1st G String: Why You Should Focus on Your Practice Guitar’s G string.

This blog is for intermediate players, meaning you already know how to tune your guitar to standard tuning, and you know a few chords.  Hopefully, by now you have tried a few of the snake exercises, which are in several of my other blogs.  If you are a 7 string player, this blog is also for you as well, but 6 or 7 strings in this lesson does not make a difference.  I talk about the strings with respect to standard tuning, which if you don’t use standard tuning, transposing the standard tuning notes for the alternate tuning notes should be second nature.  For example, if your lowest string is tuned to D# or D, it should suffice that you know which string I am talking about when I say the E string, which I often refer to as the 6^th string.  Some people refer to it as the 1^st string, but I think calling it the 1^st string is stupid because it convolutes things if you were playing a 7 string guitar.  That is, the 7^th string is the lowest string on a 7 string guitar; while usually all the other strings stay the same.

As an intermediate player, you may have noticed by now that certain strings are more likely to break.  Metal players often break the low E string by slammin’ power chords (assuming that is the lowest note on the player’s guitar).  Many people also find themselves also breaking the high E string.  After all, it is the thinnest and the weakest string.  In fact, most guitar stores will sell you a single high E string, while still more guitar stores will sell you any single string that you ask for.  The next two string that usually break slightly less frequently are the A string and the B string.  But, the G string never seems to break.  I have played for over 20yrs and never met someone who breaks their G string the most.  This is why you should focus on the G string when you practice.

If you are like me, you don’t have a lot of money to be spending on singles because in most cases, buying 6 singles is more expensive than buying a pack of 6 strings.  So, if you are like me, then you want to get the most value, meaning that on your practice guitar, you play your strings until they break, and that it should be your goal not to have to buy single strings, especially for your practice guitar.

So, now we have established that for people on a budget, the string that is most important to practice on is the G string.

Exercising With Soup Cans

Usually, most of the exercise one should be doing is by weights that are 5Ilbs or less. There may be instances where one might want to isolate a major muscle group and exercise with far more weight than 5Ilbs though. For example, my biceps get just about nothing out of a 2Ilb work out, no matter how long I exercise for. Also, for the purpose of rehabilitation, it might be desirable to isolate a specific muscle. However, for the vast majority of people, soup cans are an excellent source of weight for exercise.

Save yourself the money and don’t even bother buying weights that are less than 5Ilbs. Use canned food as weights instead. Also, it is always better to use 2 separate weights if you are exercising, such that the weights that you are using aren’t connected by a bar. Bars make it so you can lift more, but the problem with using a bar, such as in a standard bench press is that the bar helps stabilize your arms, so your minor muscle groups, the one’s primarily used for stabilization, don’t have to do as much work. That is, when you are working out, you might be lifting more weight as you practice with a bar, but you won’t have any more real strength. Real strength requires that it is not just your major muscle groups that are fit, but also your minor ones as well. The thinking: 2 soup cans = no bar.

Minor muscles groups by nature can’t lift as much weight. Even some weight lifters that can lift hundreds of pounds might find themselves stressing to get 20 repetitions with a 1Ibs soup can. What’s more, if you don’t exercise minor muscles and just exercise your major muscle groups, your body will look odd. People will be able to see that you have not approached your discipline with a holistic spirit of attaining fitness. In my opinion, if you don’t use the minor muscle groups, you are perverting your body, and it should not surprise you that you don’t look as good as you could if you had spent some more time taking a holistic approach.

An Inexpensive Way of Fixing a Buzzing String On a Practice Guitar

Probably the most common way a buzzing string is fixed is to bring the guitar into the local store and have it worked on. Sometimes, the neck is floppy, and there is nothing that can be done. There is nothing wrong with bringing you guitar to a repairman, especially if you are unsure of what you are doing. The repairman will probably fix your guitar by filing down a certain part of your guitar. If you must file, then let a knowledgeable guitar repairman fix you guitar. However, if there is buzzing at a certain fret, the guitar may need a truss rod adjustment instead, and not filing. There are plenty of websites that describe how to do a truss rod adjustment. If you know what the truss rod is, and it is also not the body of the neck of the guitar, and the issue is not the truss rod this blog is for you.

If you think hard enough, there is a reason why one fret buzzes while other ones don’t. The reason is that you haven’t been using your whole fret board when you practice. It is important to use the whole fret board when practicing. It is especially important to practice above the 5^th fret. Thus, the inexpensive and best way to fix your guitar is to play the guitar until the problem is fixed. Now, this probably won’t be accomplished in a day. In fact, it may take a year. So, obviously, I am not saying to play your guitar nonstop until it is fixed.

What you want to do is focus playing such that the metal of the fret wears until all the notes of the string can be played. Don’t only play the fixing note(s) over and over until the guitar is fixed. Focus on playing that area until your guitar is fixed. You will still want to play on other parts of your guitar when you practice, but what you will want to do is focus on playing the next fret after the fret that is buzzing. One way of doing this is to adjust your guitar exercises such that you are also working on fixing your guitar at the same time.