some updates from the past few days:
- i've settled on using the classical position, but damn if it's not frustrating to try and get the angle and height perfect. i'm using a strap, but keeping it tight and secure leaves the guitar high enough on my body that my left shoulder is now getting sore from having to keep my arm raised during my playing. i'm not sure if that's normal and i just need to keep building muscle in that area or if it means i don't have the angle calibrated properly. the other solution is to have the guitar strap extremely (
extremely loose) so the bottom of the guitar sits lower between my legs, but then it's not stable (nor does it translate well to me standing and playing)
still, classical position is 1000x better than whatever the hell the wrist-snapping horizontal position most people use is called. i've produced an f chord exactly zero times in that position, while i'm now able to get it about 35% of the time in classical. all the chords are easier, in fact. feels like i gained an extra month's worth of practice just from switching my position
- i returned my katana boss mini and my ibanez gio. i've decided i'll be much better served saving money and getting something high quality i can actually fall in love with and that will last me ten years or more
i'll probably stick with the katana boss series as it seems to be the overwhelming favorite online for an amp that won't financially decimate you. and after spending hours looking at every body type there is out there i'm almost certainly going to go with a v-shaped guitar. it's by far the most badass looking
plus it seems to have the most natural fit when playing in the seated classical position. if i had to make a buying decision today i'd be going with one of the arrow 1000's from esp:
it's definitely toward the upper end of what i want my budget to be (and by upper end i mean several hundred dollars over), but reddit impressions are glowing and it seems like the best fit for the confluence of factors i'm looking for (shape/price range/suitability for metal)
this purchase is still probably 6–12 months away so plenty of time to change my mind, but it's been really nice and motivating to have a milestone goal to work towards. and in the meantime i really do love the acoustic guitar
working up to electric has always been my goal back from when i first started guitar lessons close to 20 years ago (which i quit after a couple months of and have had several more false starts in the interim before finally,
finally getting serious about learning this year), but i don't feel like i'm missing out by sticking solely with acoustic for now. i actually felt supremely underprepared when i was trying out that ibanez gio junker i just returned, so it will be a great feeling when i get my first real electric and actually have the playing ability to back it up. if i keep up my current pace of 2–3 hours of daily practice it seems realistic to expect i'll be capable of playing the rhythm sections of some of my favorite metal songs by this time next year
- i purchased the acoustic i'm learning on back in 2019 and haven't changed the strings once, haha. the b and high e strings in particular sound
terrible, and the low e string is constantly going out of tune. changing strings has always seemed super daunting, but i've finally watched a few how-to youtube tutorials and ordered the equipment i need from amazon, so i'll be tackling that this weekend (along with cleaning my guitar for the first time!)
- palm muting continues to be difficult, particularly in the classical position, but it's too much to expect any sort of competenancy yet when i just starting trying the technique about a week ago. i'm mainly thankful to
teruterubozu for pointing it out to me since now i'm able to incorporate it into my dailly practice
- here's a question: it's pretty dumb that i keep my guitar out on a stand right next to a window, right? especially now that temperatures are getting sub-freezing where i live? it's the most convenient location i can put it in, but once i change my strings i'm considering finding another place to store it. maybe inside my closet, but that's just taking a stab in the dark based on assumptions (those assumptions being humidity = good (?), guitar near cold window = goes out of tune easier)
- this thread seems pretty inactive, so i'm hoping periodic updates from a newcomer like me spark some life into this place. i'd also love to read stories from any lurkers here who are in their early days like i am! let's comiserate over how much the regular f chord sucks (and how much the ethereal, dreamlike f maj 7 chord rules)
IMG_7219
Ohne Titel
