What Are the Biggest Mistakes In Playing?

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Opa John

Don't know if this has been menioned yet or not, but I know several "guitarists" who can play HALF of a lot of songs. I don't know anybody who wants to hear HALF of a song.

Hi ops...
I find that more true for players who only play by themselves and not for others. They have little incentive than personal accomplishment to finish any song they start.

When you begin playing for others, finishing songs becomes more critical.

I tend to try to drag students to a guitar society I attend and we do some duets to get them used to playing with others, and in front of others.

[roadbiker]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

...guitar beginners can be taught the basics of playing songs, and then steered into the educational side later.

I find song-based teaching more helpful than just chord knowledge, scales, and etudes, so beginners need to have some basic songs to sing/play as well. If they sing (even poorly), it makes this stage of the process so much easier.

I always asked who are their favorite singer/players and had them bring in a song or two (we often pull up examples on YouTube) and we learn the chords. To get them to play along, I'd play the progression and let them record it on their phone, camera or other basic audio/video recorder.
Then they can use it at home as a practice tool.

+1 on this. I am in 100% agreement, My goddaughter started taking lessons last year. She had a cheap (= chinsey) guitar that was more of a toy than a real guitar, so for Christmas (2010) I bought her a Fender Guitar kit from Costco. It's not by any measure a "good" guitar, but is is far better than what she had and is play okay too. Althogh I appreciat that her teacher is teaching her discupline, to read music play "correclty," she doesn't get to play the songs she likes and gets bored pretty easily, making it more of a chore to practice than fun.

Originally Posted by ljguitar

I don't find metronomes do much but frustrate people. So I use them sparingly to get players up and running, and find that after that within a year or so, active players learn to hold tempos without a lot of outside help.

I keep time the old-fashioned way: by tapping my foot. I never liked the metronome.

Jim

[soma5]

The enthusiasm-killer: choosing an unappreciative audience. Take that how you will, but it is a killer for many.

[harmonics101]

I disagree that mindless playing while watching TV is a mistake.

Actually, I think that helps promote being able to play 'instinctively' without paying attention to chord shapes, rhythms, progressions.

That was an actual AHA moment at one point when I said to myself, well gosh darn TV IS good for something.

It helped me make playing the guitar more second hand nature than if the TV wasn't on and I was 100% focused on the guitar.

YMMV,

Harmonics101

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by harmonics101

I disagree that mindless playing while watching TV is a mistake.

Actually, I think that helps promote being able to play 'instinctively' without paying attention to chord shapes, rhythms, progressions.

That was an actual AHA moment at one point when I said to myself, well gosh darn TV IS good for something.

It helped me make playing the guitar more second hand nature than if the TV wasn't on and I was 100% focused on the guitar.

YMMV,

Harmonics101

+1 on that for me.

[Opa John]

[QUOTE=roadbiker;2893055I keep time the old-fashioned way: by tapping my foot. I never liked the metronome.Jim[/QUOTE]

Same here. Never needed one. I've got two of 'em, built in, right down there at the ends of my legs!

[roadbiker]

I find my biggest mistake is that I may be trying to learn too much at once. I really want to learn fingerstyle. I know how to play songs like Dust in the Wind, Blackbird, Never Going Back, and some other fingerstyle tunes, so I think I have a pretty good start (I hope). I also learned fingerstyle O Come All Ye Faithful for Christmas.

I prefer reading music over tabs, but over the years I learned the songs I wanted to play by ear, and only used printed music for the chords and sometimes for the melody. For the most part, if I could hear it, I could (eventually) learn and play it. But for learning fingerstyle it looks like it is important to read music (and tabs), so now I am going back to some of my old lesson books and relearning the basics about reading music. I have also bought some new lesson books (Mark Hanson) to learn more advanced fingerstyle and I'm even using an old Classical Music for Guitar lesson book to help.

I spend a lot of time excercising my fingers by learning and playing major and pentatonic scales. It get's boring after a while, but I can see real progress. I bought Guitar Aerobics, which also seems pretty good.

I also want to learn alternate tunings, but I think I may be taking on too much at the same time because alternate tunnings seem like a whole new world with different chords structures and different ways to play scales.

And on top of all of that I am on a conitunous mission to learn new songs, and I have one in mind that I want to write.

Am I taking on too much at the same time?

[bbrown]

My biggest issue right now is tempo. I always want to speed up when the tune really demands a more even tempo, or even slowing down. It's reflected, I think in most of my YouTube videos.

It's like my brain says "go faster and it will sound better". And I think it's also something about having that darn recorder and camera in front of me - it's taking forever to get used to that and to relax and play it like it's practice (which might be flawless 5 muinutes before the recorder gets turned on) and not a performance (where it seems 100% harder for some reason).

............. I'm working on it.

[DreadFred]

I spend too much time trying to perfect older material than I spend trying to learn new material...need to get out of my comfort zone.

[000-18GE]

1) Not straying outside my "comfort zone" enough.
2) Not playing enough with others.

[fender-bender]

Originally Posted by harmonics101

I disagree that mindless playing while watching TV is a mistake.

I find that in the first stage of learning a song, I hyper-focus...don't talk to me, don't look at me, don't even think about me...I'm locked in the room for a reason (usually I'm miserable).

But, as I am comfortable knowing what I'm doing and where I'm going, then I will play in front of the TV because I want the distraction. I want my brain to be focusing on something other than what I am doing (my way of anti-hyper focusing or relaxing the hyper-focus).

I find that when playing in front of others, and the resulting fumbling, is a result of the brain doing something it's not used to doing (focusing on viewers instead of the hyper-focus on the playing). so, I build that unwinding into the practice as I become comfortable with the song.

[steveyam]

By far the biggest mistake that I see people make is to play without dynamics, without light and shade. Just a boring, monotone mele of pitch, tempo, volume and pace.

I'm not a great acoustic player, but as an electric player of 40 years I play very good rhythm, and I play an eclectic mix of songs old and new, fast and slow, and I play with lots of dynamics both vocally and guitarwise and in different keys. Although I say it myself, I generally go down great, clearly not as a result of my picking prowess, but because I keep listeners entertained. They're not musicians (mostly) and they are just looking to be entertained, not left in awe at guitar virtuosity that probably goes over their heads anyway. Well certainly not at the level and venues that I - and I suspect most of us - play at.

[Irish Pennant]

Here's my big mistake. If you don't use it you lose it or never get it in the first place.

I've always played in the comfort of my front room with just a few exceptions. I've never practiced with others and so I've never had to communicate in the language of guitar. I can play a bunch of chords but I don't know their names, I can play a bunch of scales but I don't know their name or key. I'm just now beginning to learn how little I know.

[JohnnyDes]

Originally Posted by 220volt

By far the biggest mistake in my experience is repeating what you already know how to play well. It's like running in the sand. You got to learn and practice things you are uncomfortable with. Things that are unknown to you. Otherwise you can spend 40 years of "playing" and not move much.

Beat me to it. This is the key one.

And since metronomes have been mentioned, this issue is where the metronome becomes a key tool for me. When I've learned all the notes and fingerings on something and it's time to turn it into music, I'll play along with the metronome. I do this NOT to work on my time, but the metronome makes it crystal clear which are the weak spots that I need to focus on. I'm amazed at how fooled I can be otherwise.

JD

[HHP]

On metronomes, I find them useful in the early stages of working up a tune. At some point, you should be able to hear if you are off tempo or not consistent. I used to play rhythm with a bunch of mandolin players and these guys would invariably speed up as they went through a tune. By the end, they would be 30-40 beats faster than they began. On of them would say "Did we speed
up?" and then they would all turn and stare at me.