Straight vs Swing style in Guitar

…why am I talking about these slang words here..absolutely no hidden meanings.

Guitar – up Closer

I have lately started taking guitar classes for fun and I’m supposed to be learning Rock music eventually. So, when I strum it, it should sound straight, meaning the strumming is supposedly sound shorter, crisp and in even tone.. but in reality no matter how hard I try, it sounds like a swing. Swing as in, the frequency of the sound is bit extended like “Jazz” music and very uneven. It might be a lot to do with my sub-conscious memory perceiving swing style with ease than straight or It could be because of my cultural background, the type of music I have grown up listening to etc.. that’s what my logic says.

My instructor praises me every time I do bit better (well, they can’t be critical about it, they got to generate revenue -isn’t? it is a marketing strategy) , the guitar school that I go to is supposedly one of the best one out here. (Click here)

So, I try hard, very hard to play on my acoustic guitar ..yes but only in the class room. Once I’m home, it takes a back seat. Sometimes, I wonder my learning is inversely proportional to the money I’m spending on it? Probably, a hope that.. some day soon I’ll fall in track and unfortunately I still wait for that day to shine and bless me.

I boasted so much about this Guitar learning to everyone around only to be slammed by them later. One of my friends demands me to play it, when I did play – it sounded so terrible (it would soon get replaced with ‘Terrific’) that they had to stop me from playing. They gave me a “small talk” on “Guitar Basics”. The only way to improve is – to play it right and play it everyday for at least 30 minutes.

Neck and body of Guitar

Music is lot to do with muscle memory, your hands need to learn it to drive you sub-consciously. In fact, the music players are good at math and they have longer life times, it’s only because your new paths are formed in memory and as long as they function properly, they will do their job well. I’ll some day write about neurology in lay man terms in some future post. For now, let’s keep it simple.

It’s time for me to get back and start strumming straight.. I need to PRACTICE!

And for those who are interested in learning but cannot afford or cannot make time out to go for a class physically. Check this website out, it has great lessons for beginners. Click here. and they are FREE!

Playing music, is such a stress reliever and I bet you’ll totally love it.

What are you waiting for, go ahead and give it a shot.. some times we never know how much we like it until we hit the Chord!!

Happy Playing!!