Video Question: Slack Key Lessons

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Date: April 21st, 2009 | Length: 1.88 | Instructor: Steve Eulberg

Coopercanuck asked "What an awesome style! I have just begun but find myself walking back to my room all day and picking up my guitar just to play it "one more time". Thanks for making this style available it is a really chilled out style and is a lot of fun. My question is: Can you post some more songs in Slack key for us to learn? And if not where can I find some! Thanks Jason." Another benefit of being a member of JamPlay is the video response section. Our expert staff fields questions from our members and provides video responses each week.

Other Video Responses:

Left Hand Position - December 4th, 2008 (3 minutes, 12 seconds)

Lucasholland asked "Hello JamPlay, I just got an electric guitar and I'm 100% comitted to making this thing talk. Now the problem is my left hand. I can play chords just fine but doing my finger exercises on the lower 3-4 strings (E,A,D, sometimes even G) hurts my hand, my wrist and my entire forearm to the point where I have to stop playing. This happens after a couple of seconds. I know that this is a sign that my left hand technique is severely flawed. Here's what I've tried to do so far: - I have tried using a strap to put the guitar at an angle. Doesn't help. - I have tried different thumb positions behind the neck. No luck. - I know not being relaxed is a part of the problem but surely something else must be wrong. I really want to learn how to play guitar but I'm starting to think about giving up on it because of my problems. If I had any good teachers near me I would've started taking private lessons by now but that's not an option. PLEASE help! Lucas." View Response

Sweeping Arpeggios - September 19th, 2007 (2 minutes, 27 seconds)

Billy asks "I have been trying these for about a year now and I just can't seem to nail them. Are their any exercises for both hands that will make it more easier. It seems that my left hand has the most problems." View Response

Right Hand Injury - March 17th, 2008 (5 minutes, 22 seconds)

Prana32 asked, "Hi there, I am right handed, and do not use a finger pick, and I have been experiencing pretty bad pain in the right thumb and also on the pinky finger and below it where it becomes the outer part of the palm. I am quite convinced that this injury is linked to my incorrect technique of fingerpicking...perhaps tensing the wrist too much, or something of this sort. My question is, what are some good tips on keeping the right hand safe from injury while still having accurate fingerpicking technique? Thanks a bunch, Alex." View Response

position of left pinky - October 31st, 2007 (1 minutes, 10 seconds)

MillaTK asks: "Hi, first of all, thank you for the great lessons. I'm practicing scales, and I have a problem with my left pinky: I have large hands (if I stretch my left hand, from thumb to pinky, tip to tip, I span a little more than 24cm, that is 9inches and a half), so I can stretch it quite easily to the right fret, even with the other fingers still on the frets. The problem is that the pinky will not stay parallel to the others, so if I fret let's say the 1st string on frets 1-4, the knuckles my first three fingers will be perpendicular to the fretboard or will be slightly bent towards the head, while the knuckle of the pinky will point the other way... there will be a large "V" between fingers 3 and 4. If I use my right hand I can position the pinky correctly, but if I lift it and fret the string again, I'll have the same problem. This makes it difficult to hammer on correctly, as the pinky will not go down from the tip but slightly from the side (though the finger is curled correctly). Is there any particular excercise I can do to correct this? [sorry for the length of the question, but I wanted to be as clear as possible!]" View Response

Tabs and Chords - November 22nd, 2008 (3 minutes, 15 seconds)

Dear Jim, Just recently I joined jamplay.com. And here is my first question. How do you read tabs that are written like this: [Intro] C C Am G/B G/B C G Am I close my eye G Dm7 A7 G/B only for a moment, and the moment's gone. C G/B Am All my dreams G Dm7 Am pass before my eyes, a curiosity. D/F# G Am Am/G Dust in the wind. D/F# G Am All they are is dust in the wind. I know that you must listen to the song and then play the chords, but I just cant seem to get the strumming right. As i said I just joined the site 2 days ago but I like it very much. Its more organized and the instructors like you seem to point out the beginners mistakes better then on my old website. Regards, Yordan Ivanov View Response