User Comments

1. 

   7/26/09

   Anthe

   I love the guitar, but I know nothing about playing it. I just had a quick look at your blog and it looks really nice and clean.

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2. 

   7/26/09

   wagerwitch

   Clean, nicely done and easy to read.
   
   I'd prefer to see more diagram or pictures in the posting - as a newbie who is playing guitar isn't going to understand what you are trying to say unless you are "PICTURE DEMONSTRATING" it.
   
   Do teach tabs by showing - and don't forget Drop D tuning.
   
   I didn't see those topics covered yet - but I didn't go that far into the blog.
   
   Kyle - also - I see that you're giving 12 months of lessons - right?
   
   OK - make sure you remember that your average person who is going to look up items online for playing guitar --- well that person isn't going to know which string is which string - what a fret is - or even how to string their own guitar.
   
   They won't understand tunage...
   
   The won't understand hammer, palm muting, etc.
   
   In fact - they only have a guitar in one hand, the mouse in the other - and maybe a pick on the table waiting for you to "SHOW" them what you're giving them.
   
   Try making vids or getting youtube vids that show what you are trying to show.
   
   Other than that - it's clean and eye pleasing - and you do write well enough for a reader to get into it.

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3. 

   7/26/09

   acousticguitarist

   good luck with it

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4. 

   7/26/09

   celticmusicfan

   interesting. but you have to add more videos or graphics to make it more interesting.

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5. 

   7/26/09

   Rainhat

   It's a nice looking blog, clean and simple.
   I have a few thoughts about the content, though.
   
   "When you pick, you want to keep your pick centered between the last fret and the bridge. Getting too close to the bridge or last fret is a bad habit."
   
   Where you pick changes the color of the sound, from a sharp, more metallic sound closer to the bridge, to a fuller, more mellow sound near the last fret, so where you pick would depend on what kind of sound you want. A beginner needs to start somewhere, so in the middle is as good a place as any, I guess, but I wouldn't say it's a "bad habit" to stray from the center. You might need to backpaddle on it later, and going "forget what I said earlier, it's actually like this" is not a great strategy for a teacher.
   
   About the harmonics, if we get technical about it, you can actually play harmonics in a lot more places than the 5th, 7th and 12th, fret, but those three are the easiest ones.
   The locations of the natural harmonics isn't so much about the exact frets, but rather the division of the length of the string. If you pick a harmonic exactly in the middle of the string, you get the octave, exactly at one third of the string (7th fret) you get octave+fifth, at a quarter of the string (5th fret) you get the double octave, etc. and you can continue this and divide the string into fifths, sixths, and so on, but it gets harder to hear the sound the smaller the division is. They also move further away from being directly over a fret.
   You can also play the harmonics on the "opposite" end of the guitar. For example, the harmonic you get over the 7th fret can also be played over the 19th fret, since that's another division point if you divide the string into three parts.
   
   This is perhaps a bit too technical for beginners, but I think it's good to plan your lessons not only for the next session, but also for the long run, so that you don't teach your students anything you would have to contradict later when they get a bit more advanced. Keep it simple, but keep it accurate.
   
   "Unlike regular harmonics, pinch harmonics can be done on any fret of the guitar."
   
   This is perhaps a bit vague, unless you're planning on expanding on the topic in the next post. Remember, if you don't know anything about guitar, you're not going to understand what you mean.

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6. 

   7/26/09

   yankeefan238

   Hey Everyone!
   
   Thank You so much for your feedback! Tomorrow I am going to work on cleaning up the site and implementing the feedback given here! I was surprised to get this much feedback.
   
   Thank you wager witch and celticmusicfan, I am going to add some pictures and video to show users what to do.
   
   I also want to thank Rainhat. I wanted to keep it easy because this is the first lesson in harmonics and I didn't want to get too technical as you said. But I think that I will add to that post and tell users that there are more too harmonics. I will says that the 5th, 7th, and 12th frets are easy for beginners to start with. I will explain it in more detail in another post.
   
   Thanks again for all your feedback!

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   1. 

      7/26/09

      acousticguitarist

      You may want to check out Muriel Anderson at some point. She wrote a magnificent article some years ago on harmonics for Acoustic Guitar magazine.
7. 

   7/28/09

   jangkrikjr

   Great blog about same guitar tips. I just found another blog with electric bass guitar tips here www.howtoyou.com/category/guitar

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