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Tonyā€™s Acoustic Challenge ā€“ The New Way to Learn Guitar Family Forums Community Support Exercises for not having to look at strings so much?

  • Exercises for not having to look at strings so much?

    Posted by NW7 on August 22, 2021 at 7:47 pm

    Will this just come naturally with time, or are their warm-up/drilling exercises I can do to help with this?

    ted_h replied 3 years, 5 months ago 9 Members · 9 Replies
  • 9 Replies
  • jumpinjeff

    Member
    August 22, 2021 at 10:06 pm

    Great topic and Question @NW7 , I spent some time trying to wean off of looking but I feel like it was not super productive because I had not developed the mind muscle/neural pathway connections. Fast forward a few years and now without even trying I frequently play without looking and as an exercise I will improvise totally without looking and have been pleased with the results. It was always my goal to be able to play without looking but letting go of the timeline seemed to be the thing that worked for me. I still look when I need to look, but it has become glances instead of hard staring. Work your daily challenges without looking once you get them down and see how that goes for you….and report back….😉

    • NW7

      Member
      August 23, 2021 at 6:37 am

      Thanks!

  • JohnV

    Member
    August 23, 2021 at 6:25 am

    Many pros still look at their fingerboard… I wouldn’t put too much into it as a skill to learn. It will come with time.

  • Bill_Brown

    Member
    August 23, 2021 at 7:09 am

    Hi @NW7 I agree with @jumpinjeff and @JohnV 👍👍 I think that it has a lot to do with muscle memory and mind connection. There was a warm-up exercise (first one of this month) that I tried to close my eyes and go through the pattern – and I was successful at it (for the first time ever). I just imagined what my fretting fingers were doing and it worked for me YMMV🤩

    • Ronlad

      Member
      August 26, 2021 at 7:08 pm

      I would agree. I think it’s muscle memory. I find myself looking at the strings from time to time.

  • Cadgirl

    Member
    August 24, 2021 at 4:08 am

    Just close you eyes and take a peek from time to time.

  • ErikBog

    Member
    August 26, 2021 at 5:31 am

    try playing in front of a mirror. Helps you to look at your fingers, without staring at your fretboard. Steve Vai used to practise this way and appeared to have made some progress šŸ™‚

  • Fly

    Member
    August 26, 2021 at 5:53 am

    Hi NW7 I have the opposite problem I tend to Learn by reading the tabs so Iā€™m usually staring at that and let my fingers do their thing. Draw back to this is it makes it harder for me to memorise songs without the tab as a prompt so maybe I need to start staring at my fingers and you could start by concentrating on the tab?

  • ted_h

    Member
    August 26, 2021 at 7:43 pm

    I look at the fretboard sometimes, and sometimes I close my eyes, turn out the lights, or look at the lyrics in order to cultivate the independence of my fretting hand. šŸ™‚

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