Guitar Accessories

The guitar STAND is the most important guitar accessory, because it lets you keep your guitar handy, which enables you to easily pick it up and practice, practice, practice... If your guitar is in a case, in the closet, thats probably where it will stay, until one day you sell it as “barely used”... The guitar STRAP is the second most important guitar accessory, because it lets you STAND UP to play. You will need to STAND UP if you ever hope to take your guitar playing to the next level. You need to be on your feet, on your toes, with your body weight able to be shifted from one foot to the other foot. You need to play your guitar with every cell in your body, from head to toe. You need to be able to DANCE. Without DANCE, there would be no music, because Dance leads first, and then Music follows after... If you can’t even dance to your own music, don’t expect anyone else to dance to your music! Dance like nobody is watching! To play lead guitar, you must first develop your rhythm chops, and to develop rhythm, you must first learn to let go, cut loose, and DANCE! By shifting your body weight from side to side, it enables you to slow down, to feel the song, and to “flywheel” your playing through the passages where you might otherwise lose the beat and rhythm. Its impossible to overstate the importance of a good (cotton!) guitar strap (with strap locks!) to the advancement of your guitar playing. Yes I know B.B.King sat down to play, but he earned that right. When he was a young man, he STOOD on a street corner in Mississippi and developed his chops. You are not B.B.King, and you have not earned the right to sit down on the job. Do not fool yourself by saying you will stand when you get good enough to stand, because you need to stand up first, and only then you will get better at playing, and maybe after many years of practicing on your feet, you will have earned the right to sit down. The vast majority of every guitar hero you know stands up to play, and thats not a coincidence! They are good because they stand up! I never really understood how to play guitar properly until I saw Angus Young of AC/DC DANCE with his guitar in a live video of “Let There Be Rock” https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=let+there+be+rock+ac%2Fdc+live+1977 next video: Guitar Straps - Cotton Is Much Better Than Nylon https://rumble.com/vc4rpt-guitar-straps-cotton-is-much-better-than-nylon.html

I have used nylon guitar straps for many years, but then one day I discovered cotton guitar straps, and I will never go back to nylon! Nylon straps are like seat belts. They don’t have any give to them, so your shoulder takes the brunt of every movement of the guitar. Over time, this will probably cause shoulder problems! Cotton straps have a little bit of “give” to them, and are so much more comfortable. I can play guitar standing up for much longer with a cotton strap than I ever could with a nylon strap. Cotton straps make a world of difference! For some reason my local guitar shops do not stock cotton straps, which is why I had always used nylon before. You can buy cotton straps online, or request your local shop stock cotton straps as a service to all their customs, and so you can in turn support your local music shops. The price of a cotton strap is close to the price of a nylon strap. Also, get yourself some strap locks while you are shopping. Cotton straps and strap locks are inexpensive, and in my opinion a very good investment. next video: ALWAYS Verify Your Guitar Strap Ends Are NOT Twisted, And Use Strap Locks Just In Case https://rumble.com/vc4lxh-always-verify-your-guitar-strap-ends-are-not-twisted-and-use-strap-locks-ju.html

Always, Always, Always visually verify that your guitar strap is NOT twisted at either end, BEFORE you put the strap over your head, and hang the weight of the guitar on the strap. Your guitar strap ends will want to rotate around the peg almost every time you handle your guitar, and if you don’t verify (and correct) the strap ends, your guitar WILL drop out of the strap and it WILL hit the floor, probably while you are standing, and your guitar WILL be seriously damaged. If you are lucky, and your left hand is on the neck, you might be able to catch the guitar as it falls out of the strap, but thats not a risk you ever want to take. So, just develop some good habits, and make a small investment, and you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble and heartache. Also, there are many strap lock devices available, so research them all and see what you think will work best for you. Will you want to take your strap off frequently, to put the guitar in its case? Or will you probably just leave the strap on all the time? I like the rubber washer style strap locks, because i seldom, if ever, take my straps off. They are cheap, easy to install, and they work well for me. Strap locking devices are well worth the investment, and i would recommend making that small investment BEFORE you learn the hard way why strap locks were invented. next video: How To Adjust Guitar Neck Angle For Best Playing Position https://rumble.com/vbyrjl-how-to-adjust-guitar-neck-angle-for-best-playing-position.html

I believe the guitar stand is the most important guitar accessory there is, because it helps keep your guitar right in your face, at arms length, and ready to pick up. A lot of my practice comes in several short 5 minute sessions per day. If i had to get my guitar out of its case every time, i would probably practice a lot less. Keeping your guitar on a stand also helps keep it room temperture, so its already acclimated when you are ready to play. If you have a guitar strap, be sure to always tuck it up so theres never a loop near the ground where your foot will snag it and pull your guitar off the stand, and probably damaging it. Ask me how i learned that lesson :’( next video: The Guitar Strap Is 2nd Most Important Guitar Accessory https://rumble.com/vc51ln-guitar-strap-is-2nd-most-important-guitar-accessory.html