Acoustic Guitar Magazine Dec 2005 Issue What can I say that you don’t already know? Tommy E. and being able to play like him is the Everest of goals for acoustic guitarists. Twenty years ago, my quest to play like Tommy Began. December 2005 I got my issue of Acoustic Guitar Magazine which included the tab for “Angelina”. Such a beautiful song with a melody you could easily hum and to be honest play (well maybe not so easily). I learned it but I never really polished it, made it performance ready; I could play it in chunks. Maybe it was just where I was in life or the ADD (probably both) but I didn’t get “Angelina” fully performance ready until 20 years later … YouTube channel motivation When I decided to restart my YouTube Channel, Angelina was at the top of my list to post.. It took me a nearly a year to get it to where I felt it was good enough to upload… practicing every day, working on every nuance, cursing every mistake, getting frustrated with the mics, camera, etc.. I’m relieved to say the video has been dropped after 20 year wait. I’m proud of all …
latest update
Capos, Capos, Capos!!! If you are on social media, even for a few minutes a day and you play guitar, a capo add or two (or ten) will pop up on your feed. Each claiming to be the end all be all be all of capos. Black Mountain is not an exception to this observation but is there some teeth to this declaration? I bought a Black Mountain Capo to find out for myself to see if it’s true or just good marketing. First Impressions: First thought picking up the capo was that this device is heavy and sturdy, like a stone wall. Compared to the Black Mountain, my Kyser and D’ Adario capos are light as a feather. This gives me an initial idea that it might be a durable piece of equipment in my capo collection. Black Mountain’s design includes, per their website, “First guitar capo in the world to embed compression springs into the string pad”. They are covered but I pressed down and could feel them; they have very little give but is supposed to eliminate “pinched, out-of-tune strings!” Pros of the Black Mountain Capo Cons of the Black Mountain Capo Is the Black Mountain Capo …
I uploaded a YouTube short to my channel the other day… It’s a bluesy solo over a constant drone of the E string with my thumb. The key is to hold that beat with your thumb; every quarter note needs to be represented. I was pretty happy (and still is) about my playing. The thumb/beat was solid and the solo stayed within the beat. I listened a little closer As I was uploading the short, I watched it one more time watching the thumb. What do you know? There were some pauses in my playing that I was sure didn’t exist. I’ve worked for years and years to get that thumb consistent and independent but sometimes one falls back into old patterns.. You gotta record yourself I make it a habit to record myself quite a bit and this is why. We have plenty of resources so there isn’t an excuse to not record yourself. You can make up excuses like I did to not record like “It’s too much to organize after awhile” “I don’t have the time to listen” ” I don’t like hearing or watching me play” . The list goes on and on but there are …
D’Addario Cradle Guitar Capo: My Personal Experience. Affordable and worth a look.
by Larry
written by Larry
I saw an advertisement, on Instagram, for the capo Billy Strings uses; it looked pretty nifty. Since I had an capo failure during a past performance, I thought I would look into maybe getting one. Turns out these Elliot ‘Elite’ capos are $200+ dollars each. I’m sure they are great, well made capos but I don’t have Billy Strings money so I needed an alternative. D’Addarrio Cradle Capo The D’Addario version of a cradle type capo, much like the Elliot’s, except a price that I could stomach($50/60). It was delivered and I used it on my next gig. Worked well and I feel that the intonation was better than my Kyser. But the tradeoff is that the cradle capo takes more time to get on the guitar and adjusted. There was a problem…. After about a month of use, I started to see that the screw I used to tighten the cradle wasn’t rotating well. I could still use it but it didn’t feel right. After a few weeks, the screw was pretty much stuck in place. I figure that the threads were crossed and eventually seized after a while. I had a capo that was useless to me. D’Addarrio …
One Year on YouTube: I Came Prepared for Trolls and Got a Supportive Community Instead
by Larry
written by Larry
There’s a video of Nuno Bettencourt where he asks the crowd something like, “how many guitarist out here”. Of course there is a loud cheer and he was all “ah i get it”… “you all are saying to yourself, ‘I can play that better.’” A funny joke and so true in guitar circles. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard guitarists talk smack about other players. A petty competitiveness that’s just part of the culture and I have to admit that I have participated from time to time. YouTube Channel and TikTok Surprises It’s been a year since I resurrected my YouTube channel, I’ve posted almost 300 videos. I was certain that the internet crossed with that guitarist sh@t talk, I would get some interesting comments. However, I’m pleasantly surprised how nice everyone has been. I was expecting a few cynical or negative comments but all I’ve received 100 percent positive posts; minus the bot comments…. “The idea is top notch This deserves recognition.” Makes no sense on a music post. SMH TikTok, where there are countless trolls, I have received nothing but positive feedback. It’s refreshing and nice to see that the internet isn’t completely full of negative …
