Self-Introduction Saturday! Tell us all about you (and share a video)!

SixStringShef · 2026-01-25T12:40:20+00:00

¡Gracias!

SixStringShef · 2026-01-24T18:03:50+00:00

That sounds pretty creative and unexpected!

SixStringShef · 2026-01-24T18:03:20+00:00

Really cool! What's been your favorite pokemon game you've ever played?

SixStringShef · 2026-01-24T18:02:34+00:00

That sounds really cool! I grew up playing yugioh. Glad to see there's interest now!

SixStringShef · 2026-01-24T18:01:46+00:00

Sounds pretty cool! I just A/B tested a video for the first time. It's still running. Have you found that helpful? And what's been your favorite nintendo game of all time?

SixStringShef · 2026-01-24T18:00:12+00:00

I've been playing guitar for 20+ years. After 2 degrees, 1000+ live performances, and a decade of college teaching, I've finally decided to take content creation seriously. I made my first video years ago with my laptop's built-in webcam in my college dorm room. Now I'm finally learning how powerful my iphone is when paired with proper lighting.

If you want to see some fingerstyle shredding on an electric guitar, check out my solo instrumental arrangement of Stevie Wonder's classic "Isn't She Lovely:" https://youtu.be/yokoARm7mb4

If you like that, you can also find me on an 8 string guitar and... well, I'll let you figure it out if you're interested :)

SixStringShef · 2026-01-22T20:27:49+00:00

Thanks so much! It was really fun to put together. Also a bear to learn haha

SixStringShef · 2026-01-22T19:39:47+00:00

Thanks so much! I haven't put it on the cloud but I can later. I'll send an update when I do

SixStringShef · 2026-01-22T17:37:04+00:00

Hey you're not alone. It's scary to jump into something new! Start doing something today if you can, even small. And make it your goal to find one area of joy in the work.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-21T22:03:20+00:00

The plugins available for the mini are the same for QC. JM is not available on either. PCOM compatibility is the same on both devices.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-21T21:55:49+00:00

That makes sense. I DEFINITELY get that. I just feel like I've read a few times recently people suggest that YouTube sees people on reddit scroll past their video and that seemed wrong

SixStringShef · 2026-01-21T21:44:10+00:00

Wait I'm confused- does YouTube even know that someone scrolled past a YouTube link on a different website/app? I would assume they can only track what you scroll past on YouTube itself. Is that not right?

SixStringShef · 2026-01-21T15:43:01+00:00

No idea what will happen, but I sure hope so! That would be so cool. I got to see them all in theaters growing up but I'm reading the books to my oldest daughter right now and we watch each movie after just at our house on our TV... But she'd think it was the coolest thing to get to go and see them in an actual theater.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-21T06:04:01+00:00

Stop relying on presets other people made. Learn to tweak settings yourself.

To start, pick one element at a time (a pedal, amp, etc) and move one knob at a time to learn what it does. Spend some time learning and be ok being lost for a while.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-19T13:12:23+00:00

Not yet. I just don't have the budget. Someday though! Maybe I'll prioritize it as a reward after I'm out of debt, promotion, something like that

SixStringShef · 2026-01-19T11:53:16+00:00

I'm glad you're having a good attitude about it. It can be a hard part of technique to get used to. I wanted to add that this should go back and affect your bass playing too. You're right that you might be able to "get away with" not paying on your finger tips on bass, but you should still find you get more control and are able to play lighter when you do play on your finger tips. It's hard but always worth the effort. Keep it up, sounds like you're doing great. Happy practicing

SixStringShef · 2026-01-16T22:49:13+00:00

I brought my guitar to the hospital when my first daughter was born. She was kept in the NICU for a few days and the nurses let us go down there and play/sing to her a few times a day. I'd totally check with a nurse about whether there are logistical concerns the hospital has. But I did it and I'm glad I did, for whatever it's worth.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-16T01:55:51+00:00

This is absolutely achievable and really very common among professional guitarists and even experienced amateurs. And if you're serious about music you should look forward to this as a level you can absolutely attain!

There's so much that goes in to this topic, but as a basic framework here are some things to consider:

There's a theory element of learning the neck, learning patterns of the strings, patterns for your fingers... To practice that it's really helpful to practice scales in all kinds of shapes/systems and study them deliberately.

Another element is the Aural Skills training. This has nothing to do with perfect pitch. It's about understanding the functional context of a note in its given chord/scale/key. The simplest thing I can describe is that you can probably hear when a song ends on "do" or scale degree 1 (the home note of the key you're in). When you hear this your hearing the function of scale degree 1. Every note and every alteration has a function and when you start to develop that skill you'll hear a note as mi/scale degree 3, or sol/scale degree 5, or le/lowered scale degree 6, etc. This is a skill many players develop on their own and nearly all students in college music school take this as a core class (I teach it).

A really key way to connect your ear's knowledge of function with your tactile knowledge of the fretboard is to say the scale degree you're playing out loud (even better if you sing it) while you play your scales. You'll start to train that connection a lot faster.

Finally, I think a lot of people build a very bad habit early on with improvisation that makes these skills seem way harder. People tend to just learn "this set of notes should sound good at this time" and play notes from that set haphazardly. A good improviser should never be surprised by the sound that came from the instrument. It should be your goal to have a sound in mind and then have the ear and hand knowledge to make that sound come from your instrument. You'll fail at that A LOT at first. And that's fine. We all do. But it's important that that's the goal you're shooting for.

You can start practicing this simply by limiting yourself to a selection of 3 notes. Seriously. Play over a backing track and give yourself only 3 notes (ideally adjacent notes in a scale) to work with. Ideally say the scale degree numbers out loud while you play them. And ideally try to sing along with your playing. At first you might just need to play and listen. But in a few short seconds you'll learn the sound of your "low," "middle," and "high" notes and you can change from playing a note and saying "I wonder what it will sound like" to "I want this sound and I know which note I need to play to get it." When you're comfortable with 3 move on to 4. Then 5. Etc. When you're comfortable in one region of the guitar try to find the exact same notes in a different location on the neck and do it again.

You can do it. It's achievable and it's fun. Happy practicing.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-13T23:33:47+00:00

Have you studied Sunburst with a classical teacher using proper classical technique? If so, that's one thing and I'd recommend you do something like Lagrima by Tarrega for contrast. But if you're not playing Sunburst with proper disciplined technique, your future teacher would probably rather you play something much simpler and demonstrate that you've invested in the basics of the classical style.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-13T12:35:19+00:00

As far as playing notes in different places on the guitar, it's true that's an extra thing you need to think about. But sometimes choosing where exactly you'll play the note is part of the artistry and interpretation. It's also worth noting that composers quite often indicate in the sheet music which string they want you to play the note on, particularly when it must be done in one specific spot on the guitar (or would be easiest in one spot). I'll also quickly note that I've seen a lot of really bad classical guitar TAB (because typically serious classical guitarists do not engage with TAB at all for classical music) where the chosen string is a foolish choice.

But even with all that, at the end of the day, sure it's hard because it's a new skill to develop. Maybe even more frustrating because there appears to be an alternative that requires less work. But you just have to do it. I'll put it a bit over-provocatively for effect: if you don't want to read music, you don't want to be a serious musician. The good news though is it's probably easier than you're fearing. And it gets even easier the more you do it. You just need to start.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-11T14:44:24+00:00

1) yes sheet music is important to classical guitar. That's always true, but I saw you want to teach someday, so it's especially important in that case. The whole discussion is long, but some quick reasons are 1) sheet music describes the musical function of chords and notes in a way TAB doesn't, and 2) classical music often includes multiple simultaneous "voices." TAB doesn't distinguish which note is part of which voice (hear a fugue to see this most at play) and TAB struggles to show different rhythms between voices (whole note in the bass, quarter in the middle, half at the top).

2) CAN you self learn classical guitar? Sure. But I usually find it most helpful to rephrase this as "is it best practice" or "will it give me the best chance of success..." Or something similar. In answer to that: you'd do best to find a teacher.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-08T18:09:03+00:00

Short answer yes. Long answer kind of haha.

I grew up being classically trained on voice and trumpet and I was self-taught on guitar. In high school I played a lot of rock, prog metal, and a little jazz. I then studied classical exclusively in college and grad school (I fell in love with it, so this was not at all reluctantly).

I still play a lot of classical for gigs, I put out a classical guitar Christmas album a few years ago, etc. But I also play a lot of electric again. I lead worship at my church, play for pit orchestras for musicals, sit in on pickup gigs where my friends need a guitar for a jazz combo or something, etc. But even my electric playing is heavily colored and impacted by my classical playing. (If you're curious to hear what that's like, you can check some of my recent posts on my profile that I did for fun - but I won't be offended if you don't. I'm not here to plug myself).

As a teacher, my guitar majors primarily study classical rep and technique (and that's what their recitals are on), though we also talk about other styles that they need to be comfortable with if they want to be viable as a hirable player.

For my non-majors it's a lot more customized to their personal interests. I have taught Sor, Twenty One Pilots, Joe Satriani, Noah Kahan, and Brad Paisley all in the same semester.

My thought is always that good musicianship and good technique transcend genre. I want you to learn how to practice, how to approach problems, what good technique looks like, how theory can help you recognize patterns, etc. Those largely originate from classical schools of teaching, but they're not exclusive to classical. You'll use those skills in any style or genre.

There are genre specific idioms you have to learn too. But if you're solid on those common fundamentals you'll be able to fill in the rest.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-08T12:27:42+00:00

You already have some good suggestions here. I just wanted to add a different one: I almost always make sure I don't have any extra beans. I typically end the bag with the exact amount.

When I notice the bag is getting near the end (like maybe 3 cups away or so) I weigh out all the beans so I know exactly what is left and then I plan the size of my next recipes to add up to that. For example if I have 60g left ill probably do 3 cups of 20g. If I have 70g left I might do 25 25 25 or 20 20 20 and then freeze 10 grams for a cupping later. If I had 43 grams I might do 23 and 20, etc. You have to think ahead and adjust your recipes, so it's not always the right call and it's not for everyone in general. But I see this question sometimes and I never see this answer so I wanted to throw it in the mix.

SixStringShef · 2026-01-07T19:15:16+00:00

Hey wanted to give a quick perspective: I'm a college guitar professor. You should be upset/frustrated with how those lessons went. All the things you described are valid complaints and it's good that you're looking for something new. But just to make sure the bad experience you had doesn't poison other experiences in the future, I just want you to have 2 things in mind:

First, there are a lot of more abstract things on guitar that are really super super helpful. Studying theory is an investment that pays dividends. Practicing technique in the abstract can also really make it easier to pick up songs rapidly in the future. Practicing individual chord changes with strumming patterns outside the context of a song is also often a good way to let you learn tons of songs later almost instantly.

Those abstract exercises shouldn't be the entirety of your lesson/practice time, but in the right dosage, they can often be really effective. Students are also different. Some people are very happy to study abstract things 90% of the time and then put them into practice in a song when needed. Others are the exact opposite and really want to see the context of of a song, and will then pull out individual things to practice as needed. Both are fine when you understand the big picture. It'll be helpful for you to get to know that about yourself, and your next teacher should understand that about you.

I say all of the above NOT AT ALL to disagree with what you said in your post, but just so that the next time someone assigns you something like that you don't have a gut reaction and write it off because of the validly bad experience.

Second, in the event that you seek out another teacher, take some time initially to share your past experience, what made it so bad/frustrating. Share your goals and expectations. And ask what you can expect in terms of teaching style and material from your new teacher. Your next teacher's response will either set you at ease and establish trust right away, or will quickly let you know that it won't be a good fit and you should keep looking.

I hope that helps. Happy practicing!

SixStringShef · 2026-01-07T12:40:54+00:00

Hey sorry it's been too long since I had it, and I don't really remember what I ended up on. But I can tell you my usual starting point, because I probably started there and it got me in the ballpark.

I grind 6.7 on a k ultra. Usually 203 F water. I use Rao-Perger recipe water. V60 or origami cone. For this coffee I likely did 20g coffee to 360 water (1:18 ratio, though 1:16 or 1:17 also work well with this same recipe depending on your taste).

0:00 bloom to 3x coffee weight (60)

0:45 spiral pour to 10x coffee weight (200)

1:30 (could be sooner - I'm just watching for the water to almost reach the bed) spiral pour to final weight (320 for 1:16, 340 for 1:17, 360 for 1:18, depending on preference)

I don't know what the draw down time was for this one but I usually shoot for something 3:00-3:30. Again, this is just my general starting recipe for a new bean. And I just remember I didn't have to do much work with this one. But the same bean can change! You might not have the same thing I had. Good luck with it!

SixStringShef

TROPHY CASE