OK, so holy shit. I just correctly tuned my guitar my ear for the first time ever. You know when you're tuning with harmonics, especially on an electric, and the sound between the two strings sounds kind of wobbly? And the closer the notes are to one another, the slower that wobble is? Well I did that on my acoustic without harmonics.. just listening for the wobble while press down the fret cleanly, instead of a harmonic. It made tuning like 100 times easier/more accurate, which I'm usually terrible at.

I guess this is probably very old news to everyone, but I never even thought about it before, and it worked so well I had to say something.

it's a big step, though

can anyone identify this chord? it's on a standard tuned guitar

5
3
4
5
0
x

Gadd9

I stopped playing guitar for a while but have come back to it with a new impetus: I'm going to absolutely let my ear be my guide. I think it's a good strategy that'll make me into a better musician and guitarist. So far all I've learned is party pieces but hell this seems to be the best way of doing things and I think I have a good ear.

"wobbly".. good way to put it. I've always had trouble explaining what to listen for.

The fret buzz on my guitar (specifically the E string) annoys the everloving fuck out of me. I've tried lowering and raising the bridge but I can't seem to eliminate it. Guess I'm just stuck with it until I get a new guitar.

On another note, I've almost got Iron Main it its completion down. For some reason, though, I have more difficulty playing the main riff sped down than up. I really need to play more frequently. I know I've definitely asked this before, but what songs would you recommend learning that'll help improve my ability?

What do you want to improve?

you can probably adjust your picking angle to either lower or totally eliminate the buzz

Every aspect, really. Obviously not the more advanced techniques like sweep picking etc, though. It's kind of difficult to explain when I'm not so sure what my aim is, either. I say that I want to get better, but I'm unable to pinpoint what part of my playing.

well what's your weakest aspect?

I've been playing for a year now, but my fretting hand still gets very tired and tense when holding chords, particularly bar chords. What are some tips for forming chords cleanly and comfortably?

i can't really give you advice on how to get rid of that unless i could see you doing it, but over time you'll get used to it. playing guitar for a year really isn't that long anyway.

I've been playing for six years and I still fucking hate bar chords, so I don't really know what to suggest. Just keep at it and it'll gradually become easier.

Some bar chords will just always be bastards.