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  • Beginning 30 days to play Habit

    Posted by Simulator on September 6, 2021 at 2:38 pm

    Where do I find Tiny
    Habits material to support habit formation?

    Am I creating a bad habit if I don’t lift the index finger when fretting the ring finger?

    With my right hand, is
    bridging to the body or strings another bad habit?

    Simulator replied 3 years, 4 months ago 5 Members · 10 Replies
  • 10 Replies
  • Loraine

    Member
    September 6, 2021 at 2:50 pm

    It’s probably a better habit to lift your index, unless fretting with the ring is in front of the index. Then I don’t see a big issue. As for your palm, it is best to arch your wrist and pull downward to ensure your fingers arch enough to fret. This will have your palm partially against the neck and the bottom half a little away from the neck.

  • Bill_Brown

    Member
    September 6, 2021 at 7:34 pm

    Hi William ( @Simulator ), welcome to TAC – hope you have a fantastic guitar journey🤩 I would suggest that you start with the “30 Days To Play” challenge👍 That course will start you off on the right foot😎

    • Bill_Brown

      Member
      September 6, 2021 at 7:54 pm

      Hopefully you will find some joy in trying to do 1 lesson per day – but you can spend as much time as you need for each lesson, it’s all about your journey🤩

  • FloridaKen239

    Member
    September 7, 2021 at 10:06 am

    Hi William! I’m new to the program and I am also just getting started with 30 days to play. I’m finding it pretty difficult to achieve the stretch from fret 3 to 5 or 5 to 7 with the index and ring fingers. I have to swing my wrist way out in front which kind of contorts my shoulder and still, I wind up fretting more with the sides of my fingers than the actual tips. My hands are average size, so I’m sure this will get easier with practice, but my fingers are going to take some convincing to make them do what I want! 😄

    • tailsawaggin

      Member
      September 7, 2021 at 12:50 pm

      I had this same difficulty and finally figured out I was doing two things that both contribute to it. One, my thumb was badly placed, and I needed to get it in between the frets I was trying to play . . . so if I was trying to get from 1 to 3, my thumb needed to be right about behind the second fret. (Still does. 😉) The other thing I was doing is keeping my index finger planted, forcing my wrist to do all the compensating.

      To retrain myself, I’d just press fret one with the index, then fret three with the ring, and repeat, while finding the best thumb placement for my particular hand and instrument. After a while I found my whole hand/wrist/arm/shoulder complex got more relaxed and stable, and hopefully your case is as simple to fix. 🙂

      • FloridaKen239

        Member
        September 7, 2021 at 3:44 pm

        That’s helpful. I’ll give a try this evening. Thanks!

    • Simulator

      Member
      September 7, 2021 at 2:32 pm

      Easier on day 4 to do the stretch tailswaggin has good advice. Keeping to a 10-minute session starts each time. Establish a routine.

      • FloridaKen239

        Member
        September 7, 2021 at 3:47 pm

        That’s about all I can tolerate at this point until my fingers stop yelling at me. I remember from the last time I started learning, it takes a couple of weeks to build up the fingertips. Especially the ring and pinky on those thin, razor-like strings! 😄

      • Simulator

        Member
        September 8, 2021 at 2:35 pm

        I’m on Nylon so it is a little easier for me. This is day 5, yea! Developed shuffle notation A8, D4, A4, E2, D2, A4+. Happy with the progress so far, but still looking for stuff to support Tiny Habit development.

  • Simulator

    Member
    September 15, 2021 at 7:05 pm

    Solid every day but today, feeling ill, still, did 10=minutes turned into 15. Yea! the thing is picking Practice E5, D7, D5, A7, then E5 … The E5 feels like the end of the sequence, not the beginning is there a reason that might be?

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