some of my thoughts:
i agree, guys who use 12 strings can stike the e-tuner from my list, lol....i think the only reason i ever owned a 12 (Tak) was so it would become relatively enjoyable to tune a 6!
it is refreshing to not worry about dull batteries or tuner interferences and just learn to hear that A note, get that second string right in synch with that pitch and then train the ear to bring the low E in line with the A and carry back on up from there...seeing young kids use the e-tuners for every note or using a tone from their computer really will not develop their ears and sense of pitch...you won't ever give a better pair of gifts to a young aspiring musician than a tuning fork and simple metronome, they can last a lifetime and will keep on giving in many many ways
i love the sound of long strings on a nice guitar... i currently dont have any sort of quality guitar but i know many who do and it seems ashame to choke that rich tone with capos...with capo, there's no doubt that it's easier to move the fingers about when your hands are positioned higher up on the neck since the frets are closer together...for a young player (or small-handed female or male) who is getting frustrated trying to learn, the capo is a pretty good solution as long as it doesn't become a crutch, imo
when a duo is playing, it's often nice to hear some different 'voicings' on guitar chords when one player moves the capo up and transposes the chords to match what the non-capoed player is playing...eg) capo on 2nd fret and play in C while other player plays in D...or more extreme is like the SFAWN set up where capo is plaace waaay up there!
these last few points support the capo's usefulness...what i meant by' worst' was really more along the lines of 'restricting development and musicianship'...if one learns to play in the keys of say, C, D, G and A then that should provide enough flexibility for a vocalist...some vocalists tailor their key right to the optimal semitone but i think it's better to have singers push a bit and broaden what they think is their range confort zone...typically, the adrenelin of a live performance will have them hitting any iffy upper notes
i suppose guitar hero does give the fingers some dexterity and develops hand/eye response...i suppose of kids have hours to burn and can find time to ALSO work on 'actual' guitar development then fine but between part time work, studying, relationships and recreation/sports, i doubt there's time and i'm guessing the 'actual' scales, chord progression work and thoery work take a back seat to the video fun...i can't say i've tried it, maybe i will and will come back singing a different tune altogether, lol...but i have seen this 'game' come out and pretty much kill a get together
i suppose karoke is good for singer development and had it's moment as a party fad (maybe it's alove more than ever, i'm not sure) ...however if video killed the radio star, karoke killed the backing musician
if one really wants to work on their stage presence, well, that's what the shower if for
I don't know if we have keyboard/piano players in the forums (where is David? hope he's well) ...would love to hear some 'transpose button feature' feedback...I am sure Mike has the feature on his Roland and/or Yamaha (and the Kurtzweill at home) but gets no use...I could be mistaken...I would think he would get great mental and physcial stimulation if he had the request to play one of the GL live standard in a key other than what's been engrained in his muscle memory over the decades...for tunes that had distinct and busy keys solos, it may not be quite as fun but at his level I don't think it would be an issue except for 4 or 5 of the nastier key signatures
does anyone know what, if any, tunes GL has changed the key of over the years? (i recall some thread about this but not specifically...i think the key was lowered from the studio recording for a few, no?)
char, you're very kind...because wee bits of very talented folks may have rubbed off over the years, i do some of those things 'fair'ly well but nothing 'very' well at all, it's the truth...fingers are sloppy, hurts my brain to hear my voice but am very thankful for the ears i was given...btw, one way to preserve one's treasured hearing is to attend lots of GL concerts, you never have to worry about your ears ringing the next day
there are many great unknown names, faces and talents throughout where I live and same is true throughout the world...and there are many fine guitarists, writers and singers right in these very forums...i'm neither part of the former nor the latter group
note: this thread was meant to be in Small Talk, move as you see fit, char...if it happens to survive and morphs into talking about GL's capo use then fine
ps) besides being Ms Fix It and Ms Reno It, char has a special knack for creating striking art from a combination of glass and metal(s) ...and as for her singing, the only time i truly endorse capo usage is when one is frantically trying to zero in on what key she is singing in
