Newsletter Vol. 1 # 45 – March 22, 2002

Hello Guitar Players,

This is our ezine for March 22, 2002. The newsletter is going out a couple days earlier than usual this week.

If things go well this ezine will be in your mailbox early Friday morning from now on. This will give you plenty think about and read while you are trying to avoid working or studying Friday afternoon. It will also allow me to stop working over the weekend. If I had the chance to play guitar as much as I talk about it, I’d probably be a star by now.

I really enjoy writing this newsletter and speaking with the subscribers who visit the site every week. If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute material to this newsletter please email me.

In this newsletter:

  • News
  • New Guitar and Bass Lessons
  • Acoustic Guitar Tip
  • CD Reviews
  • New Links
  • Email of the Week

Why not help a fellow musician? You can do them a favor by forwarding them this newsletter.

News and Announcements

Our good friends over at Acoustic Guitar Workshop are always putting together helpful stuff for musicians and music fans alike. Here is some more of that good stuff:

Artist Support
Calling all acoustic guitarists and acts that feature acoustic guitar prominently! Is your music on the internet? Got an mp3.com page? Got mp3’s you want more people to hear? If the answer’s yes, there’s free support for you at the Acoustic Guitar Workshop.

We can put your details, pic and link to your mp3’s on our artist support page.

Guitar and Bass Lessons

Two by Two
Bass For beginners # 15
by Dan Lasley (22 Mar 2002)
Many of you have inquired about playing chords on the bass, and so I thought I’d discuss how chords are built up from notes, and how they apply to the bass.

Guitar Tip

This week our tip comes to us courtesy of Guitar Man Acoustic Guitar Tips.

New Guitar Prices

I guess haggling over guitar prices shouldn’t be the most important thing when buying a guitar. If you find your dream one-of-a-kind guitar and you can spare the money, buy it by all means, however there are things to look out for. There is a very good music store in my area. No matter what you buy, guitar or sound system, whatever, they always deduct 25% off of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. It was pretty incredible, I saw a guitar at this store for approx. $2,400 USD, then went a few miles away and saw the EXACT same model & manufacturer guitar for approx. $3,000 USD. Manufacturer suggested retail prices are usually not used at music stores and like all expensive things you buy, do your homework. If the manufacturer has a website, go there, find the suggested retail price, subtract 25% and be on your way shopping. If the manufacturer of the guitar you want doesn’t have a website, the music store that sells the guitar should be able to show you in writing what the manufacturers suggested retail price is from the manufacturer’s literature. If they refuse or can’t do it, shop elsewhere.

One rip off I experienced around 1975 or so was a music store that had signs all over the place saying a 30% off sale. I was young & inexperienced. I bought a new 12 string guitar there for $280 USD. After years of problems, I finally tried to get rid of the guitar by trading it in at another store. The store owner at the other store showed me the guitar should have originally been sold for $180 USD. I almost fell over. The original store had marked all the prices up and then had a so-called 30% off sale. Then over charged me in the process. I ended up only getting $90 USD for it on trade in.

Gman ( o )==#

For more tips visit Guitar Man Acoustic Guitar Tips.

Also, don’t forget that Guitar Noise has a ton of resources on buying equipment. Check out our How to Buy Equipment page.

CD Reviews

Payday Daddy – Gumby Got Drunk
Payday Daddy is one of the hardest working bands in Washington State. They have been voted the best band in West Puget Sound for 4 years in a row. This quartet often plays 3-night weekends at any of the local casinos, playing extra long sets and drawing top dollar. They play classic rock and roll as well as a varied list of originals.

New Sites

Email of the Week

Thumb Position
There is another significant question that I have been struggling with over the last few weeks, especially as I’m trying more adventurous techniques, and that is the positioning of the left thumb. There seems to be a real conflict of opinion as to whether this thumb should be pressed against the back of the neck or hooked around it with the flat of the thumb on top of the neck. Most of the books I have say press it against the neck, but some say that although this is the proper way many guitarists use the lazy way. Indeed, most of the rock guitarists I see have their thumbs hooked around on top of the neck with the span between the fingers gripping the back of it. I know your site has an opinion on this but again it does not really give the consequences of learning with one method or the other…

Now when I play, I find it much more comfortable to play the “rock” way, but I am very concerned that if I go down this easy route I am going to be unable to do some of the more advanced techniques. Indeed, even now, using the “rock” method when I try to finger the top three string from the 5th fret up I find that the fleshy part of my fingers (I have rather large hands) is fouling other strings and stopping them playing properly. I will have to admit that playing the same sequences (albeit a lot slower due to it being more difficult) with the thumb pressed against the back in classical style I do not get this problem.

Is it worth the pain, or do both techniques ultimately give similar results if developed fully? Comfort must have a large effect on the ability to play properly!

I suppose I should take professional lessons and that would show me the way but it is good to know people’s opinions.

Many thanks for reading this and feel free to refer me to professional help if you think I need it!

David’s Response
The question of thumb technique is indeed a significant one. I’m not sure my answer is going to be all that helpful, but for what it’s worth, here goes:

Technically, I use both. Many people think that the thumb should be grabbing or pressing the guitar but the truth, for me anyway, is that the neck of the guitar rests against the thumb. This is a subtle difference but it is important. By not consciously gripping or pressing, my thumb pretty much follows along with the rest of my hand, almost always a mirror to the index finger on the fretboard. By not gripping or pressing, it is free to glide, not only up and down the neck, but also in its position on the back of the neck. This is essential to the way I play because I have small hands and on a thin neck like on most electric guitars, I will “barre” certain chords, say an F chord, by gripping the bass note with my thumb, like this:

E – 1st fret (index)
B – 1st fret (index)
G – 2nd fret (middle)
D – 3rd fret (pinky)
A – 3rd fret (ring)
E – 1st fret (thumb)

When I play a D chord, I will more often than not grab the 2nd fret of the low E (the F#) with my thumb as well if I want to make a final ringing chord out of it.

In both these cases I am using my thumb in a “rock” or hooking position in order to get notes that are otherwise awkward for me.

But frankly, most guitarists grip with their thumbs because they have no choice in the matter, seeing that they often hold their guitars way to low on their body in order to get a good grip. It’s ironic because while it looks cool (I guess) it truly limits their ability to play. They are using the thumb to hang on to the guitar, not using it to play. Do you understand this difference?

I think that it’s important to understand that your thumb should be more than a prop. It’s a player. It either grabs a note or makes it easier for the other fingers to reach theirs. If you worry about getting the notes first and let the thumb fall where it may, I think you’ll find that, eight times out of ten, it will end up in what you call the classical position. But there will be times when it will be in the rock position too. The thing is to not let the thumb dictate what the rest of the hand can do. And I also think that if you follow this “note first” philosophy, that the question of comfort won’t even enter into the picture. When you leave the thumb to last, it will automatically go for the most comfortable place.

I hope that this helps. Please let me know if you’d like to discuss this further. It is a difficult thing to simply describe (rather than show you in person) but I think that with a little patience, one can be talked through it.

Thanks again for the email and I look forward to chatting with you again.

Peace

David Hodge

That is all for this week’s issue. If you know anyone who might benefit from this free information please forward your copy to them.

Take care,

Paul Hackett
Executive Producer