Big thanks to everyone for their thoughts.
Argh, I can barely stand to listen to myself play too loudly and I find the candy-ass picking and strumming I do at low power doesn't always stand at volume. I have a hand injury that limits my finger plucking but I've gotten more accurate at picking. Not to make too many excuses for lack of practice and skill but I've got a BIT of wall there.
If I fuzz it out, then more power comes through, seemingly/possibly masking some missed/botched fingering. LOL! The acoustic is very forgiving though and is my primary instrument.
I like Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Dire Straits, Santana, the Band, Steve Miller, Charlie Daniels, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Stones, Green Day, and ... classical, though, I think it may require more dexterity than I hope to be able to muster - I actually render a decent Mad World and a non-standard simplified arrangement of Stairway to Heaven. Frequently - I just "practice" and enjoy the search for cool sounding chord combinations.
I read Mark Knopfler, a personal fave, used some bizarro tuning with good plucking skills to get the thoroughly soulful sound he gets - I don't remember but I looked into it one point and was just amazed at the literally dozens of tunings/drops and other tricks that people use. Maybe in a few more years I'll be to the point where I can explore the alternate tuning space. Right now I'm content to hammer out some good licks in Major, Seventh, Augmented and Minor chords, using some familiar fingerings and standard tuning. Though my theory is weak, I have a decent ear and if I get bored I capo up 1 or 4 half-tones and voila! I sound different with no new fingering to master. It's like magic. I've never actually tried capos on the electric guitar but I don't see any reason it wouldn't work.
I'm sure you guys have thoughts on easily mastered tricks of the pros. |
