Memorizing Difficult Passages

What's keeping you from playing the song perfectly?

Beginning guitar students often hit a plateau where they wonder if they'll ever get any better. This usually happens after a couple months, when they realize what they've gotten themselves into. A mental block forms, and pretty soon they've convinced themselves that "that part doesn't sound right." Sometimes that's true, but a lot of times it's their perception of what it's supposed to sound like.

How to get over it and get on with it.

• Listen to a recording of the song. By listening to a correct version of the piece, you start to understand exactly what it should sound like. The best time to do that is when you're not trying to play the song. I had a banjo song that I learned wrong, and the way I corrected it was to listen to the recording over and over until I knew what it was supposed to sound like.

•  Slow down. I know, it sounds better fast. I also know if you can't play it slow you can't play it fast. Slow, deliberate practice is how you get over the hump and polish up the song.

• Have your guitar teacher play it with you. Learn the phrasing, the correct fingering and the correct dynamics. Practice the trouble part, then the parts before and after it, then build up speed.

• Be patient. Too many beginners try to do too much too soon, and then can't understand why they're not making enough progress. Take the advice above and you'll find that your progress will be slow but steady.

If you have any questions, comments or subjects you'd like to have me address, leave a comment and I'll be happy to help.

Bob Lucas
www.blguitars.net 

Cold Weather + Stringed Instruments = Be Prepared

Cold weather and stringed instruments don't mix.

Now that the cold weather has arrived, it's time to think about how you transport and treat your guitars and banjos. I've had a few students leave their instruments in their cars since they come in for lessons after work and can't or won't bring them inside. This can do serious, permanent damage and you need to avoid it if you possibly can.

The dangers of extreme cold.

Cold weather causes the wood to shrink, puts extra stress on the parts of the instrument and can result in finish cracks, and cracks in the back and sides of your guitar. If you need to leave the guitar in your car, be sure to let it adjust before removing it from the case. Bring it inside and let the case sit unopened until the temperature is about the same as the room.

Heated and unheated rooms, low humidity and fireplaces.

Even if you store your guitar or banjo inside, you need to exercise caution. Don't leave it on a stand that's near a heat vent, the fireplace or an outside door or window. Playing and singing in front of the fireplace can be fun, but don't let the instrument get too hot. A humidifier that you keep in the case or in the soundhole of the guitar can help keep the wood stable. When it gets cold and the heat is on in your house the air dries out. Storing your instruments in an unheated room like a basement requires the same care as bringing it in from outside. Try to find a place where it won't be subjected to extreme temperature changes.

Read the owner's manual if you have it.

While guitars and banjos aren't quite as fragile as the manual makes it sound, the information in it has good, practical advice. Taking care of an instrument in winter is mostly about common sense and being aware of what you should or shouldn't do.

Getting Acquainted With Your Guitar

The Body.

The body of the guitar has some straight forward names. The top, the back and the sides. An acoustic guitar has a wooden bridge, a bridge saddle, the piece of bone or plastic that the strings rest on, and either bridge pins or a tailpiece. Bridge pins hold the strings in, the tailpiece is metal and the strings run through it and then over the bridge. The soundhole, as its name implies, is where the sound comes from. Most steel string guitars also have a pickguard. It's there to protect the top of the guitar from pick scratches from overly active strumming.

The Neck.

No, it's not the handle! The neck is the long, skinny piece of wood that attaches to the body. There are usually either little dots, big dots or fancy inlays on it. These are not just decorative, they're position markers and you use them to find your way around. On most guitars they're at the 5th, 7th, 9th and 12th fret, and many guitars have others as well. The frets are the little metal bars that look like lines. You press the strings down between them to make notes.

The Peghead.

That's the place at the top where the strings attach to the tuning pegs. A lot of guitars also have little plastic cover that houses the truss rod. The truss rod is a metal bar that runs the length of the fingerboard, inside of it, to keep the neck straight. Even though your new guitar will come with an allen wrench and a little instruction sheet, leave the adjustments to a professional. The tuning keys or tuning pegs, are the knobs or buttons that you use to tune the guitar. That little plastic piece that the strings pass through is called the nut.

Not all guitars will have all of the parts, but they'll have most of them.