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What do you wish someone told you awhile ago?
Let’s start a thread where we share tips about things we learned along the way that we had to find out for ourselves that we wish someone told us in the beginning.
I think a lot of us are teaching ourselves to play with the help of the Internet which is great and for some of us our only option but still not as good as having a teacher in the room to give us feedback. This means we have to figure out a lot of things on our own along the way.
The one thing I wish I knew from the beginning was to strum the guitarist as softly as humanly possible. Brush the strings. Do not attempt to play at full volume all the time or it sounds horrible. To get the best tone out of your guitar you want to brush the strings as just barely as you can without missing them. I am fairly heavy handed and took about two years to develop a lighter pick hand.
Strumming lighter also cured most buzzing. The usual advice is that you’re not squeezing the frets tight enough but the reality is your most likely just smashing the strings too hard with your other hand but no one ever tells you that.
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16 Replies
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I would have two things. 1) Understand and learn how much fun and how important theory is to playing the guitar. I wasted a lot of space memorizing chords, chord progressions, etc. in my youth when a little theory would have made it all so easy. 2) And I forget the second…
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I had a guitar teacher for about two lessons before Covid and then I just never found my way back once they re-opened. I distinctly clearly remember saying on day one to the teacher that I wasn’t interested in learning music theory I just wanted to play some songs. I thought music theory was for people that wanted to compose music. I was simply happy with playing covers of existing songs. The older wiser me now knows that you do need to know some music theory, because it makes it so much easier to remember those existing songs. Lol. As it ends up a good guitarist only needs to know about 10% of overall music theory, only what relates to guitar and fretboard layout. That little bit of theory is so important because it helps you remember what chords are normally played together or what notes of a scale are most likely in the same solo, making it so much easier to remember the song because the song is no longer just random information to memorize but more of a template
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Oh yes the second was to leave space between in a song between notes so that the notes that are there can have impact and the space can make room for the listener to put their anticipation, emotions, memories, and insights into the experience with you.
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“I wish someone would’ve told me a while ago”…….
To get courses like Fretboard Wizard- (and others similar)- and use them along with other sources. Every creator of these programs and these workbook courses and the like- has a little different perspective—- their guitar-philosophies, what’s important, what’s not so important, the “order” of things and how they’re presented- (“easy-going” or “dry and strict”), the terminology used- (what gets called what), and on and on…..
My point is that overall, while they all contain a lot if similar information and even presentation…. not all authors and program-creators think alike. So…….
“I wish someone would’ve told me a while ago”– to gather-up several different sources of learning—- go thru them all ……. maybe a couple at the same time. Compare them. Note the qualities and ideas they ALL have in common- and also explore the differences.
Don’t “put all your eggs in one basket”.
Maybe one of them will be the “right one” that will fit your “guitar-journey-plan” the best.
Your own personality, available time, and individual goals, will tell you the right one. But…. remember……. as you change…. so will your needs and goals.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by the-old-coach.
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I’m only 6 weeks into my restart after a failed attempt to learn guitar a year ago and I’m doing something similar. I have TAC and another course and about to sign-up for a third (doing a 2-week trial right now). I’m getting a lot more out of all of them because of the variety and different styles. Some lessons just resonate with me more than others.
Having different resources has made me progress faster and have more fun doing it.
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Right on, Moose!
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This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by
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@That_Guy : great thread. Glad you thought of it!
The single biggest time saver that potentially could have saved me years, is dealing with tension right away and directly. I played nearly three years before @Carol-3M-Stillhand introduced me to tension management. I estimate for every hour spent focusing on tension I save myself two in the learning process. If you want to get better faster manage your tension. x2
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What is tension management? Is that a stretching routine you do as part of warm up?
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It is learning how to play without physical or mental tension. It is the practice of using precision and accuracy in order to use the least amount of force possible to make the sound that you want. On the mental front (tougher for me) is quieting my mind and being present with each note played, not thinking about where I need to be with my fingers but where is the song going melodically. This all possible because of all the prep (everyday for 8 years and loving it…now) done in the Daily Challenges using the same method.
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@That_Guy I’m not really sure the technical definition of tension management. I consider it to be sort of a combination of good ergonomics, economy of motion, and to be honest? Laziness. haha, yes I try play guitar using as little effort as possible.
For example how much pressure do you really need to use to fret a note? Most people waste alot of muscle energy by clamping down on those strings with excessive pressure… All this tends to slow you down and make things more difficult. There are drills you can do to discover the minimum amount of effort you actually need to fret a note cleanly.
Also when I had tendonitis in my fretting thumb I learned that you can actually fret notes cleanly without even touching your thumb to the back of the neck.
All the ergonomic/economy moves put together adds up to easier more effortless and relaxed playing. And thanks for the mention, @jumpinjeff you have been just as inspirational to me, so thanks Buddy!!
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I would have liked to have been told less and asked more questions. For example what music I like and want to play. For more purposefull instruction to receive.
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@That_Guy What an awesome thread. I’m not sure I have a good answer as to what I wished I’d been told at the beginning. I guess I’m surprised after all this time, and I still feel like such a beginner, albeit an advanced beginner. So, I guess I would have liked to have known that I would just be moving into more intermediate music at 3 years of playing, and that would be okay. I would have liked permission from the beginning to be just subpar and a very slow learner. I felt there was a need to be much further along or with more skills than I had at the time; Instead of feeling like a failure because I wasn’t able to play music right away, or learn the lessons and meet the speeds posted, or where others that started TAC around the same time or after me blew right past me. Overall, I wish I had been told (& believed) that I was always right where I was supposed to be, and that if I was doing the lessons and trying, then I was a musician and guitarist. Today I can say that overall, I’m happy where I am in my journey. The guitar is a difficult instrument to learn that does not come easily to me, but it brings such joy to me when I can play something, and that is what this is all about.
I’m not sure I’ve answered the question sufficiently, but I’ll think a little more on this and get back with you
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Loraine– you have made a GREAT post here!!!! (not surprising!😀)-
yer old friend
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This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by the-old-coach.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by
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This is an excellent thread and idea. I will check back often to get some new ideas. For me, after taking lessons on guitar for three years from a private teacher, it was the idea of a process and how that plays (pun intended) into the overall advancement of your guitar playing. I have gained so much from the community information and tips.
I look forward to more input from the community on this thread. -
Hey @That_Guy , I can think of a lot of things that I know now, but wished I knew then. Like the major, minor & pentatonic scale formulas, or the CAGED navigation system, or triads and their master shapes, seventh chords and chord extensions, understanding the Circle of Fifths……and yes, arpeggios. I could go on and on. But one thing, to me, that really stands out as something I wish I knew sooner than I did, was the existence of TAC. I know that sounds corny, and I’m not saying it because this is a TAC Forum, I’m saying it because it’s true (to me). Without TAC, I wouldn’t know about the stuff I mentioned above, I wouldn’t have any of the guitars I own, and I wouldn’t have the joy I get from playing them for my family and friends. And most importantly (to me), I wouldn’t have met 2 local TAC members and had the opportunity to play guitar with them, in person. So I wish I’d have joined TAC much sooner than I did, because then I’d be much further along in my journey than I am today.🎸
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That_Guy, Thanks for starting this thread. I only started this program last month and now into the 5th week. Still in the 30 day program. Took up the guitar after a near death experience at 31 years old in a night school class for 6 weeks and afterwards life and family distracted me away. I kept the guitar (Fender Acoustic) and now retired decided after another life threating experience to try it again. I appreciated all the tips from the other members and hope to enjoy this group as well as playing in the future.
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