Not much activity

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Re: Not much activity

Postby Art Sims » Sat May 30, 2015 10:42 am

Thanks everyone. Appreciate those encouraging comments very much. Glad to read that more pieces by you who come here are in the works with plans to post them.
Art
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Re: Not much activity

Postby Art Sims » Sat May 30, 2015 10:47 am

Allan, thanks. I can read tab some, standard notation better. But most tab and notation pieces that are available involve fingerings that are uncomfortable for my hand, like full barres and stretches while holding fretted notes, which I choose to avoid as much as I can. Other players do those things all the time, and while I can make my hand to do them, I have found that doing a lot of that causes my joints to swell and stiffen up. So I mostly play arrangements of my own with reduced demands. Over time I have figured out alternatives to make things easier on my left hand and this keeps me going. It's an approach that runs me up and down the neck with lots of open strings masking hand movements that I make, which probably seems odd, but it's what do. I play mostly from memory and by ear.

I got the note you sent about my pick. I must tell you, it takes some getting used to. A player has to adjust it to their thumb and then learn how to control a loose pick with the thumb-joint and band of the pick device working together. I make a few along and sell them for $10 bucks plus $3 postage. The price used to be $20 before I was able to farm out the cutting of blanks for it, but I think $10 is still a lot to pay for a guitar pick. It's because the band is stainless steel and I have to make it by hand and it takes more time than I wish it did. Also, I have stopped offering refunds for players who want to try it, so if you buy one from me and then don't like it you'll be out $10 bucks and the postage. If none of that dissuades you, you can contact me again about it and I'll be glad to send one your way.
Thanks for your upbeat comment about the song I posted.

Art
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Re: Not much activity

Postby Art Sims » Sat May 30, 2015 10:51 am

Hi Tom,
The guitar I'm playing there is one of the early Gibson CE guitars. This one was made in the custom shop before production. It's stamped K-10 on the back of the headstock. I've always liked it, although getting satisfied took some work on the neck and a lot of experimenting with the controls. It has six EQ pots for the individual strings, each having some effect on the volume but mainly on the tone of its own string and these aren't easy to get set just right.
Thanks for your encouraging comment about the song.
Art
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Re: Not much activity

Postby Spadaro Paolo » Sun May 31, 2015 7:59 am

Great arrangement Art !!!!!

Beautiful sound and excellent execution.

See you soon ..........

I'm recording again a lot of stuff.

Ciao, Paolo Spadaro.
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Re: Not much activity

Postby EdNilo » Mon Jun 01, 2015 7:44 pm

Well, I've had a good week. I got 11th row tickets for Mark Knopfler at Caesar's Palace on 9/16 and 3rd row for Tommy at Boulder Station on 9/18. Just thought I'd share.
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Re: Not much activity

Postby BobEvans » Sun Jun 14, 2015 6:39 pm

Hi Art. Very nice arrangement.

I had several questions about your selection of "unusual" fingerings used in several spots, as well as the info about your unique thumbpick. Thanks for answering those in your post above.

Great going working around the constraints your hand health puts on your approach to playing. Is this something you've had to pursue more recently, or have you always taken this path less traveled?

One of the great things about the guitar is there is more than one way to skin a cat. :-)

Bob
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Re: Not much activity

Postby Tom Keller » Sun Jun 14, 2015 11:00 pm

Sadly, not enough activity to get the word out about the Jerry Reed Tribute in Nashville last week. :( Had to hear about it after the fact. I guess this board is no longer considered a source for event information. Too bad.

Tom
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Re: Not much activity

Postby Art Sims » Tue Jun 16, 2015 9:56 am

Hi Bob
Thanks for those comments. I'm pleased you liked my arrangement and that you found some of the fingerings to be interesting. To answer about how long I've needed alternate fingerings, it's been about 20 years. I'm 72. I started playing in my early teens and after about 5 years I heard Chet and wanted to learn what he was doing. I didn't have any videos and was never able to figure out some of the things I heard him doing on his records but I did learn some of it. I stopped playing about age 40 because my hand started bothering me and I didn't play for about 10 years, but I really missed it. So I started back about 20 years ago but this time I paid a lot of attention to partial chord forms and fingerings that aren't demanding with lots of open strings mixed in. I began to realize how true your observation is that: “One of the great things about the guitar is there is more than one way to skin a cat.” It turns out that the guitar is so structured that a player who learns the fretboard well and who knows which notes of a chord are essential can figure out a way to do almost anything easier and that has been my focus ever since I started back. To me it's terrific. Discovering finger techniques for weak and tender hands has kept me going and I love it. I've had some email inquiries about fingerings from my youtube videos and have thought about making some clips about it. A lot of guys wouldn't need it but maybe some like me with weak hands that stiffen up could get some ideas. I appreciate you noticing and your brief comment and question about it adds to my thought about doing that. Thanks,
Art
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Re: Not much activity

Postby DagerRande » Thu Jun 18, 2015 4:55 pm

Art, I feel that one of the most valuable sources of technique that I've ever gotten into were from Brooks Robertson. He had some unusual techniques passed on to him from Buster Jones. There is more to the technique than just speed. There is a strange "crossing over" of the thumb into the "high string area" and then back to "where the thumb belongs" and alternating this and maintaining a steady tempo throughout. I've spent time with it and it makes a difference with some of Buster's songs. I don't believe they can be played accurately without it!
Rande Dager

We are all capable of doing more than we think we can!
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