Hi,
I read through the article by Mike Philippov on maximising guitar practice where he was talking about tension in the shoulders giving you noi real chance of making proper progress. He also mentioned having clear objectives before sitting down to practice and not getting side tracked during a practice session. The bottom line is, he said you can get alot of practice in over 15 minutes as apposed to wasting an hour or so of sloppy practice.
Please could some of you more experienced guitarists elaborate on how best to maximise practise sessions? - because as it is now I've only been playing or attempting to.... :lol: ...for a few weeks now and I probably have fallen into bad habits without realisng it but with some input from you guys/gals here that would help me pinpoint for sure any erros I have in my newbie style... 8)
Thanks in advance..
what he's talking about is probably true. fifteen minutes of very focused practice is probably worth more than an hour of unfocused practice if what you're looking to do is to improve.
Since your new to guitar you're probably working on things like learning the chords and changing chords and knowing the major scale. To get the most of your practice sessions you should practice cleanly fretting the chords you want to learn using a metronome to strum to. Then work on slowly changing from one chord to another until you can do that.
You can click on Easy Songs here and start with Horse with No Name if you want to get started on learning songs. Then go from there.
I will get a metronome because that will certainly help. Changing chords is a problem but now I look back on the last few weeks I can play several chords and wouldn't have thought that I would have been able to do that when I first started... :shock:
There is a little confusion taking in all the info but time and practice will ease that... :wink:
I do have some group lessons albeit a small group but it's cheaper than one-on-one lessons. The hardest chord so far is the Bm (B minor) which involves four fingers and that is a real problem.... :lol: ...Is there a simple version of the Bm chord? - This won't stop me trying to play the full Bm of course...
you're probably trying to play the barre B minor chord.
The simple version of the B minor chord involves the first four strings (the thin ones.)
You fret the following: on the E string (thinnest) the second fret with your index finger, the next string (B string) the third fret with your middle finger, the next string (G string) the fourth fret with your third finger, and the D string you play open (don't fret anything.)
It will take a lot more practice (unless you're really great) to be able to play barre chords with ease.
fraz
First, welcome to GuitarNoise.
I would simply write down a schedule of what you want to learn. I am not a guitar teacher at all, but my Dad was a very successful baseball coach for many years. And he always said:
LEARN THE FUNDAMENTALS
When you've been playing for a long time you realize that guitar is really pretty simple. It really is. The most complex piece is just the sum of many simple pieces and techniques combined into one piece. It all comes down to basics.
So, set some simple goals that are attainable. If you try to learn too much too fast you are just going to get frustrated. You read posts like that on GN all the time.
I would say spend some time everyday practicing:
1)Sight reading
2)Scales
3)Chords
4) Techniques like hammer-ons/pull-offs, slides, bends, tapping.
I've always believed practice has to be fun to be most effective. I remember typing classes in High School. Whenever they introduced a new letter, they would give you sentences to type using that new letter or technique. And this is a good way to practice guitar. For instance, if you want to learn a new chord like B minor, I would learn to play a simple song that uses this chord. So now you are learning something new, but it is fun. I couldn't just sit there and play a Bm chord for half an hour.
Be patient, guitar takes awhile. Just keep playing everyday and you will get good quick. That is the biggest secret of all, just PLAY.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
I share your frustration being a bginner too. I might not be the one to help you but if I screw up someone please point it out ok. Learn the chords, E,EM,C,A,AM,G,D,DM and F before anything else (I know you want to play a song but be patient), once you learn these you can handle a lot of songs but you still aren't ready to play yet. Next, practice the transition G-D,G-C,C-D,C-F,DM-C,D-A,EM-A, EM-AM, EM-D, AM-G.
Sounds like a lot but just practice 2 or 3 chords a day and when those are sound do the same with the transitions. As you probably know you'll have full strums, only 4 and 5 string strums on some chords, practice strumming the lower 5 strings and then the lower 4. Then start looking away from your strumming hand and practice untill you can hit all three strumming exercises, this may seem minor but when you can do this you will be able to concentrate your attention to your chording fingers. I picked up the bad habit of chording, then looking back for the strumming pattern and by then the smooth transition phase was gone but then again you may be smarter than me, I hope so. When you practice by all means just practice, if you want to fool around with a simple song (I did) do it separate from your practice. Untill I learned the chords and transitions I was a lost babe in the woods, it'll come easier than you think trust me. I didn't mean to hijack the thread, that's all my beginner's wisdom in a nutshell.
