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Two children on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation are going to have the opportunity to learn guitar. Let me digress for a moment. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is Shannon County, South Dakota. According to US statistics it is the poorest county in the United State. Just a couple statistics: per capita income is $9,286. 1 in 4 children, yes 1 in 4! , is born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Each year a musician friend of mine, Larry Dunn, puts on a benefit concert, The Toy Drive for Pine Ridge, to get toys donated for Christmas for the kids on the Pine Ridge Reservation. If you want more to read about Larry and his efforts you can do so here. Every year I go with Larry to deliver the toys and what a heart warming experience it is. I'm not sure how the conversation came about. But @PatIam and I were discussing about some of these kids having access to a guitar and learning to play. Actually, what we were discussing is how unlikely it is for that to happen. We all know about Pat's repairing guitars. Immediately Pat said, "Why don't you let me send some guitars along?" And just a few days later guitars showed up up for me to do just that! Here are two children, that if not for Pat, would never have the opportunity to learn. I took for each of these a Hal Leonard "Method Book 1" and TrueFire has a "Learn Guitar 1. First Steps for Beginners". I need to check to see how they are doing! Pat, both these kids said to tell you "Pilamaya"! (Thank you in the Lakota language>) Aroja Thunder Bull: Jace Fire Thunder:

This Video might help you.

"NEW" guitar day! Very chuffed to show my "new" Gibson Memphis ES-137 Classic Heritage Cherry Sunburst! Hand carved Flame Maple top, back and sides, (even the neck) Trapezoid Mother of Pearl in lays with special "C" market at the 12th fret. Gibson 490 R and 498 T pickups..This guitar, a 2004 model is in amazing 9.5/10 condition, and plays superbly! Warm creamy jazz tones all the way to snarly singing blues... and everything in between. It is described by some as being the perfect blend of a Les Paul and and ES -335 ... It is a semi - hollow, BUT, the centre block is mahogany, (not maple) ,to increase sustain and reduce feedback. The centre block does not touch the solid top, which gives this guitar extreme resonance and sustains like crazy! There's a full description; https://goo.gl/fQ3XAo I bought it mostly for the "jazz tones"(ala ES175, CES-4, L-5 etc.) but it's so versatile, any serious player would love it for any style! Will this take #1 spot over my beloved ES-335? We'll see... I spotted this on a 'Blow Out Inventory Sale" at our largest music retailer, Long and McQuade. I lined up at 8:30am on the first day of the sale, to get a number, to get a chance to buy it... I was 14th.. Fortunately, I was the 1st to speak for this guitar and they kindly put it aside for me. When I was "demo'ing" it, a couple of other guys wanted it too and hung around to see it I took it... NO way guys... this ones mine! And the price... well, you wouldn't believe it if I told you! What a gem. Special thanks to Greg Voros and BWillard (our resident Gibson expert and passionate collector) for their valued opinions on this. I was also pleased to pick up a superb deal for my friend EracerTeam_DougH, a beautiful Epiphone Sheraton Natural, with gold hardware, also at a superb price. I 'll let him tell you about that...

@rkl312 I would recommend not worrying too much about a perfect strumming pattern. Play what sounds right. It is OK if the strumming pattern varies throughout the song.

For me, it depends on the song. Some songs I simply cannot sing and play simultaneously. Others , I play on autopilot. My only advice is to know the strumming parts so well that it is like breathing-you don’t even think about it. Have a metronome or drum part if necessary to hold the rhythmic tempo. Then start to add the vocals . I would begin with simpler guitar parts that you can feel fluid with. Greg

I don't have that problem because I can not sing. But I do Hum a lot and it don't seem to bother y playing. maybe you can start that way.

I'm having a heck of a time adding vocals to the songs I am practicing. I get my strumming pattern down and then when I try to add the vocal my strumming hand wants to mirror the inflections of the vocal, throwing the whole thing off. Has anyone else experienced and overcame this? Robert

@rkl312 There’s a lot of great advice in this thread already. I don’t have much to add. You are not alone, that’s for sure. After all, we are dealing with two different rhythms. It’s not always easy to combine the strumming and singing rhythms so that they sound seamless. If a song requires a specific strumming pattern and the vocal throws it off for me, I slow down the difficult part and analyze how the two rhythms interact with each other. It helps me sync the two together. Otherwise, I go with the sound and feel rather than specific “patternized” strumming.

HI Robert, What i do is, get the timing and strumming down and then i just listen to the song over and over and over.....i guess you see my point. You will find over time it will take less time to get both working together. (for most songs) I still have trouble with one song i do at our gigs and i've heard the song a thousand times, it is Pure Prairie League- Amie. Danny

I have problems strumming and singing as well. I'm getting better at it with practice though. This is a great thread. I'm going to spend some time watching these videos.

@rkl312 YES! I know exactly what you mean, I had that exact same problem. I remember saying to my wife that I didn't think I'd ever be able to strum and sing at the same time, it just didn't seem possible. I did figure it out though, like most things, it just takes time, patience and practice. This is how I did it... 1. Choose a song with really simple chords and a really simple strum pattern, but one you really like. 2. Practice playing the whole song, WITHOUT singing, over and over until you can do it with distractions and practically do it in your sleep. 3. Start adding in the vocals. If the vocals throw the strumming pattern then simply stop and get he strumming going again before throwing some vocals back in. Repeat over (and be patient). I got there in the end. After that one song, it all became easier, I think you have to overcome a psychological hump more than anything. Hope that helps. Ian

I anxiously await Greg's response but in the interim, I'm putting forth the thesis that the only thing worse than storing a guitar in the case, is storing it outside of the case. Seriously, being in the case will delay environmental changes but sooner of later whatever is going on outside the case in terms of temp and humidity will happen inside the case. So long as as the external environment is kept in a decent range the guitar should be just as good in the case as out and the risk of impact damage is vastly reduced.

Good answer….

I have a very nice Taylor NC24ce. The guitar thrives on fingerstyle. You can play most styles short of full on metal mode. Yamaha makes excellent entry level nylon string guitars. Steve Stevens shredding nylon

This is great!. Rick Beato is putting out new videos "What makes this song great." It's awesome because he plays solo'd instrument tracks so you can hear each instrument by itself. He also might discuss some theory. On the Steeley Dan "Kid Charlemagne" video, he actually hows how to play the entire solo. So far I've watched the Steeley Dan one, Tom Petty, and Police songs. Check it out! Here's a link to the first in the series where you can access the list to all of them (7 so far):

This is super cool! It comes from Griff Hamlin and is meant to be shared. Before you click the link, read the email from Griff that all BGU subscribers receive. This is for the benefit of non-subscribers. “You may not know (or remember,) but there's a great tool I had made for you that you can use to learn your blues scales - all of them, inside and out. But before you go run off and try it, let me give you a suggestion... because this tool I have for you is very powerful - and that means you might need a little direction to get started. Now there's a video on the page that will define for you the "left facing" and "right facing" versions of scales, but here's my suggestion to get started. Set the 4 dropdowns like this: Root Note: A (or whatever key you want) (don't leave it on random) String: 6 (don't leave it as random) Left/Right: Right Major/Minor: Minor Now hit "deal" and, of course, all the cards will turn over to be what you selected (since none of them are random, there's no surprise.) Hit the "Hint" button and you'll see good old Box 1. Change String: to 4, and you'll get Box 2 in the same key Change String: to 2, and you'll get Box 3 in the same key Change String: to 5, and you'll get Box 4 Change String: to 3, and you'll get Box 5 Wanna work a different key? Go through the same steps with a different key. Think you've got every key down? Change the "Key" to random and test your skills. It's super fun and a great way to work those scales so get to it. Check it out here and make sure to bookmark the page so you can come back to it (and if you dig it, share it with your friends.)” Now here’s the link to the TRAINING TOOL & VIDEO.

I don't really name mine, but "they" say you're supposed to, so I thought I'd have some fun with it. Breedlove Oregon Concert, aka Faith Martin D28, aka Alison Breedlove Atlas Jumbo, aka Emmylou Fender Deluxe Nashville Tele, aka LeAnn Fender Deluxe Roadhouse Strat, aka Reba Sense a theme here? I don't have a Trisha. Gotta get a Trisha.

@NeilES335 So you’re becoming a Gibson man. I ain’t talking to you no more …, just kidding. Congrats on this great score. The angle of the photo makes this semi-hollow guitar look like a full hollow body. Quite a beauty I might add. More “cats on the piano” anyone? Yeah, definitely more jazz!!!

Beautiful.

What a fabulous guitar. Well done for getting it. Great story. Enjoy.

Awesome guitar! Sounds like an awesome deal!

What I call my guitars isn't suitable for this forum.

This is another good point that I almost noted earlier about trying to have a perfect strumming pattern. Thus, instead of being "fluid," you may become mechanical/robotic. There are some things that may or may not be taught in a book. For instance, and I play several of these at a Rest Home, parts where you don't have time to play the entire chord because of the quick chord change along with the tempo. Usually, for me, it's three (3) chord changes within three (3) to five (5) words. And seems like it's usually "G" (open chord) for me. Have seen Steve Kaufman (bluegrass player) do this on a DVD course by playing (not singing) only the three (3) high strings: G, B, & E holding down the third fret to get the ''abbreviated'' G chord. Also, I can play barre chords but since singing solo is focusing on melody then I just play the "cheater/abbreviated" F chord. Please remember that you are singing melody and not bass to solo. So , , , so what if you miss a few bass notes in a chord? You and the audience are listening to the melody. Now, remember in the LMG course about strumming? You may not play every string but keep strumming. Also, there's a certain freedom in soloing. Relax, focus on singing the melody, and enjoy the freedom.

Have a Brittany also. Definitely keep the guitar safe in case if you have a dog.

In the case or not...I have multiple guitars (acoustic and electric) that are kept in their cases when not being played. I have heard and concur with the advice, the case is the safest place to keep a guitar when not being played. Chicago winters challenge the humidity issue, and even 35% house humidification during 0 - 15 degree weather results in significant window condensation. A room humidifier is also used in my guitar sanctuary at night to boost humidity levels. I keep MusicNomad sound hole humidifiers and Dampits (larger model) in the peghead compartment of each acoustic and single Dampit in the electric. I do use distilled water in these devices, as recommended by MusicNomad, to avoid scale buildup from our hard water. I do not keep any guitars outside of their cases for the humidity issues and my Brittany Spaniel's rambunctious behavior during various times of the day. I try to keep regular practice times, then keep them safe when finished. Extended storage periods does make me think of relieving string tension. Is there a recommended amount of string relief, such as half-tone, full-tone, or perhaps more?

Many cases are plastic moulds or have a vínyl imitation leather wrapping which limit the rate at which relative humidity changes outside the case are reflected inside.

For me I end up strumming to the vocal syllables and so my down up strumming rhythm gets awful.

Robert, you have started a great thread here. This is a subject that I am working on at the moment. I have watched a couple of YouTube videos, one of which was the Justin Guitar video that Blue Dog posted. The other is this one they both were great. I am now going to watch the other video that @Blue Dog posted. My progress so far is Mull of Kintyre with 1 down strum per beat but I keep forgetting the middle verse ?. so I must do what they say and write it all out by hand. Learning to be able to play each song while singing it will take a long time for me. You really do have to know both parts separately really well and the strumming has to be automatic before you can put them together. Thank you guys. Great thread!??

Then >>> Go For It !

I've been strumming and singing for 7 to 8 years or so. Not sure exactly what you mean by "strumming hand wants to mirror the inflections of the vocal." Please elaborate. Are you saying that voice added to strumming seems "robotic?"

Uh, feel free to hinder.

Nice guitars Mike! Do I name my guitars? No.

Finally the secret formula The Beatles used for all their hit songs has been revealed to the public. Here is one example.

Grog, I'm not familiar with that exact model. However, Cordoba makes a great product. I've never had the 12th fret buzz be a chronic issue on these instruments. Their fretwork, for the most part is pretty solid. -Greg