Simira

Very Snazzy! There is a recreational ukulele group who meet every Friday at the boat harbour not far from where I live. It is open to anyone and they all play together for about 2 hours. There can be up to nearly 50 or more people playing, it looks great fun and I keep saying to my hubby we should get a couple of ukuleles and join in.

Not at the moment, I seem to be busy preparing for real and 'just in case' scenarios at the moment. When I have finished 'preparing', I would like to have more time to practice guitar, but I would also like to revisit learning the piano too. Keep Safe😊

Depends on how I play on the day. When things are going well and sounding good, I feel really good and proud of what I've achieved so far. When things are not so good and I'm sounding bad, I wonder why I bother, why I put myself through this, why don't I just give up and trash my guitar!

@Wim VD1 Fantastic as always Wim, I really enjoyed listening. Thank you for sharing. Keep Safe, Mira 😊

@Nutty 1, @Wim VD1, @IanD Thank you all for your kind comments. Ian, yes it is nylon, its a Yamaha NTX500 crossover. Also thanks to everyone you 'liked' my post too. Keep Safe everyone. Mira😊

Don't stress, stay on session 3 but keep practising changing between the chords. You will be concentrating more on chords in sessions 5 and 6 😊

Fantastic, very relaxing. Thank you for sharing😊

Hi all, here is my recording of Hey Jude mistakes included. I wish I had more time to practice but like the rest of the world I've been busy preparing for eventual lockdown. This arrangement is from Hal Leonard's 'Fingerpicking Beatles'. Keep Safe everyone.

@Limatje Hi, there is absolutely no reason for you not to play this way. I too, the same as you, play in a semi classical position, exactly the way as you have described. I find it easier to hold the guitar steady, especially for fingerstyle and I don't have any problems with strumming. Obviously its depends what suits you and how comfortable it is. You will notice that the majority of people when playing standing up are holding their guitars in a semi classical position anyway even if they play on their right leg sitting down. I am sure (correct me if I'm wrong) when some players are playing live they use their left leg whilst resting their foot on the amps or whatever. 😊

@dan0725 Way to go Dan! Kudos to you for exploring further. Thanks for the 5th fret tip too😊

@Eracer_Team-DougH You are quite right! I was reading it as in music notation not strumming instruction. Now I realise it means miss the strum not the mute the note! I've been working on fingerstyle using music notation for so long that I didn't twig. Apologies @Achilles Wrath for the misinformation. It was very late and way past my bedtime when I answered your query, but I was so excited to be giving the opportunity to help someone at last. Mea Culpa🥺

Hi @ScottH, A warm welcome to you. You are certainly in the right place for you guitar journey with the Learn and Master Course. You will find much encouragement and support from the Guitar Gathering family and will help you with any questions that you may have😊

Hi Turtel, To be more specific on the strings, I am using at the moment are D'Addario Pro-Arte Carbon (fluorocarbon) normal tension strings for classical guitar . I think its takes many experiments with different strings to find the sound you are after. Guitars themselves are made of different woods, and have different setups and all will sound different. One set of strings that sound nice on one guitar, won't necessarily sound nice on another. Also its how you play too, whether it be with a pick, your fingernails or the tips of your fingers and whether your attack is hard or soft etc. And as you have said, it can end up being very expensive! I have made two recordings using them. You will find them In Guitar Playing and Technique, under Monthly Recording Challenge threads, nos. 76 and 77. To be honest, I don't think that the recordings will be a true representation. I have only just started recording, and my equipment is very basic, i.e. Behringer Guitar Link plugged into laptop using Audacity software. In fact the two recordings are the only ones I've ever made.! Plus my guitar playing is still very much a W.I.P. It might be best to listen to a more accomplished player to get a truer (is that a word?) sound. The Monthly Recording Challenge is great fun, it has a different theme every month and members can post a recording based on that theme. And in the spirit of the forum, all levels are welcome to participate. Some post acoustic solos, some sing (covers or originals) with accompaniment, others submit fully produced songs, with drumbeats, rhythm and melody. There is also another area where members can post recordings and that would be under Member Recordings where its open mike. Would love to hear some of your songs😊

Hi Turtel, A very warm welcome to the guitar gathering family forum. I don't know very much about steel strings as I play Nylon, but if the strings make your guitar sing, try not to worry about the cost. From a nylon point of view, I like to play different genres, so I am trying carbon strings at the moment because I want a more contemporary sound rather than traditional nylon. They are brighter in the treble, as nylon can sound muddy especially the G. PS I love warm tones too😊

Hi Achilles Wrath. You are correct, rests do indicate silence or mutes. Steve does seem to be playing exercises 3 and 4 as if they were ties not rests. Just play the exercises as written, with rests😊

@NeilES335 Very well played, both rhythm and melody beautifully put together. Thank you for sharing😊

@IanD Thank you. The artwork was drawn by my daughter. Way more flattering than any photo of me😊

@Wim VD1 Well done Wim, great job as usual. The birdy tweets were a nice touch, it made me smile😊 You are really powering through the fingerstyle course and becoming a fingerstyle Ninja

@pkotof For someone just starting out you seem to know your stuff😊 This is all goobledygook to me😵

@Nutty 1Thank you so much for your kind words Mandy. I've never been an inspiration before! Good luck on your fingerstyle journey. 🙏😊

@BluzCruz Thanks for resurrecting this old post. This sort of post is just my cup of tea. To all of you who posted Videos of your bands, I am super impressed! To all who posted photo’s especially the ‘blasts from the pasts’ Thank you all! And @Wim thank you for sharing the photo of you and your daughter, loved it!! And lastly, Steve, the choir was amazing and the song was very uplifting, I could see you bopping away at the back, thanks for sharing. Admin I think this thread should be Pinned! So, to join in the fun I have posted a video of my son playing classical guitar at the Junior School Concert. A little back story. My son has been having half an hour a week classical guitar lessons at his school since year 5 (he is now year 8). When he was in year 6, we were given only 3 days’ notice that the classical guitar ensemble was required to perform at the Junior School concert at the local High School. Because of the short notice my son was the only one in his year to show up, so his teacher decided that he should do a solo! Yikes! My son had only performed as an ensemble once and that was only in a school assembly. Boy did I have a proud mummy moment that evening, he took it all in his stride and performed two pieces to an audience of over 300!!! The video is quite amusing as my son has a couple of Mr Bean moments coming on and going off stage. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=696064834120360&id=100011505496227&sfnsn=mo&d=n&vh=i

Hi @Preetam, the pressure comes from your fingertips pressing the string against the fret board with just enough pressure to make the note ring without buzzing. Your thumb is really only for stability, there shouldn’t be any squeezing. When you are just starting out you my find that you are squeezing, but this will improve as your fine finger muscles start to strengthen and this will eventually happen through practice. Also be mindful of your fretting hand position, your wrist should be down and slightly forward from the fret board, not behind as this will hinder finger movement, and try to avoid hooking your thumb over the top, keep it behind the fret board. Focus on pressing your fingers the strings against the fret board when practising, eventually your fingers will stretch and strengthen. 😊

@WATSON43 That was amazing, it sounded really professional. Super impressed (and a teensy envious), thank you for sharing😃

Hi everyone, here is my fingerstyle version of Havana by Camila Cabello, for this month’s challenge. This was certainly a huge challenge for me, to be honest I bit off more than I could chew for this one. It was a challenge to learn and memorise the notes, work out the fingerings, put it all together in a semblance of a tune and finally getting down a reasonable recording, especially in such a short time-frame. I must admit that I was going to give up on it a few times, but I gave myself a good talking too, reminding myself that it doesn’t have to be perfect and just to continue to work on it and see how I go. So, I persevered and it started to come together a couple of days ago so this is the best of the bad bunch mistakes and all. Obviously, it needs way more practice, you will hear string misfires, muted notes, hesitations (especially on the tricky parts) and I tend to speed up or slow down in places, but overall, I’m pleased with it. Recording Info: Song Title: Havana by Camila Cabello Arrangement: Hal Leonard’s 100 most Popular Songs for Fingerpicking Guitar. Instrument: Yamaha NTX-500 crossover Nylon guitar with pickup and D’Addario EJ45FF ProArte Carbon Classical Strings, Normal Tension. Recording Gear: Behringer Guitar Link USB interface. Audio software: Audacity.

@kenneth All perfectly normal. We have all been there. Session 4 is a huge session. Keep persevering as things will become easier and faster. Remember you are learning music theory, training muscle memory and hand co-ordination all at the same time! Also you are learning the foundations of guitar playing the correct way with a great teacher in Steve.