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Tips Welcomed
Does anybody have any recommendations for how I can train my non-fretting fingers to stay closer to the fretboard as more experienced guitar players seem to be able to do? It seems that when I am fretting notes with one or two fingers, all of my other fingers prefer to flail all over the place and it drives me nuts. I know that I will need to be able to keep all of them much closer to the fretboard in order to be able to increase my speed and perform riffs with greater consistency but it feels extremely unnatural with my non-fretting fingers really wanting to fight me when I try hold them closer and/or straightened. Thanks in advance for any ideas!
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5 Replies
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Hey Chris if youve just started playing what youre describing is very normal so dont stress about it. Your hands and fingers are not used to moving this way and are kind of fighting against these strange movements and positions youre forcing them into. As you keep at it you will develop a new muscle memory and your hand/fingers will start to relax and the positions will come easier. Do lots of stretching and independent finger exercises to help the progress. Right now your fingers arent used to doing things individually (like fretting different strings) but with time you will develop more strength and control. With time and lots of practice. Remember learning guitar is hard and is a long game. But its well worth it if you have the drive to stick with it. You will get better! Hope this helps
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Thanks so much Braden, I appreciate you taking the time to provide me with advice an encouragement based on your experience! I have been practicing and getting lessons fairly regularly over the last 2.5 years or so but this is one technique that seems to be a block for me as well as having the habit of pausing between bars and not being able to switch chords consistently while maintaining a continuous strumming motion. It sounds like there will be plenty of exercises and courses to at least help build up my strumming competency here so I look forward to seeing how I progress over time.
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Glad to help Chris and good for you to have a few years in i read somewhere that a high percentage of people who start guitar quit before the first year is out so pat on the back for you. it takes awhile for the hands to adapt but with lots of repetition they will… repetition is key in all of this, the more you do it the quicker you develop your guitar hands.
And you nailed it re chord changes. Most people can learn chords fairly quickly. Even on the first few lessons you can usually get G D C Em under your fingers. The real skill necessary for playing songs is not so much playing chords, its moving from one to the next ie playing a progression. You have to get to that next chord very quickly. While theres many exceptions, most songs can have anywhere from 3 – 5 chords so you have to be able to switch between these chords very quickly, almost immediately. Thats the main skill you need to focus on and develop, assuming of course your goal is to play songs. To practice this i pick just two chords and switch them back and forth while strumming a basic rythmn. You can use any strumming pattern you like but maybe keep it easy so youre not focusing too much on your right hand. Your main attention should be your left hand. Hold one chord down and strum a four beat measure and then switch and strum another measure. Go back and forth for about five minutes and then pick two other chords. rinse and repeat. Most songs are 3-5 minutes long so you have to be able to play a progression for that long. Thats why I do each pair of chords for about five minutes without stopping.
Sometimes when im playing something that, even tho i know it very well, i sort of drift off and kind of forget what chord is next. Only takes a second to remember but that throws my rythmn and timing off. Plus i may rush to the next chord and screw it up. So i always try to think ahead…anticipate what chord is coming up next. Do this on the last half of each measure and your fingers will get a good start on the upcoming change.
This two chord switch exercise will be good for your strumming and timing as well. Re keeping your right hand going while youre switching, dont worry if you strum open strings for a beat during the chord transition. In other words keep that right hand going while your switching. Hitting those open strings just for a beat or half a beat actually sounds pretty cool. As you get quicker it wont be as necessary, you’ll be able to switch on the beat. But like I say I think just a quick hit on those opens strings can add a little extra to the transition so i sometimes do it intentionally.
Main thing my friend is repetition. Whatever it is youre working on, you have to do it over and over and over again. Embrace the suck and remember Rome wasnt built in a day. And sorry for the long post…once I get going…but i hope it makes some sense and is maybe helpful. rock on bro
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I checked your Bio and saw you are new and trying to complete the 30 day, 5 day and fretboard wizard at the same time. you might want to think about the amount of effort you will need to devote to all 3 to complete them and learn something from each of them. Big hunger, small stomach approach might be bit too much.
Now, that being said I did do the 30 day challenge Sunday afternoon and the 5 day challenge on that Sunday evening. but I had years of guitar knowledge to back it up, so it was more a review than learning new items I wasn’t comfortable with.
If that is your case then go for it, brother. But don’t let yourself burn out before you have even started. The first month on TAC I did do a lot of the offered side courses on the week end but they were mostly review and I used them to sharpen up my skills. I still check in on weekends and retake some of them. I’m retire and have the time to devote to this. It sounds like your are trying to continue a full time job and squeeze in the TAC lessons. I admire your determination to learn guitar but you may be overloading yourself and your time and work constraints. Good luck.
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Hey @PugDad it sounds like we have both been playing for about 2.5 years. I’m probably about a month shy of that, and started very consistent play in July of 2024. I’m still slowish on some chord transitions, but I’m getting better, I just go through them daily. Some of the songs I want to play require very fast transitions but there are many where you can get away with being slower. I make sure I play through one song for at least 5 minutes every day. I’m close now to being able to keep pace with a number of songs.
Braden mentioned the “hack” of just strumming even if you haven’t completed your transition. Tony has also mentioned the same thing in at least one of the daily challenges. I find this very difficult, my brain wants to halt if my left hand isn’t in place yet, but this is a very good thing to practice because rhythm trumps melody. If you don’t break rhythm it covers a number of flaws.
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