I recently uploaded a Dtube video about handy tools for a guitars, which can be found here:
Let's go deeper in the tools available! I'm not sponsored or endorsed by any of the brands mentioned in this article.
This is part 2, you can find part 1 here:
https://steemit.com/music/@jvhteach/0-2-handy-tools-for-the-guitar-2018-blog-addon-entry-part-1
Picking the right fight!
There are many ways to play the guitar!
Some people like to play only using their fingers, but especially when you're just beginning, you're fingers might not be ready for this kind of playing. Playing with fingers needs a lot of coordination and it's harder to achieve a certain speed.
For those people there are guitar picks in all sizes and shapes available.
There are thin picks, which I personally use a lot on acoustic guitars. It has a low attack and a more softened sound which works well with an acoustic guitar. Because it gives a natural transition between chords being played.
There are thick picks, which I personally use a lot on electric guitars or when soloing. The attack is much higher and gives you a lot of control playing lose notes.
Picks are made of all kind of materials, they can be made out of plastic, metal or wood. The material used creates a difference in tone between picks. Therefore, just try them out and see what sounds best to you.
When you look at the shape of a guitar pick, it can be in all sizes. Some like them big, some like them small. The size of the pick is all about personal taste. (No innuendo here....or is there?)
Let's slide right in shall we?
Our next stop are slides. First of all, what are slides? A slide is meant to be able to play glissando notes.
Glissando means sliding from one note to an other. It's a style of playing often used in blues and country music and can be done with different kind of slides. An other name for a slide is a bottleneck. It's named this way because of the round, often glass material which is used for slide guitar. Better so, in the good old days, guitar players just cut of some bottle of beers they had laying around to a playable size and used that as a slide. They used the bottlenecks.
Bottlenecks/slides are available in different sizes and materials. The mostly used slides are made out of glass or some smooth metal or brass. The materials used has a direct consequence for the sound of the notes.
Let's get some grip on the situation
When you're practicing your chords, do you often feel like your fingers aren't strong enough to get those more difficult barre chords? Maybe the gripmaster is something for you.!
I'm a chubby guy, so a problem I faced in the beginning of my playing was how to play certain chords with my sausage fingers? I decided to try out a gripmaster. It's a workout for your fingers. I can tell you, especially in the beginning your fingers will hurt using these. Therefore I recommend practicing with these after your practise session. If you keep this up or just use the gripmaster only when you got some time to spare, you will notice that your fingers will get stronger. Which makes it much easier to play fast licks or difficult chords. I use it to practice scales when there are no guitars in my proximity.
And your girlfriend will be much happier to! At least my girlfriend was! I could do things I couldn't before! (of course I'm talking about cracking walnuts!)
(No joke, this tool is actually used by male pornstars to get 'certain fingers' strengthened for 'certain jobs'.)
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