The current version is Logic 9 For about $500 street price it includes 10 gigs of royalty free loops, and 16 gigs of sound effects. This is truly professional level, and the various samples and loops i have heard sound astounding. The basics are not overly difficult, but expect to put in some serious time to use this software to its full potential.
On the PC side we have Sonar Producer Edition for about the same price. It includes a ton of virtual instruments. So you can use your computer or a USB keyboard and record strings, acoustic guitars, and anything else your heart desires. This is very handy if you want to see how that string quartet or electric guitar sounds alongside your composition, but don’t have an electric guitar or can’t bring in string players. One thing that seems cool about Sonar is that you can rip, burn, and manage your cds and audio files from within the software. It apparently will convert to and from almost any format. Not that separate software won’t do this, but i can see it being one less step if you just recorded something, and want to quickly convert it to mp3 to email to someone.
Other top end contenders include Cubase for both PC and Mac, Digital Performer for Mac, Ableton Live for PC and Mac, as well as Pro Tools, which also runs on both operating systems. Ableton Live is interesting, being marketed mostly at electronic musicians and those working with loops. It offers a pretty unique recording mode that allows you to record while triggering different loops and sections, allowing for a very improvisatory and free flowing approach to making music. I have not used it extensively, but the demo is worth checking out if you are into that.
Pro Tools is probably still the most widely used recording software, being at the forefront of many large recording studios. It offers top notch effects, virtual instruments, and improved midi editing. Like i mentioned above Pro Tools only works with Digidesigns audio interfaces, but that is fine for some folks. If you plan to record at home but then take the session to a professional studio that uses Pro Tools, its as easy as saving the session to a portable hard drive and bringing it over. Music sessions recorded on the consumer LE based version of Pro Tools are perfectly compatible with the more expensive version found is larger studios.
So the above options are great, but what if you don’t feel like spending $500?
One of the most popular recommendations is Audacity. It is free, and runs on both PC and Mac. You can record up to 16 mono channels at once, slow down audio and keep it at pitch, and apply a handful of effects. So while its not as full featured as some other choices, free is good. Plus if you decide you want to delve more into home recording you can always purchase a different software package later on.
While not quite free the company Propeller Head recently released a software package aptly titled Record. Its aimed a musicians, not recording engineers, and features an intuitive, streamlined work space. Its priced at $250, and runs on both Mac and PC. It features a bundle of effects and synths as well, and can record up 64 tracks per project, which should be plenty for the home musician. One thing is it does not allow the integration of third party effects, so that is something to keep in mind if you want to buy an expensive reverb plug in later on.
One of my favorite affordable priced recording software packages is Reaper. It runs on Windows and the Mac version is still in Beta, though i have used its basic features fine with no problems. Reaper emphasizes usability, and does not include any loops or any extra fluff in its install package. At 4 megs, the install file is quite small, and can be run off a thumb drive for the ultimate in portability. Reaper includes a multitude of good effects, and most importantly allows you to try the full version for thirty days. After that thirty days they ask that you buy a license, which for the individual at home is a very reasonable $60. I highly recommend folks check it out if they are looking for a recording software option but are not sure where to start. It also features a very good online instruction manual.
So there are a few options for home recording software. Many of these companies have full featured or partially usable demos, so i always recommend trying those before dropping a load of cash on the full version. I think with the higher priced stuff its hard to go wrong, its more a matter of what works with your computer and hardware, and which software package’s workflow you like best.
Flying with your guitar is always a risky proposition. Before September 11th I was always able to carry my guitar on board in either a gig bag or a regular hardshell case. Then after the airlines got stricter i started reading on internet forums about more traveling musicians having to check their guitars as luggage. This conjures up all sorts of mental images like smashed or stolen guitars, and cases torn apart by the baggage conveyor belts. While these things do happen, i think flying with your guitar is definitely possible if you prepare and take the proper precautions.
For starters I always assume I will check my guitar as luggage. I know some folks that these days still manage to carry it aboard the plane, but i would hate to have to end up checking my guitar and all its in is a regular hardshell case. All it takes is one gate attendant who feels like enforcing the rules. In the past I have heard of people who “gate check” their guitars, which means you carry it through security, then hand it to a baggage handler right before you get on the plane, and receive it right when you step off the plane. While this sounds like a great idea, some of the X-Ray security chutes are not wide enough accommodate a guitar case, which means they will make you go back and check it. In addition, if you do make it through security and they gate check the guitar, it is still subject to be smashed in the cargo hold by other luggage sliding around. So I don’t even consider the option of trying to carry it on, and it removes a lot of mental stress of trying to get on the plane.
So that narrows down our options to having to check the guitar as luggage. Lets first talk about how to prepare the guitar itself, then what sort of case to put it .
There are two main types of damage that can occur to a guitar during the luggage handling process. The first is crushing weight from other baggage, which a good case should protect against; the second is whiplash damage to the neck/headstock area. This happens when a guitar case falls over, but the guitar inside still has a little bit of wiggle room around the neck area. The case hits the ground, and the guitar, having room to move and falling slower than the case, slams into the padded area where the neck rests. The result of this is a broken or cracked headstock. But you can protect against this. First loosen all your guitar strings so they are nice and slack. Next you want to make sure the neck of the guitar has absolutely no room to move vertically once the case is shut. This is accomplished by stuffing sheets of wadded newspaper in the space between the underside of the headstock and the bottom of the case. The guitar neck should still rest on the padded part of the case. Then you stuff more newspaper on top of the headstock/neck joint area. When you close the case you should have to smash the newspaper to get it shut, and now the headstock is safely suspended with no room to move. So if the case is standing on its end and gets knocked over, the neck should not be able to whip lash back and forth.
That brings us to the case itself. I feel by far the easiest way to check your guitar is in a specially designed flight case like a Calton, Accord, or Karura. They are light, reasonably sized, and bomb proof. But they are also expensive; an entry level Calton will cost you $700. Some people may not be able to or want to spend that much. Fortunately there are cheaper solutions. One that has worked well for me is the Case Extreme. It is basically a case for your case, and made out of thick, heavy plastic. Your case sits inside it, and the Case Extreme protects it from being crushed and smashed. I can stand on top of it and walk around with no visible deformation to the Case Extreme. At $235 it is much cheaper than a regular flight case. I have one and it has served me well over a number of flights. It is pretty big though, and may not fit in some car trunks, which is the one downside. So if someone is picking you up from the airport make sure they have a decent size car, or be prepared to put it in the back seat. If using one of these I would still protect my guitar’s headstock as mentioned above.
So there you have it, some good solutions to take your guitar with you on your next relaxing vacation. Take the proper precautions, pack your guitar securely, and it should be fine.
I have been having some thoughts on guitar practicing routines, and how to the get most out of one. I remember once reading something that fingerpicking guitarist Pat Donahue said, something to effect of, “Once you learn to enjoy the daily mundane aspects of practicing its only a matter of time before you get good.” I think this is very true. If you want to reach a certain level of musicianship you have to put in the hard, lonely work that is not necessarily fun. I would rather rip through some easy guitar songs and my cool licks, than sit and practice right hand technique and tone production. But in reality i will get more out of working on my technique and tone than playing through songs and riffs that i already know and can play well. A certain amount of practice needs to be a bit challenging and difficult enough so you work on it and reach that next level of playing ability. That might be learning a new chord or two each practice session, working up some variations for bluegrass fiddle tune, or learning to strum and sing that new song.
I do think that music making should be fun, sitting there and playing your guitar should not feel difficult and laborious. But i feel that some of the fun and satisfaction comes from a job well done, and the feeling that you worked through a new aspect of technique or a new piece till you got it right.
I definitely make time in my music practice for purely fun stuff, like playing a bunch of tunes i know well. But lately i have been making sure that i put in adequate time improving my right hand technique, both fingerstyle and with a flatpick. I am hoping it will pay off later on down the line.
I wanted to post about something a little different today, insurance policies for guitars, and instruments in general. An insurance policy for your instrument is probably not the first thing on the mind of young teenager just starting out, but there are probably some of us who are older adults, have professional jobs, and can afford to buy a nice instrument right from the start. I would have to have my nice new D-28 stolen, stepped on, smashed, or other wise damaged. For the price of a major repair you can probably insure your instrument, and even add multiple instruments to that same policy. Lets take a look.
When i was first looking at instrument insurance i went to my car/renters insurance agent. If you own a home it may be home owners insurance. Some folks had told me about getting their instruments tacked onto their renters or home owners insurance policy, and it was quick and easy. After talking to my agent it seemed ok, but there were a few things that bugged me. First was that such a policy was did not apply to professional musicians. I am not a pro, but i have a website, promote my playing, and am working on a cd. If something happened in the insurance company’s eyes that might be enough to label me a professional and deny my claim, so i did not want to take that risk. Second was determining the value of my instrument, which they did by comparing to other equivalent instruments on the market. Well i own a handmade guitar, the builder only makes a handful a year, and they seem to maintain their value. So we can’t just open a Musicians Friend catalog and figure out the price of my instrument, and how are they going to figure in depreciation if it gets damaged later on down the road? If i have to replace my guitar it may cost me the same or more. It may work for some people, but i did not want to just tack my instruments onto my renters insurance.
After looking around and asking fellow musicians i called up Heritage Insurance. I have no afilliation with them, and dont get any sort of kickback from this post. After a phone call with the rep i faxed in my list of instruments which included my guitar, fiddle, and flute. A few days later i got a call saying i was covered. And i had not even paid my premium yet, he said i would get a bill soon, but that i was covered starting now. Hows that for service. So for $250 a year i can insure as many instruments as i want for up to $10,000, i believe. I have to list the value of my instruments, and that is their replacement value if they are damaged beyond repair. My instruments are covered for almost anything, except i think acts of God or terrorism. Also if they are stolen out of the car i have to show signs of forced entry, so dont leave the car unlocked.
If you have a certain level of musical instrument to me $250 is not much to pay for peace of mind and knowing you can get your instrument fixed or replaced if its damaged. I fly with my guitar often, and would not do so without insurance.
If you own some expensive instruments something like this might be worth it.
Pickup technology for acoustic guitar has come along way in the past twenty years. Previously a performer just stuck a mic in front of his guitar and hoped for the best. Now you can take a recording of your actual guitar, load that into a digital effects system, and create an amplified tone based on that acoustic recording. And that is just one of the many options.
The main problem with amplifying acoustic guitar is how do we reproduce the tone created by resonance inside the guitar body and the sound coming out of the soundhole. You could stick a little mic inside the guitar, and that would sound great for a small venue, and quiet, intimate playing. But turn up the volume and start to play harder, and that small mic is going to prone to massive amounts of feedback. How you plan to amplify your acoustic guitar is going to be based on your playing style, and what kind of shows you plan on playing. Lets look at some of the options.
Probably one of the widely used methods is the piezo pickup. It is usually a thin strip of tape that turns the vibrations of the guitar’s into an electric signal. Some models are mounted under the bridge, while more temporary systems can be attached to the outside of the guitar top with an adhesive. These pickups have the advantage of being highly feedback resistant, so they usually function well at higher volumes. The disadvantage is that they can sound artificial without some EQ. Musicians describe them as having a “quack†type of sound. So if you have a pickup like this it may take some manipulation with an equalizer before you an ideal amplified sound. Some setups use multiple piezo pickups mounted at various places on the underside of the top. These are then blended together into one signal to give an ideal representation of the guitar’s sound. The Fishman Matrix, K & K Pure Western, and McIntyre Feather are examples of piezo pickups. Some piezo pickups may require an additional preamp to boost the signal before going to a guitar amp or mixer, so keep that in mind when shopping around.
Soundhole pickups are another popular choice. They mount in the guitar’s sound hole, though they are easy to take out. They are resistant to feedback, and sound good at high volumes. Like piezos, the problem is that on their own they often sound overly artificial on their own. Soundhole pickups take the vibrations of the guitar’s strings and turn it into an electronic signal, so there is no real information coming from the wood and the guitar body. If you think about it, that is what makes an acoustic guitar different from an electric. Because of that soundhole pickups are often combined with a small internal mic to form a blended system, which is what we will look at next. Examples of soundhole pickups include the Fishman Rare Earth and the LR Baggs M1.
Blended systems combine two or more types of pick ups to form an amplified sound. Common choices are combining a piezo soundboard transducer or a magnetic soundhole pickup with a small internal mic. Such a mic is mounted on a gooseneck and sits right inside the soundhole, where it can be positioned for ideal tone. In a system like this the piezo or magnetic up provide much of the amplified signal, and then the microphone signal is blended in to add some natural air to the tone. Systems like this can often sound great, and are good compromise between a natural acoustic sound and something that will hold up under aggressive playing and volume.
Digital modeling is the latest advancement in pickup technology. With digital modeling an actual recording of your guitar is loaded into a small unit that sits outside the guitar, usually by the performer’s feet. Using some sort of algorithm that sound is blended with the signal from the guitar’s pickup to form an accurate representation of your acoustic sound. While I have never tried one of these systems in person I have heard amazing things about them. Manufacturers will let you send in a recording of your own guitar to be loaded into the unit. In addition there are commercially available recordings of many popular guitar models. It is pretty cool technology.
I think any of the options above can sound good, though some may require a bit more EQ than others to get the desired amplified sound. Though some people don’t like a piezo by itself i had one in my first guitar and it sounded fine for my light fingerpicking style. People who do a bit more hard strumming may like a soundhole pickup or one of the blended systems better. I think its good to go out and find a knowledgeable acoustic guitar store that stocks instruments with a variety of pickups and try them all through an amp. Short of installing every pickup in your own instrument it can be hard to know for sure, so you may have to make your decision based on guitars you can try, and reviews from other folks.
Not to long ago i picked up a Zoom H4. This thing is great. If you are looking for a simple way to record acoustic guitar and vocals this is a very good option. I wish something like this had been around when i first started playing guitar. Once i reached the point where i could play a few easy guitar songs, i was wanting to record them, if for no other reason than to just listen myself.
Lets take a look at the Zoom H4. It is a unit about the size of a TV remote control, though a bit thicker. On one end there are two microphone capsules permanently affixed to the unit, mounted in an X-Y stereo pattern. On the other end are combo XLR/1/4″ inputs. This means you can either plug in an external microphone, or something like an electric guitar with a 1/4″ cable. The H4 only takes two inputs at once, so you can’t use the onboard mics and inputs at the same time. It records to a SD memory card that inserts in a slot under the mics. This is convenient because it is very easy to transfer your recorded files to a computer for editing or additional processing
The controls on the H4 are on the top of the unit. They consist of a small LCD screen and a multi function button. I have heard folks complain about the size of the screen, that it is to small, but personally i have not had a problem. If you like a big easy to read display definitely try to check out a unit in the store before you buy.
The greatest advantage of something like the Zoom H4 is its simplicity. Turn it on, point the mics at the guitar, hit record, and play. If you get a take you like plug it into your computer via USB, grab the file, and send it to friends. It works with both PC and Mac. You can also edit tracks directly on the H4, do multitracking, and add effects. Thats pretty amazing for something that fits into the palm of your hand.
The H4 basically records in two modes, stereo and multi track. In stereo it records with either the built mics or external ones to mp3 or wave format. In multi track mode you can record in stereo or mono, and overdub up to four separate tracks in mono mode I tried this out, recording two guitar parts and then a flute. It worked out pretty well, and only took a few minutes of consulting the instruction manual. In this way it would be easy to record a guitar part, then listen to it through the headphones while overdubbing a vocal part.
As far as quality the H4 sounds pretty good. The mics are sensitive, and have a low, medium, and high gain setting. No its not going to sound like you are in a professional studio, but that’s not what this is aimed at. Its great for making simple recordings at home, capturing some audio out in the field, or making a simple cd of songs for family and bandmates.
At about $250 i think the Zoom H4 is a great deal. Its amazing how far technology has come in the past few years, and that you can now basically have a mulitrack recorder that fits in your pocket. If you are thinking about an effective recording device that does not break the bank definitely check this one out.
Hope folks are doing well. I wanted to take this blog post to talk about a cool technique, Clawhammer Guitar. Most of our lessons are oriented towards strumming easy guitar songs, and getting beginners started on various techniques. However, one of our teachers, Steve, is a top exponent of the clawhammer guitar style.
Clawhammer guitar is quite similar to clawhammer banjo. Strings are sounded by a downward stroke of the hand, using the back of the index or middle finger nail to strike the string. This motion comes from the hand and forearm as a unit, rather than flicking the finger out and down.
The unique thing about clawhammer is the role of the thumb. Rather than sounding on the downbeat, as in travis picking and other folk guitar styles, the thumb sounds on the AND of two. So the basic clawhammer rhythm can be phrased as bum diddy, bum diddy. Or One, Two And, One, Two And. The hand comes down and the index or middle finger strikes the string on beat One. On beat Two you bring the hand down again for either a rhythmic brush or to strike another melody note. In this motion the thumb also plants on the desired string. Then on the And of two you press the thumb down against that string, which propels the whole hand/forearm unit upward in preparation for another stroke, and also sounds the string the thumb was planted on. Its much easier understood by watching, so check out the embedded videos.
Clawhammer guitar is fun because once you get the basic pattern down its effortless. Your right hand does largely the same thing every time, you put your left hand where it needs to be, and everything just grooves along. The basic pattern will take some practice, so its advisable to make it second nature before moving on to any complicated pieces.
Clawhammer can be used to play various types of fiddle tunes, as well as song accompaniment, as Molly Tuttle shows below. If you are looking for something new to add to your own songwriting, this might be it, so i encourage you to check the technique out. Its a load of fun.
I wanted to talk about an aspect of guitar playing that may be a big deal to some, not so much to others. And that is playing guitar standing up. I think for electric guitar players its less of an issue, but i know alot of us acoustic players tend to play sitting down. However, if you ever plan to perform i would say spend some of your practice time playing standing up. There are a few things that are a bit different and will take some getting used to.
For starters you cant really hunch over the guitar and look at your fretting fingers as you are playing. I think this is probably better for ones posture, but it also forces you play more by feel than by sight. You can kind of look down at the top of the neck and reference your finger position from the fret markers on the side. So that takes some getting used to, and playing your usual tunes will be different at first, especially if they involve any hot solos.
I find it easiest to play standing up if my guitar is up high, pretty much where it would against my chest if i was playing sitting down. This may look a bit odd compared to alot of rockers who bang out songs with their guitar slung low, but its what works for me. Experiment and see what works for you.
Personally i like it when performers stand up to play. I feel it lends more energy to a show. Coming mostly for an acoustic/traditional music background, alot of performers will sit down to play. This can work ok, especially if the stage is elevated enough. But for high energy music i enjoy it more if the performers are standing. But thats just me.
If you play acoustic guitar there are two main ways to attach a strap so you can play standing up. First off you will need a strap button installed on the butt of the guitar. Its recommended to a competent repair person do this, drilling the hole wrong can split the heel block on the inside of the guitar.
Next you will need affix the strap to the other of the guitar. Some musicians will do this by just tying the other end of the strap to the peghead. I feel this works ok, but i prefer to have a stap button installed on the heel of the neck.
This lets me have more control over the angle of my guitar in relation to my body. If you get a strap button installed be sure to get it on the treble side of the neck or the bottom of the heel. Again, have a qualified repair person do it, drilling out the hole wrong can split the heel of the neck, which is no good.
I think playing standing up is something worth experimenting with, even if you only do it some of the time. Plus its easier to jump off stage and start crowd surfing if you are standing.
