Cool! The class I'm taking teaches (in my case re-teaches) reading music. Then I'm taking a Music Fundamentals class too!!!

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Chet Feathers

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

I want to suck less.

No, Really, I have a significantly position shift in my pick hand for fast and slow picking that makes smoothly transitioning really difficult. I'm working on it, but it's hard.

Soloing and leads are no problem, it's the tasty rythmn work that I have to spend more time cultivating.Working on the speed too will help me a lot. Mike

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

I am first a vocalist and second a guitarist, so I always end up playing rhythm. I wish I had more time to focus on playing lead riffs. It's great that I play with a few really good guitarists but I would love to be able to play some of the lead stuff they play. I could probably ask one of them to help me with it.

Don't be ashamed. Look at JIMI HENDRIX'S lead. Notice, does he ever use his pinky for lead work? He's a traditionaly Blues player.

Sometimes I listen to too much Hendrix, and after a lead fill or something, I always end up doing his famous open D-to-[second fret]E trill, a la Machine Gun. It's cool, but used a lot it is REALLY annoying, unless you're Jimi and do it with a Univibe.

-The Screamin' J[/i]

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CURRENT RIG:
2008 Squier bullet stratocaster modified with Rumpelstiltskin pickups -> Dunlop GCB-95 Original Crybaby -> Fender Vibro Champ XD

"Could you take the stain from this pair of pants, and put in on this pair of pants?"

My vice -- playing the same patterns all the time. I'm a total non-singer and my friends enjoy my playing but none are musicians. End result: I play the same songs (the ones they like) all the time, toss in a few solos and then make up a few tunes as I go along. The "audience" goes home happy and I end up stuck in the rut.

I've been looking for others to jam with - great way to break habits. Ideal if they (like me) have a beyond full time job and are more looking to learn a few tunes and break old habits like myself. But if I don't find anyone, I'm seriously considering adult lessons like others are saying. It's been years since I've read and about as long since I've played melodies as opposed to chords and solos.

I have a number of bad habits.

Probably the worst one, but I am breaking it - slowly, is telling myself "If I buy this or that guitar I will be able to play better"

And I do tend to gravitate back to the things I know and can play without embarrasing myself in front of the dogs.

I do certainly need to work on fret finger "touch". I get sloppy too often. It doesn't really show that much unplugged, but when it's going through an amp....wow, I suck!

And of course, the universal bad habit - I don't practice enough.

I hear open strings and other unwanted sounds when I play solos. Usually when I bend notes.

I need to practice the right-hand muting techniques used by Derek Trucks and other slide players. The thumb rests on the bass strings when playing slide on the high strings; and the pinky & ring fingers rest on the E and B strings when playing slide on the G string. Of course, using the thumb to dampen noise implies playing without a pick.

Hands down...more practice time.

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"There is more to life than increasing its speed." Mahatma Gandhi

Owner of:
-2008 American Standard Strat in Candy Cola Red
-Vibro-Champ XD
-Fender CD-60 Acoustic (Sunburst)