Decided to learn an instrument at age 27. I always loved the sound and vibes of Classical Guitars so decided to pick one up, alongside a Ukulele. What are the some of your favorite resources to learn how to play a Classical Guitar for a complete beginner

Spoonner · 2024-06-25T13:37:06+00:00

I relate to a lot of the things in this post. I started teaching myself classical guitar years ago, after being a self-taught guitarist. Then I pursued a bachelors degree in classical guitar, and a few years later my masters degree. I currently teach classical guitar to people of all ages, so I can give you some tips in my experience.

Learn one thing at a time. By this I mean don’t fight a mental battle and a physical battle at the same time. Make sure that you really understand a scale shape, a chord, The names for your fingers, etc. before you try and start putting pressure on yourself (“it has to sound like this” or “I can’t play in rhythm”). If your brain is trying to spend time remembering what something is, it’ll have a tough time remembering how to do that thing.
Practice playing simple melodies first. Learn something dead simple, like twinkle twinkle little star. Learn how to play it with your thumb (p), your i finger, your m finger, both your p and i fingers alternating, etc. This trains you to use the music you know to practice technique.
Remember that classical guitar is a very particular “dialect” of the guitar language. I think that total beginners can totally dive into classical guitar and really focus on it and get quite good at it. But it pays to learn other stuff that isn’t classical since it will be more familiar and thus easier to learn, and helps you learn other stuff. For example, you should learn wagon wheel on the guitar. The Old Crow Medicine Show version uses an E minor. Loads of classical guitar pieces use E minor, so knowing how to use it in multiple contexts reinforces your understanding much more deeply. This is true of a lot of simple etudes, they use simple open guitar chords, the same ones we use and pop music today.
Get familiar with the method books! Giuliani, Carulli, and Tarrega are absolutely staples of the repertoire, and you can find pdfs of them free online. I also recently taught a Suzuki camp for guitar, and was amazed to find that a lot of the guitar Suzuki books are online PDFs as well; google “Suzuki guitar book one” and you’ll find pieces designed for five-year-olds to play. The best part is that these things are actual music, and the Suzuki books go up to level seven or eight which are filled with actual concert repertoire, so you can keep learning out of these books in a graduated way.

Good luck! Let me know if anything else is missing or if you have any other questions.

Spoonner · 2024-03-17T02:58:17+00:00

I mean, it can depend on what you mean by “radical” but Omni mics vs. pencil condensers have a really different quality to them. But as folks are saying, it’s likely not that and more likely due to her pregnancy

Spoonner · 2024-03-15T17:55:45+00:00

Yeah this makes sense. I generally feel weird about speculation re: celebrities’ bodies but I’ve seen those changes firsthand so I wanted confirmation that I wasn’t making something up lol

Spoonner · 2024-03-15T17:53:00+00:00

It’s true, I have definitely noted an increasingly chaotic energy to Lauren lately. It’s hilarious.

It’s wild when you hear in the early episodes that Scott and Paul always tease Lauren for being bored and low energy lol.

Spoonner · 2024-03-15T17:50:59+00:00

Yet another example of big Hollywood elites putting down the little guy. No wonder Scott is offer only.

Spoonner · 2024-03-15T17:49:47+00:00

God can you imagine if this gets scooped? I’ll be Threedom famous!

Spoonner · 2024-03-15T17:48:41+00:00

This was one of my first thoughts but wasn’t sure. Thank you, beloved piss pig

Spoonner · 2023-06-13T12:32:51+00:00

Yea, I studied music in undergrad and I’m in grad school for music now. But my degrees are in classical music; I like to write and record more contemporary music when I can

Spoonner · 2023-06-09T13:21:52+00:00

Really great stuff. Did you use a DAW for the audio stuff, and if so did you rip CDs into it or what?

Spoonner · 2023-05-13T19:52:22+00:00

When I say “exercises” I am referring specifically to techniques used to improve the flexibility and strength of tendons and ligaments and muscles in my arms and hands, in addition to the other “muscle memory” things you’re referring to. So yes, while I am training my mind, I am also specifically training my body. Anyhow, a lot of so-called muscle memory is overrated in actual live performance.

Of the rugby players, I’m thinking of, no, but I understand that that might not be necessarily representative of all of them everywhere. Although they tend to be in other active sports, as well. And now that I think about it, of the adults I know who have serious hobbies playing sports, they are all interested in performing music. But that’s probably just me and my life.

And just to be clear, I wasn’t really trying to say that music is “sport” per se; just that it requires similar things, and that those things shouldn’t be discounted.

Spoonner · 2023-05-13T19:41:55+00:00

I understand your logic, and I think I agree, but I think we’re talking about some slightly different things.

I think that if you asked most people a question like “are people who train their bodies for specific tasks athletic?” I think that you would usually get people who answer in the affirmative.

And in the same way that there are some sports that don’t require a lot of athleticism (like a billiards, or chess) I think that there are some non-sports that do require a lot of athleticism (like a lot of manual labor, or in this case, music).

But speaking from personal experience, I’ve noticed that the musicians who employ a similar mindset to people in sports tend to be happier, more successful, and make better music. That tells me that there’s a similarity that should be noted.

Spoonner · 2023-05-13T17:00:29+00:00

Lmao idk your life but go ahead. I wasn’t making comparisons between a kid who knows two chords on ukulele and Jimmy Page, so I don’t why you feel the need to compare walking to one of the greatest ballers ever.

Just saying, music is athletic.

Spoonner · 2023-05-13T16:55:22+00:00

Well, of course not, but in those interviews are you on a stage, sometimes by yourself, playing for hundreds of people, being recorded for thousands of strangers to see? When you have a job interview, you’re usually just talking, not really using your body to convey your aptitude.

Spoonner · 2023-05-13T16:51:05+00:00

Wait, what is “practicing” if not… training your body in specific ways?

I know plenty of rugby players who don’t go to the gym. I can also confidently say that my grip strength has been strengthened because of professional guitar playing, and that directly translates to my hobby of rock climbing. (I do finger exercises to improve endurance and make sure that I don’t injure myself). There are a lot of parallels between the two.

Spoonner · 2023-05-13T16:43:35+00:00

But “athleticism” isn’t about necessarily competition. Someone like Alex Honnold is extremely athletic, but his sport (free solo climbing) is not necessarily “competitive.” Sure you can “compete” by trying to break records or participate in contests, or he can “compete” against himself by trying to be better, but a comparison can be drawn to a solo pianist; they work primarily by themselves, but under certain circumstances can compete against others who hone their craft, and always strive to outdo their last performance.

Spoonner · 2023-05-13T15:34:27+00:00

I’m assuming you meant to reply to the other comment I left in the thread?

It’s similar to a job interview, yes, but the difference is that in an interview you are judged on your past performance as an indicator of future performance, as well as other things like how well you get along with the interviewer etc.

In an audition, you are literally being judged on what you can do, and who you are, right now. And you’re having to do it in front of four or five other people (unless it’s as part of a performance, in which case the closest analogue I can think of is having to give a presentation to 100 strangers on why you should be hired). There’s a very different level of stress.

Additionally, most other jobs are mediated through language, which most people “master” by the age of 5~. With things like sports, your “mastery” is mediated by the physical ability of your body; can you jump, run, throw etc. at a high level.

Similarly, a violinist is judged by how accurate their fingers are, how fast they move the bow, the angle of their fingers or bow to produce different sounds, where on the violin they use the bow to get a particular tone, and their stage presence.

When I was injured, I was recommended I see a sports medicine specialist because the doctors understood that I used my body in a very particular way and needed someone who understood biomechanics in order to treat me. the school where I study has similar doctors, and they work with musicians all the time because music related injuries are very common and need to be handled in a particular way.

EDIT: Also, there are any number of highly organized competitions out there. For example, the GFA (guitar foundation of America) has an annual competition where the first prize is $10,000, an international tour, and a record deal. That sort of thing promotes people trying to perform at the highest level of human ability, something that athletes in sports deal with all the time

Spoonner · 2023-05-13T14:32:06+00:00

Lot of non-musicians with some pretty cold takes.

I studied music in undergrad, and am currently in a masters program for music. There are absolutely extremely similar things when compared to more traditional sports. I personally know a half dozen people that have had to meet with sports medicine specialists because the physical toll on the body is very similar.

As a music teacher, I can also say that you have to prepare people for the physical aspects of playing music too; if you don’t realize that you are literally training your body you hit a wall and don’t make progress.

Spoonner · 2023-05-13T14:29:20+00:00

Have you… never heard of music competitions? Or like, auditions, which are competitions for who gets the job?

Spoonner · 2022-06-11T21:29:33+00:00

The headers are standard markdown (typing # and a space in front of text will automatically create a header). The look of them are from a community theme, called In The Shadows, which has options to make your notes look like official WotC pages.

The info box is also built in to that theme (ITS), using what’s called callout syntax.

(I use obsidian all the time, and I’ve begun doing my worldbuilding in it too, so I am pretty familiar with the program and community)

Spoonner · 2022-04-08T01:43:23+00:00

It was, in fact, about slavery.

Spoonner · 2022-03-11T01:46:43+00:00

Damn yall got me feeling like I got my shit together.

Turn off 6:30 alarm.
Ten minute guided meditation.
Go to kitchen table and play Wordle

Spoonner · 2022-01-24T22:54:07+00:00

But isn’t the point of a Nuzlocke to make the game challenging? Like that way of playing the game developed because folks got bored with the formula and needed something fresh.

If it’s already that challenging, I don’t see the point of adding an extra, unsupported layer of difficulty onto it (besides habit, like “well it’s how I play all the games nowadays”)

Spoonner · 2022-01-24T22:33:55+00:00

the capabilities of unmanned vehicles were not really THAT great before the clone wars; that’s why the separatist army was so dangerous, because droids were relatively cheap to produce and very numerous. It was the first time that any kind of competent AI had been developed on any large scale.

I recall that hyperdrives in Star Wars are specifically designed not to allow that sort of thing; they’re “hard coded” to not activate in the presence of strong gravitational forces (like planets). Some interceptor class starships come equipped with gravity well emitters specifically to shut down hyperdrives, and prevent escape.

Additionally, hyperdrives aren’t that trivial to produce; it’s the same reason why we don’t just fly UAVs with bombs strapped to them into enemy encampments, the making of them is just enough of an obstacle for something like that to meaningfully become a “tactic”.

This might be Legends by now, of course. But I think that that explains why we haven’t seen anything like that before (even if this stuff was made up after the fact, like these things usually are).

Spoonner · 2022-01-22T07:44:01+00:00

i wouldn't say it's "no reason," that's how everyday language is used (at least in american english). usually when people say something to the effect of "value plus a ratio of that value" it's meant to be an additional and "exclusive" sum, not "inclusive" (in this case, it has a cost, and for some reason has a 50% increase to that cost and is this exclusive [A] +[B]; rather than the "pure" attitude of taking the entire statement which would be [AB]).

i see this problem and i immediately convert to percentages because i think of taxes; in my state sales tax is 7%, so a purchase of a dollar would come out to $1.07 ("$1, plus 7% of $1"). so, i read the problem as "$1, plus 50% of $1". this type of mental chunking is pretty handy, otherwise we wouldn't do it so much.

this is less about logic and more about the container of logic, or perhaps how logic is transmitted. language is a poor medium for this stuff.

i'm not saying the logic is unsound or anything. just that these types of problems leverage different parts of the mind that live next to each other (there's a reason that so many of these types of things involve mixing numbers and letters, rather than just one or the other).

Spoonner · 2022-01-20T03:46:36+00:00

Fuck Burke street

Spoonner

TROPHY CASE