Are you having trouble getting better at guitar? Want a better way to approach improvement than the same exercises you see over and over from other teachers? Well you've come to the right place. Level up the way you approach the instrument, and start getting better RIGHT NOW.
its funny that i got familiar with playing at a more sideways angle on bass pretty quickly, but for some reason with guitar i latched onto the claw thing just because it was the only way i could produce sound when i first started haha. i don’t know why i never thought to explore this option
Is the chirp Im hearing from ur pick? Is it intentional? Not baggin on ya.... honest question. I tried a big stubby.... loved it.... minus that damn chirp..... haha.... curious of some people find it pleasurable like diff playing styles and such. Cheers....
This and the one about balance finally did it for me. Massive improvement in just 2 days. Thank you so much for putting this out. Had been stuck in this rut for ages!
I was able to play very fast with my fretting hand, but my picking was very slow The trick was a loose grip while playing fast and a firm grip while playing anything else. The only down part is that I am quiet on the acoustic guitar, but then again I play electric 95% of the time
I used to have the pick catching strumming up on the electric guitar and keeping my wrist movement the same is all it took. I couldn't believe just focusing on that was like night and day. I sheared the knob off my elbow years ago pulling the rope to start the engine on a 600 hot tar kettle when the rope jammed halfway on my pull. So I know I still have issues with pain and movement of my arm because I can't even straighten my arm all the way. As long as I'm conscious of it until muscle memory takes over I feel really good about it now. Thank you for all your help. I don't even know your name?
Great video! This is something I’ve been thinking about and practicing recently. There are not enough videos talking about this technique. I should be taught from day one when learning guitar.
learning cello taught me that tension is bad. you can get pretty far in piano without learning to play without tension, but not cello. i learned eventually that the "right" technique is "whatever allows for best control/least tension." unsurprised this is any different!
Thank you for the video, I'm a self-learner and this helps a lot! I have a problem I've been dealing with for a long time so I wanna ask for help. I'm stuck with my picking hand on rhythm, always doing the same thing naturally, without thinking about it. I'm always thinking about a rhythmic pattern in my head to follow a beat (like a bar of 4) and when I try to get out of the loop, I'm either not tght or of tempo. When I'm playing with other people I can get on track easy enough but when I'm alone I just lose focus and rhythm. Is it just that I should learn a shit ton of rhythm or is it something else? Thank you.
Appreciate ur detailed explanation & is helpful indeed….. however, I'm curious about the best pick angle to prevent it from catching or creating uneven sounds while strumming up or down. Should I focus on strumming with the pick's tip or its side edges for smoother play?
I struggle big time at trying to learn guitar. When I close my fingers like you did at the beginning of the video they crowd in on each other kind of like someone doing. Sock puppet.. Currently have to use my pinky to comfortably play the third fret from my index finger.
I so appreciate this lesson! I've been determined to improve at guitar and have developed the habit of practicing for at least 10 minutes/day over the past two months, but I have struggled with the fretting mechanics, and I know I've been forming bad habits along the way that I'm going to regret unless I fix things sooner than later. Just subscribed. THANK YOU!
For many yesrs I thought all those things you mention in the beginning, I found out 10 yrs later I had axonal polyneuropathy and it felt like I had to fight for every note, self diagnosis would be, if your doing say, your scale exercises and suddenly your arms feel stiff like they turned into wood, when I told that to my Neurologist he immediately knew I had a demyelinating autoimmune disease. It's just a public service announcement. I hope it helps anyone out there with similar issues
this is for me.. i have strength and was watching videos of children doing things i thought i have no strength enough for 😂.. so there i thougt.. i have to do something wrong if she can do that so easy without getting tired or tensed while playing😅 also at first i sucked with picking strings.. the wrong one above or below or two at once . so i was willing to learn fast picking and shredding.. but my left hand cannot follow that fast.. so that one stays behind now
The problem with this is that if you have a lick that requires more stretch you need to switch to the classic hand position so the pinky can reach the furthest fret. Just try it. A minor is easy. Now do a major. 3 more per string each one fret in between each finger. My pinky won’t stretch your way. But the classic way strains my wrist which caused tendinitis. Also on the wound strings your technique falls apart unless you have long hands like yourself.
This highlights the problem of teachers trying to insist ALL guitarists use classical hand position. It only works if you play neck high in the air - _which nobody but classical guitar players do._ Drop the neck to typical electric position and classical hand positioning goes out the window for most of us. There's a reason that virtually nobody (famous or otherwise) ever plays electric guitar with 'perfect' classical form - it ain't natural down south, it hurts and most of all, _it ain't necessary_ to be damn good and fast as you want. And you CAN make the guitar conform - low action, lowered tunings, lowered gauges etc. I make my guitars as easy to play as possible.
Ffs I've sucked for 40 yrs! Still done over a thousand gigs but I've always found it really hard work and always broke strings. It's only very recently I've started to relax and play properly. Thanks to vids like these and great advice like this! Thank you. Loving your lessons 😁
Jesus christ, the exercise at 10:28 is incredible. SO SIMPLE, yet SO USEFUL. I've been struggling to get past 190 BPM while playing sixteenth notes without getting stuck for MONTHS. I've seen a lot of these videos, and while they were really helpful, nothing helped me as much as that one exercise you mentioned. I'm beyond grateful for this amazing video, man. All the best.
Very new to guitar, but my swim coach would always say, "only perfect practice makes perfect." I like the concept of micro relaxation. After 20 min it's already feeling better. Thanks!
I bought my first guitar two days and I was already getting super frustrated with how difficult it was to fret with my hands. I just could not figure out how to place my hand on the neck to be able to fret and play cords, and every video I've watched has told me the only way to hold my hand so is to spread my fingers apart and have my knuckles parallel, rather than rotate my forearm. This makes things so much easier for me and its so nice to hear that I don't actually have to do that if it makes it a lot harder, especially as someone who is trying to teach themself and stick with this without getting so frustrated I give up. Thank you so much for this video!!❤
Excellent overview of the issue. Extremely valuable. Nice to relate to someone who's had similar issues in the past. Thanks for posting! It's certainly a gnarly issue and there are many factors. A few thoughts: 1) String tension seems to be a big factor. I find that lower tension increases the likelihood of failure. This is affected by string gauge and the scale length of the guitar. Shorter scale like Les Paul or even shorter scale guitars are worse. 2) Which strings you play is a factor. The lower wound strings may stick less often than higher strings 3) How far from the bridge you pick is a big factor. Closer to the bridge tends to stick far less often for me. But of course, this can adversely affect the sound. 4) The design of the tip of the pick is key. Try rotating the pick 120-degrees and picking with the rounded, top part. I find that I can pick like crazy and it never ever gets stuck. On the downside, the attack of the notes suffers and the action isn't as precise. Perhaps a compromise. Choose a pick with a less pointy point. 5) The thickness of the pick is a factor, as mentioned. Relatively thin picks (ie EVH) recover from sticking so it eventually pulls away and doesn't totally fail or break a string. But...the hardness of the pick material is also a factor. I mean how plastic/elastic the material is and the durometer rating. This is never spec'd by pick makers. Some picks historically have been made with metal, glass and all sorts of hard (and sticky!) materials. I find softer is more forgiving. Not sure how bluegrass pickers use metal finger picks so successfully. I struggled and gave up years ago as the picks kept catching and flying off my fingers ballistically.
Bro !!! I solved my problem of getting stuck on the strings... I been trying for a year to figure it out... my picking slanting, picking leaning, and doing 30-45 degree angle on pick... and I’d still get stuck.... come to find out it was my arm angle !!!😂 right away it fixed it when I made my wrist straight with arm for a neutral position .... thank you so much!!!! I also noticed my forearm would get fatigued on the side like 6 inches above wrist because my range of motion with my up picking was very limited, so when I would gallop or play metal I was doing a lo of chugging
I can't believe I've been struggling for over two years with this. I tried to do things the "right way" and assumed I wasn't built for guitar. Seriously, I've given up numerous times because of this. Thank you.
I always felt this way as a beginner. But due to me having small fingers, playing with this angled approach was not possible for many practical application as I couldn't reach the lower strings. So, I had to go with the classical way of fretting the notes.
Classical guys have left hand technique working for them just fine for over 200 years. The "one finger rule" for classical guys you mention is horse crap. The real rule of thumb is to make the fingerings easiest and as natural as possible without stupid ridiculous stretches.
