[scott58]

Next month I'll be playing for 1 year and lately I'm trying to do more and more by just feel (without looking at my fret hand). I can do quite a few chord changes "blind" but not all by any stretch. Walking through scales is no problem at all, but 1 area I particularly have trouble with is slides. Even just sliding from 3rd to 5th fret i go to the 6th almost every time unless i'm looking directly at my hand. I think maybe I'm trying to do to much to soon, but then again i think of all the other times when i couldn't get something and suddenly one day it's there. All my friends tell me i'm making great progress for being so new, just seems something as easy as a 2 fret slide (not to mention just moving chords up 2 frets) should be more of a "piece of cake". My goal in the next 6 months is to be able to play the entire Dark Side of the Moon album (Pink Floyd). i've got the last 2 tracks on it already Brain Damaged and Eclipse.(the easiest ones). The first 2 tracks (breathe and time) are much more difficult but i'm making progress. Should i just not think about it and figure it will come later? How far along were most of you at the 1 year mark? thanks

[wjp01908]

To be honest, Scott, I don`t really see it as a problem to have a look down at the fretboard as and when required - I certainly need to.

IMHO it`s only an issue when you`re singing as well and need to keep your head fairly still in relation to a mic.

That said though, it`s good to have some eye contact with an audience.

Will

[wjp01908]

PS

Sounds like you`re doing great for a years playing

Will

[redrider37]

Originally Posted by scott58

Next month I'll be playing for 1 year and lately I'm trying to do more and more by just feel (without looking at my fret hand). I can do quite a few chord changes "blind" but not all by any stretch. Walking through scales is no problem at all, but 1 area I particularly have trouble with is slides. Even just sliding from 3rd to 5th fret i go to the 6th almost every time unless i'm looking directly at my hand. I think maybe I'm trying to do to much to soon, but then again i think of all the other times when i couldn't get something and suddenly one day it's there. All my friends tell me i'm making great progress for being so new, just seems something as easy as a 2 fret slide (not to mention just moving chords up 2 frets) should be more of a "piece of cake". My goal in the next 6 months is to be able to play the entire Dark Side of the Moon album (Pink Floyd). i've got the last 2 tracks on it already Brain Damaged and Eclipse.(the easiest ones). The first 2 tracks (breathe and time) are much more difficult but i'm making progress. Should i just not think about it and figure it will come later? How far along were most of you at the 1 year mark? thanks

Hi Scott, you are doing fantastic, I have been playing 3 years and I am not up to your level, Maybe its cos I am old geezer but After just 1 year I think you are just being hard on yourself. Sorry Can't offer an musical advice.

[scott58]

Thanks guys, I'm really just fighting with my own impatience, But i've been putting about 3 hours a day into this and more on weekends (except for the month that I almost destroyed my right hand at work). There are things i'm just never going to be able to do. Due to an accident about 30 years ago i only have about 60% mobility in my left wrist and stretching 5 frets is an impossibility no amount of therapy or practice is going to correct and I have to pick and choose my music accordingly or figure out another way to get there other then stretching the span of my hand. I feel pain at a 4th fret stretch, but 5 is like driving a screwdriver through my left wrist so i'm just not going there. Speed with my left hand is another handicap. It's easier for my to do something alot more technically challenging if it's slow then it is to do something easy and fast. Glad pink floyd is one of my favorite groups. Trying to copy gilmore has refined my string bends and slides (if i'm looking) and his timing is perfect for me. Now Eddie Van Halen my actual "guitar hero" if you will is something I may have to accept i'll never be able to do. My fingers may as well fly off with some of his early stuff. I just feel like i should know the fretboard at this point with the chords I know well good enough to not have to look at what i'm doing all the time. I rarely look at my right hand anymore (must be that malaguena rumba i spent my first 30 days on lol). Just gotta keep practicing i guess and balance it a bit better with the music i actually want to play. To much practice is not always a good thing too. You gotta at least play some of the music you've been practicing for and hopefully the brick walls you hit become less and less.

edit for redrider37. If you like pink floyd, some of their stuff is surprisingly easy. It's more about remembering what comes next if you can't read music (like I can't) or don't have good tabs in front of you. Really satisfying the first time you get through it. i'm getting ready to buy one of their books that has a backing track cd with it and i hope they are good ones the backing tracks i've found on the net are either incomplete or of very sad quality.

[pitney]

sounds like you are really doing well mark
when i am learning a new song i practice it first to get the chords down in the light where i can look anytime
then once i've learned the song i practice in the dark
i do play on stage and sing when i play so this is a very necessary way for me to learn a song. I practice it standing and sitting also. (they are two very different animals)

once your muscle memory kicks in on a song you will find that you can play it without always looking down but
still it is necessary to look down at times just to be sure your reference is right

Keep jammin man i hope to hear some of your stuff on the members showcase

[mhpyle]

Frank Zappa could never not look at the fretboard. He said his technical skill wasn't that good.

[scott58]

Yeah, standing and singing at the same time is something else I can't do. Last friday I stood in for a guy who got sick at a local bar (had to take a stool with me). I do rythem ok for what those guys play, but I'm terrified in front of crowds. Glad i had a few beers in me before he got sick. I'd played there before on an acoustic for a few minutes, but this was for almost an hour. i started to get a bit more comfortable by the end but i was still pretty freaked out.

[pitney]

lol yeah
there is nothing like doin it live :-)