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Off-Topic Guitar Resources

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Both have their place and nothing wrong with either imo. A lot of times I’ll use both at the same time.....notation for the timing and tab for the fingering. But the fastest way for me to learn a song is to just listen to it several times until the melody and timing is ingrained in my brain and then I use the tab to clarify any fingering questions.
 
@Oscar, the abbreviation is "e" - let me look it up.

Well, you're right. Because, I assume there's already another word with "M", they use "e" for "mingolo", and it's also sometimes abbreviated "c" for chiquito (sp?). We don't use the pinkie finger much, so it was hard to find good references.

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But the fastest way for me to learn a song is to just listen to it several times until the melody and timing is ingrained in my brain and then I use the tab to clarify any fingering questions.
Understood, but it's rather like learning to repeat sentences or paragraphs of a language as opposed to learning to actually speak the language.

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Understood, but it's rather like learning to repeat sentences or paragraphs of a language as opposed to learning to actually speak the language.

Yes! Music theory is a language; you need to learn it if you want to communicate effectively with other musicians.
I never learned proper theory and have recently started playing drums in a band and conversations with the guitarist take a long time and seem to go along the lines of "You know that last bit before the thing? It needs to be, like, a tiny bit longer,". Agonising.

Tab is fine if you're playing on your own, but a tab can be misinterpreted all to easily. If you've been playing music for a while but are late to the theory party, I would heartily recommend this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Musicians-Guide-Reading-Writing-Music/dp/0879305703

I mainly used it to learn drum notation but it's an excellent book on the fundaments of music theory as it applies to all instruments without being too dry. It's even, dare I say it, quite entertaining in places.
 
I never learned proper theory and have recently started playing drums in a band

What do you call a guy who hangs out with a bunch of musicians?
--A drummer.


What did the drummer get on his SATs?
--Drool.


What do you call a drummer wearing a suit and tie?
--The defendant.


How do you know then there's a drummer at the door?
--The knocking keeps speeding up and he never knows when to come in.
 
How can you tell if the drum riser's level?
-- There's drool coming out of both sides of the drummer's mouth

What do you call a drummer who's split up with his girlfriend?
-- Homeless

What's the difference between a drummer and a 15" pizza?
-- A 15" pizza can feed a family of four

Ba-dum TSCHH!
 
A lot of it also depends on the type of music you’re playing and the situation you play in. I work on the Opry. All the staff musicians work off of number charts. None of the music submitted by the performers comes in the form of notation. If it did we would never get through rehearsals. All these guys play by ear and use the charts as a roadmap for song structure only. A lot of times performers will make last minute changes literally right before they walk on the stage and there’s no time to be dealing with rewriting notation.

And I know very few rock, blues, bluegrass, roots, or old time musicians that use notation. There’s just too many nuances in that type of music that can’t be accurately transcribed on a piece of sheet music or it will sound stiff and lifeless. Classical or orchestral style music is a different story but there’s no one size fits all solution to playing music. Some of the greatest musicians never had a clue as to what they were technically doing. My ear is my best asset by far.
 
@Hasbro, Nashville notation is a specific system that relies on both the high level of the players _and_ the fact that the music is generally simple. Those folks are very good at some things many classical players would be clueless or nearly clueless about, I agree.

But as to Hendrix and the like, there are plenty of exceptions that prove the rule, and there is no reason to choose to be illiterate. And for the record, my ear is my greatest asset, too. I'm "one of those" - perfect pitch, can write down anything I hear, and play almost any pop/rock/country tune in different keys while reading from standard notation. That doesn't change my opinion on being generally literate in the language of music - I believe it has great value and should be everyone's starting point in their musical journey.

And, I hasten to add, I don't care if people use it in what they choose to do with music, but they should be able to read the language. That a farmer doesn't spend his days with the written language doesn't mean he shouldn't learn to read and write - those are fundamental skills.

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My son is a pretty decent musician and couldn't read a note to save his life. Drives my wife (who does read music) nuts...
 
My son is a pretty decent musician and couldn't read a note to save his life. Drives my wife (who does read music) nuts...
I compensate my lack of talent by putting fuzz pedal as loud as possible. Distortion is so dominant, that nobody can't understand what note I'm playing with the bass. Add wah to it and you're pure gold. Total aural chaos.

I adore guitarists. They have to learn chords and stuff... There's two more strings and they're so close to each other. Looks difficult to play.
 
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I compensate my lack of talent by putting fuzz pedal as loud as possible. Distortion is so dominant, that nobody can't understand what note I'm playing with the bass. Add wah to it and you're pure gold. Total aural chaos.

This is probably how Heavy Metal was born
 
The entire origin of distortion in rock music has its origins in simply physics - when the input stage of an amplifier is driven too hard, it clips off the top of the waveform and, voila, distortion. This, as a feature, is part of even the most inexpensive guitar amps now, although I'm fairly certain it's handled in the digital domain. You get two volume controls - increasing the first while decreasing the second increases the distortion. Such distortion is also often called overdrive for obvious reasons - you're overdriving the initial amplifier stage.

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This, as a feature, is part of even the most inexpensive guitar amps now, although I'm fairly certain it's handled in the digital domain.

Steve is right to call it a feature. It used to be prevented (by good engineering) in older models, and guitarists would slash their speakers with knives to generate the distorted "buzz" they wanted (iirc). Now you have an input gain and output gain on just about everything in a chain!

As far as distortion is concerned, analog pedals and tube amps are highly sought after (though sometimes metal will venture into solid state amplification). Digital modeling is getting better, but analog is still preferred. It is telling that Strymon, probably the premiere digital pedal manufacturer in the world now, only recently entered the distortion landscape with an offering. But they made a name for themselves with delays and reverbs (where digital is preferred).

Not really directed at anyone - I just like to audio nerd out when I can (I went to school for recording technology and I run live sound - sheesh, for almost a decade now!).
 
One week in: focusing on G/C/D.....it’s hit or miss. Lots of time just trying to ensure clean chords and smooth(ish) transitions. Focusing on getting in lots of reps!
 
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