Buying Used Guitars

Alright! You've decided to buy a used guitar. Sweet.

There are a lot of used guitars out there in Las Vegas & even if you're not from Nevada, there are usually at least a dozen guitars in each pawn shop in your city. For the most part, these guitars aren't in the best condition & the prices are somewhat marked up. Yep, pawn shops are trying to make their money too! They're almost as sneaky as a used car salesperson.

So! If you're looking for something to help you get past the "learning curve", take a friend that definitely knows how to pick out a quality guitar - that way you don't end up with a totally crappy hunk of wood. It might "look" good (i.e. the paint job or design) but it's what's inside and how well it's been maintained over the years/since it was first made that counts.

Usually, the strings on these used pawn shop guitars are beyond dead - meaning...you can't even tune the strings to see if the guitar itself is worth the money they're asking. So it's a really tough battle to find a "keeper". The old saying that, "it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack..." - i can somewhat be applied here.

Your best option would be to buy from a small or large music store. One that has consignments or "used gear". If they don't have it advertised, try getting to know the owners or the people who make the calls & decisions like that. It's vital to form a good solid relationship with musicians in your community. that's how "success" is "found". From here, you can let them know what you're looking for so they can keep an eye out for your new, errr....used guitar. heheh. ;)

Ultimately, it comes down to caring. If you care about the people you interact with, genuinely want them to success as much or more than you - it can only help you in the world of music. Whether you want to just learn cover songs for yourself & family - or, you want to get "Oprah Rich", no one has ever gotten anywhere of worth by cutting corners. There has to be value in whatever you're doing or buying. And if it's not worth it, it's just NOT worth it. Trust me.

About 2 weeks ago i found Washburn acoustic guitar at the Summerlin Guitar Center. It was marked $99, no joke. I put it on layaway & was puzzled why it was so inexpensive. Well, after getting it home & getting new D' Addarrio strings put on it, i found out that the bolt on the 4th string's tuning peg was stripped and wouldn't tighten against the headstock of the guitar. Also, the holes on the bridge looked like they had been super-glued to keep the string pegs from slipping out. CRAZY.

So you see, even what seemed like a great used gear deal - was in fact, not as great of a "score" as i had thought. I'll probably have to invest in some new tuning keys/machineheads for the acoustic but i really like the tone of the guitar & it has a "root beer" color to it! All in all, not to bad of a find. It's just really easy to get stuck with a crappy guitar. The better route would be to save up for at least a $3-600 acoustic electric guitar or try a fully electric guitar for around $125-200.

The main point that has to be understood is that - buying a guitar, is an investment. It's kind of like buying a Harley Davidson motorcycle - they only APPRECIATE in value over the years. And when it comes down to it, when you meet the right guitar for you... YOU'LL KNOW IT.

Tuning & Ear Training MUSTS

Tuning your guitar as close to pitch as possible can be one of the best things you can do for your guitar. Think of it like this - what you think you sound like as you hear your own voice isn't actually what others are hearing. this is because your laranyx & vocal cords are vibrating so close to your head & ears that you percieve a different frequency or pitch that the note your singing is acutally registering at.

A tuner on the other hand, is never off. 440 Hertz is your A string frequency, and that doubled is 880 Hertz which is that same A note but an octave higher on your sheet music. Pretty sweet huh?

So, to develop your ear training. Practice tuning with your electronic tuner first after putting new strings on, then see how close you can get to match the tones you heard before. This is crutial in the development of your ear training. :)

Chord Transitioning

Hello!

After enduring a rigorous trial by fire in training with the US Air Force, as of Feb. 11th 2010 - I'm now a Staff Sergeant (E-5). It was definitely a learning experience thru the academic days and long nights staying up reading but i'm glad to have internalized and committed to my life, the tools and knowledge. I know that what i learned will help me be a better supervisor & person. After all, of all the learning we do in this life, it can only serve to help ourselves, our families & others out when they're most in need! IN ESSENCE, THIS IS THE POINT OF PRACTICING WHAT WE KNOW.

Alright, lets get a quick lesson in for you to master now that i'm back on the blogosphere!

Tune your guitar up & start practicing your chords that you know you know. The solid stuff. The ones you don't even have to think about.

Now here's the kicker - the goal with this "quick practice" is to use chords like A, D & G...and run through them starting at around 60 BPMs (beats per minnute) with your eyes closed.

Do this with the "A chord".

Practice looking at the fretboard and visualize the fingers pressing down on exactly the right frets for the "A Chord". Now open your eyes and make the chord. Now reclose your eyes while still keeping the chord shape and its notes fretted.

Now, this is the point where your closed eyes need to "remember" what you just saw after your visualization technique we just did. okay?

Now apply the A chord over and over with this model.

The above, helps you memorize each chord WITHOUT the use of your eyes. It allows your EARS to train themselves properly. And finally your HANDS almost develop a sixth sense.


THINK OF HOW THE BLIND USE BRAILLE!



Focus on "seeing" with your fingertips. Feel the changes as the inside portions of your left hand's fingers change/ travel from one chord to the next.


ALRIGHT! - so in theory, you should be able to fret any earthly chord in existance, then fret another chord - and be able to change freely between the two. So for starters, like i was saying in the beginning of this lesson, you'll be doing this with Chords A,D & G.

A secondary goal after you accomplish this will be to increase your tempo/speed at which you play the Chord changes.

COLLABORATING with Other Musicians - is it for YOU?

I believe each artist, involved in whatever medium, has to keep their ducks in a row first before approaching other people about collaborations. Part of that comes from the experience gained from learning other people's songs, & another part comes from the point when your desires reach a point where you feel the innate, internal need to fulfill yourself by composing original songs & recording them.

All in all, when approaching other people for combined projects, it's a great idea to have around 15 songs that are loosely structured (they can be solid as well) so you can focus in on the vision that you want to make concrete. sometimes, musically, if you don't have the above things, certain musical mis-communications develop. The vision becomes blurred & the stresses of the creative writing process & seemingly endless revisions & secondary drafts are worked out.

It's vital, essential...heck - it should be mandatory that a band or two people collaborating should be hanging out & having fun, shooting the breeze around 40% versus the 60% work that you'll all be doing, b/c when it gets down to the pressures that are associated with recording & just simply keeping the music "together" & "tight", it takes an understanding that needs to come from a place where you KNOW, that the person on the other end of that musical idea, IS YOUR FRIEND.

I've seen & heard about so many bands that fall apart by not adhering to these reality-based tips. they exist for a reason. & if we don't utilize them, we're setting ourselves up for a lot of hurt, wasted time, & overall - personal & social failure in the local scenes & within the grand range of influence in the music industry as a whole.

I'll be working on a list of specific tips in my draft blog section to help growing bands & solo musicians. Also if you guys have any yourself, feel free to post them as comments & i'll add them to the list! ;o)

It all starts with 12 notes.

So 12 notes in the chromatic scale are the well-point for every musician that's ever lived and created life from pitch. Creating music is like arranging the musical alphabet on the steering wheel of your car. Letters "A" through "G". Sometimes when you start up your car and try to back out, you might have left your steering wheel turned all the way to the left or right...in that case, if you accelerate/back up too fast, you'll get a rude awakening. That’s kind of like hitting a wrong note. Or when you're writing a song & you can't find the next note to further solidify your composition. Each note that is concrete is litterally like a piece to a puzzle. first you start with finding the end pieces, then you work on the picture and what it really is. finally you fill in the gaps, then you can even transfer the puzzle to a piece of cardboard and flip it on a table, gluing its frail pieces together - that's how you make a permanent puzzle...AND MAKING A SONG ISN'T TOO FAR OFF.



You have to work it out, hit a bunch of wrong notes (or turns) before you find the ones that are highlighted in your mind/head/brain. You have to hear a melody in your head, hum out something - then try as best you can to emulate that on the guitar. Your hands are the translators. The musical knowledge you gain and utilize will be your weapon of choice - for good. For the future of all that will listen to what you have to say musically and lyrically, as an artist.



There's a slight fear that someone's song, album, or level of success will be as good as or better than ours. That is inevitable. But this should fuel and drive us to create all the more passionately. We should be writing songs and whole albums from that place - the place where our hearts reside. The place where we go when a song is on the tip of our tongues or fingers...





And once all of the above is finished, we need to hold fast to what we know to be true: in ourselves, our past, our music and conversely, the caliber of our fans. We need not add people from Greece (unless your style of music applies and/or you wanna book a European Tour thru there LOL).

MARKETABILITY!!! (GET SOME)

IMAGINE THIS:

You've climbed a mountain, you're looking down after all the hard work you've put into training for this moment. You did the full climb! You look around at the wide expanse of a view; it's breath-taking - literally. By chance, you happen to see the original place where you began your ascent. After a few short moment, your gaze turns to the left of the horizon towards a larger mountain in the distance. You sent a goal to find out the name & height above sea level it stands at for a future climb.


Based on the experience you used to get atop the first one, you can choose what mountain to climb to next...

THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, IS VERY MUCH LIKE CLIMBING. EACH MOUNTAIN WILL SERVE AS MOMENTUM TOWARD YOUR PERSONAL SUCCESS.

See, in the music industry, it's about mastering & redefining your art. You HAVE to have an unusually alluring yet different voice - a front man that doesn't look like a bum and can dress himself (without all the drug problems) - (yep, Beer is a drug too) is a must, not a maybe.

Your drummer has to have the timing of a Rolex & the syncopation of a full pit orchestra! He needs to not have a big head & try to throw a drum fill in every chance he gets. Some of the most respected & listened-to albums of all time have had basic beats. This orchestrated, epic sound I'm referring to can be best understood by thinking about the depth and change-ups in a song like Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody". Think of songs like Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein"!!! This is the stuff that hits are made of - rhythm is an integral part of creating lasting legendary melodies and riffs!!!!!

Bass and Drums needs to be spot on together, working as one unit.

All guitars need to know their parts as well as each others should someone break a string or have to cover b/c of technical difficulties.

And finally, the whole band has to transition well as one sound!!!!!!!


for gigs: ANY ONE THING THAT IS OFF, AND THE BAND LOSES CREDIBILITY IN SOME AREA WHERE THEY WOULD'VE EARNED A CALL BACK, A SPOT AS THE LOCAL HOUSE BAND, A HEADLINING GIG, A SOUNDTRACK FOR THE NEXT BLOCKBUSTER, etc.
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THINK ABOUT THE POSSIBILITIES:

Sponsorships from companies (if you're touring extensively), a deal to be a venue’s house band, endorsing select clothing lines, even having other people’s product or services on your touring van/vehicle (seeing as you’ll be on the road more than their own vehicle that has a dinky little old 1x3 foot magnetic ad), you could also get people to get a “wrap” on their car to support you, even a t-shirt with a funny or serious musical cause message would be fun and cool to have someone promote you with.

The music industry is a funny funny world. There are so many levels and facets of interaction. The blood that flows through each day while music is the sound and drive for millions of people around the globe. Others don't even have to understand the lyrics to get hooked. It’s the best addiction one can have, I think; a true genuine love for music. All music.

Should Music, Just Be Listened to...OR...Should We Try to Categorize it as Much as Possible?

It’s interesting! As humans & music lovers, we feel the need to try & categorize so much of what we hear.

"Oh, ::pshhhhhh:: that's straight-up Post-Grunge dude"...or "Flight of the Concords are doing what Adam Sandler has done for years!!! It's Comedy Rock! I can't believe you called it ad-lib humoristic musings from the minds of stand-up artistry!!!!"

It's like we want a place for our favorite songs & artists to belong. I wonder sometimes if in our hearts & memory are not enough?


It’s been said that the thing people fear aside from public speaking, is silence itself. I agree with that. Sometimes even us musicians have a tough time not filling every possible measure with a note; the rests or pauses in music are necessary and I think that they build positive tension and have climactic elements that are the building blocks of theoretically perfect songs like the Fibonacci Sequence eludes to.

Our constant struggle with "good enough", "having it better", "constant improvement" - we say that if you have something great, soon... something else will come and take its place. I think this causation is all the best reason to write songs that last more than a decade, era, or period in the fad. It's all the more vital today to write songs from the heart. Songs that are pure; people will unmistakable recognize.

All in all, I understand the need for classification but some songs and melodies can't be held by that process. Some bands & artists transcend all of the labeling and become their own genre, a sound in and of itself. People begin to describe a band by another well known band.