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1500 questions
19
votes
7 answers
Is it normal for frequent guitar playing to be accompanied by wrist pain?
Is it normal for frequent guitar playing to be accompanied by wrist pain or is it something that is caused by poor posture/position and technique? I have been playing for several years now, and mostly in the last year I have noticed this to be a…
Klik
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19
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1 answer
Why can I sing in key?
I've been playing around with pitchlab on my phone. And trying to figure out my voice. How high can I go, how accurate can I be, how well I can hold a tone, etc.
One thing I noticed is that if i pick a note, any note, I can do a scale with that as…
user12539
19
votes
5 answers
What makes a song sound "folk-y"?
Are there distinctive traits (melodies, scales, chord progressions, rhythm, techniques) that set the genre of folk music apart?
RogerWang
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19
votes
4 answers
Alternate picking vs down picking
When I see professional musicians play their songs on guitar, I see them down picking certain parts where I would prefer to alternate pick.
Follow the url below to a riff that I play first using alternate picking and then down…
Kermit the Hermit
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19
votes
8 answers
What determines how hard it is to press a guitar string?
When playing on different steel string acoustic guitars over the years, I noticed a huge difference in how hard it was to press down a string. This made me wonder why.
There are two obvious factors that come into play: thickness of the strings and…
Joachim
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19
votes
9 answers
Why must the final bar complete the anacrusis?
The Wikipedia page for anacrusis states that
Western standards for musical notation often include the recommendation that when a piece of written music begins with an anacrusis, the composer, copyist, typesetter, or printer should delete a…
jon2512chua
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19
votes
8 answers
How important is warming up before playing an instrument?
I've seen people doing it for loosening up their inflexibility. But, should we 'warm up' before we start playing our instrument ? Perhaps we don't need to do it if we are used to playing the instrument?
seseorang
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19
votes
4 answers
How do I practice harmonizing in singing?
I'm not good at singing harmonies. In my mind to harmonize, you can just sing an alternate melody and that usually sounds good with the main melody. I don't think to myself that I have to sing a 5th (I can't do that anyway)
When I try to sing…
milesmeow
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19
votes
12 answers
Looking for a high level Music Programming language
I'm looking for a high-level programming language. I did some googling and found a number of examples (some summarized here http://users.soe.ucsc.edu/~sasha/proj/musicpaper.pdf) but haven't found quite what I need.
The key feature I'm looking for is…
Roland Bouman
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19
votes
4 answers
What do I do when my long fingernails for classical guitar interfere with playing piano?
I'm learning classical/flamenco guitar techniques about 5 months ago, and now just started learning piano:
I get some problems when i play on keyboard(noise and nails hurts, especially the thumb).. I really love those two instrument and wants to…
Marwen Trabelsi
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19
votes
5 answers
What exactly is the act of playing behind the beat?
I am a guitarist trying to improve my rhythmic feel and have been told to play a little more behind the beat. This is in a studio setting. How should I approach this to be more consistant in playing in a groove which I should play behind the beat?
r lo
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19
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10 answers
In blues, country blues, why don't songwriters get sued for aping the same progressions/tempos/scales as other established blues songs?
Thought: As a guitar player, you can play the blues in pretty much any scale, A for instance with stock rhythms and endings.
Example: You write a song in that scale you may even use the same solo runs as other more famous blues artists. You release…
tony.stack
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19
votes
4 answers
What is the the Nashville Numbers system?
Recently, a couple of my bandmates were talking about a technique they use called Nashville Numbers. It's similar to writing out chords, but instead uses numbers. These numbers are a pattern that can be used in a way that you will always have your…
Ryan Hayes
19
votes
6 answers
Do I need to have my guitar re-set up if I change the string gauge
I'm a newbie transitioning to intermediate and I have a rather nice strat with 11 gauge strings. I'd like to try lighter strings but someone told me changing gauge will require the guitar to be re-set up.
I'm pretty competent at changing strings but…
Kevin Lawrence
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19
votes
5 answers
How do Pre War Martin Guitars Differ From Modern Ones?
Pre-war Martin guitars are revered because of their sound. What differences are there between the construction of pre-war Martin guitars, and Martin guitars made now.
And are there any companies that are making guitars with any of these "old"…
sfrench