Post by Karen McDonaldThank you very much for all your most helpful advice and encouraging
words.
I was intrigued to learn that a luthier would be able to make this
Yamaha FG more playable (esp. for a rank beginner like I). Right now
it seems that the strings are a little higher above the fret board
than I would wish, which makes placing the chords much harder and
results in 'buzzing' on certain strings, because I haven't depressed
it/them hard enough or in the best position(s).
Would this be a fair assessment?
Another thing to come out (thought it may have been obvious from the
start) is that now I am much better placed to judge other guitars from
a personal playability angle. After knowing where those three chords
(A,D,E) lie on the fret board I suppose I could go back to the store
and try some other guitars to see if one of those - perhaps the
Tanglewood TW28 - would be more suitable for my particular learning
style. Then, if I found an 'easier-to-play' model, I could practise on
it and return to the Yam when I was more proficient at pressing the
strings.
In this way I don't suppose it would matter too much if the
'easier-to-play' guitar sounded as good as the Yam as long as it was
more conducive to developing my technique, which could hopefully be
transferred with ease to any other guitar.
Does this approach make sense?
In addition, it is now obvious that, unlike pianos, of which I am well
familiar, guitars are far more 'personal' 'individual' instruments -
from a 'playing perspective' at least, in particular when one is
starting out. Also unlike any keyboard instrument I reckon the guitar
is much harder to play because the notes and chords have to
'manufactured' in real time, whereas on a keyboard they are all 'ready
made'.
So, could guitars be like cars, inasmuch as the best ones are often
the hardest to control?
K
At the very least, get a good luthier to examine the guitar first before
deciding whether or not you want to return it. He should be able to tell
whether or not he can get it into a condition where the issues you raise can
be alleviated. A Yamaha these days is generally a good instrument and
should be able to be put into good playing condition.
The buzzing you speak of is common for beginners, whether the guitar is set
up properly or not. It's a matter of pressing at the right point behind the
fret and/or with sufficient pressure. But a good setup will help. Once you
have a few months of practice under your belt, you'll wonder why it was ever
an issue in the first place.
As to the piano analogy, I play both, and maybe you can think of it in terms
of beginners on pianos accidentally striking two adjacent keys when they
intend to strike only one. In other words, once you get it set up right,
the only issue is developing the proper technique, and beginner mistakes
like this disappear. You'll be able to "manufacture" any note you want.
The guitar is a little harder at the beginning, because the technique is
more important, but in time these differences vanish. You'll be able to do
things on the guitar that you can't do on the piano, such as "bend" notes
(continuously vary the pitch by moving your finger perpendicular to the axis
of the neck). That's not "built in" to the piano.
Hope this helps -- Rich