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Showing content with the highest reputation on 01/20/2020 in all areas

  1. Yes, I know that we play guitar for our own edification – of course. But, each of us have other reasons that we want to learn and play guitar - often profoundly personal and individual reasons why we want to play guitar. Often times, some of our wonderful guitar family will email me and let me know why they want to play. Here are some of the amazing reasons I've heard... To Play for My Kids or Grandkids To Pass on Music to My Family and Kids. To Play a Song for My Daughter's Wedding. After a Dad's Death, to Learn My Dad's Favorite Song and Play on His Guitar. To Play at My Local Church To Play for a Local Nursing Home or VA I’ve realized that there are a multitude of profoundly personal reasons why people want to learn to play guitar. Reasons as simple as “playing makes me feel better” to the profound “I want to play a song for my daughter’s wedding”. No matter what YOUR reason is – dive into learning whole-heartedly. Take a minute to think about WHY you want to learn – what the goal and motivation is in your heart. Once you figure your reason out, then try to form it into one sentence - your personal guitar learning mission statement. Then, write it out and tape it on your music stand or on the wall in your practice area. A simple glance will be a little motivational reminder to keep pressing on when the learning gets tough. Every little bit of motivation and focus will help you get where you want to go. If you would like, share why you play in the comments below. - Steve
    3 points
  2. Christopher, Great question. The answer is, as someone said, yes, and no. When you are just starting an unfamiliar task, new chord or finger combination, then look when you need to. You need to have the visual reference while your fingers are trying to figure out where to go. Especially if you are working on a new skill - and the fingers are still finding their way - then look as you need to. Don't feel bad about it. Look until your fingers can find their own way to the places they need to go. BUT, yes... you do want to eventually wean yourself off of this. Where you're wanting to go is a place where the fingers can go where they need to go without the constant visual reminder. It's easy to fall into an unhelpful routine of ALWAYS looking at your hands, then back at the music, then your picking hand, then the music, then the fretting hand and so on. This will eventually slow your progress down (plus give you a neck ache!) So, when you are first learning a new chord or finger pattern then look at your hands. Look as much as you need to to get your fingers familiar with their new challenges. But, once your fingers know where they need to go, then begin trying to keep your eye on the music and let your fingers find their own way. You'll find they generally will do pretty well in finding where they need to go without you having to guide them by looking. Sure... you might miss a note here and there but don't worry about that. Your fingers will find where to go. Glancing at your fretting hand is always something you will need to do from time to time, especially if there is a big jump on the neck that you need to make. But, in general, once you've worked out where your fingers need to go then try to keep your eyes on the music and let your fingers feel where they need to go. Hope this helps! - Steve
    2 points
  3. Neil, Great video. I teach this in my private lessons but I never real did it in the course. Maybe we should have a class on this for the summer conference or maybe a whole live lesson! I'll try to plan that in. Learn all you can! - Steve
    2 points
  4. I see nothing wrong with looking at your freting hand while playing. (Watch Steve K; he does it all the time) Eventually, your "muscle memory" will kick in, and you're fingers will just naturally go to the right place /shape. So, don't worry about it. N
    2 points
  5. @NeilES335 Thank you for the info. I started off playing guitar using Rocksmith (original version (2012) and updated to use the 2014 version. I also have Bandfuse as well. Bandfuse helped with learning to sight read tab to a degree. Some Chord tabs are hard to read depending on the speed of the song. So, I've been playing guitar albeit choppy for a little while now. I'm going through the L&M guitar course primarily to help better learn fundamentals and reading of sheet music. I just finished Session 2 today and am going to start on session 3. I have a Google Calendar setup for myself to help me keep track of my progress. I'm a little familiar with the Circle of Fifths already, since I've designed a CMS for my Church that allows transposing of Chords and song signature Keys. The Circle of Fifths came in handy when we had to transpose songs down for the singers. I just have some holes in areas, so I'm looking for the L&M course to help fill some of those holes. Then once I'm done with the course maybe dive deeper into a music theory course.
    1 point
  6. Yes and no. As you are learning a song you must watch your left hand to make sure the fingertips are going where they should. Once you become more confident that the chords or riff sound good , that’s the time to shift your eyes. Practice will help smooth it out. It is very difficult to ski while watching your feet, yet the movement of the feet control the path. After a few falls it becomes second nature to trust your feet to make the right moves. Playing guitar is much the same, trust your fingers.
    1 point
  7. I say no. You should not make a habit of staring at your hand. It is ok while you are learning a new form, or playing a complicated part. Look how many pros never look at their hands. You should get comfortable enough with these forms so you can play them without looking. If I hear a sour note I let it go. If I hear the same sour note twice I look to see what is going on. You can't read music, look at the fretboard, and make chord changes at the same time.
    1 point

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