Marlene Hutchinson's Blog (71)

Use a guitar humidifier to keep the humidity level for your guitar between 45% - 55 %.  Low humidity levels may cause the seams to sepearate and the wood to dry and crack (not instantly, but over time), so the simple fix is to place a guitar humidifier in the sound hole area when you're not playing ~ a humidified guitar is a happy guitar!

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Marlene

Marlene's…

Play and sing with a friend. When someone else joins in it challenges you to play through any bloopers you might have which helps you with the timing of your songs and will increase your performance abilities ~ plus you'll have ton of fun making music with your friends!

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Marlene

Use a metronome to help you play your chord progressions.  A metronome, a device that produces regular beats/clicks/ticks, will help you play your chords consistently and when you increase the tempo you will be challenging yourself to transition to the next chord faster ~ quick movement between chords = a smooth song!

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Marlene

Marlene's Music…

Talk to someone while playing a new rhythm (strumming or picking) pattern. This will help you increase your ability to multi-task while playing, which is what we are doing when we play a song, and the pattern will become rote more quickly ~ so give it a try...play your rhythm pattern and talk about your day!

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Marlene

Chop an onion or celery for good finger tip positioning practice. Yes, that's right...the position you use to hold an onion or celery in place while chopping (if you chop it like a pro) is the same finger tip position that is best for your chords and notes - so just think, you're practicing while you're cooking!

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Marlene

Warm up your fingers before you play. You'll likely fumble with your song if you haven't loosened up your fingers first and whether it's chord progressions or scales or fretboard exercises (or all of them!), it's a good idea to get your fingers "ready" to play ~ sort of like guitar calisthenics!

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Marlene

Name your guitar! I recently met a guitarist who told me she named her guitar "Serenity" and another who said his is "Change", for me "P.J." (Peace & Joy) comes to mind ~ what positive feelings/emotions/does your guitar bring to you?

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Marlene

Slow down and take time each day to play your guitar.  We get busy with work, school, our home lives, etc which can often times keep us from playing our guitars, since playing guitar is fun and relaxing let some of those things go and pick up your guitar ~ take time to smell the roses, a.k.a. play your guitar!

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Marlene

Practice playing your guitar with your eyes closed or in a dark room.  By relying on your senses of hearing and touch (only) you will heighten their awareness in your brain forcing the muscle memories to be solidified in yet another way ~ so hear and feel your music!

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Marlene

Focus on one picking pattern at a time, embrace it/own it/live it until it's rote. By giving your attention to learning one picking pattern at a time you will greatly increase the "I get it factor" because your muscle memory will be instilled solidly ~ then you'll be a pickin' and a grinnin'!

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Marlene

BTW...Jessica, a KPBS workshop attendee (January 2013), so embraced picking pattern #1 that she wrote and recorded a song. Check it out at this link. Way…

If you have sore fingertips (a good problem), try icing them. It's a simple way to help relieve the inflammation and soreness ~ besides, icing your fingers means you're blazing those strings!

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Marlene

Find another person who plays guitar and ask them to show you a skill that they know. Learning and trying new techniques from other guitarists is a great way to expand your playing, plus you'll have fun ~ guitar brings the nicest people together!

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Marlene

Use the internet to find the chords you don't yet know. Since there are thousands of chords it would be tough to know them all, so use the on-line chord chart resources to help you figure out ways to play the chords ~ now your chords are at your finger tips!

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Marlene

BTW...here's a site that I use... http://chordfind.com/…

Don't give up! It's easy to get frustrated when a new skill or song is not coming to you easily, but keep this Ancient Chinese Proverb in mind : "The temptation to quit will be the greatest right before you succeed." ~ so keep at it!

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Marlene

P.S. Check out the latest issue of Staying in Tune with Marlene's Music…

Find and play music you are passionate about. When you're excited about your songs you will play them more frequently, which means you'll be playing the songs you love sooner ~ then you can add your own flare to the music for a more stylish version!

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Marlene

Mix up your practice routine. It's a good idea to have a set time for practice (i.e. evenings, mornings, etc.), but be sure to mix up the way you practice each time ~ it keeps your practice time fresh and exciting!

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Marlene

Play your music with feeling and emotion.  Music is mechanical, timing, tempo, etc., but there is also a flow and expression to music that must be felt by you ~ so close your eyes while you're playing and feel the music!

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Marlene

Improvise on your guitar, that's right, make things up. Playing without music a.k.a. just playing chords/notes that come to mind, is a great way to increase your knowledge of the their placement and sound ~ who knows maybe you'll come up with a new song!

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Marlene

Use the internet to find a song, chords, tablature, etc.  We have a wealth of music & guitar resources at our fingertips (literally) ~ so grab your computer and find that song, chord, tab you've been wanting to learn!