The Guitar Exercise that Changed My Life 

I'll do one better and subscribe as well. This particular video is going to help me so much as a 3 week beginner. Can't wait to see what other knowledge you have to share!

@@TeamFRYFTW welcome! I think you’ll find a lot of stuff you can use in previous videos, too! Best, Andre

When I first moved to America in 1998, I had a basic knowledge of English (it was actually quite good for back then!). I was playing guitar in a local music shop when someone came up to me and said: “dude, you’re sick. Your playing is the shit, man.” I was shocked someone would walk up to a stranger and call them shit and sick! I mumbled something, turned it off and went home, quite depressed… when I told the guy at the store what happened, he told me what the guy actually meant!

@@andretonelli Oh man, that’s funny!

​@@andretonellihahah that's funny

​@@willbluefield5776 No. There is no human on this planet that was born with the ability to play any instrument. Until we can plug a USB T cable (USB 17.0), into a port inserted in our heads that conveys the music we hear in our brains into audible sound, all musicians have to put in hard work to get to the point where they can use their musical talent/gifts. To be able to fully express what you hear in your head takes a lifetime of practice for many. After 40 years, I can still barely scratch the surface of what I hear in my head. Have I practiced like a fiend? No I have not. Maybe if that was my only responsibility in life, I could get there. But it doesn't just require musical ability and talent. I honestly think it also requires the ability to understand how chords work and to understand music theory to a very deep degree to be able to fully unleash all that a creative person hears in their head. Which is why I think it's so uncommon.

@willbluefield5776 agreed that there are extraordinary but rare examples like Mozart. But even he required repetition to get his body to do what his brain conjured up. Having played violin, piano (just barely) and guitar, my personal opinion is that piano is by far the least difficult to mechanically operate and to gain substantial physical proficience. Also, you can't play out of tune if you wanted to, unlike stringed instruments, so its easier. There is a reason people type on a "keyboard". Its the most natural interface. This takes nothibg away from Mozart's genius. We know his name, not because of his technical ability (crazy how Mozart could play 64th notes at 200 bpm!!!!). Nobody cares about that. Its his writing ability. There is, no way, in fact, to know just how technically proficient he was other than anecdotes. But we do have fairly detailed accounts of just how many hours a day he spent writing and playing the piano/harpsichord (8 hours!). And look how much our standards have changed with RU-vid showing the world just how many impressive amazing guitarist exist. Far more than most realized. I'm stunned by some of the stuff I see/hear. But nobody is moved by that like they are by an amazing song, something that moves you deeply. THAT is what is innate. The ability to transcribe the music you hear in your head requires learning to read music, learning to play those notes on the piano in order to vet your ideas. I believe you are conflating instrumentalist and song writer. Impressive guitar playing ability heard in a music store is not about someone strumming an acoustic guitar and singing the latest song they've written, its blowing oeople away with instrumental virtuosity. I was born with musical ideas in my head. From my earliest memories, I could hum a solo with any kind if music due to that innate improv ability. An ability which I was just born with. Zero work involved. Zero practice. Trying to put those sounds in my head into audible reality requires lots of practice. It may have required less for mozart than many or most, but one does not simply walk up to an instrument they've never played and bust out a perfect scale.

😀

that's jazz! : D

@@emankayker8257 lol

Very well said.

I always get "this doesn't work and it's a waste of time" but I'm hear to say it does work, it allows you to focus more on the technique than the notes, your focus is more directed to pick and hand sync , great lesson !!!

That’s great to hear, Jeff! Andre

impressive dedication. you are off to a great start!

How about your “musicality”? If you’re “pretty much a beginner” you shouldn’t be worrying about speed to much.

@@spacejockey4746 this is but one exercise. Also it's not intended to improve musicality. It is intended to improve technique which, in turn, allows one to express their misicality. You can have all the ideas you want but if you can't play the instrument, it doesnt matter.

Amazing clear simple goals.

I’m so glad to hear that! Andre

My teacher's oldest student is 71. It's never too late. How are you coming along a month later?

just 70 (weird!) and bought a guitar....this is a good exercise I think

That’s fantastic, thank you for sharing! Andre

@@andretonelli 🤝👋

Ha! Absolutely spot on. But if you’ve got less time than you’d like, I’ve just made a video about that: The Secret to EFFECTIVE PRACTICE ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YsdrJvZ3hts.html

You mean effort over time

😁😁😁😂😂😂😂

One of the major problems with people, they can't figure out that things are going to take time, that's why people tailgate on the freeway, freak out when they have to wait in line, and want to be a guitar god without practicing.

I've spent a lot of time with the guitar in my lap i don't think I've learned anything yet

I wouldn't say always unless you are planning to always play with a click on stage, when recording, etc

Hi Ales, sometimes we’re just not ready for things, but we never know when they will click. Thanks for stopping by! Andre

How many reps or how much time would you say is good to practice with his per day?

@@RainingsandstoneHalf an hour per day as is very intense and boring at the begging.

Thanks for sharing that, Patrick! This kind of comments fill me with joy. I hope you'll find some of the other vies useful, as well. Andre

Ah! Thank you Patrick! I thought I was just a lamer for doing that.

Congratulations on starting with the guitar. It will be an awesome journey! Sounds like you have your routine figured out, too! Andre

Have you tried MMA?

@@MarceloPinto-fw5sw no, never got to big into mma stuff. It’s kinda funny though when I look back on comments from when a while ago, an seeing the things I was working on, an how much farther along I’ve come with the guitar.

Thank you Tonio for the kind words! Andre

You have played 26 years (now 27)...i am 70 and just started so at 97 maybe i will master it!

Great.

Same thing here :)))

Seriously!!

Yes, his hand actually looks like the facehugger from Alien. 😅

Fat deal

Not planning to stop posting videos. anytime soon… Though RU-vid’s mysterious choices when it comes to showing my videos or not is MADDENING! 😀 thanks for the kind words.

I don't quite understand, YT works perfectly 😂 I have posted over 1000 help/type practice what I call video tabs (chord stuff) as I thought people would me like, oh this is awesome an easy way to practice and its free. I know I can't collect a dime from it because it's all copyright stuff and I certainly wouldn't continue after this many uploads and not even 150 subscribers. Man I can hardly, get a like or a comment. Sometimes I think they are hoping I will just go away and give it up. I don't mind as I started all this as a online backup for myself, but a had shown a friend and he was like "man you have to make these public" so I did and managed to connect to a few people but I thought I'd have 1000'a by now because it's all done for you. Just click and play. I'm not schooled in music, it has all been done on my own. I never started playing until I was 40, learning the most basic stuff from J. Sandercoe. I used to post on guitar sites but rather be on my own. If you ever bored drop by and check it out. Some are better than others, I know that, but I don't claim to be the worlds best or anything. I hate typing all the lyrics, I will try to find what I think are the best until tabs and just tweak them if I can. It's not against the law, but some people who submit transcriptions my not like me say that I just regurgitate stuff. If I just did that I would be cheating myself. I do enjoy the challenge and the reward of playing along and it sounds pretty good I think. I'm not into lead playing, and I guess for the subs I have right now are happy about that or I might stop what I'm doing.

Something that I kind of had intuited, but never really considered is that because I was a guitar autodidact, if I saw a Barre chord that seemed to throw off the rhythm while I gradually positioned my fingers and then... usually get maybe 3 notes to ring out with the occasional fret buzz

Guitar Tricks is not expensive and awesome. No excuses not to learn these days.

There is much variation among teachers...

BTW, this pattern is easy to remember as it is in "dictionary order " (called in mathematics "lexicographic order", that is, all possible words with letters abcd are ordered in the dictionary, abcd abdc adbc adcb, then starting with "b" and so on. The number of patterns is (# ways to choose 1st letter) x (# ways to choose 2nd given that)x( # ways to choose 3rd given that )x( # ways to choose 4nd given that)= 4x3x2x1 = 24 as he said. This is called "4 factorial" and is written 4! Cheers!

same here - feels great, doesn't it? I'm amazed that some things you never lose. When I was nine, getting my ring finger to play the basic D chord was a real challenge. So were fretted chords. And I never lost being able to do fingerpicking patterns, even a tremelo.

I took lessons in 1972 as a 10 year old, now picking it back up at 60. I figure by 70 I'll be touring, lol. Never too late to be rock star.

@@nancymarshall1312 You go girl!!!

@@dianegordon5366 thank you Diane, appreciate it.

Hi John, thanks for sharing. It always feels great to know when these videos inspire people in a small way. Cheers! Andre

Absolutely!

When you say stop when you feel pain, does that just mean take a break for the day/ hour(s) to give your hand some rest??

​@@jessed6151 I think it means to take a break until pain disappears. It doesn't take long usually

I second the metronome. Its a priceless tool.

Drum backing tracks on RU-vid are also good

Great advice to stay on tempo thanks!

Hendrix hands. 🤙🤙

Lol, it looks like you do, but that doesn't explain talent - Jaco Pastorius had massive hands, while Segovia had stubby little fingers.

Thats right Diane, it doesn’t say anything about talent and nor proficiency. It would suck if it did! Andre

OMG I was just watching a video about UFO and this pops up, then I see this comment about alien finger lol! 'Synchronicity or coincidence?/Weird!

@@batphink2655 no coincidence here on RU-vid I’m afraid… the algorithm is always chugging away. Andre

Very welcome Nick! Andre

Thank you for sharing that! Amazing how RU-vid puts people together like that. I was born years after you even started to play, are probably thousands of miles away, and yet here we are! Glad I could help you a bit in your progress. May I suggest you check out some other of my videos, I have a lot out there that will help you with picking. Andre

Thanks for sharing that Michael!

You lost me after your 10,000th word.😂

That’s a great variation on the exercise for strength, while this one is more for dexterity. There are so many!

That’s very kind Neil, thank you very much. Andre

Please do! Andre

Same. I wonder how much of a difference it will make

We'll wait here then?

Yessir

Waiting patiently 🙏🏾

Good luck! Andre

In the same boat, I wanna rebuild my strength and technique because I already learned a lot about playing guitar and still have a lot of the muscle memory but my fingers won't cooperate

Thank you! And welcome! Andre

Thank you so much John! Andre

Thank you! And welcome to the channel! Andre

Some words of encouragement...Every guitarist has been there, and they will all tell you the same thing - it's worth it. When I first played Wish You Were Here accousitc and Shine On You Crazy Diamond electric properly for the first time (Floyd fan, abviously) I felt like a guitar god! I'm not much good, but just knocking out the odd blues riff now and then is pure therapy. Whatever or whoever inspires you, keep at it. It will improve your life in ways you least expect - musical people tend to be more 'rounded individuals' - philisophically speaking. Even the most tortured souls are exorcised through their playing! Make them fingers bleed...!!!

No explanation of tempo, precision, incremental development, common challenges, pushing past sticky points, time requirements and so on and so on. Too much missing to really be very useful. Especially for an exercise that is extremely common.

@@theoriginalheartstrummer You are obviously a competent musician but your reading skills suck! I clearly praised what I regard as a vital first step! What you mention certainly follows.

Thanks, I’m glad this helps! Andre

You are very welcome! Andre

That's great to hear Alex! Thank you, Andre

Good luck! Andre

Great suggestions Sebastian, and thank you! Andre

Yeah, I noticed this a number of years ago with a foot ruler--the kind from grade school w/ the brass edge. You can practice all sorts of single "string" licks and exercises with that. Finger combinations, hammer-ons, pull-offs, tapping, etc.

Yes that's a good suggestion B M

Not really. You are procrastinating is all cause you think it's too hard. I've been there. You will do everything and anything to avoid theory. Scales are easy. Def. start with the major scale. Learn the degrees of that scale- how they get numbers like I, IV, V. Learn the formula W, W, H, W, W, W, H step, etc. Guitar Tricks is a great website if you want lessons. Chris S. is great. Saw your vids. Looks like you can play somewhat. You sound fine. Surprised you don't know scales. Take some lessons. It will open many doors. It did for me. You are a better singer than me- that's for sure!

Thank you! Andre

I think the book pumping nylon goes over it

Very good points! I’ve also got another “variation” of this I will have to make a video about at some point…

Excellent idea. Just what I needed to hear. Thanks

Thank you! Andre