TOPIC: Greenhorn southpaw learning guitar

Brand new here & new to guitar. ( or any musical instrument for that matter) I have just had my second lesson with Fretmentor & am enjoying the process. I would like to get more practice time in but have a dilemma. I live in an apartment & am selectively trying to practice at times when it wouldn't create problems with neighbors. My Fendor Accoustic does not have an amp jack & that seems too complicated of a road at this early stage for me to pursue. (My thought was to connect to one & then to headphones) . Taking it outside has been my other option. Any suggestions or help would be great!

Welcome to the forum.

I think you would do just fine with your acoustic, although that is a good option if you are concerned with others being disturbed. Let me know how it goes.

FM

Trust me, I know how that goes. I tried practicing at 11:30 at night once. It was a good time for me, and it seemed to work great. But, due to the screaming and wailing and nashing of teeth that ensued from family members and others, I would not recommend it.

Hmmm...I think that outside would probably be your best option. Because with an electric you could plug in headphones, and you'd be good to go. Just be careful of the rain and humidity and you should be good.

Maybe another option is taking it down to the park and practicing with your case open? You could probably earn a couple bucks that way, too.

God bless you! Good luck to you.

Thank you GBT USA! I tried it on my patio yesterday & it worked great. Intended to practice for 45 min & when my fingers started to finally scream....an hour & 15 min went by. A great weather day with considerably lower humidity helped too!

Park is a great idea...Juno Bch has a picnic table waiting for me !

Thinking about it more...maybe I should ask...will I have to buy an entirely new Accoustic to get an amp jack plug or can ones without be modified?

enjoying the site after having more time to explore it & have found some great info from other posters!

Re Pickups

You can buy an acoustic guitar with a pickup installed or you can have a separate pickup installed in an acoustic that does not have one. Pickups can be expensive though, since it is unlikely you will install it yourself. You will have to pay both the cost of the pickup and installation. Assess the value of your existing guitar when deciding on installation of a pickup.

Alternatively, I use a exterior pickup which is good quality swiss made but also rather pricey.

FM

Earlogic, a couple of things here. First, you are playing an acoustic. It's not like an electric, which really loses it's sound if not plugged in. As such, an acoustic will do what an acoustic does well---project sound, even when ampped. In fact, with the headphones on, you are disconnected from the ambient reality, and could accidentally play louder without knowing it. Plus, amps can be costly,and pickups vary all over the place. I would make sure the room i'm playing in absorbs as much sound as possible. Carpet instead of tile, and a lot of sound absorbing stuff in the room. You could make sound absorbing panels to hang on the wall to cut down on reverb. If you have a neighbor on one side, play in a room as far from the dividing wall as possible. If neighbors are on both sides, play in an inner room if possible. Consider a sound hole mute that blocks the sound hole. It is just a plastic insert that totally covers the sound hole. It will likely cut your sound projection 2/3 or more. Also, a softer pick will not attack the strings as hard, which will help. I actually like a soft pick because i can control my strumming dynamics easier. Also, consider loosely tying a sock around the neck of the guitar near the nut. The only thing i don't like about this is you want to train your ears for the chord pitches, and still be able to hear your fretted notes. Also, consider strumming with your thumb instead of a pick. But this method robs you of learning pick control while strumming. I think a sound hole mute is what you need, and you should be able to get one at any local guitar shop cheaply. In the end, i'm with the fretmentor---i don't think an acoustic guitar is a problem, and you can control the dynamic of it by how hard you strum it.