Troubleshooting an Acoustic-Electric Guitar
Acoustic guitars come in all shapes and sizes with a number of options. One of the most popular options is the addition of a pickup system that allows the guitar to be plugged into amplification.
When a pickup system is added to an acoustic guitar it becomes an "acoustic/ electric" guitar because it can be played on its own, acoustically, or connected to an amp or PA system like an electric guitar.
And as with anything mechanical, the more pieces you add to the puzzle, the more that can go wrong. If you have an acoustic/ electric guitar it's just a matter of time before you experience a break down in the signal chain, and it's important to know how to diagnose the problem.
Playing Guitar - Digging Your D Chord Deeper Into the "Swamp"
In the last article we introduced a lick that you can use right away to add a "swamp" flavor to some of your country rock or southern rock songs. Today we want to really dig a little deeper into to the "swamp". We're going to do this by tuning the guitar down to a "drop D" tuning.
You can easily do this by ear, without the aid of a digital tuner, by using the open 4th string (D) as a reference point.
Simply play the 4th string, and simultaneously play your 6th string and lower the 6th string tuner until the tone of the 6th string matches the tone of your 4th string. Now your 6th string has been lowered from E to D.
Read more: Playing Guitar - Digging Your D Chord Deeper Into the "Swamp"
Guitar Lessons - A Nice "G" Chord Variation
New guitar students usually learn and master the basic open chords fairly quickly. In particular, the CAGED chords.
But it's not long before basking in the glow of new accomplishments slowly begins to fade into that same old, same old, well...boredom.
Let's face it, how many times can you strum a regular old G chord, or C, A, E or D, for that matter, until it becomes as bland as a bowl of cold oatmeal.
Playing Guitar - Take Your D Chord to the "Swamp"
One of the first chords most new guitar players learn in the early days, is the "D" chord.
There are a lot of cool things you can do with a D chord, and we have discussed a few in previous articles.
Because of the fingering formation of a D chord, and the fact that the root note is an open string - there are a number of neat licks that can be played around the chord in various genres of music. Today we will look at adding a "swamp" feel, or country (southern) rock flavor to your D chord with a simple lick you can start playing today.
Read more: Playing Guitar - Take Your D Chord to the "Swamp"
Learning Guitar is Not an Uphill Battle
We've all seen pictures of mountain climbers clawing up the peak in a blizzard, shards of snow clinging to the beard, wind howling, teeth gritted, loose rocks cascading down into the depths, pick axe swinging, struggling for every inch of real estate. Through sheer will and determination, the climber eventually reaches the top in a bundle of exhaustion, looking out over the horizon, happy to have escaped injury or death - and deeply proud of the accomplishment.
Many times we look at our guitar playing journey in much the same way. As a constant uphill struggle to reach an unforeseen pinnacle, fighting for every step, always looking upward, slowly clawing - ascending inch by inch - to the top.
