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  #1  
Old 08-30-2014, 08:20 AM
djh1765 djh1765 is offline
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Default I'm frustrated.

Folks I'm 77 years old bought my first guitar in 2009. I’m self taught which may be the problem. I'm retired have plenty of time to practice and do but still have a problem making it through a complete song without making a mistake. If it’s not the left fretting hand it’s the right strumming hand.

I only play the old country music. I love to put a CD on my stereo and play along with the likes of Haggard, Jennings, Coulter, Johnny Rodriguez and Doyle Lawson. Have no trouble playing along but can't stop making those little annoying mistakes.

Dog gone it I'm frustrated.

Not looking for sympathy just suggestions on how to get better. Do I just need to keep at it? Should it improve in time?

Give me some suggestions please.

djh
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  #2  
Old 08-30-2014, 08:48 AM
aknow aknow is offline
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Originally Posted by djh1765 View Post
Folks I'm 77 years old bought my first guitar in 2009. I’m self taught which may be the problem. I'm retired have plenty of time to practice and do but still have a problem making it through a complete song without making a mistake. If it’s not the left fretting hand it’s the right strumming hand.

I only play the old country music. I love to put a CD on my stereo and play along with the likes of Haggard, Jennings, Coulter, Johnny Rodriguez and Doyle Lawson. Have no trouble playing along but can't stop making those little annoying mistakes.

Dog gone it I'm frustrated.

Not looking for sympathy just suggestions on how to get better. Do I just need to keep at it? Should it improve in time?

Give me some suggestions please.

djh
Try to learn a slower tempo song like "I Believe in You" by Don Williams.
Play it over and over for an hour until you make no mistakes. That may give you some confidence. The intricacies of teaching your hands and fingers to cooperate with the brain takes a long time. If you aren't, take a high quality B vitamin supplement w/ B-12. That can help a lot. Also, take frequent breaks and go for a walk, or walk on a treadmill, for 10 to 15 minutes. You'll immediately notice a calming of your nervous system, and improvement in coordination. Finally, get yourself a set of Chinese medicine balls, and rotate them clockwise and counterclockwise daily. These quickly improve proprioception and control of your finger muscles. Don't park your guitar under your hands when you're using them. Good luck!
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Old 08-30-2014, 08:49 AM
talister106 talister106 is offline
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I hear your frustrations and can only give you hope that practice makes perfect. There are times when learning a new song that just playing it over and over to build a memory of chords and words works for me. Playing a song fingerstyle , just one note not right is cause to play it again until that time when it is perfect. When I can play the song by heart then I can relax and enjoy. Each song has its own degree of difficulty and threw the years I have developed patience.
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Old 08-30-2014, 08:49 AM
JonHBone JonHBone is offline
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sometimes practice time isn't playing songs but practicing technique/scales/whatever.

if you're messing up because you're having trouble holding an awkward chord, or having trouble with a chord change...practice that and only that. if you've got an hour of practice time devote 15-30 minutes to "practice" what you're having trouble with and the rest to songs. repetition for me is best.

also consider sitting posture and hand position for fingerpicking or how you're holding a flatpick. there are youtube lessons on a variety of techniques here and find one that feels best for you.

if you're having trouble with tempo, playing along with a record is a great idea if you're not using a metronome.

I'm not sure how to help you exactly but these are my initial thoughts. Best of luck and keep at it.
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Old 08-30-2014, 08:50 AM
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ljguitar ljguitar is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by djh1765 View Post
Folks I'm 77 years old bought my first guitar in 2009. I’m self taught which may be the problem. I'm retired have plenty of time to practice and do but still have a problem making it through a complete song without making a mistake. If it’s not the left fretting hand it’s the right strumming hand.

I only play the old country music. I love to put a CD on my stereo and play along with the likes of Haggard, Jennings, Coulter, Johnny Rodriguez and Doyle Lawson. Have no trouble playing along but can't stop making those little annoying mistakes.

Dog gone it I'm frustrated.

Not looking for sympathy just suggestions on how to get better. Do I just need to keep at it? Should it improve in time?

Give me some suggestions please.

djh
Hi djh...

Making music is not about Not Making Mistakes. Especially not 'annoying little' mistakes. It may be about recovering from them, or playing through them.

Making music is somewhat like golf, and the goal is not a bogie free round, but recovering out of the rough. Making music is like bowling, and we are going to make some spares. Poor analogy but I hope you get the point. The goal is not perfection…the goal is music.

Sometimes what I may consider a mistake when playing, another accomplished muscian might not agree is a mistake. But my encouragement to you is to play through mistakes and don't stop the song, even if you make a mistake.

When I'm transitioning students from playing during lessons to going 'public' (we play together for our guitar society), I tell them, "Once we start the song, we are not stopping, not starting over, not apologizing. We are just playing. If you make a mistake keep going, because I'm going to. And if I make a mistake, you keep going and I'll jump back in."

If we make a mistake, and stop the music and identify it as such, and then start over, we never become musical. So I'd say it's just part of the growing experience, and we all experience it.

Now go make music! Tell some stories with it!!!






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Old 08-30-2014, 08:54 AM
Guitarfish Guitarfish is offline
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Self taught myself also, so I frustrate myself daily. A decade of doing it wrong still makes it wrong. But then I drop the capo on there, make up a new little riff and I'm ok for a day or so.
Keep playing, it will pass.
Good luck.
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Old 08-30-2014, 08:57 AM
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TBman TBman is offline
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Stop worrying about "mistakes" and just play. I doubt very much that the guys playing your favorite stuff played the song the same way twice.

And they aren't "mistakes", they are "variations", lol.
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Old 08-30-2014, 08:59 AM
JonHBone JonHBone is offline
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Originally Posted by ljguitar View Post

When I'm transitioning students from playing during lessons to going 'public' (we play together for our guitar society), I tell them, "Once we start the song, we are not stopping, not starting over, not apologizing. We are just playing. If you make a mistake keep going, because I'm going to. And if I make a mistake, you keep going and I'll jump back in."

If we make a mistake, and stop the music and identify it as such, and then start over, we never become musical. So I'd say it's just part of the growing experience, and we all experience it.
I really like this.
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Old 08-30-2014, 08:59 AM
Larry1701 Larry1701 is offline
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Good day sir...

Ive been playing for over 30 years and when im learning something new I have play it a whole bunch to get it to sound right. I turn the "mistakes" into exercises. If im slow from changing from F to G (for example), ill only play those two chords over and over until the change gets smoother. The right hand takes more exercising forsure...break the songs into smaller parts and start slow, clean and smooth will happen!
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  #10  
Old 08-30-2014, 09:01 AM
roylor4 roylor4 is offline
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First, I think it's great that you picked up the guitar and have kept at it. I too, am self taught and play regular gigs around town with my wife.

As Larry said, no performance is truly perfect. You never know how many takes or splices were actually done in the original recordings to get it to sound as clean as possible.

IMO, it's not about not making mistakes - it's making them smaller and less noticeable and playing on. I have played song perfectly during a performance - but i have never played a perfect set and never will.

Just keep at it and remember that as the player of the song we all know what we are doing right and wrong - most listeners will never even hear it when we make an error.
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  #11  
Old 08-30-2014, 09:09 AM
DESERTRAT1 DESERTRAT1 is offline
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"Guy Clark"

As far as I can tell
Mistakes are only horses in the sky
Ain't no need to ride them over
Cause we could not ride them different if we tried

I've been making mistakes on the guitar for almost 50 years. Just keep playing through them. They go away by themselves.
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Old 08-30-2014, 09:14 AM
Thunder22 Thunder22 is offline
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HOw about taking a lesson with a good teacher? Sometimes you just need someone else to point out a minor flaw that gets you over the hump, like golf
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Old 08-30-2014, 09:21 AM
Hoyt Hoyt is offline
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I listen to a lot of live music by big name performers. They make a lot of mistakes too. They just play through them. Keep playing, you'll get better.
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Old 08-30-2014, 09:26 AM
zhunter zhunter is offline
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My contrary view is learning to play clean and do it consistently is what separates the men from the boys. And guitar players, especially strummers, tend to focus on the fretting hand when, as you are finding out, the strumming hand is very important. One way to work on this is to isolate and focus. Play a single chord or, even better, mute the strings with your fretting hand or a loose capo or something and just strum. Become part of the percussion section and forget about harmony and melody. If you mute the strings, you can do this with your jam songs. Do it for a while. Maybe it will help

And BTW, yes, even the master chair guys might need a couple of takes (or even three), but the ability to stretch and still nail it first take is a valued commodity. And there is a line of guys who can pull it off waiting to take that first chair. I realize that is not what we are really discussing but I think the value system still applies. And if it is frustrating/annoying you, it probably means you want to learn to improve and not learn to ignore it.

And for most of us, mistakes will still happen. For me, that just means work on it some more.

hunter
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Old 08-30-2014, 09:26 AM
buddyhu buddyhu is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Thunder22 View Post
HOw about taking a lesson with a good teacher? Sometimes you just need someone else to point out a minor flaw that gets you over the hump, like golf
Having a teacher is great. They might have some way to approach the parts that are difficult for you and "get you over the hump". Just as important, they will make your learning more fun, more stimulating, and help you to tolerate the inevitable unevenness of progress.

All the other input you have already received is really spot on, as well.

I was playing with a friend yesterday, and I was trying some new songs, and forgetting chords because I was listening to him, and a lot of it was just keeping things going a finding places to come back in and trying to stay more focused the next time the same chords came around. It was still a lot of fun, and my wife and neighbors thought we sounded good. Go figure!
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