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Are you satisfied with your sound? I didn't think so....

11/18/2011

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 Random thoughts today about being at our best, playing-wise.

I’ve written about this in my Tip of the Week in the past but I think it bears repeating. How do we best accomplish clear, clean tone? This is something that I work on with my students on a weekly basis. The two most important elements are simple in theory but difficult for many in execution. First and foremost – arching the fingers and using the finger tips ONLY. All too often players get into the habit of allowing the fingers to flatten out so they use more of the pads of the fingers rather than the tips. I have a theory about this. I think it’s a two-fold problem and many players don’t analyze their playing enough to recognize the problems. It would seem that covering a wider area would lead to better coverage, and therefore a better chance of playing individual strings more accurately but that is not the case; flattening out is more likely to lead to touching (and killing) strings that are adjacent to the one or ones you’re trying to play. The second element is more practical. Playing with just the fingertips HURTS! At least in the beginning. But after calluses develop and strength improves, accuracy follows.

But to do that you have to employ the other essential, which is correct overall hand position. Dropping the wrist is the starting point. What that means is never allowing the inside of the hand to push UP on the back of the neck. Am I doing that, you think to yourself? Well, if your thumb is pointed back toward the head of the guitar you most certainly are. I’ll repeat a little tip a great guitarist told me not too long ago: make sure the tip of your thumb is parallel to your second (middle) finger at all times. This simple little trick will ensure your wrist is in proper position. If your wrist is positioned correctly it is much, much easier to arch the fingers and use only the tips, as outlined above.

One more thing (OK, that’s three things to keep in mind!): Stay close to the frets! But not on top of them! This is particularly important in the overall set up of a chord. For example, with first position C Major, if you don’t start with your 1st finger close to the 1st fret of the second string it is all but impossible to stretch out the 3rd finger to the third fret on the fifth string. Think about it.

Uh oh. One more thing. Press down hard! Yes, it might hurt but that will pass or become tolerable over time. The resulting clear, clean tone is worth it.

Along the same lines, I’m sometimes amazed by how very experienced players will accept sloppy playing as the norm. It’s taken me a lot of years to come to this conclusion but I hold it to be gospel truth: It is a far, far better thing to play a simple tune as perfectly as you can than to try to play something much more complex and accept sloppy playing as the price for those hot licks. Electric guitarists sometimes get away with sloppy playing by covering it up with distortion or other “effects.” Acoustic players don’t have that luxury.

Sometimes it’s not about the fretting hand at all. I heard a player recently who was quite accomplished but he was in the habit of playing back toward the bridge rather than near or over the sound hole. The result was a harsh, brittle sound that all but destroyed the wonderful complexity and resonance of the very expensive guitar he was playing. In my own playing I sometimes shift back toward the sound hole just a tiny bit during more forceful passages in a song, to minimize string noise that I might get if I tried those passages over the soundhole where the strings are more flexible. But I don’t stay there long because I want my very nice guitars to sound as good as they can. I would rather adjust the force of the attack, whether with fingers or a pick and play a bit softer than I would like, to ensure I get the BEST sound out of my guitar. Food for thought. Where do you keep your hand or pick when you play? Does your guitar sound good when you play there?

One more element in the quest for the best possible sound. How old are those strings? Even if you do everything I’ve mentioned you will not get a decent sound with strings that are old and dead. New strings are the least expensive way to immediately improve your sound. I’m often asked how often I change my strings. Well, depending on whether I’ve been gigging a lot with a particular guitar or it has been hot and humid and my hands have been sweating when I play, I might change them as often as once a month. Otherwise, I usually go 6 – 8 weeks with a set. I could probably go longer as the strings are totally dead by that point but I want my guitars to sound there best. So do your guitar – and your ears – a favor. Change those strings!

Peace & good music,

Gene

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The give and take of guitar purchases, Part 2

11/14/2011

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 Living on Cape Cod means that we depend upon tourist dollars to maintain our economy. In years past I worked in many aspects of the recreational fishing world including retail sales. ct with many folks from other parts of the country would come into the stores I worked in with the intention of learning things about the local fishing scene but also to buy gear. The overwhelming majority of the customers were wonderful. They shared a passion for something I loved too and it was fun to trade stories and help them select the appropriate lures and other gear to fool striped bass, bluefish and other species that inhabit our waters for most of the year.

However, I came to learn that there were a few who, no matter what, came through the door with their dukes up, convinced that my job was all about separating them from their hard earned cash by whatever deceptive and nefarious means I had at my disposal. After dealing with one such customer as best I could, I said to my boss, I’m going to have a t-shirt printed and wear it to work that says: "I’m a person, just like you! I don’t want to get screwed and neither do you! THAT’S NOT WHAT I DO!!!!"

He laughed and said, go ahead. I never did but I wish I had. But the lesson I learned was that certain customers will never, ever be satisfied with a purchase no matter how honest, forthright and amicable I am. Sad to say, I encountered this attitude again a couple days ago. Here’s what happened.

A guy emailed me about a certain guitar I have for sale. He wanted to know all about it in spite of the fact that I’d listed every detail I could think of in the description. He immediately jumped on the fact that I’d put in the company’s list price incorrectly. Well, shame on me for that – it turns out that the company had raised the list price since I listed the guitar and after our first communication I immediately checked that and changed it. Now, understand – the price I had listed was LOWER than the present list price, and in any case, no one every pays full list price for a new guitar, which this is. I think what he was mostly concerned with was winning a “gotcha!” moment. OK, my bad on that.

Then he called me and the real fun began. It was obvious from moment one that no matter how many times I told him that the guitar is in perfect condition he was not going to believe it. I then made mistake number two. What year is it, he asked. Well, I should have checked and I confused it with another guitar I had recently and said 2010. Ah HA! He all but shouted. You say on your site it is a brand new 2011!

Please wait a minute, I said, and went out to the studio to look at the guitar and check the serial number, also going to my web site to check the description. Sure enough, listed as a 2011 and the serial number confirmed it. So very sorry I said. It is in fact a 2011.

Well, he said, I checked you out and the company doesn’t even know who you are! No, I said, I am most certainly NOT an authorized dealer of that brand of guitar but this one is in brand new condition. It includes an unused warranty card and, I said, the company only offers their warranty to the original owner. You can do with that card what you wish.

He then said that he knows there are unscrupulous dealers who put out old stock and list it as new. Was I one of those?!?

I again reminded him that even though this is for all intents and purposes a new instrument, I am not nor have I been an authorized dealer for this company who (I repeated) only warrants their guitars to the original owner. You can do whatever you want with the warranty card, I said. Use it to light your fireplace, for all I care. By this point I knew what I was dealing with, to say the least.

Well, he said, I think I want it but I need to do some more research. Fine, I said. You probably are not someone who should buy a guitar without playing it anyway. I figured that was the last I’d hear from him.

But no. A few hours later he emailed again. He wanted the contact information for the first (original) owner from whom I’d bought the guitar so he could find out why the person would sell it (was there something wrong with it???!) or…. Now get this…. If it was STOLEN!

That tore it. One of the nice things about being self employed is that you have the option to not deal with someone when you know in your heart of hearts that this particular person would NEVER be happy with his purchase and only bad things could come of that. I wrote him back saying I was not willing to sell him the guitar because I’m certain he would find something wrong with it and then the situation could only get worse.

There were more veiled insults and innuendos from him throughout these communications but I won’t bore you with the details except to say that I did everything I could to reassure him that my description and information was accurate. Yes, I should not have quoted a year of manufacture without double checking and I should have checked the company’s site more frequently to confirm the list price – but again, the price I listed was LOWER than the current list price!

He wrote back with more insults and all but called me some kind of rip off artist and said he was going to purchase one from a certain well known dealer he could “trust” ! I couldn’t press the delete button quick enough.

And now a postscript. On one of the guitar forums I follow someone asked an innocent question about this particular model of guitar.  Well, my buddy chimed in that this model has a lot of problems and in any case doesn’t sound as good as a similar model (one he happens to own….).  Another person responded with the obvious question: have you ever owned or played one?!

Mr. Paranoia Strikes Deep did not respond.

And this, my friends, is the type of customer I was talking about at the beginning of this entry. Good luck & God bless to anyone who sells him a guitar….or a car….or a washing machine….or anything. Because he is absolutely certain that the whole world is out to screw him. How very, very sad.

Peace & good music,

Gene

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The give and take of guitar purchases, Part 1

11/11/2011

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_  Had a couple of very interesting experiences yesterday while on both sides of the aisle in the world of guitar purchasing. It was very instructive and in spite of the woulda-coulda-shoulda aspects of the two experiences I know I was right and perhaps my tale will help someone approach the buying experience with open eyes.

About 2 ½ weeks ago I bought a guitar from an online retailer on the West Coast. Discretion forbids me to mention the name (but I will be happy to for anyone who drops me a private inquiry) but they are making a big push through what appears to be an extensive emailing list. They feature four items per day in “daily specials” and some times their prices for things like guitars, amps, sound reinforcement and microphones appear to be pretty good, although in many cases they are selling items that the manufacturers have discontinued. The guitar I bought was going to be for a student who left me some discretion price-wise and was depending on what expertise I have to select something that would be of good quality for a reasonable price. This retailer goes to great lengths to trumpet their ONE YEAR warranty on all items sold. But shame on me for not reading the fine print. More on that in a minute.

The first annoyance was the fact that AFTER the purchase was made there was a disclaimer that stated any items bought would most likely not be shipped for 7 – 10 days after the purchase. To be frank, if I had known that I would not have made the purchase. But oh well, I thought. The guy who I was buying it for (and by the way – I stood to make about $20 on this, total) could use his present guitar for the time being. Considering the fact that this operation is in California and at least 5 to 7 days ground shipping it was possible I would not see it for three weeks! Beyond that, there was a charge for shipping – something that the big online retailers do not do with new merchandise.

Time passed. No confirmation of the purchase, no email saying the guitar had shipped. Nothing. After a week or so I emailed asking what was up. No response. Another email the next day. No response. Another email, this one more forceful. Then a phone call from someone named Nicole who claimed to have responded to the first two emails. I checked my spam box, deleted messages and everything I could think of to confirm this and it was obviously a lie – I know this because I was STILL getting their daily advertisements. She stated that the guitar had shipped and I would receive it shortly. And a few days later I did, about two weeks from when the order was placed. Grrrrrr. I would bet a bottle of good Scotch that Nicole put in the order after our conversation. 

Unfortunately, a week later when my student tried the guitar he did not like it (the neck was too narrow for his fingers). So I decided to take the company up on their much ballyhooed ONE YEAR WARRANTY! Emailed them to ask about return procedure. (Now understand – due to their lallygagging it had been over a month since the order was placed and at least a week since I had received it, but the total playing time on it was perhaps ten minutes and it was in immaculate condition). No response. Next day, another email. No response. The next day, another email, this time cc’ed to another address besides the one for orders I found on their site. Finally, a phone call.

Oh no, Mr. Bourque, we cannot take back used guitars!

But what about the big deal 1-year warranty, I asked.

Well, that is only good IF THE BOX HAS NOT BEEN OPENED (!!!!)

I laughed out loud. Who would NOT open a box? I asked. This young lady passed me back to Nicole, who proceeded to tell me about “their business model of flash retailing” that would not allow returns. I was flabbergasted, to say the least. She also mentioned that she had responded with information to my first two emails. Which yet again was patently false. She then offered to email me using her own personal account and would forward a return form (hey, wait a minute – I thought you didn’t take returns??!) and would “go against policy” and issue a refund.


By this point the entire conversation was bordering on the surreal. I thought about it for a moment and said – what is to keep your boss from saying, oh no, Nicole should not have offered you a refund. Do you want to pay for shipping the guitar BACK? (after I’ve already paid for it to get to me and then back to them!). So, I said, I’ll wait for your email and the return form and decide what I would do.

 

I’m still waiting for the email.

 

Next: Paranoia strikes deep, or ….. I know you’re trying to screw me! Admit it!!

 

Whew!

 

Peace & good music,

Gene

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Feeling good about what we play

11/7/2011

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How do we measure our success on a musical instrument? By the reaction of others who listen to us play? By what we can play this week that we couldn’t play last week? The short answer is – yes, those things matter. But ultimately it has much more to do with how we feel about what we’re playing, if it gives more satisfaction than frustration. This is a tricky thing, for sure, because it gets into much bigger questions about how we feel about ourselves generally. Part of my job as a guitar instructor is through demonstration and intuition to determine how fast I should move a student along. Will throwing a lot of new material at a student inspire or just frustrate them?

I really, really want each and every student to feel good about their playing. After all, they are not here because they have to be, they’re here because they want to be! One school of thought in the teaching of musical instruments is that a student should never move on to the next thing until they have thoroughly conquered what the teacher has presented. This is the classic way to teach guitar and for many decades it was standard operating procedure. Mel Bay, Alfred’s and other guitar courses began with Book 1, and when a student finished it they could move on to Book 2, and so on. This had value in a certain way and probably still does, especially for younger students. Youngsters have nothing to compare learning the guitar to except what happens in school, where they move from chapter to chapter in their text books. Also, to be quite frank and perhaps a bit cynical, using those cut-and-dried methods is much, much easier for the teacher than having to prepare lessons each week for individual students. The little devil who sits on my shoulder and whispers in my ear says, oh wouldn’t THAT be nice!

But I don’t listen to him. I also don’t accept students under the age of ten for this and other reasons. I just hate those method books with their rigid regimen of note reading and exercises. Maybe I’m wrong but I believe they do more to discourage budding guitarists in the long run than make them feel good about their playing. Sure, after a year you can read and play the melody to “Down in the Valley” but do you really want to?!?

So I carefully plan lessons and always try to be aware of how a student feels about what he or she can do. Right now I have a student who is a pretty darn good player but he doesn’t think he is, and he gets very frustrated when he makes a mistake and often just stops playing when one happens. He’s only been with me for a couple months and I’ve been doing everything I know how to make him understand that he IS a good player and that a mistake here or there is nothing to stress out about. Sure we all want to play perfectly, but you know what? There is no such thing as a perfect guitar player! He recently heard me play at a regular gig I have and while he was intently listening I forced myself to screw up from time to time, so he could hear what I was talking about in his lessons. But I did keep going – I always impress on students the only real, common bond the listener and player have is the rhythm of the song. Break it, and you’ve only calling attention to a mistake. A mistake that most likely would have been unnoticed or at worst, immediately forgiven by the listeners. I’ll keep trying to make him feel good about his playing and I think he will, hopefully sooner rather than later. Because he really is a very good player. No lie!

Another thing that I deal with both myself and with students is how to measure success. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I so wish I could do my first year or so of guitar playing all over again because I clearly remember the pure joy of being able to say, hey, I couldn’t play that last week, and this week I can! Now I have to measure my success in terms of what can I do this YEAR that I couldn’t do last year. The trick it to believe that you will be better next week, next month, next year, whatever. I know that is hard for some, which gets back to that bigger question of how one feels about him or herself in a general sense. I won’t go there but I do hope that a person’s lessons with me are a positive experience and I vow to do everything I know to make them be.

So, like the old Bing Crosby song says, accentuate the positive. Resist falling into the trap of comparing your own playing to someone with much more experience. I’m not denying that natural talent is real and some have the propensity to learn at a faster rate than others. But when a song or a musical concept seems insurmountable don’t equate your inability to play it with some kind of larger failure. Maybe you’ll get it, sooner or late, maybe you won’t but the fact is you most likely do have songs that you know in your heart of hearts that you play pretty well or that at least you’re satisfied with. Play them. Then go back to the hard stuff for a little while. And have faith.

Peace & good music,

Gene

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A case of nerves

11/3/2011

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 One of my students was telling me about his recent, first-time playing in front of strangers experience. He told me that in spite of being well prepared it was nerve-wracking half hour. It was at a local open mic, which I think is a great way to get your feet wet in performing. You can almost always be guaranteed a sympathetic audience composed in part of players with similar levels of experience who will be supportive and perhaps you’ll even manage to hook up with players of similar ability and musical interests. I did that many, many years ago while living in Cambridge. I attended an open mic (although I don’t think we called them that back then) at the Sword in the Stone coffee house, a very cool little place that used to be a real hot spot for acoustic music in the Boston area. I heard a wonderful woman singer-songwriter named Elizabeth Kent and we began playing together. In a few short months we were playing at Passim, then and now one of the greatest and most prestigious acoustic rooms in the country. The point is, you never know what might happen at an open mic!

A case of the nerves is part of any playing out experience. As well it should be because in my opinion it forces you into your A-game. Going into any performance, regardless if it’s in front of a dozen people or thousands with an oh-well-I-don’t-care attitude is not only disingenuous to an audience but is also a recipe for disaster. If you do mess up (and you will, sooner or later) that nervousness that you should have dealt with before the performance instantly comes to the forefront – probably WORSE than it would have been before you started playing. Then bad, bad things will most likely happen. I can tell you that without a doubt, my worst performances over many years have come when I went into them totally relaxed or worse yet, distracted.

So all I’m saying is – channel that anxiety! Start by understanding two basic facts. First, you will screw up at some point. Everyone does. But also know that 99% of the people out there have no idea what a B7 is supposed to sound like.  However, always remember that the one common bond the listener and player have is rhythm. No matter what, DON’T STOP! Keep playing unless you have absolutely no idea what is happening next. If that happens, smile and apologize and start over. But avoid that if at all possible. Most audiences are much more forgiving than you may give them credit for. Perhaps now more than ever with the popularity of karaoke and the…. ahem…. quality of performances that are sometimes seen in that venue!

Performing is an integral part of anyone’s overall musical experience. It’s all well and good to spend hours and hours practicing in the comfort of your home but putting it out there for others to hear will always bring you to another level and at the very least show you what does or doesn’t work. Be prepared to be surprised by that – there have been many, many times when particular songs I’ve played have gotten a much better reaction than I expected. And the inverse has happened too. Tunes that I worked hard on and were quite proud of elicited lukewarm response at best. Both of these extremes were valuable learning experiences.

After my student went on about his almost overwhelming nervousness I asked him: so, did you finish the set? Yes, he said. And was it fun? I asked. He grinned.

“Yeah, it sure was!” he said.

Peace & good music,

Gene

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