Crabby
Forum Replies Created
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I don’t know for sure but I bet the 30 days to play and or the fretting hand toolbox will have tips regarding position.
I think it was a recent “Acoustic Tuesday” podcast that talked about fretting hand tips.
What I have found is that over time (1) my hand has become more flexible and made it easier to fret things that were very uncomfortable at the start and (2) I gradually gravitated to a position that works for me.
I emphasized the words “Over Time” because @Bill_Brown advice to just do what is comfortable can be tough in the beginning, because you don’t even know yet what is comfortable for you. To that I say just trust the process and keep playing.
Some of the things above, I had learned from videos but it took a while to internalize it and for my body to learn to do it.
Two things regarding guitar position. If the neck is level ie: horizontal, it makes it a little harder to curl your fingers around the neck to fret the strings. Holding the neck at an upward angle, as much as 45* can make fretting easier. Also the position of the guitar left to right in your lap can make a difference. I find a strap helps tremendously in helping me hold the guitar in a position that is easy for me to play.
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“I’m having a blast!”
Congratulations that is the point, to have fun.
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Congratulations. Are you going to try Freight train next?
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yes that one is a little stretchy when you are starting out. It is fairly normal to struggle with it. The only advice I have is keep at it. in time it will both sound better and be easier to move to quickly.
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I do like Loraine suggests. I have a song that goes from strumming 2 strums of G to 2 strums of F. I just practice that change over and over. I might do it for 5 -15 minutes at a time. You may find it easier at first to do two strums each of D, the, 2 of F. That extra 1/2 second between chord changes can be enough to help your brain prepare for the next change. Also don’t be afraid to do it a seemingly silly slow speeds. 30 BPM or even 20 BPM.
At first yes you will be doing the F Barre chord by placing one finger at a time. That is OK. Over time it will become more automatic. One thing to try just to break up the routine is try playing just part of the F chord but placing multiple finger at a time.
For example from the D chord move just your ring and pinky finger to the 3rd fret, A and D strings. You may not be able to place all your finders at the same time but you can work on placing 2 or 3 at a time. Don’t worry about the middle or index just move your ring and pinky. D chord to ring and pinky. Then try D chord to ring pinky and middle. Maybe just try D chord to Index. My point is mix it up a little sometimes.
When playing Barre chords there are two different issues. One is moving to a relatively complex shape quickly and, two is getting all the strings to ring out cleanly. You can work on these skill separately.
Basically just do LOTS of repetitions changing to and from the F chord. You don’t have to do it perfectly. Precision will come with time.
I hope these tips are clear.
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“I made her a promise to play and sing her a song for her.”
Tell her you will fulfill your promise, because she will always be alive with you in your heart. ❤ 🙏
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Congratulations 👍
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nice, thanks for sharing
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I believe the main idea behind the course is to get you to practice every day, even if for only a few minutes. 10 minutes a day, will give you faster results than 90 minutes for one day a week.
I start my day playing with the daily challenge every day. Not all of them interest me and I can’t play many of them well. But I keep trying and I see improvement. mastering one of the riffs or daily challenges is a small win that keeps me motivated.
I really like the Monday challenges for warmups. I keep rotating among them as a warm up each day. The daily challenge gets me started then I can move to other parts of the course to work on specific skills.
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👍
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@Douglas S as @Loraine says do what is most comfortable for you.
However If you watch carefully you see he ways to use the ring finger on the picking hand only on the thickest level of strings. As he moved to the thinner strings he said use the middle finger. I think he simply misspoke the first time he said it.
I think he intends for us to use thumb index thumb middle on the picking hand all fo the time throughout the exercise.
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Awesome, that is not a smallest of small. That is significant.
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@campfire the same chord can be played in many ways and in many parts of the fretboard. A chord is made up of three notes. A C Chord is made up of an A note, an E note, and a G note. Since these notes repeat all over the fretboard there are many ways to play a C chord.
There is a lot more to this but is quickly gets over my head.
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@SherryH Elizabeth Cotton was left handed and played a right handed guitar upside down. Unlike Jimi Hendrix a left hander who also played a right hand guitar, She did not bother to restring the guitar. She played it with the thick strings on the bottom and the thin strings on the top.
When I wrote it I wondered how many people would catch the reference. It was a joke and you can ignore it.