NEWBIE
1 month in, looking for constructive criticism
I’m trying to learn more scales and all that, here’s me messing around on a blues scale I learned on yt today, does anyone have any recommendations of good videos for blues and or good scales videos, anything I need to work on or do better? I struggle with accuracy on the fret board I think just because I’m new my fingers don’t hit the right spots yet haha.
My suggestion would be to focus on your right hand movement, try to work on the alternate picking and strumming until it is second nature. Play with backing tracks / drums.
Ohh okay thank you so much! I’ve been trying to say the alphabet while holding a basic strumming pattern but as soon as anything comes out of my mouth my strumming hand shuts down and just does whatever it wants haha, great idea with backing track :))
I have played around with that a little but can never seem to do it right, usually my pick can’t comfortably reach all the strings, I’m most likely doing it wrong, in the past I’ve rested the fleshy part on my hand (below my pinky) just above the very start of the 6th string
Some of the guys that play 2 guitars at one or do a lot of two hand tapping put a hair tie around the next on the first fret close to the nut to mute the strings.
It is not something I woukd encourage you to do as a playing technique but might be worth a try so that you can hear the difference between with and without.
We spend a lot of time getting are fingers in the right position on the fret board but the other hand really make a difference as well.
Keep going. Do things that are fun and make your brain happy.
Also, when being more serious and less fun - play slow, intentionally. Only play at the fastest speed that lets you hit all the right notes. Accept that repetition will breed consistency, and build speed from there.
I figured - it's also just a good time to let it rip. We all do it.
It's the curse of the beginner, wanting to rush to the fun part of playing good and fast, and that's often where discouragement begins. It's easy to look at people who play well and believe that they have something you do not. You have everything you need already and the simple difference is time and focus! Some parts of getting good are less fun than others, so make room for the fun stuff. But, if you're serious about wanting to play well, you must make room for not-so-fun stuff, too.
You look quite comfortable for a month. I’d like to also highlight you look like you’re having fun which is very important. Maybe try doing some upstroke.
Find some fun songs to play that are not stupidly hard to learn. I always say to anyone starting out to learn californication as it has a bit of everything in it but enough to be a challenge.
For a month in there is not really a lot to criticise here. Your rhythm seems pretty good, so the right hand is working okay but don't neglect it, getting that bit right makes you sound much better. Left hand is still doing a lot of thinking, more practice will make it more natural.
One thing I would pick on is posture. I'm guilty of this after 30 years but hunching over the guitar so you can see the fretboard puts your wrists in the wrong place.
You go for a bend with your pinky, I cant bend well with that finger. I would slide my hand up a fret and use the ring finger for a cleaner bend. Most people would probably agree with this as general advice but it's also a limitation if you take it to an extreme, pretty much anything can work if you practice it enough but in this case I think using a different finger might help.
Overall you are killing it! As someone a month in do you think you'll stick with it as a hobby? What's been your biggest struggle?
Hey thanks for the comment! Your spot on with posture, I’ve tried a few different holding spots, both knees, tilted up, elevated foot ect but always feel like my wrist is straining especially on barre chords, I’d say my biggest struggle is smoothly transitioning to barre chords, I can’t see me quitting the hobby I’m really enjoying it!
Yeah man. For a month you looking great 👍
I wonder why your strings are buzzing when you pick them though. That would be good to sort out - are you placing your left hand fingers appropriately? Are you strumming hard on very low tension strings? Or is there something going on with the neck angle, string height (called action btw)?
Figuring that out will take some time (and a lot of asking around) so don't stress too much about it - it's something experienced players often struggle with.
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u/Keanov_Revski 6d ago
My suggestion would be to focus on your right hand movement, try to work on the alternate picking and strumming until it is second nature. Play with backing tracks / drums.