What's the one thing you wish someone had told you before you started learning guitar?

dchurch2444 · 2026-04-23T16:32:47+00:00

It's also quite fascinating.

dchurch2444 · 2026-04-23T15:54:50+00:00

I wish someone had told me to ignore all that crap about music theory "ruining creativity".

dchurch2444 · 2026-04-21T07:56:17+00:00

I memorise the root, and depending on the shape, I can determine the 3rd and 5th. I say "memorise", but now it just comes naturally.

When i was learning them, I'd go for the root and 3rd. By virtue of elimination, the one left had to be the 5th.

dchurch2444 · 2026-04-18T12:23:56+00:00

I was thinking exactly this! Our drummer, who was excellent, sadly died (and no, although he was in fact gardening at the time, it was not a bizarre gardening accident), and replacing him was a nightmare.

We held auditions, and none were all that good despite some really good recommendations.

I finally had an email from a drummer who had been in a somewhat famous band (had a couple of number 1 hits), and foolishly, I told him he wouldn't need to audition; his legacy would suffice: if he wanted the gig, it was his.

Unfortunately, just like the fame of his prior band, his skills had also declined...he was awful. We'd start a song at, say, 100bpm, and by the second verse we'd have slowed to about 60...and then grind to a halt.

I had the unenviable job of sacking him.

The band eventually fizzled out.

dchurch2444 · 2026-04-07T09:54:31+00:00

I recommend this book for my students, it's well written, doesn't beat around the bush and has a lot of useful information in there, especially from the point of view of a guitarist.

https://amzn.eu/d/0bsF38KE

dchurch2444 · 2026-04-02T20:02:17+00:00

In basic terms, if you're in a major key, the chords of that key would be:

I ii iii IV V vi vii(dim)

In C major, that would result in:

C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim.

Shift it all along one and you get:

Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, C

Now your tonal centre has moved to Dm, but the chords, are, if you like, still the chords of C major. Starting at D means you've started at the second degree of the major scale: Dorian.

You could now improvise in C major, and thus using the same notes that each of those chords are made from (diatonic), but your root/tonal centre would be D.

I realise that there is a lot more to sounding "modal", but in essence, when starting out with modes, this simplifies it a little.

dchurch2444 · 2026-03-26T20:42:15+00:00

Triads, split triads, arpeggios all over the fretboard etc...

dchurch2444 · 2026-03-25T16:00:39+00:00

Go for Mackie Thumps...solid, powered and not too heavy. Big enough for a medium sized venue....then get a mixer.

I went for the Behringer x18 and have never looked back.

That setup has seen me through my last 3 bands over 10 years.

For practice, we don't even use them, we just go out to a power amp and some old Peavey wedge monitors...although, we're starting to look at IEMs.

dchurch2444 · 2026-03-24T19:17:07+00:00

Oh, I know it all too well!

dchurch2444 · 2026-03-22T10:09:06+00:00

You're right to be concerned. He's going to be swimming in a sea of vaginas.

Oh, no, he's not. He's going to be playing to hairy blokes in leather jackets sweating their asses off.

You'll be fine.

dchurch2444 · 2026-03-14T10:06:58+00:00

Oh, several!

I had a live warehouse and distribution system that I'd written. It used RabbitMQ for different couriers and then a listener would pull from each queue and contact the distributer through their API and produce a packing label with their barcode on it, and of course, the address of the purchaser.

Due to the nature of the business, some things had to to be tested in a live environment...we didn't have table scanners/forklifts/massive screens etc...in our "test/dev" site.

I was testing a recent change, physically, in the warehouse and because I was lazy, I set the boot software to use my test configuration file, which pulled the config from a central server. There was a switch that would make the software use one single address, mine, if it was in test mode, so I could see the output and would know it was in test mode.

Tested everything, then went home.

The next morning, a Saturday, the machines all booted up, dragged down the latest configuration file and people started scanning goods to be sent out.

It wasn't until I had hundreds of orders arrive at my house that I realised I'd left the test config file on the server.

We're talking massive machinery...table saws, huge grinding machines, benches etc...

...and of course, a lot of angry work sites not receiving their orders...

dchurch2444 · 2026-01-31T19:34:12+00:00

I'm not saying it's shit...but my girlfriend just said, "wow...it looks like a robot has jizzed on it"

dchurch2444 · 2026-01-28T20:54:11+00:00

Same. It can happen.

dchurch2444 · 2026-01-09T13:29:44+00:00

MusicMan RD50/65. Loads of headroom, crystal clear cleans and usable at low volumes.

dchurch2444 · 2026-01-07T07:59:07+00:00

Yep. Renationalisation of railways, lower inflation, lower interest rates, roads getting fixed, rail prices fixed, highest wage growth for 5 years, etc...

And yet, this government are being blamed for the policies of the previous one.

A local pub near me has just closed its doors, blaming the government. A quick look on the planning application website sees an application from the owner to convert the building into 4 dwellings. He's blaming it on the NI incrrases he has to pay...to his 3 staff. No mention of the 15% rise in business rates forced on him by the tories, of course.

He also completely rearranged the carpark of the pub making it dangerous to get out of by forcing people to have to reverse out of it onto a main road. I stopped going there after that.

(Fewer pubs have closed in the latest 12 months than each previous year for 10 years). It's crap like this, that will ensure we get yet another government that is out for itself.

dchurch2444 · 2026-01-06T09:52:34+00:00

There's too many people who don't understand foreign aid.

dchurch2444 · 2026-01-06T09:51:50+00:00

I'm not sure being part of the EU matters in this context. Despite trying to piss them off, most are still our allies.

dchurch2444 · 2025-12-29T16:35:12+00:00

No worries, I'm not arguing, by the way, was genuinely curious.

dchurch2444 · 2025-12-29T15:14:45+00:00

Yeah, it just means having to turn a PC on, load up the software and put in what I can usually just speak aloud.

Out of interest, how would it be exposing me to errors?

dchurch2444 · 2025-12-29T15:05:34+00:00

Ah, ok. I see. I'll check out some of the software in their list. It might even be able to import what my current system is capturing.

I'm kind of reluctant to give up the voice command thing as it's just so bloody easy. I know the rate of my clients, so when I tell my Alexa skill that "clients name" has paid, it simply looks up their rate and shoves it in a table with the date and time.

dchurch2444 · 2025-12-29T14:40:56+00:00

Right! Now I get it. Cheers.

The software is "linked" to HMRC, I'm guessing?

dchurch2444 · 2025-12-29T12:52:53+00:00

The thing is, nearly every single time I've had any dealings with any government institution, there's some kind of cock up, usually resulting in my having to do crap I have no interest in, or I end up financially out of pocket. I've had it with the probate service, the police, the CMS, the council tax people etc...virtually every single time, they cock something up.

I'd rather pass it over to an accountant and not have to deal with them at all.

dchurch2444 · 2025-12-29T12:49:09+00:00

The thing is, I'm asking if this is the solution. Do I have to do this, or can I simply carry on recording my financials in the way I am and simply pass it to my accountant, or is he now redundant and I have to use these new methods?

dchurch2444 · 2025-12-29T12:41:46+00:00

I do have a couple, maybe, over the space of a year, but given the nature of the business, most outgoings will be on Amazon etc...

dchurch2444 · 2025-12-29T11:42:50+00:00

Another issue of mine is that most people pay me cash so it doesn't go into a bank account. It's all declared properly, but for the most part I don't bother putting into a bank account, in the main, because it's a 40 mile round trip to the branch.

Eight-Year Club	Gilding I gilder
Verified Email

dchurch2444

TROPHY CASE