Practice Tips for 12-String Guitar

by Mickey Cochran

Folk of the Wood Acoustic Music Instruction

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Practice Tips
As far as practice goes, for 12-String Guitar, it’s most important to have a daily procedure to follow:

First and foremost, make sure your 12-String is properly set up. This is most critical on a 12-String where you're dealing with twice the strings of a regular guitar. Action (the height of the strings off the fretboard), is the most important consideration on setting up a 12-string. Almost always, you'd want your 12-string's action to be as low as possible without any rattle or buzzes when playing. The only exception in this is if you're hoping to play slide or looking for that fat Leadbelly sound ... where the gauge of the strings are medium and the focus is on bass runs.

1. Always keep a roadmap in front of you...this can be in the form of books, CDs and/or videos along with your own handwritten list of goals. This way you'll always have reference points of where you’ve been and where you’re heading.12-String Guitar learning materials are a little more difficult to find ... however, there are some dedicated materials and, unlike 6-String Guitar, you could easily amass every book/DVD/CD available for 12-String affordably and realistically. Although many learning materials for 6-String are applicable to 12-String, it's still best to focus on materials dedicated to the 12-String. This way you’ll ensure you're on the 12-String Guitar track and not playing a 12-String as an emulation of a 6-String ... for the 12-String has its own unique voice and application of which a 6-String could never take the place of. By assessing your accomplishments daily, you’ll find even more inspiration in knowing that you have measurable progress in your efforts. By keeping a list of what you hope to accomplish in the future, you’ll also always have something to aspire to ... giving purpose to your studies.

2. Keep a list of exercises and songs to practice daily. This will reinforce what you’ve learned and will increase your dexterity to take on even more difficult pieces later.

3. Always bracket your time for practice ... if you can only afford 1/2 hour daily, that’s fine. Only make sure that you’re at the very least practicing daily within set periods of time.

4. Take your time with your progress. Do not become frustrated when you find that you’re not progressing. What may seem like slow progress is in reality the period of time necessary to absorb a solid foundation.

5. Always cross reference your previous lessons with your current lessons. For example, make sure that you’re not finding yourself falling into poor posture and position habits. Go back to earlier points on proper positioning to ensure you’re on the right track. This usually requires either a personal instructor, that is well-versed in proper positioning, or a video that teaches proper position ... methodology videos, that teach proper position for 12-String Guitar, is probably impossible to find since most instructionals on 12-String are specific to an application or style. Hence, in light of this, a 6-String Guitar video, for visual reference, may have to be the exception, and would work to learn the principles for proper guitar positioning ... since these principles remain the same from 6-String to 12-String. Now it can still be difficult to find a methodology video that teaches every aspect of learning to properly hold, fret and strum/pick the guitar. We do carry one video that does teach all aspects of proper positioning along with both flatpicking and fingerpicking (both applicable techniques for the 12-String Guitar) titled: "Introduction to the Acoustic Guitar" and available by Clicking Here.

6. As a 12-String artist, you'll want to collect all the listening material that's specific to the 12-String. This way you'll hopefully find works that inspire you to continue your 12-String Guitar education. One of my all-time personal favorites for 12-String Guitar albums/CDs is: Leo Kottke's 6 & 12-String Guitar on Takoma Records. I was listening to this CD and copping tunes off of it Santa Fe High many years ago. Another TOTALLY dedicated CD to the 12-String Guitar is: Wisdom of the Wood's very own: "12-String Drawings from the Acoustic Forest".

If interested in 12-String Guitar, be sure to check out the new CD by Wisdom of the Wood:
"12-String Drawings from the Acoustic Forest"

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