Sunday, January 14, 2007
For Guitar Lovers of All Stripes
Have this on my book site, but feel I should post here:
INTERESTING NOTE ON MY GUESTBOOK!!
If you take a look at my guest book, you will see an interesting entry, from Dec. 17/06. I just noticed it myself and thought I should comment, but first, here it is reprinted in its entirety:
"To the owners of this site: you guys have really outdone yourself, created a $1 book and selling it for $35, you can't learn how to properly play a guitar in open tuning, and you really are just exploiting people who gave up because their fingers hurt... hey, play me a major pentatonic scale in this tuning and then tell me how well it works compared to standard. oh wait, how about you tell me how to look as cool as frank foxx"
I will address these concerns step by step, as I feel it is important to do so.
1) "a $1 book selling for $35" - if you can find a book on guitar for $1, I would urge you or anyone else to buy it. Books of any type cannot be produced and delivered for a dollar, no way, no how. As I point out in my FAQs, even an e-book would cost you a lot more - to print on an inkjet costs about .25 per page, so a 60-page book such as mine (with chord book) would cost about $15, just to print out, and that doesn't include the price of paper. The CD I provide, alone, costs about $2-3, copied and put in an envelope! One thing I've learned from this site is - I'm definitely not getting rich off it.
2) "you can't properly play a guitar in an open tuning" - if that's the case, I guess Joni Mitchell, Keith Richards, Muddy Waters, Ry Cooder, Bo Diddley, Elmore James and I are not playing guitar properly. But gosh, we have fun at it.
3) "you really are just exploiting people who gave up because their fingers hurt" - fingers hurting tend to be the least of people's frustrations with guitar, in my experience. The difficulty is usually mastering all the fingerings and memorizing positions. Depending on how far you want to take it, and the quality of your guitar, your fingers can hurt like heck no matter what tuning you're in. I've never viewed teaching people to play guitar as an exploitation.
4) "play me a major pentatonic scale in this tuning and then tell me how well it works compared to standard" - well, I did just that. I've never had a use for a major pentatonic scale, but just to see, I transcribed one off a poster I have, and by golly - IT'S ACTUALLY EASIER TO PLAY in open-D, especially on the higher strings! Does one need to play a pentatonic scale in order to enjoy guitar? I'd never needed one in 20+ years, but just in case, they're there in open-D and very playable, as, I would imagine, any other scale out there.
5) "oh wait, how about you tell me how to look as cool as Frank Foxx" - ummm..... impossible!
Hope this answers all the issues. I will leave that entry in the Guest Book for all to see, but I will but in an entry directing readers to this blog entry for my response.
Thanks from Guitar-eze... oh, and any and I mean ANY questions and comments are welcomed and appreciated!
INTERESTING NOTE ON MY GUESTBOOK!!
If you take a look at my guest book, you will see an interesting entry, from Dec. 17/06. I just noticed it myself and thought I should comment, but first, here it is reprinted in its entirety:
"To the owners of this site: you guys have really outdone yourself, created a $1 book and selling it for $35, you can't learn how to properly play a guitar in open tuning, and you really are just exploiting people who gave up because their fingers hurt... hey, play me a major pentatonic scale in this tuning and then tell me how well it works compared to standard. oh wait, how about you tell me how to look as cool as frank foxx"
I will address these concerns step by step, as I feel it is important to do so.
1) "a $1 book selling for $35" - if you can find a book on guitar for $1, I would urge you or anyone else to buy it. Books of any type cannot be produced and delivered for a dollar, no way, no how. As I point out in my FAQs, even an e-book would cost you a lot more - to print on an inkjet costs about .25 per page, so a 60-page book such as mine (with chord book) would cost about $15, just to print out, and that doesn't include the price of paper. The CD I provide, alone, costs about $2-3, copied and put in an envelope! One thing I've learned from this site is - I'm definitely not getting rich off it.
2) "you can't properly play a guitar in an open tuning" - if that's the case, I guess Joni Mitchell, Keith Richards, Muddy Waters, Ry Cooder, Bo Diddley, Elmore James and I are not playing guitar properly. But gosh, we have fun at it.
3) "you really are just exploiting people who gave up because their fingers hurt" - fingers hurting tend to be the least of people's frustrations with guitar, in my experience. The difficulty is usually mastering all the fingerings and memorizing positions. Depending on how far you want to take it, and the quality of your guitar, your fingers can hurt like heck no matter what tuning you're in. I've never viewed teaching people to play guitar as an exploitation.
4) "play me a major pentatonic scale in this tuning and then tell me how well it works compared to standard" - well, I did just that. I've never had a use for a major pentatonic scale, but just to see, I transcribed one off a poster I have, and by golly - IT'S ACTUALLY EASIER TO PLAY in open-D, especially on the higher strings! Does one need to play a pentatonic scale in order to enjoy guitar? I'd never needed one in 20+ years, but just in case, they're there in open-D and very playable, as, I would imagine, any other scale out there.
5) "oh wait, how about you tell me how to look as cool as Frank Foxx" - ummm..... impossible!
Hope this answers all the issues. I will leave that entry in the Guest Book for all to see, but I will but in an entry directing readers to this blog entry for my response.
Thanks from Guitar-eze... oh, and any and I mean ANY questions and comments are welcomed and appreciated!
