Taking The Time To Learn New Pieces Of Music On The Guitar.

[Silence Dogood]

Absolutely.
You can't buy or accessorize your way to improved playing and/or performing technique.
Don't believe the marketing hype regarding some new string manufacturing technology.
Your guitar sounds the way it does almost entirely due to the way you're playing it.
(Yeah, I know that's harsh.)
You have to put in the time and intentional practice.
There's just no substitute.

Someone told Chet Atkins, "Man, that guitar sure sounds good!"

Chet set the guitar down on a chair and asked him, "Ok, how does it sound now?"

Amen.  A huge portion of the "gear" industry survives on the idea that the _next_ thing/gadget we get will at last make us the player we've always wanted to be. (Same goes for all the "new" instructional methods out there.)  I've tried hard to get over this but am still a sucker for a new kind of strings or pick. And even then it's probably a mental thing where I try harder and mix things up since I'm using a new set, etc.  When in reality, it's still just me playing. 

One of the reasons I've stuck with one guitar exclusively over the years was to get over the tone-chase and just get on with playing music. 

[William2]

Amen.  A huge portion of the "gear" industry survives on the idea that the _next_ thing/gadget we get will at last make us the player we've always wanted to be. (Same goes for all the "new" instructional methods out there.)  I've tried hard to get over this but am still a sucker for a new kind of strings or pick. And even then it's probably a mental thing where I try harder and mix things up since I'm using a new set, etc.  When in reality, it's still just me playing. 

One of the reasons I've stuck with one guitar exclusively over the years was to get over the tone-chase and just get on with playing music. 

For me, I have already picked my tone wood preference and I have a 12 fret and 14 fret versions with a spruce top. There are all these subtle sound differences between rosewood and mahogany but not worth replacing these two for me. And once the music starts, it is the music not the materials that I'm listening to. I'm so turned off by the major companies like Martin and Taylor that come out with new models all the time and their ridiculous prices. This is a different topic, and I don't want to get started on this.

[ducktrapper]

For me, I have already picked my tone wood preference and I have a 12 fret and 14 fret versions with a spruce top. There are all these subtle sound differences between rosewood and mahogany but not worth replacing these two for me. And once the music starts, it is the music not the materials that I'm listening to. I'm so turned off by the major companies like Martin and Taylor that come out with new models all the time and their ridiculous prices. This is a different topic, and I don't want to get started on this.

I don't begrudge any of these companies trying to make a buck and I don't know if young people are buying guitars any more so maybe their only marketing strategy is trying to talk me into buying another guitar with some magic wood. By they way, I think you just did.   

[Silence Dogood]

Martin, Taylor, et al, coming out with _new_ models all the time makes sense to me (though I get that it can be off-putting to some): but what is a genuine mystery to me is how Fender and Gibson can put out the _very same_ Strats and LPs, though sold under different names, for decades and people still like up yo buy them.

[William2]

I don't begrudge any of these companies trying to make a buck and I don't know if young people are buying guitars any more so maybe their only marketing strategy is trying to talk me into buying another guitar with some magic wood. By they way, I think you just did.   

LOL! Well, if you are talking about the Martin D-15 Street Master I just bought, I think the 15 series is part of the main Martin line. And while I am a rosewood tone wood person, I occasionally do like a mahogany sound hence the D-15. I'm just saying Martin has some standard instruments, the real Martins (15, 18, 28, 35, 41, 45) and the rest is something they put out and then discontinue with something else for a while. You should see their discontinued tab on their site, it is pages long. Martin can make a great guitar, but it comes from their custom shop. I just never liked the Taylor sound and I feel they are way overpriced for what you get. And as far as Martin's go, I only liked the 15 series, the 17 series, and the 28 series. And of those series, I only liked their dreadnoughts.

[mike in lytle]

Back to the original subject, sort of, or not really.

On AGF the "show and tell" and "play and write" sections are good. High density with relative beginners and accomplished players. Lots of video and sound cloud stuff all in one place. Lots of original works. One can follow certain people and become familiar with their improvement over time as well as pick up stuff from the better players. Many "technique" you tube videos are recommended there. Useful also cause in addition to the "record" section, one can learn about how to make basic recordings or videos.
The reason I like those AGF sections is because I can learn "how" to do stuff from a number of sources. Tabs and notations are sometimes offered.
Mike

[StringPicker6]

No one so far has mentioned the obvious:  Get off the online guitar forums and play your guitar!!!   

[Silence Dogood]

As far as taking the time to learn new pieces goes, I bought a songbook recently for the first time in a very, very long time.  It's a book of Enya songs arranged for fingerstyle guitar.  Should be a lot of fun.  I'm a huge Enya fan and find her melodies beautiful and captivating.  Here is a link to the book in case you're interested:

https://www.amazon.com/Fingerpicking-Enya-Arranged-Standard-Notation-ebook/dp/B00GQZOG44/ref=sr_1_3?crid=15V522LDK562H&keywords=fingerpicking+enya+book+guitar&qid=1694945973&sprefix=fingerpicking+enya+book+guitar%2Caps%2C221&sr=8-3

[coldcoffee]

If you're interested in fingerstyle blues, try this: https://www.fretboardconfidential.com/

The material is great. I try to learn one song per month which usually consists of the melody, vamp, solo or two and shout chorus. Then I play around with the arrangement. The biggest benefit is when I sit down to practice, I know what I want to work on and can focus on it.

The monthly fee is really reasonable for what you get.

[Queequeg]

For you singer/strummers you just can't beat Chordify.
Listen as you play along.
You can even drop a song from YouTube in there and it shows you all the chords and fingerings.

[Silence Dogood]

For you singer/strummers you just can't beat Chordify.
Listen as you play along.
You can even drop a song from YouTube in there and it shows you all the chords and fingerings.

Wow, I was unaware of this.  I'll have to check it out. 

[B0WIE]

For you singer/strummers you just can't beat Chordify.
Listen as you play along.
You can even drop a song from YouTube in there and it shows you all the chords and fingerings.

Is it fairly basic? I'm wanting to learn some more advanced jazz and transcriptions for the complex stuff are too expensive when I'm just trying to dabble.

[Queequeg]

Is it fairly basic? I'm wanting to learn some more advanced jazz and transcriptions for the complex stuff are too expensive when I'm just trying to dabble.

Try it for free and see if it is what you're looking for.

As Chordify detects the chords to songs using an algorithm, there are occasions where the chords may not always be accurate.

If you're a visitor to Chordify, you can view up to 3 songs and play 1 song per day. If you create a Free account, you can view up to 4 songs on the website/iOS app and play up to 3 songs per day

[Silence Dogood]

I've been doing lessons lately with Active Melody.  Nothing too fast or flashy, and all very doable.  I recommend checking it out if you're interesting in blues, country, rockabilly, swing, etc.  Most of it is blues-based and all the lessons are made up of original music, many times playing "in the style of" so-and-so.  The guy that runs the site (Brian) is a really great player/teacher.

[ducktrapper]

I've always played along with records or CDs or the radio etc. I guess I'm pretty good at figuring out chord changes. I used to tune my guitars to that long A chord that begins Neil Young's Last Trip to Tulsa. Back in the early days of the internet, I printed out binders full of songs with lyrics and chord changes. Back then, someone was always threatening to make it illegal. I especially liked Ace 60's tabs from Andrew Rogers. He was very generous (and accurate) with this transcriptions.   

[William2]

I suppose everyone is different, but I have always found I learn a new piece of music better using notes as opposed to tablature. And I played lute for over 20 years and its music is all in tablature. In my head I can just see the score but not with tab. Lastly, I was going to order some sheet music of John Renbourn but have decided to hold off for now. I just can't get into these tuning various strings for a piece of music. I have now issue with a lowered 6th or 5th, but I'm just not going to change the top strings. There is too much good stuff out there in standard guitar tuning.

[B0WIE]

I can read music but greatly prefer tabs. Particularly because you have multiples of a note on a fret board and they all have a different tonality.

If I'm writing though, I might notate in standard so I can convey the timing correctly. That's the big shortcoming of tabs. Not a problem in music that's familiar but a big issue if you don't know the phrasing and rhythm.

[William2]

I can read music but greatly prefer tabs. Particularly because you have multiples of a note on a fret board and they all have a different tonality.

If I'm writing though, I might notate in standard so I can convey the timing correctly. That's the big shortcoming of tabs. Not a problem in music that's familiar but a big issue if you don't know the phrasing and rhythm.

The rule in the old lute instruction books was to hold each note as long as possible for voicing and timing. I did buy a couple of books from Stefan Grossman and Mel Bay that included tabs. It was so annoying as they put the fret markings not on lines indicating the strings, but in-between the lines. I like the Duck Baker arrangements of tunes gospel arrangements and carols. They are well written, and he avoids for the most part the DADGAD tuning. I have a book called Irish Guitar by Pat Kirtley. At least the tabs are on the lines, but most is in DADGAD or some other tuning variant. And when I look at it, I ask why? It is sight reading material in guitar friendly keys. It has to be for sound you get in that tuning which wears on me after about 5 minutes.

[StringPicker6]

I would go crazy printing out tabbed songs around 2002. I still have some of them and need to look at them again.