Getting off on the right foot


john of MT
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john of MT
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04/01/2022 2:12 pm

I've had a breakthrough. Over the years I've often noticed that I often hit a plateau in my practice and then, boom!... theres a breakthrough to another level of 'expertise'. But, I digress.

The big realization today was that I've been keeping time, i.e., toe tapping, with the wrong foot. I've found that the left foot is the right foot. Oh, the improvement! Scales and riffs roll off my fingers because my fingers don't roll off the fretboard anymore because I toe tap so much better. The playing is more fluid and on beat when toe tapping with the right foot, i.e., the left foot. But, that's not to say there are no problems.

The pain! So much pain! How long will it take to build up calluses like I have on my right foot? When will the hurt go away? And, what if keeping time with the left foot doesn't work out over time? What if the step I'm taking with my left foot which I've found to be the right foot doesn't lead me down the path to better guitar playing? My left foot toes are fatter than average, the big toe often gets in the way of the other toes. And the toes are short, too. Are there stretching exercises that can help improve toe tapping? Can I expect improvement over time or will my short, fat toes forever trip up high-speed toe tapping? How long does it take to get really good at toe tapping after one changes feet? Oh... are there songs recommended for after one changes toe tapping feet?

That's not the worst of it. I am now concerned that I went through lessons taught on acoustic guitar while playing electric. Similarly, I completed a bunch of lessons taught on electric while playing acoustic. Worst of all... I did 'em all while toe tapping with the right foot which turned out to be the wrong foot. Should I start over?

One good thing I recently discovered. I buffed my fingernails one night and the next morning my notes were much brighter. So, there's that.

Happy April to all of GT!

john

p.s. could we get some lessons for songs in the easy listening muzak genre? that stuff is da bomb! and... what's with all of the music theory, all of a sudden? after all this time hasn't anything been proven?


"It takes a lot of devotion and work, or maybe I should say play, because if you love it, that's what it amounts to. I haven't found any shortcuts, and I've been looking for a long time."
-- Chet Atkins
# 1
Maximilian Paintner
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Maximilian Paintner
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04/01/2022 2:31 pm

Awesome, congratulations on your breakthrough John!

Besides that, why not try to master your guitar playing without any toe tapping? It´ll always in some make you more tense then you have to for guitar playing and therefore hinder your progress somewhere down the line. Maybe give it a try!

To much more breakthroughs of yours!

(And then I realized what day is today... hahahahaha)


# 2
manXcat
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manXcat
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04/01/2022 10:43 pm
Originally Posted by: john of MT

I've had a breakthrough. Over the years I've often noticed that I often hit a plateau in my practice and then, boom!... theres a breakthrough to another level of 'expertise'. But, I digress.

The big realization today was that I've been keeping time, i.e., toe tapping, with the wrong foot. I've found that the left foot is the right foot. Oh, the improvement! Scales and riffs roll off my fingers because my fingers don't roll off the fretboard anymore because I toe tap so much better. The playing is more fluid and on beat when toe tapping with the right foot, i.e., the left foot. But, that's not to say there are no problems.

The pain! So much pain! How long will it take to build up calluses like I have on my right foot? When will the hurt go away? And, what if keeping time with the left foot doesn't work out over time? What if the step I'm taking with my left foot which I've found to be the right foot doesn't lead me down the path to better guitar playing? My left foot toes are fatter than average, the big toe often gets in the way of the other toes. And the toes are short, too. Are there stretching exercises that can help improve toe tapping? Can I expect improvement over time or will my short, fat toes forever trip up high-speed toe tapping? How long does it take to get really good at toe tapping after one changes feet? Oh... are there songs recommended for after one changes toe tapping feet?

That's not the worst of it. I am now concerned that I went through lessons taught on acoustic guitar while playing electric. Similarly, I completed a bunch of lessons taught on electric while playing acoustic. Worst of all... I did 'em all while toe tapping with the right foot which turned out to be the wrong foot. Should I start over?

One good thing I recently discovered. I buffed my fingernails one night and the next morning my notes were much brighter. So, there's that.

Happy April to all of GT!

john

p.s. could we get some lessons for songs in the easy listening muzak genre? that stuff is da bomb! and... what's with all of the music theory, all of a sudden? after all this time hasn't anything been proven?

Well that was most entertaining john. [br][br]But just to throw a spanner into the works, have a bo peep at this vid from 1963. [br][br]Watch George's and John's feet in particular, both guitarists, both right handed vs left handed Paul playing bass tapping the same foot as John. Right foot, left foot, any foot will do as long as it's good for you! Paul, John & George (RIP) ought to have known. Oh the conundrum. Oh, and Cheers. Happy April 1st. April 2nd here.


# 3
john of MT
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john of MT
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04/02/2022 12:49 am

Oooo.... could there be some ambipedal goings-on?


"It takes a lot of devotion and work, or maybe I should say play, because if you love it, that's what it amounts to. I haven't found any shortcuts, and I've been looking for a long time."
-- Chet Atkins
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manXcat
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manXcat
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04/02/2022 2:33 am

I think so. I had to look that word up BTW. [br][br]Watch the vid from the beginning and watch George's feet. Paul and John are consistent left tappers. George has an unusual and expressive foot-timekeeping (?) style. His right tapping heel toe shuffle vs John's and Paul's right toe tapping can consistently be seen elsewhere. i.e. Ed Sullivan show appearance a year later. [br][br][br][br][br]


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aliasmaximus
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aliasmaximus
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04/02/2022 4:30 am
Originally Posted by: john_of_MT

what's with all of the music theory, all of a sudden? after all this time hasn't anything been proven?

Now that's funny... and just a tad warped :)

Seriously though, just think how hard it is for dogs to deal with the "which paw is right" dilemma when playing guitar. I know they do - I've seen it on YouTube.


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john of MT
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john of MT
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04/02/2022 2:02 pm
Originally Posted by: manXcat

I think so. I had to look that word up BTW.


"It takes a lot of devotion and work, or maybe I should say play, because if you love it, that's what it amounts to. I haven't found any shortcuts, and I've been looking for a long time."
-- Chet Atkins
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manXcat
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manXcat
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04/02/2022 11:28 pm
Originally Posted by: john of MT

I was glued to the TV set for that Sullivan episode. A few days later the Beatles gave their first American concert less than ten miles from my house. My mother asked if I wanted tickets... and to my shame and enduring regret, I said "no."

[/quote]

[br][br]Australia still being very much the 'child of Empire' country back in the early 1960s, unlike America we were aware of and enjoyed The Beatles on our airwaves, in our record stores, on television and in newspaper media from the very outset of their emergent sucess in Britain in October 1962 with "Love Me Do" (#7) followed by "Please Please Me" which took them to #1, their first of a seemingly neverending stream of #1s for the decade that was the 1960s. [br][br]I was too young to be permitted to attend their 1964 Australian concert tour, but was very aware of it. One couldn't not be. As it turned out -from the report of a friend of mine who was there, which I think I related an aeon ago in another GT post, attending those early concerts including those in America, one may as well have not and saved the price of the ticket as after their first 10 seconds, all that could be heard for the entire duration of any song was the girls frantic screaming in unison! One only has to watch this kind of newsreal of the day to comprehend the enormity and impact of Beatlemania sweeping Britain and Australia throughout 1963 and 1964.[br][br]

[br][quote=john of MT][p]Yes, I'm an old fart but I have learned. I have spent the last couple decades trying to catch the old fart music makers before they move off. I caught Paul's concert here but, given his seemingly frequent visits, I skipped B.B. King twice and now it's too late. Nearly the same story with Johnny Winter (although I have a guitar he once played).[br]

[br][br]Ain't 20:20 hindsight just grand -if too late?[br][br]There was a thread running in a forum in which I participate requesting all to list bands from the 1960s of which all the core members considered that band in its heyday are still alive. An inexorable reminder of memento mori, that list is short.


# 8
john of MT
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john of MT
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04/03/2022 1:25 am

I went back and edited the line about my guitar that Johnny Winter once played. That edit kinda messes up the quote you posted above. The change doesn't mean a thing... until one starts comparing sentences.

Yup. The tidal wave swept quickly over the U.S. too. Sullivan, seeing what was happening in Britain, got the Beatles on his show shortly after a Washington D.C. DJ (Caroll James) started playing their music. James had a stewardess friend bring some from England after a teen girl listener had asked him to play some... what was happening in the UK had been news for some time by then. For a while, James had credit for being the first in the U.S. to play their records and he certainly kicked off the U.S. frenzy. It was because of that DJ's actions that D.C. got the first U.S. concert and Caroll James was its 'host' and that girl who lived a few blocks from me got to hang with James and the band before the concert.

The record company (Columbia?) had been stockpiling albums in advance in their plan to flood the country on their own timing. The hysteria that followed the DJ's playing forced the company to release the records earlier than their best laid plans.

It was a fun time.


"It takes a lot of devotion and work, or maybe I should say play, because if you love it, that's what it amounts to. I haven't found any shortcuts, and I've been looking for a long time."
-- Chet Atkins
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snojones
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snojones
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04/03/2022 3:24 pm

So I want to know when I should flare my nostrils durring a solo? And when should I close my eyes, or grimmace, or grin, or pick with my teeth? This is the stuff that keeps me up at night.


Captcha is a total pain in the........

# 10

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