old guitar play looking for help
hello my name is Bill , I'am 55 yrs old, and I've been playing the guitar sense the age of 13 , I played left hand then taught myself to play right handed, the reason I'am writing is for advice, I haven't played in 10 yrs I had an accendent severed nerves in my left hand and now I have no mussle in my left hand to play Bar Chords is inpossable , but 3 weeks ago I picked it back up to try again and not give up, I get very frusrated put it down then try again , music is my life, I have a home recording studio , which helps with my music passion, the question I have, is, are there chords I can play that sound fuller I can play chords like G
# 1
Hi Bill-
Have you ever tried playing in open tunings? Like, Open D Tuning, or Open G tuning? If not, that might be a fun thing for you to try.
The open tunings create a very full sound, not unlike a barre chord. Yet it is possible to create very full sounding chords without a lot of athletics on the part of the left hand. They also allow you to introduce some interesting harmonies into the chords, with ease.
Let me know your thoughts -
Best wishes, Lisa
Have you ever tried playing in open tunings? Like, Open D Tuning, or Open G tuning? If not, that might be a fun thing for you to try.
The open tunings create a very full sound, not unlike a barre chord. Yet it is possible to create very full sounding chords without a lot of athletics on the part of the left hand. They also allow you to introduce some interesting harmonies into the chords, with ease.
Let me know your thoughts -
Best wishes, Lisa
Lisa McCormick, GT Instructor
Acoustic, Folk, Pop, Blues
Full Catalog of Lisa's Guitar Tricks Tutorials
Find Lisa on Facebook!
Acoustic, Folk, Pop, Blues
Full Catalog of Lisa's Guitar Tricks Tutorials
Find Lisa on Facebook!
# 2
Hi Bill,
I'm close to your age. I may have some good news for you. You need to check out the following players.
Merle Travis...one of the greatest guitar players of all time never used barre chords...and he only used the thumb and first finger of his right hand (unlike your situation, he was right handed, as is most of the world).
Django Reinhardt...he too was one of the greatest guitar players that's ever been. As a young man, his left hand (once again, he was right handed) was injured in a fire. His third and fourth fingers of his left hand didn't work at all...he only had very limited use of them to fret the guitar neck.
If you do a Google search on Travis or Reinhardt, you will find out more about their playing styles. In the case of Travis, he chose not to use barre chords. In the case of Reinhardt, he was not able to. There are videos on the web of both of these guys...you will be amazed at both of them...Reinhardt in particular.
I take my inspiration from guys like these. I can make barre chords...but I try to avoid them as much as possible. Why? After many, many years of making them, the joint of my first finger where it joins the left hand is not what it used to be...I think I've done damage to it by using barre's so much and so I use barre chords only when there is no other way to play a certain musical passage. If use them sparingly, it is a manageable thing. The joint in question can exhibit periods of tenderness...it can become painful to make barre chords...that's why I use them sparingly...I don't know if it's arthritis or not...maybe...maybe the joint is simply worn out...but that's my situation.
There are other ways to play the guitar if you have some limitations. My own opinion is that a person has to re-think the way they have been going about what they've been doing and "re-engineer" it...find another way to go about it. One more thing, it seems to me that if the left hand has limitations...either self imposed or of necessity...the right hand will have to do things differently so that the overall result will be achieved.
Like you, I too like to play country...also blues, bluegrass, rock and jazz. I don't know if you like jazz or not but I have some material that might be helpful to you.
The way I make chords...for my own usage...is totally unorthodox by most all other standards. Just about everything I do musically is totally unorthodox by most of the rest of the worlds standards. Oh well...
One of the things that has allowed me to make chords a lot without using a barre is usage of the left-hand thumb "over the top" to fret the 6th string. Travis did this a lot. There are other tricks too.
I don't know if any of this stuff helps but I hope so. Let me know if it does.
Best wishes,
Bobby Howe
I'm close to your age. I may have some good news for you. You need to check out the following players.
Merle Travis...one of the greatest guitar players of all time never used barre chords...and he only used the thumb and first finger of his right hand (unlike your situation, he was right handed, as is most of the world).
Django Reinhardt...he too was one of the greatest guitar players that's ever been. As a young man, his left hand (once again, he was right handed) was injured in a fire. His third and fourth fingers of his left hand didn't work at all...he only had very limited use of them to fret the guitar neck.
If you do a Google search on Travis or Reinhardt, you will find out more about their playing styles. In the case of Travis, he chose not to use barre chords. In the case of Reinhardt, he was not able to. There are videos on the web of both of these guys...you will be amazed at both of them...Reinhardt in particular.
I take my inspiration from guys like these. I can make barre chords...but I try to avoid them as much as possible. Why? After many, many years of making them, the joint of my first finger where it joins the left hand is not what it used to be...I think I've done damage to it by using barre's so much and so I use barre chords only when there is no other way to play a certain musical passage. If use them sparingly, it is a manageable thing. The joint in question can exhibit periods of tenderness...it can become painful to make barre chords...that's why I use them sparingly...I don't know if it's arthritis or not...maybe...maybe the joint is simply worn out...but that's my situation.
There are other ways to play the guitar if you have some limitations. My own opinion is that a person has to re-think the way they have been going about what they've been doing and "re-engineer" it...find another way to go about it. One more thing, it seems to me that if the left hand has limitations...either self imposed or of necessity...the right hand will have to do things differently so that the overall result will be achieved.
Like you, I too like to play country...also blues, bluegrass, rock and jazz. I don't know if you like jazz or not but I have some material that might be helpful to you.
The way I make chords...for my own usage...is totally unorthodox by most all other standards. Just about everything I do musically is totally unorthodox by most of the rest of the worlds standards. Oh well...
One of the things that has allowed me to make chords a lot without using a barre is usage of the left-hand thumb "over the top" to fret the 6th string. Travis did this a lot. There are other tricks too.
I don't know if any of this stuff helps but I hope so. Let me know if it does.
Best wishes,
Bobby Howe
[FONT=Verdana]Bobby Howe[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Alias: guitargeorge50[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Guitar Tricks Instructor[/FONT]
www.bobbyhowe.com
Bobby Howe's My Space Page
Bobby Howe's Facebook Page
[FONT=Verdana]"Guitarists should be able to pick up the guitar and play music on it for an hour, without a rhythm section or anything." - Joe Pass[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Alias: guitargeorge50[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Guitar Tricks Instructor[/FONT]
www.bobbyhowe.com
Bobby Howe's My Space Page
Bobby Howe's Facebook Page
[FONT=Verdana]"Guitarists should be able to pick up the guitar and play music on it for an hour, without a rhythm section or anything." - Joe Pass[/FONT]
# 3
Great info, Bobby!
I am going to check out these players. Any reason to avoid barre chords sounds good to me. Aside from being somewhat difficult to play, I've never liked how they sound compared to the alternatives.
Best,
Corey
I am going to check out these players. Any reason to avoid barre chords sounds good to me. Aside from being somewhat difficult to play, I've never liked how they sound compared to the alternatives.
Best,
Corey
# 4
