Hello,
Great website and forum you guys have going here.. Thank you all for sharing your work and ideas.
With that said I am looking for some help/advise on my issue.
I have tried to play guitar before and own two, an acoustic and electric, that I bought for my son. I have always been good at most things I try but the guitar has alluded me so far. So, about a week ago, I stumbled upon a thing called a Diddley Bow and thought "it has ONE string.. that's what I need!". So I headed to the garage and whipped one up in no time.. Well I still can't play lol.
As I said, I have almost always been good at most things I try, or at least able to figure things out when trying new activities. So I was a bit stumped at why I was unable to produce anything other than a decent open string lol. I decided to stop playing and analyze what was happening. That's when I noticed that I was pretty much handicapped when it comes to anything beyond grasping or gross motor skills with my left hand. I started paying attention to how I use my left hand for everyday activities. I was stunned and to tell the true disturbed by how stunted my off hand is. Basically my left hand does about the same as a vise grip on the end of a club. I use it to hold things steady while my right hand does the fine motor skill work.
I decided to try using the left instead of right to see how bad it is. I was making some pizza for dinner and tried to cut some onions to put on top. Maybe not the best idea to try connecting with the left hand by using a knife lol. It was pathetic. Reversing the jobs of the hands I had to actually stop and think about how to use a knife to cut a slice off an onion. It was more like a pushing chop than a cut. Brushing my teeth was almost as bad. Putting the tooth brush to my mouth I had to stop and actually think about what I was doing. It's like my left hand stopped developing at the level of a toddler while my right hand developed normally.
Supposedly, the right side of the brain controls the left hand and vise versa for the left brain/right hand. So as it stands my left brain is a normal 44 year old brain..still able to learn and capable of doing the things most healthy people do everyday. The right brain however, is about the level of a toddler.. No fine motor skills, unsure of its actions and entirely dependent on the other side to delegate rudimentary chores.. "here hold this bottle while I open it.. stupid right brain go back to sleep until I need you to hold something "..
What happens when I try to play is I actually have to stop what I am doing with the right hand, concentrate on the left hand then go back to right hand again. For example: I'm strumming just a simple 1,2,3,4,1,2,3,4 etc with the right hand. I pick a spot on the string an change the pitch with the left hand .. but if i have to transition to a new location or use multiple finger movements with the left my right hands stops strumming while my brain figures out what the left needs to do. By then I have lost the timing and rhythm... It's really quite disturbing to realize how I have neglected that entire side of my brain.
So what I am hoping is that you guys might have some ideas on how to build more left hand motor skills. How to connect my brain to the left hand better. I plan on continuing practice with the diddley bow and using my left hand to do more actions throughout the day. I have read some info on the internet like try writing and drawing with the left, brush your teeth etc. But I guess I am looking for some ideas in relation to the diddley bow/guitar.
Hopefully this isn't too much to ask from very first post on here and if You made it this far, thank you for taking the time to read it lol.
Thanks in advance for any ideas/suggestions you may have and hopefully I can improve to the point I can actually play a song some day lol.
P.S. I have no expectations of becoming a musician.. I simply want to be able to play half a dozen songs beside the campfire, really just for my own enjoyment at this point.
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Replies
I am left handed, but play right handed guitar. When I was a teenager, I played my cousin's guitar. I initially never knew there was another way to play. To tell you the truth, as a left handed person, using my left hand which is more coordinated to finger chords made sense to me. I would think right handed people would like to use their right hand to finger notes too. So, go with what works best.
Getting both hands to work together as they are doing different things certainly takes time.
Working without a teacher can be very challenging too because there is no one there to make sure you don't develop bad technique. Bad tecchnique can really be a problem down the road because you may need to change and now it is a habit.
My best advice is, be patient and persistent. Don't expect to get anything in one practice session, but instead just keep coming back to it until you begin to feel some confidence.
Crack a beer and relax. No need to turn playing guitar into your 9 to 5.
Please feel free to write if I can be of any further assistance. Enjoy your practice, Keni Lee
Not sure if this is bad forum etiquette or not but here's a picture of my quickie Diddley bow. The cigarillo tin is a piezo pickup i put together with doubled sided tape to hold it in place.
And another question. I was looking up Canjo's and noticed it was similar to these Diddley bow designs found here: http://www.dbrooker.com/diddly.html
I like the clean look of this design and was wondering if this can tail piece would result in the same increased sound volume that a canjo would have but with the basic D-bow layout? Also do you think the can is being held on the end strictly by the tension of the string/wire?
Because I have everything on hand to make that lol
.. shouldn't have approved my forum access lol .. the questions should slow down eventually lol
diddley_1t.JPG
Hi , Derrick ! "I think" that although a diddley bow is easy to play , it's the hardest to get music out of ! It all comes down to what you can do with only ONE string ! You should consider making a three string CBG . Tuned to a chord you can fret one string and strum all three . A much fuller sound than one note on a diddley bow . I've played guitar since I was 13 . When I was 25 I had my right hand in a cast and then in a brace for 6 months . It did NOTHING to improve my left hand , when it came to guitar ! To get something that sounds like music out of your six stringer and PRACTICE with both hands try tuneing it to a G chord . ( D G D G B D ) Now strum the bottom three strings (GBD) while fretting ONLY the string closest to the floor and try this ...... Open Strings : 1 2 3 4 2nd fret 1 2 3 4 3rd fret 1 2 3 4 2nd fret 1 2 3 4 Open strings 1 2 3 4 ......This should help your left hand know what your right hand is doing , let the 4 count on your right hand serve as a cue for your left hand to get to 1 ....before that steady beat of the right . I hope that that makes sense . Begining players and playing for your own enjoyment are what CBG 's are all about !!!!
Hi Joel
I think I understand what you are saying but let me just check..
So use an alternate tuning on the 6 string guitar. I have read something called drop D which is to tune the 6th or top most string down to D, from a regular tuning, and you can do single finger bar cords by strumming the top 3 strings (used by many Metal bands for fast chord riffs.. or so I have read lol). Now if I understand, you are suggesting to also change the 1 string or bottom string also to D to produce what I think is called double drop D? Then play only the bottom three strings and start adding some fingering only to the 1 string while still strumming the 3 bottom strings.
If I understand tabs it would look (i think) like this?
D-0---2---3---2---0----------------------- bottom string or 1 string
B-0---0---0---0---0-----------------------
G-0---0---0---0---0-----------------------
D-----------------------------------------
G-----------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------- top string or 6 string
Well, even if that wasn't what you meant it looks interesting lol
I hope my description wasn't confusing and if I got it wrong please let me know :)
Thank you
D.
edited - modified the 5 string to G from A to match ( D G D G B D)
You got my meaning !!! Drop D tuning changes the three strings to a D chord (DAD) .{ Open D tuning (DADF#AD) F# = F sharp } . When tuned to a chord or" Open tuning" the guitar makes a chord when all six strings are strum open . And yes you can bar any or all of the strings then . I gave open G tuning as a example (D G D G B D) There are many types of open tunings you could use .
re-read you instructions maybe the tab would be more like this:
D-0-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-3-2-2-2-2-0-0-0-0- bottom string or 1 string
B-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
G-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
D-----------------------------------------
A-----------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------- top string or 6 string
Yes that's it . but ( DGDGBD ) for open G Ed (bad finger)has listed the fret positions to play "the" blues scale ...frets 2,3,5,7,10,12,15,17,20 These are great for playing single notes at or barred chords . Practice , but be sure to include some time to just PLAY !!
Here's a quick video I did after breaking the finger tip on my left hand ring finger. Open tuning and a slide. You don't have to make it too complicated to make a decent sound. I'll bet you could pick this up pretty quick.
That's nice, thanks for posting it for me...
Maybe I'm confused, but in your first reply you mentioned you are left handed.. but in this video you are playing right handed or what I would call right handed.. Maybe I am just really confused lol
Oh, yeah..almost forgot.. there is a picture of Eddie One-String playing and I noticed the stick he hits the string with is in his left hand and the whiskey bottle slide is in his right.. Do you think he was left handed?
I'm a lefty at everything but I play guitar "normal". Normal for me is somewhere between awful and sorta OK. And strumming with the right hand.
The point of the video is that you don't have to do a lot of complicated things with the left hand to play something presentable. You could just put on a slide and make some good rhythm. Scream a little over the strumming and you're in business.
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