Yeah, I took up guitar when I was about 12 and could kind of strum my way through “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” I left behind my folkie dreams at summer camp years ago, and have never looked back. However, every so often I wish I could pick away at something, or at least be able to nod knowingly when my more musically-oriented friends make a reference to C Major.
There’s nothing stopping my self-improvement efforts, except tone deafness, lack of dexterity, and inability to read music. Otherwise, I’m sure I could be a great classical guitarist in the tradition of John Williams
For those with a little more music talent than me, Fret Friend may provide just the edge they need to propel them into guitar greatness. Unlike many of the other Kickstarter projects I’ve scribbled about, this one is free of gadgetry — no USB port, no servo motors, and no embedded silicon.
This ‘gadget’ is really a light-weight material fitting under the strings and wrapping around the neck of the guitar. According to their Kickstarter explanation, you mark up the scales on the material using a special erasable pen. Maybe a better explanation is that it’s an analog version of Guitar Hero. Btw, I also failed at GH. Sigh.
I’ve had mixed results with my Kickstarter/Indiegogo purchases. Lima now serves as a ineffectual paper weight on my desk. Tile, the Bluetooth-enabled house key finder, has performed miracles for me. Anyway, a pledge of $25 gets you FF and “access to the guitar learning community”.