Annoying issue that's pretty typical with new guitar players. In the middle of the A minor pentatonic box. The 1 and 3 fingers are down on the D string. The 2 and 4 fingers are curled up under themselves. Working on getting them straightened out. I know I need to keep my thumb lower and that'll help some...it's just uncomfortable to me at this point.
And the game goes on.
The fact that I enjoy playing Guitar Hero and have recently started learning how to play a real electric guitar do not have a cause and effect relationship, but they're still part of my reality. Back when the only guitar in my life was plastic and had no strings, I often wondered how real guitar skills affects Guitar Hero play and how Guitar Hero play affects real guitar skills.
When my real guitar arrived right before Christmas, I stopped playing Guitar Hero and started working on how to learn to play guitar. I didn't play Guitar Hero again til the end of January when we hosted a party and the nephews wanted to play.
So far I've learned that getting good at Guitar Hero doesn't help you much with a real guitar, but learning to play a real guitar can help with Guitar Hero.
I think that the only thing that Guitar Hero really helped me on guitar was the fact that I was already kind of used to using my pinky so fingerings that require the pinky weren't as difficult to pick up. Other than that, Guitar Hero isn't much help. There's a lot of details to left-hand technique that just aren't in the game and probably shouldn't be,
I did notice that my practice with a real guitar has helped my playing of Guitar Hero though. The reach in my left hand has improved quite a bit..not enough for a real guitar where I'm shooting for a 6-7 fret reach, but definitely enough for the mini SG controller. The Green-Orange reach is no big deal now. My left hand fingers are a lot more independent so certain combinations that used to be difficult are a lot easier. I'm more consistently going back and forth between Blue and Orange without moving my other fingers.
I'm glad that my guitar practice is helping my Guitar Hero skills. I'm much more likely to get through Jordan in the game than I am likely to get through Jordan with the real thing.
Technorati Tags: Gadgets, GuitarHero, Health, Music
So, the guitar that I won from Otto's Daughter arrived on the Saturday before Christmas. The band wanted me to send them pictures, which panicked me a bit because my digital camera's been down for quite a long time because of a missing battery charger. I got a replacement and got it done over the long weekend.
Here's the stuff that's packed with the guitar:
An Otto's Daughter yo yo (a yo yo? I love yo yo's!)
G's sticks with an initialed note that they're from the show
The setlist from the 15 Dec show
A screw with a nut on it (!)
Mo's strap (I almost feel bad about this one, but it is a comfortable strap)
A promo poster for the show and guitar giveaway signed by the band ("This ain't the poster - JVB" on the back)
An OD promo card
Four Otto's Daughter picks from HorrorPicks
A dirty rag (ooo...sweat from the show)
OD stickers
(not pictured) Bubble wrap personally squeezed by Jacqueline Van Bierk
(not pictured) A plastic tag (couldn't find it)
(not pictured) A business card for a place in CA that does guitar lessons
Not a Gibson, in front of a tree
SG Hearts OD
Everyone needs a screw with a nut on it...and staples...
Baby's first chord. With me anyway (JVB has had her way with it already). Em if it's not obvious from the way the photo came out...the 1 and 4 fingers aren't touching.
Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be poking around the local pawn shops for a decent amp. I don't think I'm up for the commitment of having actual live lessons yet. Will see what I can do with what's available online (I'm working on chord transitions with pivot and guide fingers lately, plus I'm looking through some tabs) and will do a progress check in a couple of months. The goal at the moment is to be able to say that I can play it by the time Otto's Daughter get around to playing somewhere around here.
My longer term goal is to be able to hang in there at Lotusphere's JAMfest next time I go. I'm not going to be at Lotusphere 2007 so I have at least a year to learn how to play the instrument and figure out how to work my musical sensibilities into more of a blues influenced situation.
This could be interesting.
Technorati Tags: Gadgets, GuitarHero, Jamfest, Lotusphere, Music
So I started feeling sick Thursday afternoon. Went home from work, started taking meds for the symptoms. Felt a little better on Friday but got worse on Saturday and a lot worse on Sunday. Went to the local Urgent Care Sunday night and it turns out that I have pneumonia. So I'm on better drugs now and I'm off work at least for today and tomorrow.
In the middle of all that, I got an email Saturday night from Jaqueline van Bierk of the band Otto's Daughter.
This probably needs a little background info before I go into the email though...
Starting in October sometime and running through 30 November, they were running a pre-order special for their upcoming album "A New Kind of Heroine". Pre-orders get a poster, get their CD signed, an early download of one of the tracks (The Truth...good stuff. You can stream it from their MySpace page), a listing on a thank you list when the album comes out, and a chance to win a Daisy Rock Dark Star guitar. I like signed stuff. I pre-ordered Becoming 001 and got it signed too, so it seemed natural to go for it again.
Back to the email...
The email was to let me know that they had the drawing and that I won the guitar! I never expected to win it. I don't even know how to play. But I'll learn to play it when it arrives...it really is a beautiful guitar and it would be a shame to have it just sit around and not get used. Who knows. Maybe this will be the making of a new rock star.
They had the drawing at their show on 15 December at The Gig (video is here, watch the whole set, the drawing's after the last song at about the 30 minute mark).
Last night they posted a three part set of videos of them packaging the guitar up and adding some extra stuff into the box while they're at it. I think I do need some staples, but it looks like they got taken back out of the box. Oh well. I hope the screw with a nut makes it through OK. G put in his sticks from the show which was a really nice gesture. Mo's guitar strap made it in there, but it doesn't look like he knew about it. Picks are always good. Too bad the chair and the stand didn't fit.
The Guitar packing part one
The Guitar packing part two
The Guitar packing part three
Many, many thanks to Otto's Daughter collectively for having the contest and then taking the time to turn it into a unique package of stuff. It's become quite a bright spot in a rather crappy couple of weeks. I'll take good care of it and maybe play some good music on it some day. And when they make it out this way, I'll be taking them up on Jim's offer to get it signed.
They want me to send them a picture of me with the guitar when it comes, so at some point I'll have an update post here with the pictures I took while opening it all up.
