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Hey Ian! Are you sitting on a stool, or standing when you practice? And if you are standing, are you holding your axe just below chest level, or slung low like Johnny Ramone? Correct posture will help prevent the shoulder strain. Also, muscle memory is what you are working on here. Like a repeatable swing for a golfer you want your hand and fingers to move the same way every time you play that little riff or extend it into a run. You may be rushing the speed before your hand is completely comfortable doing what it needs to do. Once you think you have a bit down, play it again slowly 10-12 times (or even slower) before you turn up the adrenaline. Let me know if that helps at all. BTW, Tommy Haskell (who was in a band called Wool way back when) taught me that about 30 years ago. I mention that as he recently passed. Good instructor. Really good player.
You can live in staunch denile and mark me as your enemy, but I'm just a voice among the throng who want a brighter destiny, and say with me, "We are the New America!" -Greg Graffin
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That for that Gator, yes I was becoming a little over zealous and going to fast before my hand was ready, so tried slowing things down more. I've also read some interesting articles on the internet about avoiding guitar tension. I was getting some pain down my side and in my shoulder and I found some other useful advice such as : not pressing to hard on the fretboard, doing warm-up exercises and ensuring that you breathe correctly to avoid tension. I was reading an article about a guy that was such a tense player that he ended up with tendonitis in his wrist and had to give up playing. That would be so crushingly depressing, considering that it's something that could be so easily avoided with a little patience and discipline. I'm finding that there's so much more to learning than just the music. I get really annoyed with all these products out there that say things like - "Learn the guitar in 2 hours," and "Become a guitar god in 2 hours." This is utter rubbish and just sends out totally the wrong message to would-be learners.
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IanC Wrote:That for that Gator, yes I was becoming a little over zealous and going to fast before my hand was ready, so tried slowing things down more. I've also read some interesting articles on the internet about avoiding guitar tension. I was getting some pain down my side and in my shoulder and I found some other useful advice such as : not pressing to hard on the fretboard, doing warm-up exercises and ensuring that you breathe correctly to avoid tension. I was reading an article about a guy that was such a tense player that he ended up with tendonitis in his wrist and had to give up playing. That would be so crushingly depressing, considering that it's something that could be so easily avoided with a little patience and discipline. I'm finding that there's so much more to learning than just the music. I get really annoyed with all these products out there that say things like - "Learn the guitar in 2 hours," and "Become a guitar god in 2 hours." This is utter rubbish and just sends out totally the wrong message to would-be learners.
Breathing is very important. If you 'bottle it up', then release it in one big go right at the time (where it naturally occurs) when you have to really make the instrument talk (the peak of a solo etc) you end up with an imbalance of air in your system, and that is where you make the mistakes. Sounds crazy but it's true.
'The purpose of life is a life of purpose' - Athena Orchard.
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Yes Jerome I understand what you mean by that. I've been spending time since your advice, putting this to the test. It's really strange but eventually, with continual discipline and practice, you end up in a place where your speed, breathing and posture all come together at one and you end up in this "zone," so to speak. I find that you also have to keep backing up to where you once were and trying again. One of my biggest issues is speeding up too much when getting confident. (Confidence almost leads to "over-confidence.) I do now feel that I've found my tempo and will perfect my songs at that speed before moving into faster gears. My son is currently writing a song that will involve him using his keyboard with me on guitar at the same time. He wants to write it in time for Christmas, so this gives us plenty of time to perfect our techniques.
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Thanks again Jerome for your advice. It has been amazing how when I relax it has all come together. The breathing, relaxing your wrist, strum pattern and the shape of your hand on this frets. It sounds a bit hippy-like but there was almost a Zen moment to it all, lol. I can now use chords to play the following songs. American Pie, Don't be Cruel, The Streets Have No Name, You're Still The One, San Francisco (Flowers in Your Hair), And I Love Her, Stay for Good, Up Around the Bend. Also working on Wish You a Merry Christmas. (My son and I want to do Keyboard and Guitar together at Christmas with the Family.) Maybe I'll feel brave enough at sometime to post a video of myself.
(I'm planning on learning Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana next). Some of these tracks sound better than others but it's definitely coming together nicely.
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19-06-2012, 03:01
(This post was last modified: 19-06-2012, 09:16 by Music Head.)
Hi,
I have been practicing the F chord and the 3 different variations demonstrated in the above video that I posted. The one where you have to use the side of your index finger to hold all the strings onto the first bar is very tough indeed. However, it's giving the side of my index finger a very good workout and toughing it up no end. I can feel the end of my finger tips hardening the more I've been practicing the songs as well.
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Yes, the F bar chord is extremely difficult one to master and your hand and wrist need a lot of strength to acheive this. I struggled with this so I started of with the mini F bar chord, which was still a bit of struggle for me as I have quite small hands, but I've just about mastered it now. I think if you're struggling with full bar chords, then look for mini versions first and work your way up over time. I'm also going to purchase a hand exerciser soon which I'll use to strengthen my wrist and tendons, something else I'd recommend too as you don't want to cause permanent damage to your wrist.
