An Alternative Way To Adjust Your Guitar Nut

Most new guitars arrive from the factory with the nut just barely playable. Older guitars may have the nut filed or worn down so much that fret buzz cannot be eliminated by neck or string height adjustment. If you have a new guitar, or you are replacing the nut with a new one, here is an alternative method to file and adjust the nut material to make your guitar play like the professionals guitars play.

Before adjusting anything, make sure your guitar is strung up correctly and that your neck is straight and not bowed or warped. If your neck is bowed you first need to adjust the truss rod. If your neck is warped it will require a more extensive repair. For the lowest possible action or to avoid fret buzz all across your finger board it may be necessary to have your frets leveled and crowned first.

You will need a set of nut files (available from Stewart MacDonald), and a good set of feeler gauges as well. Different grades of sandpaper are very useful too.

Fret each string individually, starting with the High E, between the second and third fret, use your feeler gauge to check the amount of space between the bottom of the string and the first fret. You should have approximately .005″ of space between each one, with the string barely touching the second fret. If this measurement is close or dead on then move on to the next string right up to the Low E string. You may want to record the gap on a scrap piece of paper as you move across the fret board, to see the nut slot’s height in relation to the fret board as you do so.

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Music and Music Teaching: Perception by Now and Then




Music nowadays seems to be one of the most popular hobbies that the youngsters are indulging in. For some, it may be just a pure form of entertainment or a way of living, whereas for the others, it can be a serious escape from their stressful lives. They use music as a medium of conveying their suppressed emotions. Not too surprisingly, it makes them really into music.

Because of the different influences that the youth are exposed into, they are easily acquiring the curiosity of engaging into learning music. It may not exactly be reading musical notes and the other formal stuff regarding such, but at least, something highly relevant to it like playing musical instruments or simply singing.

Before, people, specially the youth, viewed Music, a subject in their primary and secondary schooling, as a conservative and boring one. With lots of different bits and pieces that should be memorized and understood without knowing their use and purpose, music then had been a vague and dull form of school activity to do.

Perhaps, the reason is that they relate music with “church” where they usually hear the hymns and praises when they were kids. They thought music should be solemnly expressed all the time.

As these young people aged up, they began to realize how interesting music could be far from what they used to perceive. From all the different genres and styles, they found a match. I am truly glad to say that finally, they are now fascinated with music learning as well as music teaching.

Many are aware that music centers began to spring suddenly nowadays. People look for formal lessons and their aim is, of course, to learn music. They also want to develop the talents they believe they are blessed with.

Music teaching is definitely an issue when talking about learning music. Aside from being considered as something pretty difficult and tedious, many believe that it requires lots of effort, patience, and passion in doing so.

However, with the kinds of trends, technology and methods that we have right now, music teaching has become less complicated. Indeed, different resources and tools are made readily available to be an aid to anyone who has interests in music teaching. It may be through various means like seeking the help and guidance of music enthusiasts and experts, enrolling in various learning centers, reading music-related books, availing advanced music gadgets, or browsing the web.

Music teaching has been both the career and passion of many musically inclined individuals around the globe. Thus, schools of music spring forth worldwide, paving the way for music enthusiasts for greater opportunities globally. That is how powerful music and music teaching can be.


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Musical Instruments Shopping Spree




With each new school year, parents begin a yearly ritual by going on a musical instruments shopping spree with their children. These shopping sprees may last one day, or they may go on for weeks on end with no end in sight. Parents are usually caught unaware by the notice they get about their child’s school curriculum change. The child may not be very happy about being in the school band, but in retrospect, thinks it’s a better alternative than taking a gym class.

On a musical instruments shopping spree, mother’s grab their children and head off to every music store in town, and check every newspaper ad looking for a musical instrument their child could use during the school year that they would be well-suited for. The musical instrument would not have to be brand new either. So, consulting the list of suitable instruments that the school gave her to use as a guide, she continues on with her musical instruments shopping spree.

The musical instruments shopping spree took her clear across town in the middle of rush hour traffic. By the time she entered a music store recommended to her by a friend, she was frazzled. The selection of instruments that matched her list were quite expensive, but there were several that qualified for a student rental program. She made a note of that offering, and continued to another location to check prices.

The next stop on her musical instruments shopping spree, landed her in a resale shop that had two instruments in the front window. Weathered by the sun, the cases looked a bit dry, but the price on the instrument, a flute, was within her price range. They did not have anything that her daughter wanted to play. She cleared the purchase with her son, who did not have a problem with playing the flute in the school band. His viewpoint was that he would be able to at least sit down during every concert. She made the purchase and scratched one shopping item off her list.

She asked her daughter what instrument she wanted to play. Her daughter wanted to play a guitar, or maybe some drums. Her mother suggested that she try a clarinet, and the girl balked at that idea entirely. Her mother stressed that she could try the piano but that would require lessons. Lessons would take away from her social life and that idea was not appealing in the least. The musical instruments shopping spree proceeded to the nearest pawn shop.

There was a set of electronic drums in the middle aisle that showed promise. The price of this set of drums was a bit steep, and the women decided she would try and get them to lower the price. She noticed that there was a cleaning set for a flute in the display case, which included a carry case for a flute. That price was quite reasonable, and when she offered to buy both items, the salesman promptly offered her a $25.00 discount on the drum set. Feeling that she had made a wise purchase the mother helped her daughter carry her drum set to the car.


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