By Chad Crawford, PMI Guitar Instructor<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don’t sweat the small stuff! So goes the old saying, and within its sphere this is a sage piece of advice. When playing guitar the ability to cruise past mistakes without getting derailed is critical.\u00a0 However, we need to keep in mind that playing guitar and practicing guitar are very different things. When practicing guitar we very much need to sweat the small stuff. Practice does not make perfect unless it is perfect practice! Repetition of slop guarantees playing slop. So when practicing we need to perform every detail of our technique as perfectly as possible. Of course “perfection” by its nature is not a realistic goal. The point is that we need to be continually striving to improve on the details of how we interact with the guitar. If we make “perfection” the target of our technique endeavors then our actual results will be far superior to those resulting from a vague goal like “doing the best I can”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While doing our best is not a bad ideal, in practical application\nthis kind of ambiguously defined goal leaves us a lot of room for actually not\ndoing our best. If we measure doing our best solely by subjective criteria such\nas \u201cthis felt difficult so I must have been doing my best,\u201d that is a\nwell-intended but flawed yardstick by which to determine what is our best. Our\nbest practice will result when we apply focused attention to the smallest\ndetails of our technique, measuring by objective criteria rather than by our\nperceptions of difficulty or success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is important to understand that people do not\ndeliberately set out to practice in ways that are less than productive. Rather,\nfocused concentration for extended periods is not our default mode of thinking,\nsuch that errors creep in just under our notice despite our general intent to\n“do our best”. So it is important to make a conscious effort to pay\nattention to the details! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let us then look at some specific details of common\ntechnique flaws among students of guitar. Keep in mind, the goal of this\ndiscussion is constructive feedback toward the end of identifying problems and\ncorrecting them. Merely adopting the ideal that it is good to pay attention to\ndetail will make no difference in your progress. You have to actually make the\nconscious effort to implement! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1 – Harsh Chord\nChanges:<\/strong> chord changes is one of toughest challenges for beginning guitar\nplayers. Just getting the fingers to work separately from one another at all is\na full agenda. Once you get past this then the next step is to work on changing\nchords while keeping a rhythm pattern going. This is where the problem with\nattention to detail begins to show. Specifically, releasing tension on the last\nbeat of the current chord in anticipation of the finger shifting for the next\nchord, such that the pick stroke yields a buzzy thud instead of a clear\nharmonious ringing. Most do not realize they are doing this until I point it\nout. Why? Because they have already shifted their focus off of the details of\nthe current chord and onto the chord that is yet to happen. This is a perfect\nexample of how lack of attention to detail results in undesirable results. If\nyou want your chord rhythms to flow nicely so that they sound smooth then pay\nclose attention to the last pick stroke of each chord and make sure you are\nretaining the fingering of the current chord until it is time to change. If\nthis means you have to slow down to execute the chord change properly then do\nit. Speed up gradually as your muscle memory of the finger positioning allows\nit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 – Choppy Scales:<\/strong>\nfor scales to sound their best we need to play them with no time lapse between\nnotes. This requires consistent finger pressure on each note until the precise\nmoment of the change to the next note, and then a coordinated execution between\nthe fret hand finger and the pick stroke as we shift to the new note. One\ncommon problem I observe is releasing pressure on the current note just as soon\nas the note is made. The cause is the same as the chord changing issue …\npreoccupation with the note ahead to the detriment of the one currently\nringing. It is critical to pay attention to keeping the current note\n“live” while maneuvering both hands to set up the next note. Another\ncommon problem is lack of precise coordination between the two hands such that the\npick strikes the string either before or after the placement of the fret hand\nfinger on the upcoming note. Again, both\nof these issues respond well to slowing down and paying attention to the\ndetails of your fingering and two hand synchronization, such that you execute\nnotes well. Then after sufficient repetition to enforce the habits of hand,\nspeed up gradually as your mastery allows while continuing to pay attention to\nthese details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 3 – Bends and\nVibrato:<\/strong> bending along with its cousin vibrato are the most powerful,\nexpressive techniques we have as guitarists – when they are executed well. They\nare also among the most difficult things to master since they are entirely\nunder your control, unlike simply fingering a single note or chord where you have\nthe frets to help you with pitch accuracy. The common problems I see with\nbending and vibrato are picking the string after the bend has started, bending\nup to an out of tune pitch, and then releasing the bend to a pitch other than\nthe original unbent note. Again, these all respond well to slowing down and\npaying attention to the start, peak, and trough of the bend, then repeating\nuntil accurate bends become a habit while continuing to monitor the accuracy of\npeaks and troughs. Then speed up as improvements in muscle memory permit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 – Pick Hold &\nOrientation for Single Notes:<\/strong> the pick should be located between the pad of\nthe thumb and the side of the forefinger, and the wrist should be relaxed such\nthat the pick makes roughly a 30-45 degree angle to the strings. Then play with\nthe base of the hand parallel to the strings, with a sharp but relaxed bump of\nthe wrist to make the pick stroke. While this is physiologically the easiest,\nmost comfortable way to hold and maneuver the pick, we tend to bring a lot of hangover from our handwriting habits into\npicking<\/em>. This results in all manner of difficulties, such as bringing the\nmiddle finger into the pick hold, trying to pick from the far side of the hand\n(as with writing), and all manner of wasteful sweeping and swooshing motions\nwhere the job requires only a straightforward 1\/4 inch arc of the pick. These\nhandwriting habits are hard to break, but it is possible, and essential for\nfast and accurate picking. While practicing scales, pay attention to these\ndetails and force your pick hand to comply until it becomes a habit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 – Pick Hold &\nOrientation for Strumming:<\/strong> the pick hold is the same as for single notes.\nHowever, the pick stroke for strumming should come from the elbow, with the\npick making a straight line across the strings. For the best tone we need light\ncontact with the strings and a fast moving pick coming from a controlled flick\nof the wrist. Common problems with strumming are locking the wrist and then\nplowing harshly through the strings, trying to make an arc from the wrist\nrather then the elbow, and playing an arch or angle rather than a straight line\nparallel to the strings. Pay attention to these details for a smooth, chimey,\nshimmering tone from the strings while strumming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 6 – Excess Tension: <\/strong>this\nis a universal problem among beginner and even intermediate level guitarists.\nPlaying with too much muscular power results in pressing fretted notes too\nhard, often bending them out of tune. A heavy handed pick attack results in\nnotes and chords that sound harsh. Excessive muscular tension is an automatic\nnervous system response to physical challenge arising from our instinctive\n“fight or flight” mechanism. While this response is very useful when\nwe encounter a bear in the woods, it is a disaster to our guitar technique.\nPlaying guitar is a dance, not a fight. We must play with finesse, not power,\nif we want our guitars to yield up pleasing sounds in response to our\nmanipulation. All of the problems above are at least partially a result of\nplaying with excessive muscular tension. You can counter the fight or flight\nresponse with deliberate focused attention on the state of muscular tension in\nyour hands, arms, and shoulders while practicing scales and chord rhythms. Make\nit a habit to play with as little muscular exertion as possible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, be sure to practice as often as possible! Learning\nguitar is all about memory in terms of both mental recall and physical muscle\ncontrol. Every day that you do not practice you lose a bit of recall and muscle\nmemory. That is just the way the human machine functions and there is not much\nwe can do about it. Therefore, it is best to practice every day. This is not\nfeasible for many hobbyists. In this case, make it a point to practice more\ndays than not \u2026 at least five days a week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pay attention to the details to ensure that your practice routine is leading to progress rather than frustration! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Copyright \u00a9 2005 Palmetto Music Institute. All Rights Reserved. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our best practice will result when we apply focused attention to the smallest details of our technique, measuring by objective criteria rather than by our perceptions of difficulty or success. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,36,47,67,22],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chad-crawford","tag-greenville-guitar-lessons","tag-guitar-technique","tag-learning-guitar","tag-palmetto-music-institue"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360\/revisions\/361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}