Newsletter Vol. 2 # 20 – January 19, 2003
Welcome to the latest issue of Guitar Noise News.
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In This Issue
- News and Announcements
- New Lessons and Articles
- Email of the Week
- Sunday Songwriters Sessions
- Reviews
- Thoughts and Feedback
News And Announcements
Greetings!
Welcome to Guitar Noise News!
We’re going to rush right into things, so hold on!
New Lessons And Articles
We’ve a mini-British Invasion this week with the return of Len Collins and the introduction of Steve Smith. Let’s see what’s gone online since we last chatted:
British Bass Amps – Oh The Majesty
by Steve Smith
Where does Dan Lasley find these great writers? Let me introduce you to Steve, who gives us to lowdown on British bass guitar amplifiers. From Trace Eliot to Marshall, Steve details the similarities and differences between the various amps and also gives you some help as to deciding which may be the right one for you.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MINE – CHAPTER 2
by Len Collins
The brain behind the Guitar Breakthrough tutorial software, Len Collins, describes his early teaching days. Plus, we get to meet Budgie the cat! A great read for those of you contemplating taking up teaching guitar as a profession!
MP3 File Update!!
I told you I’d be going through the old files! First up is Three Marlenas, from the “Easy Songs for Beginners” page. And yes, this is one of the first because it’s one of the easiest! You can now hear what the song is supposed to sound like.
Email Of The Week
This week, I’ve a correspondence between a reader and our own Laura Lasley…
I have just discovered the Guitar Noise web site recently, and have been pouring over all of the columns. I clicked on the tab marked the “Other Side” thinking that it must have something to do with being on the other side of the stage, like in the audience or something. Well, after reading your columns, I found out I was totally wrong about that. But having raised two daughters and now a grand-daughter, I always enjoy reading about the female perspective. In the back of my mind I keep thinking that someday I will fully understand how the female mind works. Example: Like how come shopping is so much fun?
Of course, my wife says the same thing to me.
My question to you is this. How should I go about teaching my grand-daughter to play the guitar, or should I even try at this time? She has had an inexpensive play guitar since she was four (she is six now). She has been playing with it steadily these past two years. The only problem with the guitar is that it will not stay in tune. So, this Christmas I purchased a Baby Taylor for her, so that she would at least have something that will stay in tune.
After working with her these past few weeks, I think she may still be a little young in order to handle the physical demands that the guitar places on your hands. But, boy does the girl have rhythm! She cannot push the strings down real well, but she can sure keep up with me when in comes to strumming. We go into my office and jam to all kinds of music.
I was thinking that perhaps I could get her started on reading music, and then in about a year she will be ready to really get into the guitar.
Thanks for writing in to Guitar Noise. I’m glad you enjoy our site and that you’ve found some interesting reading there, especially on the Other Side. Actually, while written from a female perspective, you’ll find a lot of tidbits about being on the Other Side of the stage (as audience, or player). I like the many meanings of Other Side, and hope to expand on that in future columns. Of course, I can’t really change my gender perspective….
It’s wonderful that you are teaching your granddaughter to play! I don’t think anyone is ever too young to have a love of music instilled in them. My daughter wanted very much to play the alto sax when she was 8. (She’d been playing piano since age 5 or 6) We tried one, and she had excellent tone and rhythm, but she didn’t quite have enough arm strength to hold up the instrument for long periods of time. We switched her to the lighter clarinet for a few years, and now at 11, she is happily wailing on the sax. So, I think at 6, you’re not too young for making music. However, sometimes the kids are size wise a bit small for their instrument, as my daughter was. Time will cure that, but meanwhile keeping her interested is great! If she can strum some basic chords; wonderful! We also bought my daughter an acoustic DaisyRock Guitar for that reason. It’s about the size of a Baby Taylor and has a composite back (so we didn’t have to worry about any accidental breakage of a wood body) and sounds pretty good. If you are interested you can find more at www.daisyrock.com. They also make smaller sized electrics, which I find a bit easier to play.
It sounds like your granddaughter really enjoys the jamming, so you can take it a little at a time, and let her build up the calluses like the rest of us have! Even just strumming Em /A (the beginning of Somebody to Love, or Summertime) which may be easier for her to hold down may be ok for her. Or if it is really hard for her, you can consider nylon strings for a year or two. They don’t sound as rich as the metal, but may be easier for her to hold down and strum. A luthier (if you know one, or if there is a good guitar store near you) may be able to lower the action on her Baby Taylor, making it easier for her as well.
I think your idea of teaching her how to read music is also a good one. Both of my kids learned to read music via the piano when they were 5 or 6, and I took lessons from that age as well. It’s a skill that will be useful the rest of her life. Whatever music you enjoy, I’m sure she will enjoy as well, especially as it is the opportunity to spend fun time with you.
I think it’s wonderful that she has a grandfather willing to teach these skills and share music with her. I hope to be able to do that someday when I have grandkids.
Enjoy; it sounds like you are having a great time with this! Let me know how it goes.
In addition to Laura’s comments, I’d also like to recommend a couple of things – first off, many teachers start off their younger students with partial chords, using just the first three or four strings. For instance, you can play a G like this: xx0003 and a C like this: xxx010. Another thing that one can do is to use an open tuning (usually G or D). This is especially good if the child it adept at strumming. You can show where to barre the frets (or even use a slide) for your typical three chord song and the two of you can have a blast.
If you have a question for us please remember that many questions have been asked in different ways, and the answer may already appear somewhere on Guitar Noise. If you have a question please check out the help pages.
Sunday Songwriters Group
A picture tells a thousand words, but it would take us forever if we had to critique that many. We’ll settle for a few dozen well chosen words.
This week – an exercise in imagination. Pick a picture and write a lyric based on the picture. You could describe the picture, or how the picture makes you feel, or maybe a story comes to mind when you look at it.
You might want to pick a photo from a travel guide. Just to be fair it would have to be somewhere you have never been. It’s imagination time, remember?
You can pick your favorite artist, if you are stuck take a look at Winslow Homer, John Constable, Whistler, Eakins, or Tanner to name a few. You can see their work at the National Gallery of Art site, http://www.nga.gov.
But you don’t have to be so high-brow either. If you’d like to write the epic “Ode to dogs playing poker” or “It ain’t art if it ain’t on velvet”, knock yourself out.
In other words, pick a picture, any picture.
As Nick says, write well.
Reviews
Darrin Koltow’s Guitar Lessons On The Net
The Internet, as you well know, is full of guitar and music sites. How do you find what is best for you? Well, as Nick Torres points out, it helps to have a trust guide like Darrin Koltow.
Here’s another type of guitar pick that some of you might find really terrific. They are made by the terrific folks at www.butterflypicks.com
Thoughts and Feedback
My thanks to those of you who have taken the time to respond this past week. I am (slowly) learning more and more about the MP3 process and I think that I’ll get more proficient at it very soon. You see that this week I started in on an old lesson. Granted the lesson only required one MP3, but it is a start. In a perfect world I could do one lesson a day, but we’ll settle for one a week at this point, I think!
This week’s newsletter is a bit brief owing to my leaving for the weekend on a short trip. My apologies for that. Rest assured I’ll be back to being my longwinded self right here next Sunday.
Until then, I hope that each of you has a great week. I look forward to hearing from you.
As always,
Peace
David
