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I think that anyone who writes much has this issue, in two ways

1. writing "new" songs that aren't actually new
2. writing songs that just seem so natural that they MUST have been done before, or...

I suffer from "essential tremor," and it gets worse every year. Lately I've had trouble playing stuff I'd previously had down, especially when folks are watching. (It's also increased by stress, of...

In my experience, playing electric guitar since the 70's, amps always buzz for magnetic pickups, if I'm not touching the strings or another grounding on the guitar. More or less buzzing depending on...

I agree with your choice to leave the nut out of the graphics. I think it would just cause more confusion, especially for beginners.

I see why others suggest making the fingering charts vertical,...

If they don't let you carry it on, you check it at the gate. It gets hand-packed below. After landing, it's usually in the jetway, along with the baby strollers as mentioned above. They give you a...

Bingo.

Occasionally adults have asked me about starting to play a (first) instrument as an adult. I'm always optimistic, but my reply is something like this. Children learn to play much more...

Just remember: the sound guy is the first to arrive, last to leave, lowest paid, blamed if it sounds bad, ignored it if sounds good, and heads home alone. Other than that, it's a great gig!

Sound...

If the problem is playing faster (even if your top speed isn't very high), there's good thread or three thread for that.
...

No kidding. Of course, it's because the word has two meanings; one being related to timing, and the other being related to role (lead vs. backup.) And usually, folks are taking this second meaning....

Yeah, forever. However, I suspect most of us saying that should also notice that over the decades we've slowly raised the bar. Possibly the same perfect-to-fumble ratio, but what we're doing keeps...

I'm really looking forward to seeing the other pages! This is the equivalent of what guitarists call the "CAGED" system, basing barre chords on the corresponding open chords. For example, the first...

I second the recommendation for these Etymotic earplugs as a great low-cost solution. I've been playing at too-loud blues jams for decades and these really help. In addition to reducing ear strain,...

If you're trying to appeal to a general audience, I'd avoid calling a minor 7 chord "minor dominant." That term is pretty much only heard when discussing music theory You could put it in a...

This post: https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/threads/135165-How-to-hold-the-pick?p=1603809&viewfull=1#post1603809 has some good pictures, and shows half of the range I discuss above. Any of them...

In over 50 years of playing guitar with a number of folks at different levels and with different styles, all I can say is that the best players use the whole spectrum, from what I was taught at one...

In general, buying things like art and antiques in hopes that their value will increase is a bad investment strategy. While there are plenty of success stories, they're far outweighed by the...

I would imagine that everyone needs to be on the same page!

Sometimes different arrangements use "enharmonic" chords, and these often work when both are played together. (An example of enharmonic...

I read elsewhere that flatter bridge makes double stops easier. I don't understand that a bit. Seems to me that with a classical bridge, double stops have a narrower angle of tolerance than single...

Yeah, that's indisputable. I'd bet that most "fiddle" players use an instrument set up pretty much the same way as a classical violinist's. But I wouldn't be surprised if some (especially those...

It's not universal! There's lots of variety. Find one that suits you and go for it! Don't be discouraged before checking them out.

Not much has changed (in fact, too little has changed.) As I said above, it varies dramatically with location. Many of the venues you play at pay the fees so it doesn't matter. Others don't pay...

Just FYI, your arrangements are automatically copyrighted. But if you don't care, nobody else should either.

Correct except one thing. For most purposes, there isn't much distinction between "copyrighted" and "registered copyright." IANAL, but my father is a retired patent attorney and we've discussed the...

If it's traditional, it's fair play, as long as you're not copying anyone's arrangement (and even that is debatable.) Be sure to listen to all versions you can find, and don't copy anything that's...

My understanding is that it varies a LOT by location. It's up to the agents for an area how aggressive to be. But I believe they're incentivized to squeeze as much revenue as possible, leading to...