N-lightMike
Forum Replies Created
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If you are brand new, @denise101smile , the most important things are exactly what you are doing. You are doing the most basic and definitely necessary things so that you will be able to progress more easily and quickly. People, like myself, who try to push ahead faster actually take longer. I still sounded like a beginner 20 years later until I went “backwards” and started working on exactly the kinds of things you are doing. Now, I have been with TAC for just over 2 years and I have been making steady progress the whole time. I started with the basics and I still work on them. I always will. Every accomplished guitar player does.
You have gotten a lot of good advice here. You are doing great.
MG 😀
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It’s amazing how many little, hard to notice, things affect our hand position on the guitar neck. @Crabby mentioned several things that affect our hand position. Changing the angle of the guitar from horizontal by bringing it up some. Also, not having the guitar square to our body, but having it at an angle with the headstock farther away.
There are a few more things I would mention. For some chords, the elbow is away from the body and for other chords your elbow is tucked into the side of your body. Also, your wrist can be pushed out or rolled back. Your thumb can be at the top of the neck or moved down to the middle of the back of the neck. And, the thumb can be opposite your index finger or moved over to be opposite the middle of your palm, between the middle and ring fingers. All of these adjustments happen regularly as an accomplished guitar player changes chords, but good luck seeing these slight movements and realizing you need to do that. It takes time.
Stretching and warm ups are something everyone should do every day, but especially beginning guitar players. Tony has an impressively large array of warm up exercises, yet you can easily find others or come up with others on your own. Then there are finger independence exercises. The classic exercise is to put your hand palm down on a flat surface with the fingers spread out and try lifting one finger at a time. Do this regularly if you are a beginner and mix it up, doing different orders and even do it rhythmically. When you get good at it, try lift fingers in sets of 2, especially the middle and pinky and the index and ring.
Hope this helps.
MG 😀
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That’s great @Carl1909 . Now, you should be able to play the G major with your middle, ring and pinky. Then you can easily switch to the G7 or G maj7.
MG 😀
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Very well done. Fun project. Thanks for sharing.
MG 😀
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That’s great. But just remember to have fun. That’s the most important thing. Everything else is negotiable. 😂
MG 😀
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First, @SusanC , let me say, barre chords are a huge challenge for many people. As adult learners, it will take far longer than we could possible think was reasonable. So let’s start by recognizing 2 things: it will take longer than you want to believe; and slowly but surely, over time, you will get better and better as long as you don’t give up.
Second, since barre chords are especially challenging for us adult learners, I use only 10 gauge string sets. Even then, some guitars are easier than others. Beginners sometimes like shorter scale length guitars because they think they have trouble with spreading their fingers. But short scale length guitars are harder to play barre chords on. (And the finger spread turns out to be a technique problem that will come with time and short scale length guitars don’t help very much.)
All right, so let’s talk technique. Make sure your thumb is behind the neck, not on top. Also, it should be opposite the thumb. And you should experiment where to put your index finger when barring. Raise it up so the tip of the finger is above the fretboard. Then lower it so the tip of the finger just reaches the 6th string. Also experiment with your elbow, moving it toward and away from your body, and pushing your wrist forward or pulling is back. Another trick, you can use the elbow of your picking hand to push on the end of the guitar and create leverage pressure against your fretting hand. One thing that was hard for me to do, was to learn I didn’t have to hold the pressure all the time, but only during a strum. It is a lot easier to squeeze and release, squeeze and release that to simply hold.
I hope this helps. Just don’t give up. And always remember, you can play partial barre chords. This can help to build up to full barre chords while your strength and coordination are building.
MG 😀
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Wow, 40!!??! You’re old, Tony! 😮
But I’m relieved to find out you’re older than my son… by almost a year. 😅
Well, it looks like this site is what you were hoping for. I wish many years of success for you and the team and this site. 🤩
MG 😀
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Thank you for posting @Niels . I appreciate your sharing about you bass passion. I find it so interesting how many different ways people can enjoy the guitar. We get ideas from each other, yet we find our own unique way down the path of music and guitar. I look forward to hearing more of your bass runs and bass solos.
MG 😀
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Thank you @Vic-G .
I love being a VOM host and I’m grateful to you for leading the way. But I especially appreciate you for having the willingness to tell me what I need to hear, I have improved an awful lot regarding my expectations and “being hard on myself”. Yet it is something I still need to hear on a regular basis. I have quite a ways to go. In fact, what I’ve learned about making changes is that we never really get there until we stop trying to make improvement because those are always minor, and instead actually turn around 180 degrees. So what I need to do on this is an about face.
Thank you again, MG 😀
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Thank you very much @Bill_Brown .
I find your reason for playing guitar very inspirational myself. I completely agree that playing guitar is a way of honoring your son and music is healing. And I love that you like playing songs that your wife likes. After all, music is about sharing.
I hope that we can continue to inspire each other and get to know each other better. I would love to see you sometime at one of the VOMs. The only one I make consistently is the Sunday VOM. Every other week, I host the Sunday VOM. But I make the others when I can. They are a big part of my guitar journey now.
MG 😀
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Thank you so much @Niels .
I thank you for validating my improvement as it helps me see it more clearly. And I have seen growth in you also. That seems to be a very consistent thing here at TAC.
MG 😀
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Thank you @Loraine . It felt a lot longer when I was writing it than it seemed after I posted it.
Anyway, regardless of what we think about the new platform, the “magic” of learning from each other and getting to know each other still exists. And the growth is so wonderful, both to see it in others, as I have seen in you, and to experience it ourselves. I am so glad that I will be able to get to know you better and see your continued improvement. I bought a lifetime membership when I could. Now, I couldn’t afford the yearly price.
Flat picks are very cool as are thumb picks and finger picks. But at this time, I want to focus on one of the choices. It may change in the future, but for my entire 22+ years I have not had interest in using flat picks myself though I enjoy hearing what others do with them. But, there is a big difference between what I enjoy seeing and hearing others do and what I want to do. I have thought a lot about why I only want to stick with fingerpicking and I can’t come up with a good reason other than that’s what I want. I suspect it has something to do with being overwhelmed easily and there is already so much to guitar. This one thing I can keep a little simpler.
Thanks so much Loraine, and I’ll see you in a VOM soon.
MG 😀
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👍
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Long winded? Wait till you see mine. It’s up. 😂
MG 😀
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Just wondering, @Michelle-PSL , have you received your CEO yet? I’d love to see/hear it. And I’m curious what you think of it. You have a 000-15 right? How do they compare?
MG 😀