1. Putting Up With The Wife's Nagging 2. Putting It Down

[skinnybloke]

Timing, Timing, Timing, Timing, Timing, Timing, Timing, Timing, Timing, Timing.................

[joe_strummer]

I find at times my fingers have a mind of there own when it comes to certain fingerpicking pieces with some chords, brain knows what im wanting to play but fingers decide to go the wrong way lol, guess it will come with practise

[mochachoc]

Originally Posted by lemonwolf2

Hey PickNGrin
I wouldn't worry too much about the body movements (unless they interfere with your playing). You've got to let the music move you - right? I've seen some pretty spastic movements from guitar players but if the performer is being natural then it doesn't seem to detract from the performance. The only habit that I DO find distracting is the "mouth hanging open and the eyes staring off into space somewhere". Kind of like a lobotomy patient. I've never seen a professional do this - only beginners and intermediates. I do it myself sometimes but usually catch myself before I start looking like a complete zombie.
Anybody else have any pet peeves as to what constitutes "goofy looking" guitar playing habits?

thats so funny i know exactly what u mean. I may be wrong but i'm sure i've seen a few clips of Jimi Hendrix doing the lobotomy move. I didn't find it goofy quite the reverse.

[skinnybloke]

Images of Joe Cocker playing guitar.....................................Nah, I'm not going there.

[Hilch]

can I say all the above ?

I struggle with it all

[mcollett]

Kirk, come on man you have 7 pages! What's the answer?
I still think everythings tough but it's getting more. . . familiar.
Mike

[tcliff]

Can I choose "All of the Above"?

[Chaotic Kittie]

Now I've actually found that it varies. Some times I find keeping time very easy, some times it's strumming, sometimes it's something else... I'm not sure WHY this is, but I'll try to find out.

[eddiez152]

I believe one of the hardest things in playing is just plain letting go of the string when you want to make chord changes quickly.

eddiez152

[eddiez152]

Perhaps one more---using the pinky finger

[Chaotic Kittie]

Originally Posted by eddiez152

Perhaps one more---using the pinky finger

This one is a pain, and a reason why a lot of new players skip training with it...
I did this, and my pinky ended up with much less strength than the other fingers, and it still hasn't really caught up. Don't overlook the pinky! It may not be the most important finger when soloing etc, but it clearly makes some things a lot easier.

[Sakewaste]

the hardest thing for me when i played the guitar was the lack of motivation in the beginning. i just quite didnt know if i truely wanted to play guitar. I mean i started out after i heard Nirvana play " Where did you sleep last night" on their unplugged cd. i mean if you're motivated you can pretty much breeze through everything in a guitar. From getting your fingers to obey to playing melodies.

Plus the more you're motivated the more you play and the more you practice and play the more exprience you get out of it.

"I LOVE MY GUITAR"
^ random

[doug russell]

For me it's got be the getting the timeing right, it's always been a big effort to get right.

[Stratrat]

For me it's playing single note melody lines/leads. However, part and parcel of that is "knowing how music works"....knowing where the notes are on the fretboard, knowing which notes to play over the chords in the song, etc. I played guitar as a teenager and did the typical "garage band" thing as a rhythm guitarist, but knew absolutely NOTHING about musical theory, scales or modes and couldn't play a lead to save my life.....I was just the guy who could stand back in the shadows and bang out the rhythm part of "Free Bird" or "Stranglehold" or whatever while my buddies took turns playing leads to it. Now that I've re-discovered guitar playing and decided to stick with it I've started studying up on theory, and it makes my head spin to look at pentatonic scales, phrygian/lydian/dorian/mixolydian modes and all that stuff.

I can play to a metronome or tap my foot while playing; pick up some semblance of a strumming pattern from listening to a song; play a chord progression at least halfway cleanly and decently; but if you were to ask me to play a lead/improvisational melody over a simple three-chord progression, I'd instantly go from "hero to zero"...it's by FAR my weakest point as a guitarist, and frustrates me to no end. A close (and closely related) second biggest weakness would be picking skills.