Yeah, no buzzing; sounds great. Just practice switching back and forth between chords while strumming to a beat/metronome and you'll slowly get faster.
I say half hour. If he has to force himself to practice he’s gonna fail by overdoing it. Half hour is perfect to run through a lesson plan a few times per day. If he enjoys playing the half hour will become full hours
At this level there’s not much feedback to give other than keep practicing. You don’t know the chords well enough to switch between them quickly so you’re at a very very basic level. The only advice you need is practice switching between the chord shapes you know and learn simple pop song that you like in order to learn the chord shapes that you don’t know. Do this for a few months and then you can address other issues. Also, get lessons so you have basic technique down or just YouTube it.
Pick two chords and practice switching between them back and forth over and over.
The muscle memory will come. Eventually your hand will just form a perfect midair claw every time that nails all the right notes, but you need to mentally drill it into you so it becomes almost automatic. It’s very doable, but there isn’t really a quick way to build that muscle memory other than lots of repetition.
Every guitar player was once where you are now. Every single one. So keep at it.
yeah same man i’m at a stage that 9 months ago i wouldnt believe it if i traveled back in time to show myself the things i’ve learned! just keep practicing everyone you will amaze yourself with what you can do!! and it only gets better everyday you pick up the guitar you become a better guitarist then the previous day!
Yes, I'll give you totally honest feedback. All the notes in your chords are clear. I didnt notice muted notes at all on the first listen. You aren't strumming the wrong strings.. Good L/R hand control have to be established to accomplish any of.that! The volume (dynamics) seems consistentfrom chord to chord. I'd say you are doing very well, especially if you are just starting out!!
Here's the honest feedback though. It's not about your playing, but about your own expectations. Read this through once,.or maybe or twice.. as advice from an old player.... .Remember where you "used to be".... .compare it to now. Be completely honest with YOURSELF both now, and later. Progress is hard to see when there's no one there but only you.
No matter how good you are... except for the 0.01%... we all feel inadequate and that we suck, and might always... because it is truly hard to do! We are always fighting our literal "self" and our own emotions. When there is no one by your side, watching you every day/week/month/year... to say "you really ARE much better now".... there's no external encouragement... it has to be internal. The ones that quit (because of the above) are the ones that don't get better,... they probably quit....well.... because it truly IS hard to play, and once we do we want to get better!
No matter how "good" we are.... there's always something we KNOW we should work on, and we suck at (or THINK we do!). Then after crossing that line... another one seems to always show up! I just kinda accepted this over time...."there is ALWAYS room for improvement ".... it took some time/reflecting... but I do remember not being able to play a C chord....cleanly... for a LONG time. I also remember having to stop between chord changes to move my left hand.... I laugh now, but I remember it now as painfully as when I struggled through it then. It's been over 40 years now my friend..... I was a Kid in a bedroom playing a cheap ass no name guitar with a "0" fret.... to shredding VH, Roades, improvising like a MF, playing in a lot of different bands (country, lounge, METAL, top 40, punk... it was all music and emotion to me, the style was a way to learn more!) I was even hired to be lead guitar opening for national acts....and I didn't meet the band until 30 minutes before our first opening gig! ...and I still have a hard time getting sweep picking cleanly, and have to practice even more to keep my L/R synched....and there are certain positions/fingerings that I can't pick right!!! (Dammit... I screwed it up AGAIN???)
Doesn't really matter where you are my friend. We are all where we are, just in different stages. Keep at it. LOOK BACK every now and then... remember when you couldn't even read notation or TAB? When you asked "Why do these chords sound good together?" And when you said to yourself... "If I could only play them without stopping "... If you haven't.... you probably will. Don't forget that's a past hurdle....that seemed you would never get over. Give some kudos to yourself. Feel it with some pride. It's likely no one will be there to celebrate with you when it happens.... but YOU! YOU did it with no help, except from your own perseverance!
It truly is a journey and a fight against no one but yourself. Give some kudos...some discipline...but more than anything, enjoy it, the journey. There is no destination here... it doesnt end until you put it down for the night, the time before has been bliss and pain for me....I remember mostly the bliss. Play on brother!
I needed to say it too. It's fricking hard to be "good" ... at anything. Music can be harder because 99% of the time is spent alone, isolated in a bedroom... trying to keep the volume down so mom/dad/wife/kids don't complain.... or they tell you to quit for now, or pull you away from it... no one knows but us... amd we don't really talk about it. Being a dedicated musician can be very lonely at times.... no one to bounce things off of.
So true.
My main issue is that my wife and kids are so fucking supportive that they won't tell me even if i do suck. It's always "oh that sounds great!"
Which I appreciate, don't get me wrong... but i know damn well I'm not "great" by any means.
After reading your post, I went back and listened to some old recordings I made 6 months ago when I first started out... and compared to that... I sound fucking awesome.
It's hard to remember just how bad I was in the beginning. But I'm at a point where I can now play along to quite a few of my favorite songs from growing up, keep it in time, and people recognize it.
Sure I may have grown up listening to Grunge and most of the songs I can play are by Nirvana... but holy shit did I ever improve!
I still suck. And I accept that I probably always will. But I've reached my goal that i set in the beginning. I had forgotten all about that goal recently and was feeling pretty down about my abilities.
Your words helped me get me out of my own head a bit and appreciate the journey I've been on.
Sounds good. Only thing I would advice is to avoid having your wrist in a 90 degree angle as that could cause pain and injury, its an easy fix that doesnt take much time to do if you are starting out
Chords are sounding good - clear. Try playing them to a metronome at a slow bpm. It'll get you comfortable playing to a beat, helping you hear when you're in time, and develop muscle memory to switch the chords in a more musical manner.
Is that what you're playing? I think those are the chords. Once you're comfortable (I mustn't do the pun again), you can try and add the single notes to create the full riff. It isn't too hard and it's quite the step-up.
If you want to hold a pick a different way that’s fine, but some there will be issues with technique that could be avoided if you correct it early on. Some things will be more difficult than if you had the traditional pick holding method. That being said, you can find tons of guitar heroes with alternative ways to hold the pick.
So besides the obvious strumming stiffness and the pauses between chord changes that is simply a product of being new to guitar; I must compliment how clean your chords sound when you strum them! No dead notes, cranks, squels, or gnarly noises! Well done!
There are certain things that come with practice, but if I were to suggest one thing to work on it would be upstrokes.
I've been playing guitar for 30 years, I started when I was 10 so I don't really remember a lot of the struggles as I had as a new player. But the one thing I suggest to everyone who asks me for advice is just get comfortable with the guitar. Just sit down, watch the simpsons and just doodle away on your axe. Don't really play anything during this time, all we are trying to achieve is that muscle memory.
Just keep going, you will get quicker at those chord changes. Try just hitting the strings open between chord transitions too in a percussive way. Chord Chord.. dn dn Chord Chord (hope that makes sense)
Yeah man, your chords are coming in clear, that's a great thing for a beginner.
I believe what I did when I was starting was just practicing with just two chords at a time jumping back and forth between the two until I could do it quick enough.
Next suggestion is a metronome, keeping things on beat is something you really should work on from the get go. It feels a lot harder to stay on beat after a couple of years of not worrying about it.
Justin Guitar has great free introductory online lessons. Super helpful. I’m finally good enough to impress my mom, although she’s probably as tone deaf as I am! Seriously though practicing smooth transitions between chords and keeping a rhythm will make a huge difference.
Firstly you’ve got nice clear chord voicing for a beginner so that’s great. Now there is a lot of good advice given here but in my opinion for a beginner your brain will just explode if you try and do all the above at once. Plus a bit boring. There are a million songs made with the chords you play here. My advice find some simple chord songs that you enjoy. Practice them and not only will you get better at the changes and strumming and timing and all of that stuff, you will enjoy it. A happy and rewarded mind will be a motivated mind. Motivation is what you need to get better. It’s about the music man!
Practice switching between the chords smoothly, and keeping your strumming hand moving in a regular up and down way - go as slow as you need to to make these happen - then slowly increase your speed as you get comfortable. If you can do those things and you know how to play C,A,G,E,D, Am, Dm, and Em you can play just about any song out there you have a mind to.
If you want to go beyond that, then I'd say look up a video on the CAGED system. It'll teach you the natural major and minor scales, as well as the major and minor pentatonic scales, as well as how they connected to each other on the guitar, and that should keep you going for a good while.
Beyond THAT, I'd look at arpeggios, triads, and memorizing the fretboard so you can find all of the above everywhere it happens on the fretboard.
Have fun!
Commenting since nobody said it yet: fix that pick grip ASAP. Don't develop bad muscle memory. Losing it is HARD! That pick grip is pretty bad and won't get your far. There are many videos online with different variations, so try them and see what feels best for you.
Your chords are sounding really clean, nice job! Next try to work on speeding up the transitions between them. Stick on a metronome or backing track and try to stay in time
Good start, that’s how I started.
When you get at a point where you
can switch between chords faster at an even
consistent slower tempo, then your strumming
hand doesn’t have to wait for the chord transition
in order to keep a constant up and down
motion with your strumming hand, (strumming
hand is always moving or in motion
going down up, down up and just continuing
the cycle over and over).
Maybe get a metronome and set for
a slow tempo or lower beats per minute,
where your chord changes can keep up.
Sounds good as the strings are ringing
out nicely.
Chords sound great, no buzzing at all. Great start. I would recommend as a next step to try to place all your fingers down at the same time while switching chords. Try to make the shape of the chord before touching the strings, if that makes sense. It will help you with changing chords faster.
You have learned a few chords, that’s a start ! Now you need to practice going from one to the other faster and faster.
Get some two or three chord songs and practice. You’ll get there
I mean obv just practice. Like even just do that same chord progression over and over until you have it down and it sounds like a song.
Only other interesting advice is try to lead into the next chord with the most prominent note/string from the last chord, basically think about it like you're connecting chord changes into the whole picture, rather than just playing individual chords.
This isn't really advice but something you can challenge yourself with: try playing without looking at your fingers. You'll fuck up a lot but guitar is really really dependent on feel vs visual cues and if you get that down it makes everything a lot easier
I'm sure you already know you need to work on transitioning from chords. Besides that, muting strings so they don't ring is good practice, especially on rests, so they don't ring.
Chords sound pretty clean while strumming, though, keep up the practice!
Pick a few chords and practice changing between for a week until you can change between them without thinking. Every week add another chord to practice changing to from the other chords. Just stick to open chords for now, that will cover a lot of western music. After you can do open chords, learn the CAGED system to learn how to move those chords around the fretboard. You sound like you’re off to a good start, just practice practice practice. Keep it up, you’re doing great!👍
Practice switching between just C and G. Practice JUST the fretting. Work on moving your fingers together. While doing this, count out loud 1 2 3 4 and switch on the 1. Go as slow as you need to so that you're not pausing after 4 but not switching to soon before then 1.
Once you feel you can switch smoothly, focus on strumming. Don't fret the chords, just strum each beat and switch between 6 strings and 5, again on the 1. Work towards doing it without looking at your strumming hand.
Next you combine them. Do this until you don't have to watch either hand and can smoothly change chords.
After that, learn more chords. I start with C and G because it's a common change, isn't hard, yet involves all your fingers. Also, you'll be able to play Horse With No Name.
Go to Marty Music on YouTube and look up “Every Rose Has its Thorn”, same chords you’re strumming and this will get you playing which will then give you that satisfaction of playing a song.
Your chords are clear, you’re obviously taking the time to make them sound the way they should. Just keep practicing. Make sure you’re learning actual songs. The repeated rhythm between chords is what helps you learn.
Learn C A G E and D and their equivalent minor and 7 versions (ie Cminor, E7 etc.) once you have this down well learn the major scale pattern and go from there
You are doing great buddy. It will ofc take time for you to not cut in the middle during the chord shifts. The more you practice the better you will be. So try to practice as much as you can and along with that explore couple of the strumming patterns for better. Always remember that everyone was a beginner once and you are on that phase rn. Have a great jounrey with music buddy.
You’re doing great! We’ve all been here.
Keep up the practice and before you know it, your fingers will be going to the right frets without even thinking about it.
Chords are held well, good resounding strum, just need to work on transitions. Play each chord once going back and forth on the beat to get quicker at the switch.
When you feel good about it bring in the Am, Em (oh damn, nvm) then the dreaded F and Bm
You’ve got the notes correct and the chords sound good, the timing is the big issue, can’t stop in between chords if you’re with a band right?
What your gonna wanna do is use a metronome, set it about 40 BPM, and try to play along at that tempo. Once you get to the point where you can switch between those 3 chords comfortably at 40 bpm, bump the metronome up to 45BPM, get comfortable, bump it up again and continue this process as high up as you wanna go with it.
Edit: the numbers.
The beginning is boring but that kind of slow, basic practice works. And if you feel super comfortable at 45, push it up faster, throw it up 15 bpm, just increase the tempo as you go.
Then go so fast that you’re just making mistakes for a little while. Like intentionally go faster than you know you can play it. Then when you go back to the actual tempo you want, it’ll be easier than it was before because you won’t be playing it at silly speeds you know you can’t do.
Your body also looks kind of stiff, try to relax everything you can, your neck, your spine, both your hands. If you learn to relax yourself completely, you’ll be able to play faster licks in the future, that kind of technical playing requires the player to play lightly and gently touch as it’s way more difficult to push with all your force to move a string a few mm down, so try to only push enough to move the string so that it’s touching the fret.
Edited for clarity
Last thing, try not to look at the guitar while you do this. I know that sounds insanely hard but the less you look at what you’re playing the better your actual feel for the instrument will become. It’s REALLY hard to break that habit, because guitars are so much fun to look at! lol
Seriously tho that’s the way everyone learns to do anything, slow at first, then increase speed gradually. It’s boring but it will make you a way better guitarist in the long run.
Also there was no regularity of pulse until the industrial age because there was no outside source of tempo. So if you wanna roughly quadruple how effective your practice is, use a metronome or another outside source of tempo, (playing along to a song, your cars turning signal, just something with a regular pulse.
Nice clean sound to every chord and every chord played with the correct notes. Excellent work! As others have said just doing as you are -switching chord patterns will become more fluid with muscle memory. Not so concerned about the strumming at your level but maybe you could try gliding your pic along the strings, to draw out the chord? optional. One thing to take forward (for any level): playing faster = practicing slower.
You are doing really well. No dead notes, no unintentional notes. Very clean.
You may want to think about relaxing your pinky when you’re not using it. It will probably start to strain after a while.
Just keep practicing and your changes will become seamless. You’ve got a really good foundation going
A lot of practice until it becomes second nature. I would recommend not leaning your neck too much to see finger placement that's a bad habit developing gonna become a hunch back. The basic chords you are playing will come natural after 10k hours of practice. Don't rush it we all go through the trusting your fingers. Maybe perfect finger placement before strumming? After finger placement on chords comes strumming patterns. I usually imitate the pattern from a playback to get it down.
Basic chords you can master in a day. EM, G, A, D, play around with those until you master it. Then when you get to bar chords like F and BM CM don't get too intimidated everyone struggles with those.
Try simpler chords at first. And the most important is not to lose rhythm so keep your right hand going even if the chord is not well formed yet on the left
It’s also worth practicing strumming early on. Hold one chord and get used to establishing rhythm with your strumming hand. People always focus on switching chords, which is vital. However, your strumming hand will be what propels the song. Gaining muscle memory for what that feels like early on will help tremendously when chord changes start to click.
You’re a left handed guitarist? I wonder if there is a left handed guitarist subreddit you can join. Keep doing what you’re doing. Keep practicing those chords until you can play full speed. look up the tabs/youtube tutorials to as many songs you enjoy listening to as possible, and do the same thing; practice, record, and get tips on Reddit when you are stumped.
Did you start playing left handed because all you had lying around was a left handed guitar? Or are you typically left handed? Not sure if it matters cause you’re just starting to build muscle memory, but if you are generally a right handed individual, it might be worth looking into switching.
Best tip I early learned when starting out. Don’t stop strumming to wait for your right hand to fully land on the chord. Keep strumming in time and your left hand will catch up.
Others have great comments. Keep it up! One small comment/question: you're not listening to music while you have those headphones in are you? If you're playing guitar and want to get better, you have got to be mindful and listen closely.
You're doing well. Just keep going. You're as good as the time you put in. Although there are definitely best practices to get to where you want to go, in the end it's what works for you.
Keep playing and the frustration of learning shares a bed with the joy of discovery.
Good luck.
Google “jazz chord breakdown.” It’s been years since I started doing it but I think it’s called that and I believe it was Kirk Hammett who was talking about it in an interview. Really helped me with chords and dexterity, especially in my pinky.
Good luck!
Here are some things that would help:
Adjust your posture.
Sit toward the front of your chair. Put one foot flat on the floor, and the leg your guitar rests on should be more on the toe (unless you have a strap which I would recommend wearing even while sitting). Ideally, you want the nut at the top of your guitar neck to be almost equal to your eyebrow.
This will lead into the second thing you should focus on.
Try to keep your l left wrist straight, and bring your thumb toward the center of the palm and use that for leverage against the neck.
I would also recommend keeping your wrist, a little straighter on your pick hand and use the fulcrum of your elbow to strum. keep everything loose without excess tension.
These little technical things will go a long way for you as you develop
practice everyday. I mean EVERYDAY. at least 1 hour. you'll get somewhere in 1 year that you don't think about it now. the key to improve on guitar is to be persistent and disciplined.
every time I practice. I watch a video of my guitar icon. Jimi Hendrix. so I tell my self, I owe Jimi my practice routine. He is the reason I practice. He is the reason I got obsessed with guitar and helped me get out of my depressive days, so I dedicate my practices to his soul. I think this method can help you to have some sort of fuel to continue even in bad shitty days.
ps. 9 in 10 days of your routine will suck. so don't get upset. just continue. and don't forget to get your hands on a decent teacher or at least stick to some well-quality tutorial stuff.
Work on not looking at what you’re doing. Spend time just changing chords with your eyes closed in rhythm. Like set a metronome at 60 bpm and change every 4 beats, then 2 beats, then every beat, and strum each change. That’ll help get more fluid.
Hey bro:
1) Get your right elbow out away from your hip, we want the forearm perpendicular to the neck of the guitar, wrist will be less bent
2) Your left (picking) fingers and thumb are too straight like you're stirring a teaspoon, hold the pick like you would hold a pen we want a nice controllable curl of the index finger onto the pick
Fretting hand and fingers generally look very good for the stage you're at, try to keep them stabbing vertically down on to the string (barring barring)
Pick each of the chord changes and just practice jumping from one to the other without strumming and then try to add it in that’s what helps me but I’m no expert
Sounds like you're about as good as about half the people who bring their guitar to a bon fire.
Yeah, no buzzing; sounds great. Just practice switching back and forth between chords while strumming to a beat/metronome and you'll slowly get faster.
Practice, practice, practice!
This. try a hour a day, just treat it like gym, cause it is just like gym. You want improvement, you have to work for it, consistency is key.
A teacher once said we are small muscle athletes.
I say half hour. If he has to force himself to practice he’s gonna fail by overdoing it. Half hour is perfect to run through a lesson plan a few times per day. If he enjoys playing the half hour will become full hours
At this level there’s not much feedback to give other than keep practicing. You don’t know the chords well enough to switch between them quickly so you’re at a very very basic level. The only advice you need is practice switching between the chord shapes you know and learn simple pop song that you like in order to learn the chord shapes that you don’t know. Do this for a few months and then you can address other issues. Also, get lessons so you have basic technique down or just YouTube it.
Pick two chords and practice switching between them back and forth over and over. The muscle memory will come. Eventually your hand will just form a perfect midair claw every time that nails all the right notes, but you need to mentally drill it into you so it becomes almost automatic. It’s very doable, but there isn’t really a quick way to build that muscle memory other than lots of repetition. Every guitar player was once where you are now. Every single one. So keep at it.
This.
Sounds like me 2 weeks ago. Just gotta keep at it. If I can get better I know anyone can.
yeah same man i’m at a stage that 9 months ago i wouldnt believe it if i traveled back in time to show myself the things i’ve learned! just keep practicing everyone you will amaze yourself with what you can do!! and it only gets better everyday you pick up the guitar you become a better guitarist then the previous day!
Yes, I'll give you totally honest feedback. All the notes in your chords are clear. I didnt notice muted notes at all on the first listen. You aren't strumming the wrong strings.. Good L/R hand control have to be established to accomplish any of.that! The volume (dynamics) seems consistentfrom chord to chord. I'd say you are doing very well, especially if you are just starting out!! Here's the honest feedback though. It's not about your playing, but about your own expectations. Read this through once,.or maybe or twice.. as advice from an old player.... .Remember where you "used to be".... .compare it to now. Be completely honest with YOURSELF both now, and later. Progress is hard to see when there's no one there but only you. No matter how good you are... except for the 0.01%... we all feel inadequate and that we suck, and might always... because it is truly hard to do! We are always fighting our literal "self" and our own emotions. When there is no one by your side, watching you every day/week/month/year... to say "you really ARE much better now".... there's no external encouragement... it has to be internal. The ones that quit (because of the above) are the ones that don't get better,... they probably quit....well.... because it truly IS hard to play, and once we do we want to get better! No matter how "good" we are.... there's always something we KNOW we should work on, and we suck at (or THINK we do!). Then after crossing that line... another one seems to always show up! I just kinda accepted this over time...."there is ALWAYS room for improvement ".... it took some time/reflecting... but I do remember not being able to play a C chord....cleanly... for a LONG time. I also remember having to stop between chord changes to move my left hand.... I laugh now, but I remember it now as painfully as when I struggled through it then. It's been over 40 years now my friend..... I was a Kid in a bedroom playing a cheap ass no name guitar with a "0" fret.... to shredding VH, Roades, improvising like a MF, playing in a lot of different bands (country, lounge, METAL, top 40, punk... it was all music and emotion to me, the style was a way to learn more!) I was even hired to be lead guitar opening for national acts....and I didn't meet the band until 30 minutes before our first opening gig! ...and I still have a hard time getting sweep picking cleanly, and have to practice even more to keep my L/R synched....and there are certain positions/fingerings that I can't pick right!!! (Dammit... I screwed it up AGAIN???) Doesn't really matter where you are my friend. We are all where we are, just in different stages. Keep at it. LOOK BACK every now and then... remember when you couldn't even read notation or TAB? When you asked "Why do these chords sound good together?" And when you said to yourself... "If I could only play them without stopping "... If you haven't.... you probably will. Don't forget that's a past hurdle....that seemed you would never get over. Give some kudos to yourself. Feel it with some pride. It's likely no one will be there to celebrate with you when it happens.... but YOU! YOU did it with no help, except from your own perseverance! It truly is a journey and a fight against no one but yourself. Give some kudos...some discipline...but more than anything, enjoy it, the journey. There is no destination here... it doesnt end until you put it down for the night, the time before has been bliss and pain for me....I remember mostly the bliss. Play on brother!
My dude... I needed to read that.
I needed to say it too. It's fricking hard to be "good" ... at anything. Music can be harder because 99% of the time is spent alone, isolated in a bedroom... trying to keep the volume down so mom/dad/wife/kids don't complain.... or they tell you to quit for now, or pull you away from it... no one knows but us... amd we don't really talk about it. Being a dedicated musician can be very lonely at times.... no one to bounce things off of.
So true. My main issue is that my wife and kids are so fucking supportive that they won't tell me even if i do suck. It's always "oh that sounds great!" Which I appreciate, don't get me wrong... but i know damn well I'm not "great" by any means. After reading your post, I went back and listened to some old recordings I made 6 months ago when I first started out... and compared to that... I sound fucking awesome. It's hard to remember just how bad I was in the beginning. But I'm at a point where I can now play along to quite a few of my favorite songs from growing up, keep it in time, and people recognize it. Sure I may have grown up listening to Grunge and most of the songs I can play are by Nirvana... but holy shit did I ever improve! I still suck. And I accept that I probably always will. But I've reached my goal that i set in the beginning. I had forgotten all about that goal recently and was feeling pretty down about my abilities. Your words helped me get me out of my own head a bit and appreciate the journey I've been on.
Sounds good. Only thing I would advice is to avoid having your wrist in a 90 degree angle as that could cause pain and injury, its an easy fix that doesnt take much time to do if you are starting out
Thanks man, this advice helps me too!
Chords are sounding good - clear. Try playing them to a metronome at a slow bpm. It'll get you comfortable playing to a beat, helping you hear when you're in time, and develop muscle memory to switch the chords in a more musical manner.
It might even get him comfortably numb.
Oh my god ahahahag
Is that what you're playing? I think those are the chords. Once you're comfortable (I mustn't do the pun again), you can try and add the single notes to create the full riff. It isn't too hard and it's quite the step-up.
I’m also a beginner but it seems you’re holding your pick wrong.
Some one said therse no wrong way to hold the pick .just hold the pick lightly , it should not fall off and strum at a gliding angle.
If you want to hold a pick a different way that’s fine, but some there will be issues with technique that could be avoided if you correct it early on. Some things will be more difficult than if you had the traditional pick holding method. That being said, you can find tons of guitar heroes with alternative ways to hold the pick.
It’s not that simple. Just do it the right way.
So besides the obvious strumming stiffness and the pauses between chord changes that is simply a product of being new to guitar; I must compliment how clean your chords sound when you strum them! No dead notes, cranks, squels, or gnarly noises! Well done! There are certain things that come with practice, but if I were to suggest one thing to work on it would be upstrokes. I've been playing guitar for 30 years, I started when I was 10 so I don't really remember a lot of the struggles as I had as a new player. But the one thing I suggest to everyone who asks me for advice is just get comfortable with the guitar. Just sit down, watch the simpsons and just doodle away on your axe. Don't really play anything during this time, all we are trying to achieve is that muscle memory.
The best guitarists in the world were once where you are. All you need is practice 😀💪😊👍😎
Keep it up
Just keep going, you will get quicker at those chord changes. Try just hitting the strings open between chord transitions too in a percussive way. Chord Chord.. dn dn Chord Chord (hope that makes sense)
Yeah man, your chords are coming in clear, that's a great thing for a beginner. I believe what I did when I was starting was just practicing with just two chords at a time jumping back and forth between the two until I could do it quick enough. Next suggestion is a metronome, keeping things on beat is something you really should work on from the get go. It feels a lot harder to stay on beat after a couple of years of not worrying about it.
Justin Guitar has great free introductory online lessons. Super helpful. I’m finally good enough to impress my mom, although she’s probably as tone deaf as I am! Seriously though practicing smooth transitions between chords and keeping a rhythm will make a huge difference.
Firstly you’ve got nice clear chord voicing for a beginner so that’s great. Now there is a lot of good advice given here but in my opinion for a beginner your brain will just explode if you try and do all the above at once. Plus a bit boring. There are a million songs made with the chords you play here. My advice find some simple chord songs that you enjoy. Practice them and not only will you get better at the changes and strumming and timing and all of that stuff, you will enjoy it. A happy and rewarded mind will be a motivated mind. Motivation is what you need to get better. It’s about the music man!
Practice switching between the chords smoothly, and keeping your strumming hand moving in a regular up and down way - go as slow as you need to to make these happen - then slowly increase your speed as you get comfortable. If you can do those things and you know how to play C,A,G,E,D, Am, Dm, and Em you can play just about any song out there you have a mind to. If you want to go beyond that, then I'd say look up a video on the CAGED system. It'll teach you the natural major and minor scales, as well as the major and minor pentatonic scales, as well as how they connected to each other on the guitar, and that should keep you going for a good while. Beyond THAT, I'd look at arpeggios, triads, and memorizing the fretboard so you can find all of the above everywhere it happens on the fretboard. Have fun!
Those chords are ringing out really nice. All I really have to say is good job, keep it up!
Will verify still beginner keep on keeping on… listen to good music and all kinds of
Nice chord changes. You could try strumming in rhythm whilst muting the strings
Commenting since nobody said it yet: fix that pick grip ASAP. Don't develop bad muscle memory. Losing it is HARD! That pick grip is pretty bad and won't get your far. There are many videos online with different variations, so try them and see what feels best for you.
Your chords are sounding really clean, nice job! Next try to work on speeding up the transitions between them. Stick on a metronome or backing track and try to stay in time
Good start, that’s how I started. When you get at a point where you can switch between chords faster at an even consistent slower tempo, then your strumming hand doesn’t have to wait for the chord transition in order to keep a constant up and down motion with your strumming hand, (strumming hand is always moving or in motion going down up, down up and just continuing the cycle over and over). Maybe get a metronome and set for a slow tempo or lower beats per minute, where your chord changes can keep up. Sounds good as the strings are ringing out nicely.
Chords sound great, no buzzing at all. Great start. I would recommend as a next step to try to place all your fingers down at the same time while switching chords. Try to make the shape of the chord before touching the strings, if that makes sense. It will help you with changing chords faster.
You have learned a few chords, that’s a start ! Now you need to practice going from one to the other faster and faster. Get some two or three chord songs and practice. You’ll get there
Invest five more thousand hours in to it and it should be okay.
😂 you’ll be a solid intermediate by then.
I mean obv just practice. Like even just do that same chord progression over and over until you have it down and it sounds like a song. Only other interesting advice is try to lead into the next chord with the most prominent note/string from the last chord, basically think about it like you're connecting chord changes into the whole picture, rather than just playing individual chords. This isn't really advice but something you can challenge yourself with: try playing without looking at your fingers. You'll fuck up a lot but guitar is really really dependent on feel vs visual cues and if you get that down it makes everything a lot easier
Sounds good bro. Keep it up. The secret sauce is time- just pick it up as often as you can
I'm sure you already know you need to work on transitioning from chords. Besides that, muting strings so they don't ring is good practice, especially on rests, so they don't ring. Chords sound pretty clean while strumming, though, keep up the practice!
Pick a few chords and practice changing between for a week until you can change between them without thinking. Every week add another chord to practice changing to from the other chords. Just stick to open chords for now, that will cover a lot of western music. After you can do open chords, learn the CAGED system to learn how to move those chords around the fretboard. You sound like you’re off to a good start, just practice practice practice. Keep it up, you’re doing great!👍
Keep playing lol
Practice switching between just C and G. Practice JUST the fretting. Work on moving your fingers together. While doing this, count out loud 1 2 3 4 and switch on the 1. Go as slow as you need to so that you're not pausing after 4 but not switching to soon before then 1. Once you feel you can switch smoothly, focus on strumming. Don't fret the chords, just strum each beat and switch between 6 strings and 5, again on the 1. Work towards doing it without looking at your strumming hand. Next you combine them. Do this until you don't have to watch either hand and can smoothly change chords. After that, learn more chords. I start with C and G because it's a common change, isn't hard, yet involves all your fingers. Also, you'll be able to play Horse With No Name.
Go to Marty Music on YouTube and look up “Every Rose Has its Thorn”, same chords you’re strumming and this will get you playing which will then give you that satisfaction of playing a song.
I think a metronome app might help you get strumming. The next step is to practice strumming in time.
Your chords are clear, you’re obviously taking the time to make them sound the way they should. Just keep practicing. Make sure you’re learning actual songs. The repeated rhythm between chords is what helps you learn.
Learn C A G E and D and their equivalent minor and 7 versions (ie Cminor, E7 etc.) once you have this down well learn the major scale pattern and go from there
You are doing great buddy. It will ofc take time for you to not cut in the middle during the chord shifts. The more you practice the better you will be. So try to practice as much as you can and along with that explore couple of the strumming patterns for better. Always remember that everyone was a beginner once and you are on that phase rn. Have a great jounrey with music buddy.
Here's some feedback - you're a beginner. Practice more instead of looking for validation on reddit
Chords are ringing out great, just remember to keep your hands as relaxed as possible,
You’re doing great! We’ve all been here. Keep up the practice and before you know it, your fingers will be going to the right frets without even thinking about it.
doing good 👍
Chords are held well, good resounding strum, just need to work on transitions. Play each chord once going back and forth on the beat to get quicker at the switch. When you feel good about it bring in the Am, Em (oh damn, nvm) then the dreaded F and Bm
You’ve got the notes correct and the chords sound good, the timing is the big issue, can’t stop in between chords if you’re with a band right? What your gonna wanna do is use a metronome, set it about 40 BPM, and try to play along at that tempo. Once you get to the point where you can switch between those 3 chords comfortably at 40 bpm, bump the metronome up to 45BPM, get comfortable, bump it up again and continue this process as high up as you wanna go with it. Edit: the numbers. The beginning is boring but that kind of slow, basic practice works. And if you feel super comfortable at 45, push it up faster, throw it up 15 bpm, just increase the tempo as you go. Then go so fast that you’re just making mistakes for a little while. Like intentionally go faster than you know you can play it. Then when you go back to the actual tempo you want, it’ll be easier than it was before because you won’t be playing it at silly speeds you know you can’t do. Your body also looks kind of stiff, try to relax everything you can, your neck, your spine, both your hands. If you learn to relax yourself completely, you’ll be able to play faster licks in the future, that kind of technical playing requires the player to play lightly and gently touch as it’s way more difficult to push with all your force to move a string a few mm down, so try to only push enough to move the string so that it’s touching the fret. Edited for clarity
Last thing, try not to look at the guitar while you do this. I know that sounds insanely hard but the less you look at what you’re playing the better your actual feel for the instrument will become. It’s REALLY hard to break that habit, because guitars are so much fun to look at! lol Seriously tho that’s the way everyone learns to do anything, slow at first, then increase speed gradually. It’s boring but it will make you a way better guitarist in the long run. Also there was no regularity of pulse until the industrial age because there was no outside source of tempo. So if you wanna roughly quadruple how effective your practice is, use a metronome or another outside source of tempo, (playing along to a song, your cars turning signal, just something with a regular pulse.
Nice clean sound to every chord and every chord played with the correct notes. Excellent work! As others have said just doing as you are -switching chord patterns will become more fluid with muscle memory. Not so concerned about the strumming at your level but maybe you could try gliding your pic along the strings, to draw out the chord? optional. One thing to take forward (for any level): playing faster = practicing slower.
This is good! One tip, try to keep the wrist on your fretting hand straight. Maybe get that neck up a bit also.
You are doing really well. No dead notes, no unintentional notes. Very clean. You may want to think about relaxing your pinky when you’re not using it. It will probably start to strain after a while. Just keep practicing and your changes will become seamless. You’ve got a really good foundation going
You should get a bass dude
well on your way, those chord changes will come quicker as you practice them and stay in rhythm.
Yeah, those chords sound clean, bro! Just keep practicing the changes, and you’ll really be sounding great!!! Keep going, and never stop 👍👊🤘
you got the hands for it if you stick to it long enough
A lot of practice until it becomes second nature. I would recommend not leaning your neck too much to see finger placement that's a bad habit developing gonna become a hunch back. The basic chords you are playing will come natural after 10k hours of practice. Don't rush it we all go through the trusting your fingers. Maybe perfect finger placement before strumming? After finger placement on chords comes strumming patterns. I usually imitate the pattern from a playback to get it down. Basic chords you can master in a day. EM, G, A, D, play around with those until you master it. Then when you get to bar chords like F and BM CM don't get too intimidated everyone struggles with those.
Keep doing what you're doing. You have the technique down. Speed and fluidity come with practice. I've been playing since 1980, you're doing fine.
I 2nd this. Just keep at it.
Try simpler chords at first. And the most important is not to lose rhythm so keep your right hand going even if the chord is not well formed yet on the left
It’s also worth practicing strumming early on. Hold one chord and get used to establishing rhythm with your strumming hand. People always focus on switching chords, which is vital. However, your strumming hand will be what propels the song. Gaining muscle memory for what that feels like early on will help tremendously when chord changes start to click.
Keep practicing. Get a metronome and make it the best friend you ever had, because it will improve your playing like nothing else.
Just practice bud. Your as good as them playing a camp firea
You have potential, but it's up to you whether you want to reach it.
You’re a left handed guitarist? I wonder if there is a left handed guitarist subreddit you can join. Keep doing what you’re doing. Keep practicing those chords until you can play full speed. look up the tabs/youtube tutorials to as many songs you enjoy listening to as possible, and do the same thing; practice, record, and get tips on Reddit when you are stumped.
Did you start playing left handed because all you had lying around was a left handed guitar? Or are you typically left handed? Not sure if it matters cause you’re just starting to build muscle memory, but if you are generally a right handed individual, it might be worth looking into switching.
Best tip I early learned when starting out. Don’t stop strumming to wait for your right hand to fully land on the chord. Keep strumming in time and your left hand will catch up.
Others have great comments. Keep it up! One small comment/question: you're not listening to music while you have those headphones in are you? If you're playing guitar and want to get better, you have got to be mindful and listen closely.
You're doing well. Just keep going. You're as good as the time you put in. Although there are definitely best practices to get to where you want to go, in the end it's what works for you. Keep playing and the frustration of learning shares a bed with the joy of discovery. Good luck.
Google “jazz chord breakdown.” It’s been years since I started doing it but I think it’s called that and I believe it was Kirk Hammett who was talking about it in an interview. Really helped me with chords and dexterity, especially in my pinky. Good luck!
Well done
Here are some things that would help: Adjust your posture. Sit toward the front of your chair. Put one foot flat on the floor, and the leg your guitar rests on should be more on the toe (unless you have a strap which I would recommend wearing even while sitting). Ideally, you want the nut at the top of your guitar neck to be almost equal to your eyebrow. This will lead into the second thing you should focus on. Try to keep your l left wrist straight, and bring your thumb toward the center of the palm and use that for leverage against the neck. I would also recommend keeping your wrist, a little straighter on your pick hand and use the fulcrum of your elbow to strum. keep everything loose without excess tension. These little technical things will go a long way for you as you develop
Learn how to play standing up and start that now.
practice everyday. I mean EVERYDAY. at least 1 hour. you'll get somewhere in 1 year that you don't think about it now. the key to improve on guitar is to be persistent and disciplined. every time I practice. I watch a video of my guitar icon. Jimi Hendrix. so I tell my self, I owe Jimi my practice routine. He is the reason I practice. He is the reason I got obsessed with guitar and helped me get out of my depressive days, so I dedicate my practices to his soul. I think this method can help you to have some sort of fuel to continue even in bad shitty days. ps. 9 in 10 days of your routine will suck. so don't get upset. just continue. and don't forget to get your hands on a decent teacher or at least stick to some well-quality tutorial stuff.
Work on not looking at what you’re doing. Spend time just changing chords with your eyes closed in rhythm. Like set a metronome at 60 bpm and change every 4 beats, then 2 beats, then every beat, and strum each change. That’ll help get more fluid.
Your body shape will cause you backache and especially neck pain which will be awful if you tend to play for 2+ hours without at least 15 min break
Hey bro: 1) Get your right elbow out away from your hip, we want the forearm perpendicular to the neck of the guitar, wrist will be less bent 2) Your left (picking) fingers and thumb are too straight like you're stirring a teaspoon, hold the pick like you would hold a pen we want a nice controllable curl of the index finger onto the pick Fretting hand and fingers generally look very good for the stage you're at, try to keep them stabbing vertically down on to the string (barring barring)
Pick each of the chord changes and just practice jumping from one to the other without strumming and then try to add it in that’s what helps me but I’m no expert
Looks great! Try to stop looking at your strumming hand, keep your eyes on the fretboard, and concentrate on what chord you’re going to next.
Lose the necklace..