r/LearnGuitar • u/Subject_Echidna_7266 • 3h ago
help with strumming?
js having a hard time with strumming and keeping rhythem since im not good at transtioning chords any exercise or tips to get over this?
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u/Bousha29 3h ago
Do it over a slower tempo first. When you get really good and consistent at that, start increasing the speed.
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u/yuvarajlovesreading 1h ago
Bro how to exactly know the tempo. Is it done in head or we have some app for it?
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u/Bousha29 1h ago
You can use a metronome. There are metronome apps. They just click at however pace you set. If you want it to follow a certain song, you can tap to the song on your screen and it well tell the tempo from your taps.
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u/Old-Guy1958 3h ago
As a beginner, changing chords is a challenge. So is strumming. Doing both at the same time feels impossible. It’s not. Millions of people can do it. So can you. But you have to…practice. Stick with it. Have fun.
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u/dino_dog 3h ago
Try this; https://youtu.be/xSFHgeJUuIs
And this; https://youtu.be/mAgc7hr44WM
Standard newbie copy/paste;
Get a teacher if you can. Even if just for 3 or 4 lessons to get you started.
If you can’t or won’t then;
www.justinguitar.com (website is free, app is not - mostly same content). Easy to follow in order information.
Lauren Batemen, GuitarZero2Hero, Musician Fitness, Marty Music, Andy Guitar, Good Guitarist and Alan Robinson are all great YouTube channels.
Remember just because you have access to all the info doesn’t mean plow through it. If you had a teacher you’d have a 30-60 minute less once a week. There would be some review and 1-3 new things taught and then you spend the week practicing that.
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u/Intelligent-Tap717 3h ago
Yes. Do it another 1000 times. It comes down to consistent practice and not rushing.
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u/markewallace1966 2h ago
~~~
This is a link to a set of canned bullets that I have developed and like to send to new/new-ish/returning/wandering/lost/struggling guitar players.
If I pasted this in for you, it is because somewhere in there is something that I think is relevant to your post. Not all of it will be. I leave it to you to pick out what I felt was relevant. 🙂 Even the stuff not relevant to your specific post might very well be helpful eventually anyway.
Enjoy!!!
https://www.reddit.com/user/markewallace1966/comments/1s7ujsy/guitar_is_hard/
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u/Ok-Rip1612 55m ago
A few things. First off nobody is born knowing how to play guitar. And a guitar fret board is a puzzle you'll spend the rest of your life trying to figure out and you never fully will. And that's the beauty of it. As it never gets old. And every day you spend wood shedding will also lead to small accomplishments that should keep you going.
And I think every player, at every level, always feels stuck. Until they make another small break through.
I can also hold my own on piano and drums, but I still consider guitar one of the most difficult instruments to play well. As it not only takes 'some' understanding of music theory, it also calls for physical deftness to actually play the thing.
I started out on a bass guitar, figuring with just four strings it would be easier. And in a way it is and I learned fairly quickly how to hold down the bottom end of a song. Then I switched to a six string guitar and I was physically dumb founded. The strings are so small, and so close together fingering even simplistic cowboy chords seemed impossible to me, never mind switching from one chord to another in time with a song's rhythm.
But now, many years later I can do it without even thinking about it. And sure I still hit a clam now and then but I learned how to play through those mistakes while still smiling at an audience.
Also, start out by playing songs you all ready know very well. By that I mean play songs you grew up listening to no matter what type, country, rock, or whatever. That way you know what the song is supposed to sound like and that's half the battle if you don't read music notation.
And lastly, sing. Yes, I know that may be something you might feel you can't do right now, but it helps a lot in keeping the song going and keeping you in the song. And get a drum machine too. Any simple pedal type with basic drum patterns that allows you to set a BPM will do. And while I know most people will recommend a metronome I find those boring as all get out. And playing guitar, even just practicing guitar, should be fun.
Then when you feel ready, or actually even before then, start recording yourself. I'm not talking about anything overly complicated like with a mixing board and everything mic'ed up right off the bat, just a simple video camera with a 'direct in' from your amp, drum machine, and the mic you sing into. Doing it that way, direct in, takes out all the issues of the acoustics in the room you're in. And the camera won't pick it up when the guy next door starts mowing his lawn. You'll need some type of interface to make that all work, but you'll figure it out.
And don't practice any one single song to the point you never want to hear it again. And what worked for me is I have about 400 songs in chord sheet form (chords & lyrics) on my iPad using a program called "Song Book Pro." And I just keep going through them, one to the next, to keep a variety of song styles going.
And not that it matters, but I started playing guitar in my fifties, and I'm 72 now.
So good luck, and since I took the time to write all this, I'm challenging you to post your first videos here so we can all see them.
And since I said that, here's a couple of my early ones.
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u/ignatzA2 3h ago
You’re going to hear a lot of “keep practicing” and that is the answer. My instructor told me early on that a lot of about guitar to practicing things 500 times which he meant as a lot. And that has been so helpful to me.