Guitar Troubles

[jinxedkisses]

I have been trying to teach myself how to play guitar lately and it's going... not well. First I borrowed a guitar from a very generous friend and I was working hard on learning the first few cords. In the beginning I thought I was having a hard time because learning new things can be hard sometimes. Then I realized that my fingers might be a

Comments

[belleweather]

Seriously. Electric tuners are a life-saver and can be got for not much money through places that aren't guitar stores. None of the musicians in my life can live without them, even the ones with perfect pitch. It'll help.

[jinxedkisses]

But do I really have to tune the guitar every single time I play? I just watched the man tune it and now it sounds strange. That shouldn't happen, should it?

[belleweather]

Yes, you probably do have to tune it every time you play. Maybe moreso now because it just got new strings that are going to need to stretch and settle in, which is going to change the tone, and because it's summer and there's a lot of changes in temp and humidity, which will effect your tuning as the wood in the guitar swells and contracts.

[devianttouch]

I was under the impression that all guitars have to be tuned every time you play. At least that's the way I was taught when I took lessons. I didn't have any trouble with it.

[toasteraviator]

Tuning the guitar should not take more than a minute once you get the hang of it, it's really not a big deal, I can do it and I don't play guitar. There are ways to tune a guitar without an electric tuner, but they only tune the guitar relative to itself, so you may need to start with a piano or something for one of the strings. Hopefully this video helps. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBfI0sY9QhQ

Belleweather is totally right about the temperature and humidity changing the tuning. This is why performers actually retune their guitars on stage during the show; the stage is usually really warm from all the lights and their guitars actually go out of tune as they heat up on stage.

[chu_hi]

New strings have to be tuned, like, a hundred times in the first couple of days. :)

Electric tuners are awesome! I like the ones that clip to the head of the guitar and have arrows or lights to show you if you're flat or sharp.

[chu_hi]

Something cool ~ guitar magazines that come with DVDs. You can hear what the exercises in the magazine should sound like, and there are usually video lessons on them, too.

[wicked_smile_4u]

I bet, if you put out a big loud call in every kink community you're in, you've got something you can trade for a lesson or three, and maybe even a second-hand tuner. Craft, fire, photos....

--s.

[chu_hi]

Brilliant!