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Post by srch4gold on Sept 23, 2015 15:21:14 GMT -6
Hey everyone, My name is Pat, I am just learning to play. I have been reading all the posts and they are very informative and sounds very supportive. I haven't entered the conversation because I am well behind everyone on the board, but I would like some support and encouragement if possible. I am playing the spread rhythm on page 22, I had a few questions. What is the difference between a spread rhythm and a shuffle rhythm. Second question, or more of I need help with, why my arm, wrist, thumb hurt while playing this pattern. Am I doing it incorrectly, is there a certain way to hold the guitar neck, I have my thumb parallel to the ground, and stretching with my 5th finger. I can get through the song but it is uncomfortable. I stretch and warm up before playing. Any and all suggestions welcome. And thank you in advance for your help and support.
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Post by cunningr on Sept 23, 2015 16:07:31 GMT -6
Welcome to the forum Pat. I don't have my book available right now so I'll refrain from commenting too much. In general though the difference in the Rythms are the feel of the rythm, listen to each and you notice that the cadence is different.
If you are fairly new its normal to feel some minor soreness because you are excercising your hand muscles, you probably get some cramping as well. Take it slow an build up.
Now the experts can chime in, any welcome to the forum we are always happy to have more active participation.
Rich
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Post by bluesbruce on Sept 23, 2015 16:20:00 GMT -6
Hey welcome, Pat. First off, don't be intimidated to jump into the forum because you're "well behind" everyone - all that means is that you can make way faster progress than the rest of us! To me, spread rhythm just means that particular pattern like on pages 22 and 23. Now you can play that pattern with a "straight eight" feel (one and two and three and four and - all evenly spaced in time) and you can play it in a triplet feel (ONE and A TWO and A THREE and A FOUR and A - where you play on the numbers and the "A"). That (the triplet feel) is what most people would refer to as a "shuffle" or a "swing" rhythm. If that explanation doesn't make any sense, I bet you can find a demonstration of this on Youtube. If not, ask here again and someone can post one (it probably makes more sense to hear it).
Your second question is not unusual. It does usually make some of your muscles and tendons sore to play this. The farther you move up the fretboard, the less stretch is involved. You've just got to go slowly in terms of how much you play this and slowly increase the time you spend playing it. Part of learning to play will be building some of these muscles and increasing their endurance. Good luck. Check back in here from time to time, let us know how you're coming along, or if you've got other questions. I don't think any one here is going to put you down because you're "just learning to play".
Bruce
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Post by joachim on Sept 24, 2015 0:09:01 GMT -6
Welcome Pat,
A common issue when we start to play is how much pressure to apply to the strings. For example, my fretting hand still cramps up when I play barre chords because I press too hard to make all strings ring out clearly. Simple spread rhythms normally don't cause your hand to cramp up - more "fancy" spread rhythms where you have larger stretches can really make your hand cramp up, though. John Ganapes has an interesting anecdote from his touring days about that in his rhythm book.
One thing you can try is to focus on being relaxed when you play and use the lightest touch while still properly fretting the chords. Maybe you get tense when you practice something you find difficult? I tend to do that myself...
But welcome to the forum. Don't feel you have to earn your wings to be a part of it; we all play for the same reasons and there are all levels of guitarists here.
Joachim
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Post by Phil on Sept 24, 2015 3:21:13 GMT -6
Pat, Welcome to the forum. I think your question has already been answered, but I'll throw my 2 cents in anyway to reinforce it. The "spread" refers to the physical spreading of your fingers to play this pattern, not to the rhythm of the pattern. Bruce explained the shuffle and there's also an explanation on page 19 of BYCU. If you want to hear some real world examples to clearly hear the difference between "straight eights" and shuffle listen to Chuck Berry for straight eights and just about anything by Jimmy Reed for a shuffle. One thing I would highly recommend is that you stop as soon as your hand starts hurting. Don't play through the pain. Like Joachim said, use the minimal fretting hand pressure you can get away with. I used to grip the neck in a death grip and I have some serious problems that I attribute to doing that. Watch Jazz players play. It looks like they're totally relaxed and hardly putting any pressure on the strings. It takes a lot of practice and conscious effort to play with a light touch. You might also want to try fretting the 6th string with your index finger, but fret the 5th string with your middle finger. This will make the stretch with your little finger a little easier, but eventually I think you'll want to develop the stretch between your ring and little fingers. Practice it both ways and see which one is most comfortable for you. I agree with Bruce, you have an opportunity to progress faster than we did because you have a support group that we didn't have when 1st learning. Post any questions you have and somebody here will answer. You'll probably get multiple answers for the same questions, and John Ganapes himself might even jump in with the correct answer.
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Post by chrisnc on Sept 24, 2015 4:57:43 GMT -6
Pat - Welcome aboard! I started posting to this forum recently, and became a lot more active, and it has really been a great thing. Lots of great folks to hang out with, get tips and assistance from, and some great guitar playing and learning going on. See ya around!
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Post by jack1982 on Sept 24, 2015 9:56:35 GMT -6
Welcome to the forum Pat, good to have a new member! For that spread rhythm, Justin Sandercoe has a nice lesson on that here: www.justinguitar.com/en/BL-201-12BarIn12Keys.phpOh and don't worry about posting stuff just because you're a beginner, that's when getting some feedback from other people is most valuable and we're a pretty nice bunch of guys here
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Post by srch4gold on Sept 25, 2015 23:05:47 GMT -6
Thanks cunningr, bluesbruce, joachim, phil, chrisnc, jack1982 and the rest of the forum for all your words of encouragement. I really struck gold when I found this website. I am very excited about joining your group, it means alot to have a support group going through the same journey, I can use all the help I can get. I am here for all of you for whatever I can contribute, just ask. Thank you for your suggestions on the finger cramps and arm pain and instructions on the shuffle and spread rhythm. Look forward to reading all your posts and watching everyone improve on their guitar skills. Thanks again Pat
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