Girl Learning Guitar, Help Anyone?
Posted in learn guitar on 15. Jul, 2010
Keep the learn guitar questions coming! I liked this one:
Then I tried doing this new exercise this morning, you put one finger on each fret, so 5, 6, 7 & 8 on the top e sting, then move your index finger down a string, leaving the other fingers in the same position, then move the next finger down a string, then the next and so forth…
I found this exercise REALLY hard! For the first 20 minutes my brain was trying to make a specific finger move and a different finger would respond! It felt like I was in some type of rehabilitation…. after a little more practice I could get the right fingers to move but it took quite a while (about 3-4 seconds) and a lot of concentration to do so. I ended up trying this for half an hour…
what I want to know is, Obviously I have to train my brain and muscles to interact with these fine motor movements, but what do you think is the ideal practacing time frame to make the most effictent learning happen in my brain?
Do you think it will consolidate better if I do three sets of half an hour, sprad appart, or is it better to do a while hour and a half at once?
And did anybody else have this problem, feeling like a cripple when trying to move specific fingers up and down…?
Do you have any other tips?
The second thing you mentioned sounds like a chromatic exercise. These are the best way to get your fingers warmed up and moving. I’ve been playing 16 years, and I still do them. There are millions of variations. You want to start them at the top of the fretboard, and do what you do, then move down a fret, and continue. If you don’t understand it, just look on youtube.com and type in "chromatic exercise", and you should get a ton of hits to pop up.
You need to start doing chords… even just a couple basic ones to get you started…. and even if you’re just doing them for 20 minutes a day to get you going.
I find that if your fingers don’t hurt, then it’s ok to continue playing as long as you can. This builds up your dexterity. Otherwise, if you play in 30 minute increments, you’ll eventually lose stamina and start playing sloppy guitar.
We all felt like our hands were crippled, or wondered if we were born with small hands, or fingers too tiny to play the guitar efficiently.
Only tip I have, continue to learn, continue to play, continue to be inspired. After a year or two, you’ll notice that things you’re doing are second nature. When that happens, you need to be sure you’ve learn a few other things.
I can help you if u want I’m on my iPod touch right now but if u want some advice call or txt me numba Is on my profile. I’m trying not to b a creap here but if u want I can give u advice. I hope this helps.
You have a good point in learning the pentatonic scales and increasing your motor movements as you train your fingers to do things totally alien to them.
Conversely, I suggest you spend quality practice time with the other requirements of being a guitarist, and that is chords and their progressions. For many people, the morning hours are the best productive times to practice and you might practice on your scales for a set period of time and then change to chords, their progressions, and even some music theory thrown in. Changing your topics of study can refresh the brain to perform better.
Whichever is your best time of the day or night to practice then focus on as many topics as you can while having quality practice sessions that will give you a sense of accomplishment.
Frankly, I never concerned myself with pentatonic scales and such in my learning years. I focused on chords, their progressions, singing songs, and composing them in standard notation. That was because I had no instruction to go by and now I am considered an accomplished guitarist in several circles.
The point I wish to make is to keep your brain working for your benefit and expose yourself to all the nuances of guitar playing. Set a schedule if necessary where you work on certain areas and then move on to the next one. Your finger exercise is difficult for you now because your fingers aren’t accustomed to doing what you require of them. All this guitar playing is strange to them so it’s a matter of acclimation and training for them as it is for you.
Stay motivated to learn, for it will take time to reach your first plateau of expertise.
It’s great that you’re working so hard to develop your motor skills, but you may want to work on playing some simple melodies as well. You can never over-emphasize the importance of melody, and a lot of people don’t spend much time practicing just playing a melody.
The important thing about practicing is that it is done regularly. It’s sort of like working out. You get better results working out 20 minutes a day than you do working out for 3 hours twice a week. But, also like working out, a longer session can yield greater results. It takes a little time to warm up and start making real progress… aim for an hour a day at first.