KayMesser
Forum Replies Created
-
“If it brings you half as much joy as it brings me you are going to love it.” Such a wonderful sentiment
-
So pretty!
-
So beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
-
I am so excited someone else asked about this issue. I had posted a question about hypermobility a few months back as well.
My middle and index finger on my left have the most issues with my knuckles dipping when I’m holding chords.
A few things that have helped me:
* Don’t press hard – the harder I push the more likely it is for my knuckle to slip. Stressing the joint if it is weak won’t (in my experience) get it stronger – it can cause your body to guard against the slippage by stiffening other areas of the body (I have really bad issues with hypermobility my lower body & hip)
*My PT always reminds me that other people want more flexibility & stretch – but for me, it is better to think about finding stability. This leads me to thinking about chords where I can have stability while playing.
*Think about different versions of this chord shape – there are some chords that I cannot do with my hypermobility (yet at least). You can look up different variations of that chord up and down the guitar neck. There is a G chord that triggers my hypermobility badly, but a different G that has less of a stretch and more support.*Speed – some chords I can do with stability at .5x of a song. If I try to play it quickly I don’t focus on stability and then my knuckle sags. I find playing slower with light pressure to be a great way to build strength, muscle memory, and security in my body. I’ve been working on a Tom Petty song that caused a lot of hypermobility a few months back. I want to play it faster, but the slow speed has helped me gain confidence with a few chords that used to feel impossible.
*I second Carol’s suggestion of a Capo. The frets are closer and can reduce your stretch. My fingers slip the most as I try to stretch without strength.
*If my left hand is not doing well one day I will switch to practicing fingerstyle with my right hand with super simple close chords.Feel free to try these, or if they don’t work for you that is totally ok as well. Listen to your body.
I’m excited to hear about any tips you find as you progress in your guitar journey. It has already been really helpful for me reading through the tips from other folks.
Cheers, Kay
-
Really lovely
-
I’m a newer guitar player. When I first started the lessons I was pretty overwhelmed at the speed and complexity. I tend to need to play the videos at .5x speed, etc. Now, when I approach the lesson it is about learning one new thing – and it doesn’t need to be mastered or great, I just need to attempt it. 10 min is all I focus on as the success of the lesson.
There are some weeks (the barre chord week) where even 10 min felt like too much so I simplified my goal and focused only on my right hand to look at rhythm/picking. I wasn’t able to execute the barre chords but I was able to still learn something.
I’m excited for a day when I can do the full lesson perfectly but that may be a few years yet 🙂 and that is ok.Good luck!
-
How did it go? Were you able to join & enjoy the 90 Day Zoom session? It is always so fun to share goals, etc in the chat during the meeting.
-
I am still really struggling with rhythm and strumming patterns.
This video has been helpful recently.
He talks about moving away from using Down Up to memorize your pattern, to Counting. It is a small change, but I found it helpful.
-
Fred, you are a wonderful presence on the TAC Forums. Thank you for all you have contributed to the community. Truly.
-
Carol, I really appreciate the note. I believe the T is Time-bound from my past experience using SMART at work. It is helpful. I think I also can simply be less precious with my goals and not force practices around skills that I don’t see progressing. I like your tip on shifting to something different.
Cheers!
-
Loraine, thank you so much for the kind and thoughtful post. I picked up the guitar for the first time July 31st of last year. At the end of the month will be my first TAC anniversary.
I recently recorded a few videos of me playing. I didn’t do any recordings when I first started, but I think having videos to look back on to see how much I have progressed will be helpful. Sometimes it is hard to remember just how much I have learned and what skills I’ve developed.
Great advise for an instructor and in general around comparison.
Thank you!!!
-
Thanks for asking. I’m still at about the same skill level, but I’ve been enjoying playing and gaining a little confidence. I keep reminding myself about focusing on consistency.
-
I love this suggestion
-
OOOhhhh.. I like this exercise. I tend to take my whole hand away to practice chords and then need to bring each finger down to align myself to the fretboard. I love the idea of hovering in the pattern to work on bringing my fingers down at the same time. Something new for me to try! Thank you.
Barre Chords are wildly difficult for me but someday I want to learn them so that I can play a few songs by the band Dispatch. One day!
-
Encouragement is always welcome!!! Thank you. I really do appreciate it.
Keeping practice fun is always something that I need to remind myself of. I get to play guitar and that is the celebration in itself. 🙂 Thank you!