# The Great Ongoing Guitar Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 31, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172 "2010-01-31T23:20:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 332
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6626 "2025-12-29T15:58:46Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > So, collected wisdom of the Dope, what do you use for playing music? I use an iPad with the MobileSheets app. I play with a group and when we play I use a stand and have a bluetooth pedal to turn the pages. I am trying to get to where I don’t need the music scores (it is bass tabs), but we add songs at a faster rate than I can learn them enough to not use the music. I use Guitar Pro to create my tabs since I prefer my own creations (more compact) then what I can find elsewhere (primarily Ultimate Guitar). For day to day learning and practicing, I tend to use either Ultimate Guitar or play along with the actual song using my own tabs. > [@scabpicker](#): > > But I do have a JHS Colourbox V2 thanks to my sweetie spoiling me for Christmas. Lucky! Those look awesome! When my dog destroyed the input jack on my performing amp, I started using the return jack, along with a pre-amp, and liked the results. But, I was looking for a better pre-amp and the Colourbox looks like it would work well. I finally got my amp to the big city and got it repaired so I can now use the built-in electronics, but I’m still liking the idea of expanding to different pre-amps using that return. BTW, modern electronics make it so hard to repair. All my older amps I could’ve done the soldering repair on my own but this one has a proprietary jack soldered into a PCB. If I could’ve found the parts, I probably could’ve done the repair, but soldering on PCBs isn’t my favorite thing. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6627 "2025-12-29T16:17:48Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > So, collected wisdom of the Dope, what do you use for playing music? At least for actual live performances, I avoid having anything like sheet music or a teleprompt. I try to make sure I know the material properly beforehand. This is a bit of a ‘bete noire’ for me: if I see a singer or band with music stands in front of them, my reaction is: “how unprofessional!” It’s often just a habitual crutch, in fact. One of my former bands had a very good female singer, but she _would not_ go on stage without that darn music stand. Of course I’m talking about popular music performance here. Orchestral music is an entirely different kettle of fish. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6628 "2025-12-29T17:08:58Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > At least for actual live performances, I avoid having anything like sheet music or a teleprompt. > I try to make sure I know the material properly beforehand. I’m not good enough to play for anybody; I can barely stand to listen to myself. I made some progress on scanning music from my book. Amid much swearing I was able to scan one song (two pages) and import that into the first music app I’ve tried. I thought there was a way to remove the cover from my scanner, so there’d be more room to place a book, but I couldn’t get that yo work. Instead I had to turn the book 180 to scan the second page, which meant I then had to use an online pdf editor to flip the second page around, then download it, then find where the file was saved without the damn tablet asking me where I wanted it saved, etc. There are times that tech really pisses me off. It’s workable, although the result is kinda small on a 13-inch tablet. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6629 "2025-12-29T17:42:42Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I’m not good enough to play for anybody; I can barely stand to listen to myself. I wasn’t intending to be snarky or critical. For working out and _learning_ music, I’ll use every tool I can lay my hands on. Slow it down, filter it to bring out individual instruments, try AI analysis which attempts to create a chord chart… etc! A lot of the charts posted on the Internet are simplified or wrong: sometimes laughably so. And many of the bad ones just get parroted from site to site. Trust your ears: does this sound right played that way? ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6630 "2025-12-29T17:55:01Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > A lot of the charts posted on the Internet are simplified or wrong: sometimes laughably so. And many of the bad ones just get parroted from site to site. > Trust your ears: does this sound right played that way? To be honest, one of the most valuable learning tools for me over the year is bad tab or chord charts. It’s like it’s just enough of a hint to get me started down a better path, and enough of an annoyance that I stick with it out of spite. Especially tab that more or less has the notes and chords right, but shows dumb fingerings. I’ve learned so much about economy of motion from trying to figure out how _not_ to shift hand positions 18 times across four measures. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6631 "2025-12-29T18:04:59Z")
Rick Beato offered his three Guitar Courses bundled for $99 Christmas week. The Scales Course and Arpeggio (triads) looks very interesting. The other course is Beginning Guitar. I knew it had to be useful for that price. Understanding scales and how they relate to chords is what I’m studying now. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6632 "2025-12-29T18:22:08Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Rick Beato offered his three Guitar Courses bundled for $99 Christmas week. I’ve seen Rick Beato in YouTube recommendations for quite a while. But I don’t think I have ever watched any of them. Who is he, and does he have any real credentials in the music world? ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6633 "2025-12-29T18:31:02Z")
Ehhh, he has some production credits, my introduction to him was a video where he catalogs some of his favorite studio techniques. It was a laundry list of mid-to-late 90s hard rock studio techniques that I hated listening to at the time, and loathe when I hear them today. Other than that, he’s mostly a classic rock fan that thinks that form is the pinnacle of music. So his videos are mostly “old man yells at clouds” to me. YMMV, but I’m not a fan of his and told YouTube to stop recommending his videos several years ago. I don’t know how good of a guitar teacher he is. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6634 "2025-12-29T19:26:35Z")
Rick began his youtube posting Music Theory videos that went way over my head. He hasn’t posted theory videos in several years. He’s posted interviews with musicians lately. I’m hoping his Scales course will start with the basics. If he starts yapping about Modes day 1 the course won’t help me. I’ve been studying Triads at Truefire. Rick’s Arpeggio course will supplement what I’m already learning. I’m learning a lot in this Truefire course. Truefire sells stand alone courses for 25 to $30. I think the Triad course requires an All Access membership. > **[Triad Targets | Rhythm Edition: Introduction - Ariel Posen - Guitar Lesson -...](https://truefire.com/ariel-posen-guitar-lessons/triad-targets-rhythm/triad-targets--rhythm-edition-introduction/v60700)** > > Hey this is Ariel Posen. Welcome to this Rhythm Edition of Triad Targets.br\>/br\>Triads may be the simplest chords to learn and play but theyre also one of the most valuable and versatile tools for a guitarist to have command... ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6635 "2025-12-29T22:19:39Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > At least for actual live performances, I avoid having anything like sheet music or a teleprompt. > I try to make sure I know the material properly beforehand. > > This is a bit of a ‘bete noire’ for me: if I see a singer or band with music stands in front of them, my reaction is: “how unprofessional!” I’m on the other side of that fence. I envy folks who have all of their music memorized, and I do have a few memorized, but it’s not practical for me. For the most part, my wife and I are playing different arrangements of Christian music, often chosen at the last minute. No, I’m not going to try to memorize the jumpy jazzy rendition of “Go, Tell It on the Mountain” that we are going to play as an interlude, even if the chords are all fairly standard jazz progressions: we add the music to our setlist for the service, and when that one comes up we read it off the page. Besides, where else will we write down “jump back to second page if the congregation hasn’t settled down yet”? > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Amid much swearing I was able to scan one song (two pages) and import that into the first music app I’ve tried. If you have an iPad, read on (I can’t speak for Android). Use forScore for music. It’s the only way. Use a good tool like Scanner Pro by Readdle so you can use your iPad’s camera to photograph the pages and convert direct to PDF. It’s ten times faster than a flatbed scanner and the software makes it super easy. Drop the files in a handy folder and open them in forScore; they will be imported and now they are in your growing virtual music binder. Here’s that video I did last year explaining these tools more or less: [Cool tools…how working musicians get away from those heavy binders of music](https://youtu.be/oHyP_Fbpnes) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6636 "2025-12-30T04:58:34Z")
Thank you for the recommendations. Scanner Pro looks like it does a nice job of photographing a page in a book and converting it to a properly aligned, and very clean PDF. I was able to scan one song, two pages, save it, and rename it. I also installed forScore. Haven’t figured out how to get the file from Scanner Pro to forScore yet, but I’m working on it. Apparently, something like “File → Open” was too straightforward for the UI geniuses at Apple. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6637 "2025-12-30T05:24:46Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Lucky! Those look awesome! When my dog destroyed the input jack on my performing amp, I started using the return jack, along with a pre-amp, and liked the results. But, I was looking for a better pre-amp and the Colourbox looks like it would work well. I finally got my amp to the big city and got it repaired so I can now use the built-in electronics, but I’m still liking the idea of expanding to different pre-amps using that return. Sorry that I’m late in replying to this, but yeah, it seems to be a great all-around preamp. But if you’re still looking for something bass specific and inexpensive, I’d still recommend the Behringer BDI 21. It’s supposedly a SansAMP clone. It costs about the price of two packs of smokes, and sounds great. It’s not quite as great a sound as running the direct out of my Ampeg PF-20T, but it is more versatile. And heh, other than being just ham-fisted with the soldering iron, one of the worst jobs I’ve tried in the last few years was de-soldering a nine pinned switch from the circuit board of a reverb pedal. I eventually just sawed the pins off of the switch and removed them individually. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6638 "2025-12-30T17:24:24Z")
I have other cheap Behringer clone pedals and that BDI21 is next on the list. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6639 "2025-12-31T02:34:42Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Haven’t figured out how to get the file from Scanner Pro to forScore yet, but I’m working on it. It’s very un-Apple-like indeed. But then again, they never wanted us to actually ever see a “file” on our iDevices. In forScore, tap the Tools icon (top right…looks like a briefcase). Go down to “Add Scores” and tap “Services” (little cloud). They allow you to add cloud storage and content providers here. I have two entries under Cloud Storage: “Dropbox” and “Files” I don’t know if they come by default like that, but there is a “+” below that you can click to add more Cloud Storage options. You want “Files” Now you can put your PDF anywhere in your iCloud folders, and use “Files” to find them and download them to forScore. This is a one-time thing. Once it’s in forScore you don’t have to ever look back. You can even put whole music books in there if you have them in PDF, and the app has tools for creating bookmarks inside a book (treated as one “song”) that actually let you treat ranges of pages as individually named songs, like you would expect. As an example of how big the books can be, I have multiple “Real Book” versions in forScore. Let me know if you run into any issues! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6640 "2025-12-31T12:27:10Z")
I didn’t want to jump through all the hoops to set up some kind of cloud storage if I didn’t have to, so I kept looking for a simpler way to do it. I found an option to export from Scanner Pro, and from that I could select forScore, so I think I’m good to go. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6641 "2025-12-31T22:26:25Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I’m on the other side of that fence. I envy folks who have all of their music memorized, and I do have a few memorized, but it’s not practical for me. For the most part, my wife and I are playing different arrangements of Christian music, often chosen at the last minute. No argument at all. I think a lot of church and liturgical music is actually more similar to the classical tradition, often played in a rather more formal setting. I was specifically thinking of popular entertainment, where it’s as much about performance and projecting to an audience as the music. You wouldn’t expect Elvis or Michael Jackson to have a music stand in front of them. While it would seem odd if a professional orchestra _didn’t_! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6642 "2025-12-31T22:33:56Z")
Leland Sklar has talked about filling in with Toto’s tour. He had a little over a week to learn the bass parts. He said using a music stand would make him look like an outsider filling in. He made an enormous effort to learn the parts. I wouldn’t risk it myself. I wouldn’t want to freeze up and make a fool of myself on stage with Toto. Lee pulled it off. That’s why he’s had a phenomenal 50 year career playing bass. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2025, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6643 "2025-12-31T23:28:33Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I found an option to export from Scanner Pro, and from that I could select forScore, so I think I’m good to go. Yep. That’s how I do it, I open the PDF and choose export to forScore. But when I move a PDF from my Mac, iCloud works–in the future if you need it, it probably is already set up for you just by having an iDevice, with no “setup” needed. For now, keep on doing what works for you. > [@aceplace57](#): > > I wouldn’t risk it myself. I wouldn’t want to freeze up and make a fool of myself on stage with Toto. Same. I feel a bit self conscious when I am playing in public thinking “wow, they are all looking at me and wondering why a bass player needs sheet music”. But that won’t change my habits, old dog and so on. One thing that many non-musicians don’t know is that many great guitarists and bassists just don’t read music…some not at all. It’s a continuum, and I’m on the “never can remember stuff” end of that, so I cling dearly to my music. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6644 "2026-01-01T00:45:39Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > One thing that many non-musicians don’t know is that many great guitarists and bassists just don’t read music…some not at all. It’s a continuum, and I’m on the “never can remember stuff” end of that, so I cling dearly to my music. That’s me too. When I was younger and had more elastic memory, I could get a dozen cover songs down (was playing guitar at that time) for live performances, but I just can’t do that with the many dozens of songs my current group plays. There are quite a few I know without needing to glance at music while underway, but the majority I need some cheaters. A lot of the songs we play don’t follow “standard” chorus/verse progressions, often with different numbers of measure between them, and having my cheat sheet helps. Also, some of this music I didn’t grow up with so I don’t have it ingrained in my memory. I’m getting better at following the drummer and waiting for that fill at 8 measures into a 16 measure progression and other tricks like that. Definitely watching him when there are odd timed rests. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2026, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172/6645 "2026-01-01T04:41:25Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > I’m getting better at following the drummer and waiting for that fill at 8 measures into a 16 measure progression and other tricks like that. Definitely watching him when there are odd timed rests. Hehe, I know that I’ve hassled my longtime drummer a lot over the years, and he’s hassled me a bunch too. But one of the reasons I love him is because he such a damn good conductor of the band. He’ll throw a fill or even just some emphasis on certain beats to let us all know that a change is happening. Heck, when we’re just working out new songs, he’ll throw those kinds of things in where he thinks they should be and most of the band will make the change spontaneously. A really good drummer that is thinking about the song and its dynamics is kind of indispensable, especially when about a third of your songs are loose improvisations. Yes, there are several times I look at my drum machine and wish it was as smart as my usual drummer. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=331) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-ongoing-guitar-thread/527172.md?page=333)