I get it!!!!

from JoeUser Forums

*waves hands around excitedly* 

I get it!!! I get it I get it I get it I get it!!!

I've figured out how to pick instead of just strum!!

I used to look at guitar tabs and scratch my head, the words "What the fuck?" spilling from my mouth.  It all looked like gobbledegook to me.

However....I have had an ephiphany of sorts. 

It started with a Nirvana tune - actually, it's a Bowie song that Kurt et al covered - 'The Man Who Sold The World'.  I listened to the riff (which is very very simple) and then looked at the tabulature and picked the strings of my guitar trying to make it sound the same as what I had just heard.

It happened.  Not perfectly the first time; I got the beat wrong...but the third time I got it right.  That got me all stoked so I went off to look for more relatively easy things to pick. 

I looked at and played Hoobastank's 'The Reason'.  I tried 'All Apologies' on for size and found that it fit really rather well. 

Just now I went and found the tab for 'Dust In The Wind'.  It involves a method called 'Travis Picking' which had put me off in the past.  Today though...I can understand it!  I can translate what's on the page and play it!  I had thought that 'Dust' was a hard song to play....now I see that it's not THAT hard.

I can also see why ParaTed said it wasn't so much fun to play alone.  It's actually kinda repetitive....guess I'll just have to caterwaul my way through the vocals to make it more interesting huh?

I get it!  I CAN PICK!!!

misc
2,981 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Congratulations I don't understand what your saying, but good job all the same.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
I'm with Danny, dont wth you talkin bout but congrats anyway!
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
I'm with Danny, dont wth you talkin bout but congrats anyway!


I don't understand what your saying, but good job all the same.



Ok y'all.....this here is Picking 101.

Picking is a method of playing guitar where you pluck the strings with your fingers rather than strum. In a song, when you hear a lead guitar solo....that's usually picking. The rhythm guitar is usually strumming.

ParaTed can probably explain it better than I can....
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Dharma, now you got me wanting to pull out my guitar and get the calluses back.

Congrats on the picking, it is a lot of fun.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
Congrats. Took me a while to get that down at first but it does seem to kinda just hit ya all at once.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top

Dharma, now you got me wanting to pull out my guitar and get the calluses back

OOh, do it!  That might be a very theraputic thing for you to do...

Took me a while to get that down at first but it does seem to kinda just hit ya all at once.

It happened that way for you too?  That's cool!  I felt like such a dumbass for not being able to 'get it'....and all of a sudden, it just happened.

I have pics of me playing in the yard...I'll post them in a bit.

Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Now look at who's Pickin' & Grinnin'!! ;~D
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
Hey Dharma, way to go. I remember all the epiphinies I had as I was learning. These days these moments are few and far between (not because I've learnt everything there is to know but because I've stopped actively seeking new techniques). See, perseverance and practice does pay off. Have a great weekend.