OK, so here's my newest trick: play hymns to learn to play the guitar.
If you didn't know, it works great. I'll have a series on this soon.
In a short while, I'll do nothing but spend countless, non-paid hours agonizing over what I can play and what's most important to practice...and suffering from periodic attacks of anxiety and jealousy if my archenemy, The Hymn Box 200, ever gets a hymn in edge-wise.
Since Mr. dataDyne, my guitar teacher, has "a real job, isn't a country hick, and doesn't have time to waste arranging hymns," the responsibility falls to my untrained ear to arrange chords to the hymns. I learned D7, and perfected my changing between and to Am, F (Mr. dataDyne says to just do F as 003210 instead of 003211), and C. One song requires a rapid Am, C, F, C, F, G and C which sounds cool in addition to being great practice.
I also learned A7, Dsus2 and G7 (A7 and Dsus2 are simpler than A and D, G7 is trickier than a C- I can hit C's pretty well now). Did I mention I did most of this today? Yes, yesterday I compiled a list of 15,260 hymns and am currently working my way through assigning chords to each song- though many already have simple chords. A few songs, despite their simplicity, sound amazing. That hymn box pales when compared to actual music- if one day I want to make the songs extremely sad, I can use minor chords.
If I want to make a normally sad song triumphant, I change the time a little and use all major chords and an alternate strum here and there (as long as it isn't sacrilegious). Don't even get me started on capo possibilities- cause I wouldn't go far, I don't have a capo. And as Mr. dataDyne says, "Hah. We don't sing as fast as they want us to...they sing as fast as we want them to."
I spent many hours today arranging hymns- I only got 5 hours of sleep- and it'll be many, many more sleepless days. I try to keep the hymns simple to play; this is involuntary. I've been playing 3 months now, so I can only play them if they're easy. It's actually getting to the point where I could add chords with no prior base of chords, allowing me to create my own hymns (songs), which I'll be doing sometime in the future. Can you say "sacrilege?" I think you can, it's only 3 syllables long.
Also important is to learn what the point of music in worship is, how to choose hymns, how songs overshadow themselves (i.e. indulge the flesh or become obsolete in their obscurity), the right heart attitude to have, biblical examples of worship and teaching through hymns/songs, why we should or shouldn't play contemporary worship songs (if they're intact retuned hymns? If they're not?), and the meaning behind songs- I also need to be taught how hymns direct an assembly and how to judge the assembly's acceptance of a song.
In short, I need to learn how to be a hymn leader. Three Hymn Leader class hymnists under the direction of the main leader will do better than a Hymn Leader class hymnist with a pair of Can't Sing Sally and Can't Play Danny classes. I'm certain it's not as complicated as I'm gearing myself up for. For sure, just being involved develops the skills through osmosis, but a crash course can't hurt. Mr. Bruckner likes teaching me about hymning, I might ask him. He is like a honeycomb, with many pockets of knowledge covered by wax.
On that last note (knowledge, that is), welcome to my new idea: Hymnfotainment! Yes! I feel certain hymns require an explanation (especially if they're not played often), for example, Holy, Holy, Holy. I had no idea what an[sic] seraphim was, so I asked Mrs. Brucker, the hymn leader's wife. He and she then explained it to me as best they could, then sent me what little information they could find on them. Result? I feel much more comfortable singing the hymn. I'm certain at least a few could benefit from this, and it might make others think about what they're singing.
Another example: why is it "Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me"- what operation did a sound play in my salvation? Is grace a sound? Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God- how shall they believe on him of whom they have not heard, how shall they hear without a preacher (Rm. 10:17, 14)- but surely the blood was still the operation. I'll add this to my book I'm (not) writing: Parables, Difficult Theories, And Outright Confusing Lies to Ask Your Pastor.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Here Comes the Bride Tab
There are several versions, but I like the one I use here. Someday, I'll find the expanded ending, like (if memory serves) is present in the "original."
I used this tab, found at 911Tabs. Specifically, this link:
e|-------------------------------------------------------| b|-------------------------------------------------------| G|-------3--3---3(b)-----------5--5---3(b)---------------| D|--3(b)-----------------3(b)----------------------------| A|-------------------------------------------------------| E|-------------------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------------------| b|-------------------------------------------------------| G|-------3-5-5/8---3--0-----3--3---3(b)------------------| D|--3(b)----------------3--------------------------------| A|-------------------------------------------------------| E|-------------------------------------------------------|
The legend states:
/ = slide (but I instead bend)
(b) = bend (but I instead bend it up and down- I am unsure what this is called. It's, y'know, bending up and down in an alternating fashion. I didn't quite grasp tab completely at the time I learned this, which was a month ago. This makes the above tab kind of difficult to grasp for awhile, until I find out what that's called. Probably "alternate bending" or something.)
Compensating for those changes here is the tab I used for the song:
e|-------------------------------------------------------| b|-------------------------------------------------------| G|-------3--3---3(ab)-----------5--5---3(ab)-------------| D|--3----------------------3-----------------------------| A|-------------------------------------------------------| E|-------------------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------------------| b|-------------------------------------------------------| G|-------3-5-5(b)8---3--0-----3--3---3(ab)---------------| D|--3---------------------3------------------------------| A|-------------------------------------------------------| E|-------------------------------------------------------|
Tab legend:
(ab) = "alternate bend" bend up and down rapidly; this is not an official name or sign. I'll find out what it's called.
(b) = bend
As you can tell in the below video, I still can't quite grasp this extremely easy song after a month of regular practice. Yeah...but I'm learning the MP1 theme music. (More on that later- suffice it to say, it's lots more difficult than this.)
My adoring fans. I hope they don't do this to me at church!
Officially, slide means to move quickly to a higher/lower fret (i.e. from the 5th to the 8th), but I thought "slide" meant to bend. Bend means to, while holding the string down, "bend" the string up or down to achieve a different pitch. Think about it: as you push it down (down as in from the 3rd string toward the 2nd string) a quarter inch or so, it tightens the string, thus smoothly increasing the tension, thus changing the pitch. See an actual, detailed article about this.
Now for my pitiful explanation...ahem: For example, I was doing 5(b)8 instead of 5/8. I should have held the 5, then, very quickly, moved down to the 8th fret (all of this is occurring on string G- the 3rd string, remember?) That's a slide.
Instead, I struck the 5th fret, then, while holding the string down, pushed the string close to the 2nd string, adding a neat rising and lowering effect. That's a bend. It sounds very controlled and delicate in this particular song. Experiment and you should get it...again, hold the string down, then push it down toward another string, you should see what I mean. 5(b)8 means to bend the string until it sounds like it's the 8th fret- thus identifying for you how much to bend it. I think this is why I was confused- the 3(b) does not tell you how much to bend it, so my mind went "IMPROVISE, IMPROVIIICE!"
Aside from misunderstanding the slide sign (/), I thought that the "bend" in the tab legend meant to push the string up and down as in a bend- in this case, using the 3rd string, 5/8 example, you'd move the string down toward the 2nd string (string, not fret) and up toward the 4th several times in rapid fashion. It makes the string sound more lively. And it's fun to do- you may not be able to do it at first, but you'll develop the strength in a short amount of time. It will come naturally. Then you'll get faster, or so I hear.
I do not know what the signal/sign for this particular move is, and I don't know what it's called. I like my substitutions more than the original tab, and I don't think that makes me a bad person. Tell me if you like the original more than mine. The original or mine? Or "other"?
I've got the newspaper, come fetch the newspaper? Over here! Newspaper! Choose me!
At least choose "other"!!!
I used this tab, found at 911Tabs. Specifically, this link:
e|-------------------------------------------------------| b|-------------------------------------------------------| G|-------3--3---3(b)-----------5--5---3(b)---------------| D|--3(b)-----------------3(b)----------------------------| A|-------------------------------------------------------| E|-------------------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------------------| b|-------------------------------------------------------| G|-------3-5-5/8---3--0-----3--3---3(b)------------------| D|--3(b)----------------3--------------------------------| A|-------------------------------------------------------| E|-------------------------------------------------------|
The legend states:
/ = slide (but I instead bend)
(b) = bend (but I instead bend it up and down- I am unsure what this is called. It's, y'know, bending up and down in an alternating fashion. I didn't quite grasp tab completely at the time I learned this, which was a month ago. This makes the above tab kind of difficult to grasp for awhile, until I find out what that's called. Probably "alternate bending" or something.)
Compensating for those changes here is the tab I used for the song:
e|-------------------------------------------------------| b|-------------------------------------------------------| G|-------3--3---3(ab)-----------5--5---3(ab)-------------| D|--3----------------------3-----------------------------| A|-------------------------------------------------------| E|-------------------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------------------| b|-------------------------------------------------------| G|-------3-5-5(b)8---3--0-----3--3---3(ab)---------------| D|--3---------------------3------------------------------| A|-------------------------------------------------------| E|-------------------------------------------------------|
Tab legend:
(ab) = "alternate bend" bend up and down rapidly; this is not an official name or sign. I'll find out what it's called.
(b) = bend
As you can tell in the below video, I still can't quite grasp this extremely easy song after a month of regular practice. Yeah...but I'm learning the MP1 theme music. (More on that later- suffice it to say, it's lots more difficult than this.)
My adoring fans. I hope they don't do this to me at church!
Officially, slide means to move quickly to a higher/lower fret (i.e. from the 5th to the 8th), but I thought "slide" meant to bend. Bend means to, while holding the string down, "bend" the string up or down to achieve a different pitch. Think about it: as you push it down (down as in from the 3rd string toward the 2nd string) a quarter inch or so, it tightens the string, thus smoothly increasing the tension, thus changing the pitch. See an actual, detailed article about this.
Now for my pitiful explanation...ahem: For example, I was doing 5(b)8 instead of 5/8. I should have held the 5, then, very quickly, moved down to the 8th fret (all of this is occurring on string G- the 3rd string, remember?) That's a slide.
Instead, I struck the 5th fret, then, while holding the string down, pushed the string close to the 2nd string, adding a neat rising and lowering effect. That's a bend. It sounds very controlled and delicate in this particular song. Experiment and you should get it...again, hold the string down, then push it down toward another string, you should see what I mean. 5(b)8 means to bend the string until it sounds like it's the 8th fret- thus identifying for you how much to bend it. I think this is why I was confused- the 3(b) does not tell you how much to bend it, so my mind went "IMPROVISE, IMPROVIIICE!"
Aside from misunderstanding the slide sign (/), I thought that the "bend" in the tab legend meant to push the string up and down as in a bend- in this case, using the 3rd string, 5/8 example, you'd move the string down toward the 2nd string (string, not fret) and up toward the 4th several times in rapid fashion. It makes the string sound more lively. And it's fun to do- you may not be able to do it at first, but you'll develop the strength in a short amount of time. It will come naturally. Then you'll get faster, or so I hear.
I do not know what the signal/sign for this particular move is, and I don't know what it's called. I like my substitutions more than the original tab, and I don't think that makes me a bad person. Tell me if you like the original more than mine. The original or mine? Or "other"?
I've got the newspaper, come fetch the newspaper? Over here! Newspaper! Choose me!
At least choose "other"!!!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Happy Birthday Tab
Disclaimer: I am in no way a tabmaker. This is simply the version I use, which works.
Today, we'll learn how to do a basic version of "Happy Birthday." If you didn't know, it's copyrighted. Isn't that strange? I found this on some random tab site suffering from psychosis. I forget where, but thanks, random tab site suffering from psychosis.
e|---------------------------------3-0---------1-1-0---------|
B|-----------1-0----------3-1----------1-0------------1-3-1--|
G|--0-0-2-0-------0-0-2-0------0-0----------2----------------|
D|-----------------------------------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------------------------------|
And uh, the words. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear stupid, happy birthday to you.
I always say "dear stupid" when I practice the song. It makes me laugh when I finally play it, because I want to say "dear stupid."
Today, we'll learn how to do a basic version of "Happy Birthday." If you didn't know, it's copyrighted. Isn't that strange? I found this on some random tab site suffering from psychosis. I forget where, but thanks, random tab site suffering from psychosis.
e|---------------------------------3-0---------1-1-0---------|
B|-----------1-0----------3-1----------1-0------------1-3-1--|
G|--0-0-2-0-------0-0-2-0------0-0----------2----------------|
D|-----------------------------------------------------------|
A|-----------------------------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------------------------------|
And uh, the words. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear stupid, happy birthday to you.
I always say "dear stupid" when I practice the song. It makes me laugh when I finally play it, because I want to say "dear stupid."
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Echo Takes a Bath
I had to give Echo a bath for the first time one week ago for my second Guitar Lesson from Mr. dataDyne, 1 week ago, April the 9th. I was tired of the fingerprints and oil all over him. Plus, as I hang him up on my wall with a standard wall hanger, the head of the guitar gathers dust quite efficiently. See picture, below.
The fur-looking stuff is the neckstrap I was forced to make from a clothing line. Echo doesn't have a second strap holder.
I did a pretty intuitive cleaning. Got a cloth with some water and just a little bit of soap on it (because I don't know what soap does to guitars) and wiped him down, then got another soft cloth and dried him off, and washed any problem areas a second time. The head was particularly hard to clean, as there are still 1/8" pieces of string that haven't been cut sticking out of the winders.
The contours of the body are fun to clean. Up, down, up, down. Like I said, very simple process, just wipe down and dry off. Be careful not to get the fretwood very wet, it seems to soak up water and soapy water probably isn't good for wood. I then turned my efforts to the pickguard.
It's starting to get bubbles in it and get fogged. You see...
The plastic was still on it! So I proceeded to peel it off.
All done! Then I was ready to head to church and my guitar lesson. Echo's pickguard could finally breath. Today, I cleaned him a second time, minus the peeling off of the fogged pickguard cover. The pickguard looks great. I don't expect a lesson tonight, but I'll bring him anyways, just in case.
While it works fine to clean him with water and some soap and a towel, I think I really need to get an actual guitar cleaning system. I have my eyes on the Dunlop Formula 65 Guitar Polish Kit- it comes with cleaner and polisher solution and a wax. It's $13, plus shipping.
I also have both my eyes on this GHS Fast-Fret String Cleaner ($5), which has 6 grooves to clean all the strings and comes with cleaner. Seeing's how it comes with the string cleaning solution, the above-mentioned Formula 65 kit will work for me. If I wasn't buying the Fast-Fret string cleaner, I would get the System 65 Guitar Maintenance Kit which includes "string saver." Industry buzz-words, I'll tell ya.
They have many combinations of solutions and waxes. I will eventually need to buy a fretboard conditioner that isn't made for tables- maybe it would be better to just buy the $25 System 65 kit right off the bat and not worry about it. I'll consider that when I have time. So you know, this is the alternative to the System 65 kit: Fender Instrument Kit by Meguiar's.
Also on my list- something I need desperately- is a string winder/cutter. They're only $5, but necessary none-the-less.
Also, I want to check out the Dunlop Tortex picks, specifically the .88 and 1.0's. I started out with a pocketfull of .71's, but those are just too light. I love the .88's, and I want to see if I'll love the 1.0 even more. Mr. dataDyne says that he prefers the .88's, and that's why he gave me an .88 to try. It would probably be best to buy a pack of picks with all the gauges so I can get a feel for all of them.
On the subject of picks, I'm officially starting to wear down my second. The first one just got its surface smoothed so it was hard to grip...this second one is actually having wear from hitting the strings!
The fur-looking stuff is the neckstrap I was forced to make from a clothing line. Echo doesn't have a second strap holder.
I did a pretty intuitive cleaning. Got a cloth with some water and just a little bit of soap on it (because I don't know what soap does to guitars) and wiped him down, then got another soft cloth and dried him off, and washed any problem areas a second time. The head was particularly hard to clean, as there are still 1/8" pieces of string that haven't been cut sticking out of the winders.
The contours of the body are fun to clean. Up, down, up, down. Like I said, very simple process, just wipe down and dry off. Be careful not to get the fretwood very wet, it seems to soak up water and soapy water probably isn't good for wood. I then turned my efforts to the pickguard.
It's starting to get bubbles in it and get fogged. You see...
The plastic was still on it! So I proceeded to peel it off.
All done! Then I was ready to head to church and my guitar lesson. Echo's pickguard could finally breath. Today, I cleaned him a second time, minus the peeling off of the fogged pickguard cover. The pickguard looks great. I don't expect a lesson tonight, but I'll bring him anyways, just in case.While it works fine to clean him with water and some soap and a towel, I think I really need to get an actual guitar cleaning system. I have my eyes on the Dunlop Formula 65 Guitar Polish Kit- it comes with cleaner and polisher solution and a wax. It's $13, plus shipping.
I also have both my eyes on this GHS Fast-Fret String Cleaner ($5), which has 6 grooves to clean all the strings and comes with cleaner. Seeing's how it comes with the string cleaning solution, the above-mentioned Formula 65 kit will work for me. If I wasn't buying the Fast-Fret string cleaner, I would get the System 65 Guitar Maintenance Kit which includes "string saver." Industry buzz-words, I'll tell ya.
They have many combinations of solutions and waxes. I will eventually need to buy a fretboard conditioner that isn't made for tables- maybe it would be better to just buy the $25 System 65 kit right off the bat and not worry about it. I'll consider that when I have time. So you know, this is the alternative to the System 65 kit: Fender Instrument Kit by Meguiar's.
Also on my list- something I need desperately- is a string winder/cutter. They're only $5, but necessary none-the-less.
Also, I want to check out the Dunlop Tortex picks, specifically the .88 and 1.0's. I started out with a pocketfull of .71's, but those are just too light. I love the .88's, and I want to see if I'll love the 1.0 even more. Mr. dataDyne says that he prefers the .88's, and that's why he gave me an .88 to try. It would probably be best to buy a pack of picks with all the gauges so I can get a feel for all of them.
On the subject of picks, I'm officially starting to wear down my second. The first one just got its surface smoothed so it was hard to grip...this second one is actually having wear from hitting the strings!
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Lesson #2 - DD: basic fingerstyle and E Chord on different frets
The first lesson was not posted. Here is the second. The first was given by Dave Spider, also from my church. He played a final "farewell, be back next year" song and that's how the subject got onto guitars, and that's how the lesson happened. He played a much improved edition of I'm Gonna Live Forever, which is an awesome song. See the much less improved YouTube clip here, please notify me once the link is dead. Check Guitar Update #2 for more info on Mr. Spider.
Onto the second lesson. In it I learned some basic fingerstyle and was assigned the task of learning the chords E Major and C Major and taught a neat trick with E Major.
On March 26th, I brought my guitar with me to Wednesday Bible study (the days we will be practicing on every other week) even though I wasn't sure Mr. dataDyne would bring his or even if he was coming. We forgot to set it up the previous Sunday. Mr. dataDyne pulled up and yelled, "Did you bring your guitar?" I held it up triumphantly. He brought his, which is named Pikachu, if memory serves. It is a Takamine Santa Fe model ESF48C or TSF48C or one which looks identical, specifically the blue fret inlays.
We went into the church building. We arrived half an hour early so that we could practice. He handed me his guitar, and I handed him mine. We ended up practicing on each others' guitars. His sounds...like it has more bass than mine. Almost duller, but in a good way. The action (height of the strings off of the frets, which makes it easier or harder to play because you have to push down harder) is lower, too. As you know, if it's too low, you will experience fret buzz more often.
First, I showed him the chords I knew. D, A, and G. Delactation, Antigalactic, and Galactometer. I'll skip the parts where we played useless melodies that we were making up, and skip to what I had to take home to practice.
First, there's this extremely easy exercise in fingerstyle guitar (or fingerpicking as I seem stuck on calling it). See the tab, below. If you don't know how to read tab, go check out this simple tutorial which taught me to read it: How To Read Guitar Tab from About.com: Guitar.
First part:
e|----3----------3----------3----------3--------------|
B|--------3----------3----------3----------3----------|
G|----------0----------0----------0----------0--------|
D|----------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------|
E|----3----------3----------3----------3--------------|
Second part:
e|----3----------3----------3----------3--------------|
B|--------3----------3----------3----------3----------|
G|----------0----------0----------0----------0--------|
D|----------------------------------------------------|
A|----3----------3----------3----------3--------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------|
And you simply alternate between them, add a note here and there if you want, etc. Oh, and here's a great tip: keep your pinkie finger planted on your pickguard. It will help stabilize your hand. Try it with the pinkie, then without. For advanced ("psycho") fingerstyle (the kind that involves your earlobes) it would be too restricting, but for beginner, it's great. Here is the fingering he showed me:
First part:
e|----3-| ring finger
B|----3-| pinkie finger
G|------|
D|------|
A|----2-| index finger
E|----3-| middle finger
Second part:
e|----3-| ring finger
B|----3-| pinkie finger
G|------|
D|----2-| index finger
A|----3-| middle finger
E|------|
This unnecessary fingering is used for three reasons. One, it is Mr. dataDyne's favorite chord. Two, you use all your fingers, namely your pinkie. And three, you get to practice moving two fingers one string higher or lower in concert- in this case, you move both the index and middle fingers down from the 5th and 6th strings to the 4th and 5th strings and then back up. This is a very necessary ability to develop and it's actually quite a good routine for a beginner.
The fingering itself, despite being easy and simplistic, is difficult to perfect. Great care has to be taken so that the 1st string does not drown out the 5th/6th string on the initial pluck. He isn't a teacher, but this was a great exercise. I'd definitely recommend it for newbies when combined with the specific fingering.
Here's the audio of me playing it. Notice how often either the 1st or 6th strings drown each other out, and this was the best of 6 tries. I am unsure of exactly what entity I crumpled up at the end, but it was getting on my nerves.
Second, he taught me the E Major chord, and showed me that it does really well when moved to the fifth, seventh, and ninth frets. You should grasp what I mean, but if you can't, it's like this:
e|---0--0--0--0--|
B|---0--0--0--0--|
G|---1--4--6--8--|
D|---2--5--7--9--|
A|---2--5--7--9--|
E|---0--0--0--0--|
It's great fun. It makes you feel like you actually can play! Yeah, right! You SUCK! And you can't play.
In ending, he assigned me two new chords to learn; great, I have homework now. They are...C Major and E Major. He did not write me tab, but since I'm computer literate, he probably knew I'd go to my preferred "chord library," About.com: Guitar's Guitar Chord Library. He's a real "dig a hole, fill it in" type teacher. It's now been two weeks since the lesson, and I have the chords memorized, but switching is still tough. Tomorrow...I learn about switching. I think.
Anyway, I remember those two new chords quickly and easily by the words Emulge and Colostrum. So I have Delactation, Antigalactic, Galactometer, Emulge, and Colostrum to help me remember the chords D, A, G, E, and C.
...what?!
Onto the second lesson. In it I learned some basic fingerstyle and was assigned the task of learning the chords E Major and C Major and taught a neat trick with E Major.
On March 26th, I brought my guitar with me to Wednesday Bible study (the days we will be practicing on every other week) even though I wasn't sure Mr. dataDyne would bring his or even if he was coming. We forgot to set it up the previous Sunday. Mr. dataDyne pulled up and yelled, "Did you bring your guitar?" I held it up triumphantly. He brought his, which is named Pikachu, if memory serves. It is a Takamine Santa Fe model ESF48C or TSF48C or one which looks identical, specifically the blue fret inlays.
We went into the church building. We arrived half an hour early so that we could practice. He handed me his guitar, and I handed him mine. We ended up practicing on each others' guitars. His sounds...like it has more bass than mine. Almost duller, but in a good way. The action (height of the strings off of the frets, which makes it easier or harder to play because you have to push down harder) is lower, too. As you know, if it's too low, you will experience fret buzz more often.
First, I showed him the chords I knew. D, A, and G. Delactation, Antigalactic, and Galactometer. I'll skip the parts where we played useless melodies that we were making up, and skip to what I had to take home to practice.
First, there's this extremely easy exercise in fingerstyle guitar (or fingerpicking as I seem stuck on calling it). See the tab, below. If you don't know how to read tab, go check out this simple tutorial which taught me to read it: How To Read Guitar Tab from About.com: Guitar.
First part:
e|----3----------3----------3----------3--------------|
B|--------3----------3----------3----------3----------|
G|----------0----------0----------0----------0--------|
D|----------------------------------------------------|
A|----------------------------------------------------|
E|----3----------3----------3----------3--------------|
Second part:
e|----3----------3----------3----------3--------------|
B|--------3----------3----------3----------3----------|
G|----------0----------0----------0----------0--------|
D|----------------------------------------------------|
A|----3----------3----------3----------3--------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------|
And you simply alternate between them, add a note here and there if you want, etc. Oh, and here's a great tip: keep your pinkie finger planted on your pickguard. It will help stabilize your hand. Try it with the pinkie, then without. For advanced ("psycho") fingerstyle (the kind that involves your earlobes) it would be too restricting, but for beginner, it's great. Here is the fingering he showed me:
First part:
e|----3-| ring finger
B|----3-| pinkie finger
G|------|
D|------|
A|----2-| index finger
E|----3-| middle finger
Second part:
e|----3-| ring finger
B|----3-| pinkie finger
G|------|
D|----2-| index finger
A|----3-| middle finger
E|------|
This unnecessary fingering is used for three reasons. One, it is Mr. dataDyne's favorite chord. Two, you use all your fingers, namely your pinkie. And three, you get to practice moving two fingers one string higher or lower in concert- in this case, you move both the index and middle fingers down from the 5th and 6th strings to the 4th and 5th strings and then back up. This is a very necessary ability to develop and it's actually quite a good routine for a beginner.
The fingering itself, despite being easy and simplistic, is difficult to perfect. Great care has to be taken so that the 1st string does not drown out the 5th/6th string on the initial pluck. He isn't a teacher, but this was a great exercise. I'd definitely recommend it for newbies when combined with the specific fingering.
Here's the audio of me playing it. Notice how often either the 1st or 6th strings drown each other out, and this was the best of 6 tries. I am unsure of exactly what entity I crumpled up at the end, but it was getting on my nerves.
Second, he taught me the E Major chord, and showed me that it does really well when moved to the fifth, seventh, and ninth frets. You should grasp what I mean, but if you can't, it's like this:
e|---0--0--0--0--|
B|---0--0--0--0--|
G|---1--4--6--8--|
D|---2--5--7--9--|
A|---2--5--7--9--|
E|---0--0--0--0--|
It's great fun. It makes you feel like you actually can play! Yeah, right! You SUCK! And you can't play.
In ending, he assigned me two new chords to learn; great, I have homework now. They are...C Major and E Major. He did not write me tab, but since I'm computer literate, he probably knew I'd go to my preferred "chord library," About.com: Guitar's Guitar Chord Library. He's a real "dig a hole, fill it in" type teacher. It's now been two weeks since the lesson, and I have the chords memorized, but switching is still tough. Tomorrow...I learn about switching. I think.
Anyway, I remember those two new chords quickly and easily by the words Emulge and Colostrum. So I have Delactation, Antigalactic, Galactometer, Emulge, and Colostrum to help me remember the chords D, A, G, E, and C.
...what?!
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