Getting Started Learning Notes on the Fretboard, Installment #2: Seeing “White” Notes on the Guitar Neck, Like a Piano

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On occasion I joke with my guitar maker friends (Bill Collings and Steve McCreary at Collings, James Goodall at Goodall Guitars, and others) about why the dots on the side of steel-string guitar necks are located where they are. “Tradition” is the answer I hear most often. Tradition is great in many instances, but I believe slightly altering the location of these dots would greatly facilitate learning the notes on the guitar neck. On a piano, a key-of-C scale is apparent at a glance – it consists of the white notes. But seeing these same “white” notes (no sharps or […]

Making Good Use of Your Picking-Hand Thumb

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I had a recent query from my old friend Flip Breskin of the Puget Sound Guitar Workshop about a student she has with thumbs that bend backward severely. She wondered what I might suggest to help him use his thumbs more successfully when fingerpicking and fretting. I realized that some of my thoughts would be applicable to many guitarists whose thumbs don’t bend backward quite so much. So here is my first installment on this subject of thumbs, specifically the picking-hand thumb. Perhaps it will be thought provoking for you. When it comes to playing guitar, I preach relaxation, using […]

Grammy Winners!

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Portland, Oregon, acoustic guitarists Mark Hanson and Doug Smith and ten other great players won a Grammy in February, 2005, in the Pop Instrumental Album category for their contributions to the Henry Mancini Pink Guitar CD. This is Mark’s firsthand account of the experience. To win a Grammy is a lifetime goal of everyone in the recording industry. For some of us older winners it is a validation of a lifetime of work. For some of the younger winners it is the excitement of striking a rich cultural vein at the right time. For all of us it is one […]

Amplifying Acoustic Guitars

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I continue to receive questions about amplifying acoustic guitars. Since there are so many possible combinations of pickups, microphones and amplifiers, I can’t pretend to know them all. But I will share my experiences and current preferences. When I play very small and quiet venues I simply play acoustically. I cut my acoustic teeth in the late ’60s and early ’70s, when good acoustic amplification consisted of a high-quality microphone through a PA system. Players needed to project back then! Out of sheer necessity, and at the insistence of several good instructors I had, I learned to use the entire […]