Real Guitar Live #39 | Q & A Session

On our last Real Guitar Live we had some technical issues and had to cut it short. This time we more than made up for that! We had some great questions in this session. Everything from 12 string guitars to barre chords, playing notes with your thumb, and a ton more.

If you want to see these live, check out my YouTube channel or head over to my About Me page and sign up to receive e-mails.

As always, I’ve added the time stamps so you can easily jump to the ones you want to hear.

[4:56] How can I learn to use hammer-ons when playing chords? I’m thinking of something like what Willie Nelson does in the song Blue Eye Crying In The Rain? I’d like to learn other techniques / embellishments as well.

[11:59] Tomas… where can I find your music? I found one flamenco recording on Youtube, and it was just beautiful. Very inspiring!! Would love to listen to more.

[14:25] My main frustration is playing a C chord. The sound is muddled and I can’t get it clean.

[18:25] I know the shape of the bar chord(s) but I struggle getting there quickly. I do understand that it takes time. Any suggestions to speed things up?

[21:16] I am still struggling with my chord changes.

[23:10] When I play fingerstyle from a song sheet that has both the Tab and chord symbols which should I follow? As an example, when I see that the next bar is a C chord, do I form the C chord or do I follow the tab fingering?

[25:05] I am having trouble with barre chords. Also smooth chord transitions and strumming.

[27:25] How do you perform a slide on the guitar?

[28:44] How do you find the time signature of a song?

[31:17] How do you smoothly change between barre chords and open chords?

[34:29] How do you work on fretting with your thumb?

[36:53] How long have you been playing & how much practice did you do a day?

[41:26] I would love a B chord tutorial.

[46:16] As a beginner/intermediate guitar player can you help me come up with a list of things to practice on the guitar that would be productive for say a 30 minute practice session?

[49:07] I’m still having trouble with the F chord (the partial bar and the bar) but I can play Fadd9 and Fmaj7 okay. Could you explain the benefits of learning the F partial bar and bar?

[51:57] I practice a lot, is there any way I can toughen up my fingertips as they get sore by the end of a session.

[54:23] I’m struggling to coordinate my fretting hand and my picking pattern. Any tips on coordination picking and hitting the correct strings?

[57:40] When moving up and down the neck, how close should you fingers be to the strings?

[59:45] About the B chord . . . here in Nashville it’s common to substitute B7 in place of B.

[1:01:34] Fingerpicking…….there seem to be a lot of picking combinations. What is the easiest to master, then build on?

[1:03:16] If I have a song with G minor, C, and D and I put the capo on the third fret- What key is it actually in if I want a pianist to play with me?

[1:06:35] Have you played a 12 string guitar?

Links Mentioned:

Music of Tomas Michaud – Amazon or

iTunes