cheers

A lot of classic and modern bands are getting a kind of exposure to an audience that may not have otherwise gone out of their way to listen to that type of music… I see it as a kind of educational tool as well as a computer game. A lot of my younger students got interested in playing music (especially guitar) becouse of these computer games so in that respect it’s a good thing for music.

Sorry I’ve not been answering posts all that well of late. As mentioned in the recent podcast (and the Guitar Noise Newsletter), things have been a bit busy.

But I do want you to know that I appreciate you making the time to post a comment. And I hope you enjoy all the Guitar Noise Podcasts.

Peace

Hope you like the others as well.

Peace

Brilliant stuff!!!

Thanks David

Stu

thanks

First i want to thank you again for your lessons.

I have one question about the “pattern” of crosspicking.

While you say there’s no pattern as long as you feel comfortable, i often find myself confused this way. Maybe i am just being stubborn on sticking to the up and down picking pattern, or maybe because i’m just a beginner with little experience on dealing with the free style.

I hope you can give me some advise on this, should i practice both ways until i feel totally comfortable with them or maybe even have to bother noticing them?

excuse my poor expression, my english is just one step ahead of my guitar skill.

As music teachers go, in my opinion, the best thing they can do is inspire music. If someone gives up on the instrument, but takes the appreciation and music education out of it, that alone is worth it.

I’ve been learning guitar for about 2.5 months now. I began with, “Hal Leonard Guitar Method Complete Edition”. I stopped at the point when the lessons were about playing in second position, (half way through the second book),cause I felt I need work on what I’ve learned so far before getting too far ahead. I can pick up on the flat picking almost instantly, but when it came to changing chords smoothly, my fingers actually would trip over the strings trying to get to the next chord. So, I got another book, “Ultimate Beginner Bluegrass Guitar Basics”. It has flat picking and chord combination which did help some.

I searched the net and everything seems to be in video these days, which, I don’t really care for. I have found I concentrate better by listening and trying to play along then watching. I came across your web site a few times and discarded it, for it seemed too complicated. I came back to it about a month ago and tried your first podcast. At that point I knew the names of the notes and was excited to discover I now know enough that I am able to follow you. Wasn’t so hard after all. Somehow, like magic, the stuff in my books got easier to play through you. I live in an area where it’s hard to find teachers, and I don’t know a single person who plays guitar.

I normally don’t like to bother people, I know you are busy, but I am a little confused. When I began podcast #5, the strumming pattern we’ve been working on all of a sudden felt not natural to me. And I wasn’t staying in time. I found myself after hitting a root note to stop and wait for the count 2, and then continue down to strum the remainder of the chord. I always have to count or I strum too early.

I thought back to your sock puppet, and that you said we should be keeping a constant up down motion. Maybe I shouldn’t be hesitating. I tried to after hitting a root note to ghost strum up slightly then back down for the remainder of the chord and that kept me on beat. What I want to know, what is the proper way. I don’t want to have to break bad habits, I wish to learn it correctly from the start.

By the way, I’m old, (52), maybe that’s my problem.

June

Peace

I will have to give it a go.

I promise to not say that anymore! I keep jinxing myself so it’s probably best to just say “see you next time!”

Thanks for your kind words as well as your understanding and patience.

Peace

(note to self - have to make more time to visit the old podcasts!)

I can’t thank all of you enough for your more than generous comments concerning the Guitar Noise Podcasts. It’s been a lot of fun making them and though I’ve been having the dickens of a time lately keeping them in any semblance of a schedule, things should be getting back to normal any day now.

And while I’d love to take all the credit for your improvement, don’t forget that it’s you who are actually making the time and effort to practice and get better. It may sound obvious, but the only time you do anything like playing the guitar is when you’re actually playing it. So give yourselves a good pat on the back as well.

And Tyler, you’ve got a good ear. That’s the progression and “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” does use it. Good call.

Thank you all again and I look forward to hearing how things are progressing with each of you.

Peace

They should all be up and working. Try it again and if you’re still having problems, email me directly at dhodgeguitar@aol.com and I’ll email you a MP3 file of the Guitar Noise Podcast in question. Only too glad to help.

Thanks again for making the time to comment, not to mention for listening in the first place!

Peace

Jeremy, while it’s really important to not think of keeping beats in terms of “downs and ups,” you’ve got the right idea. A triplet is dividing a single beat into three equal parts.

While I find it easier to do this as “down up down” there are a lot of guitarists who will play triplets as “down up up” and it can also depend on whether you’ve got more triplets coming afterwards.

Ron, glad to hear that we’re being of help to you as you pursue your dream of playing. It’s a blast, isn’t it?

There’s always going to be more to learn, but as long as you’re having fun doing so, it’s going to be a great lifelong adventure.

Thank you for your kind words and I look forward to hearing how things are going for you.

Peace

At 47 I am finally getting around to my dream of learning to play guitar. I just found your podcasts a few weeks ago and I am amazed. I’ve tinkered with the guitar over the years but always ended up putting it away in frustration (even with professional lessons). Now I’m strumming with hammer-ons after only a few weeks. There is still a lifetime of learning left but now I am actually looking forward to the lessons.

A thousand thanks for this wonderful gift of music.

Ron

Thank you both for making the time to post a comment, not to mention for your kind words. Putting these podcasts together is a lot of fun and I hope that they will continue to be useful to everyone. We can’t thank you enough for your support!

Looking forward to hearing from you again.

Peace

Thanks!

Yes, another Guitar Noise Podcast is on the way. After getting numerous comments (here and via email) that we may have stepped things up a bit too quickly between Podcast #21 and #22, I had to make a lot of changes and then re-record #23 several times. With a little luck it will be online Monday or Tuesday. And then, with a little more luck, I’m still planning on submitting them to Paul for a weekly release through at least March and maybe April. It all depends on getting the spare time at home.

Thanks for your comments, praise, suggestions and, most of all, your patience!

Peace

Thanks, bob

I was a little confused about the whole triplet strumming. So is it just a down up down strum in one beat?

Keep up the good work!

Andrew

A question for you regarding Podcast #8. Some of the songs I’m trying to learn switch from 1 chord per measure to 2 chords per measure. Am I better to use a cross-picking style that strums the chord on both the 2 and 4 beats this way when I hit a measure with 2 chords there is a little more consistency to the song?

Maybe in the next few months?

Peace