Members b1fcs Posted January 10, 2017 Author Members Share Posted January 10, 2017 Thanks for all the feedback. As a quick update... I noticed that the face of the guitar has like a 2inch crack in the coating. It doesn't look like the wood itself is really cracked (can't really tell though). I called GC to ask if I could exchange it. They said... sure, bring it in and we will order you a new one. They said it would take about a week. I said that I don't want to be without a guitar for a week. He said, well, we are in Los Angeles so there are GC's all around, let me see if one of the other stores has one and you can just go exchange it there. None within an hour drive have one in stock . I wouldn't really know if the sound is 'off' because my ear isn't good enough... I am just trying to figure out if I should return it or not. I just don't want to miss a week of practice, especially since a new one might have the same or worse issue? What do you guys think? In regards to what songs I am trying to learn... I just decided yesterday I was going to try and learn a song since I feel like I am pretty good with the basic chords now. I am not really a "rock and roll" guy, and wanted to do something more modern and 'pop-ish' for the kids. I found a site that has a big list of "popular easy beginner songs"... http://learnguitarfasttips.com/guitar-song-list/ The song list is literally perfect! But I quickly learned a few things. 1) My definition of "easy" vs theirs is definitely different. 2) Learning a strumming pattern is even harder than memorizing the finger position of chords 3) You have to be REALLY fast switching between chords. WAY faster than I am 4) I need to buy a capo Any other songs or sites you might suggest? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 10, 2017 Members Share Posted January 10, 2017 First, any crack concerns me (I fix guitars). This time of the year if a guitar is under humidified the top will sometimes crack - usually right down the center where the seam is. Finish frequently gets kind of wavy looking and some times it will also show cracks. GC should be properly humidifying their guitars but I would definitely return it. If you are interested, this also gives you a chance to explore some other options - if you have a guitar playing friend take her with you. I really can't recommend any song from that list - they are all pretty modern and frankly I don't play (or even relate) to most of those performers. Lots of us learned the folkie songs of the '60's - most of them have pretty simple chord changes. Blues and country songs are also pretty easy - usually they have three chords and well defined changes between the chords. Many many songs are based on just the I, IV and V chords (in A that would be A, D, and E, in C that would be C, F, and G, in E it is E, A and B) Played in the first position these are often called "cowboy chords" and if you just practice switching between each set of 3 you will start to hear songs. If you make the V chord the 7th you'll start to hear a bluesy sound - in some blues all 3 will be 7ths but still the same 3 chords. Practice just those chord changes and you are on your way. I also have to recommend a good instructor. I am self taught, have been playing 50 years or so and would have made much better progress and would be a much better player if I had taken lessons early. YouTube videos and various dvd's are good, but there is nothing like a good instructor. Good luck, let us know how it goes with both the guitar and your learning curve. Its a grand adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted January 11, 2017 Members Share Posted January 11, 2017 First, any crack concerns me (I fix guitars). This time of the year if a guitar is under humidified the top will sometimes crack - usually right down the center where the seam is. Finish frequently gets kind of wavy looking and some times it will also show cracks. GC should be properly humidifying their guitars but I would definitely return it. If you are interested, this also gives you a chance to explore some other options - if you have a guitar playing friend take her with you. . . . ^ +1. A new guitar shouldn't have any significant issues like cracks. If it's been out with people playing it, you might see minor scratches and such but that's not what we're talking about. A crack, whether it's "just" the finish or through the wood, indicates the guitar hasn't been cared for properly. Take it back and live without a guitar for a week or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members b1fcs Posted January 11, 2017 Author Members Share Posted January 11, 2017 Ok, I will do that. Thanks for the input as always! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Idunno Posted January 12, 2017 Members Share Posted January 12, 2017 I probably would not play any of those songs. I'm old, though, and play stuff from the way-back period decades before Y2K was a figment of anyone's imagination. All songs being equal from a learner's perspective, which do you want to play versus what your kids would enjoy hearing you get down with? The idea is to have their input if you can, or have any desire to, just to get their feedback as well as challenge yourself to succeed in their eyes. Lot's of mutually valuable lessons in that arrangement. ______________________________________ The chord changes are just mechanical things. Developing your ear is probably the most significant aspect of any musician's skills set. Don't take it for granted. Listen well. Then search for the notes on the neck. Then correlate them to complete chords. Every note you hear lies in a chord. This will probably be the best advice I can ever give anyone seeking to play the guitar, or any instrument. Regarding songs, their chords and changes, the mechanical movement of the hand and shaping it to play each chord will develop and become a natural movement. Don't lose yourself into that, though. Pay attention to the whole of the learning effort and that includes your ears. Your hands will stumble until they become acquainted with their role. Your ears, though, will forget if you don't train them in step with your hands. Hearing each chord in your head before you play it will put you in good stead with your hands when they reach familiarity with each of their shapes. Then when you can hear in your head the notes comprising each of those chords you'll have pretty much arrived as a player and your hands will simply slave in anticipation of a succession of chords and notes as your head plays them out. That might be something difficult to imagine now but it's a very real-world aspect of becoming accomplished as a player. One of the most difficult instrumentals to learn is the A-B-C song. It's a basic chord progression but the majority of songs are dead-simple structures of chords and notes, short of the classical and Spanish-style genres. Chord changing is a variable geometry exercise of the hand. You'll get down a D major to a G major change but reversing that will not be the same geometrical change exercise. This will be exacerbated by the new-learner's death-grip on the neck as if the chords have to be wrestled and pinned down. A tight grip means slow changes because the hand needs time to squeeze and release, which brings on the fatigue quickly, and it also needs time to relieve itself (blood flow) after a tight grip release. Moreover it becomes momentarily seized in the last chord shape it left when fatigued to do so. All of that makes the geometrical change to the next chord shape an exercise in overcoming hand fatigue quickly, which it does not want to do, and be tasked with reshaping its geometry to the next chord shape while it's still fatigued. You'll think the whole of playing is an exercise in masochism when it's really a lesson in nuance. So, keep your hand loose and your changes will not slay you. Your accuracy will increase over time and your tendency to mute strings will lessen. Don't sweat them because the idea is to learn how to chord with a touch that is firm enough to clearly fret notes yet be light enough to prevent fatigue. Strumming and a metronome are good company for each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members b1fcs Posted January 18, 2017 Author Members Share Posted January 18, 2017 Wow, thank you for that insight! I am definitely far from that point, but appreciate the feedback and will definitely try to do the listening part more intently than I have been! GC has had my guitar for over a week now... supposedly just transferring a new one from a store north of the city since mine had the crack in it. They clearly are having issues performing what they said was a simple transfer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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