What benefits will you reap from playing slowly? Surprisingly enough you might become a faster guitar player and more important, you will become a better musician and guitarist!
How is this possible?
Life is full of surprises. Many people have experienced that they somehow have run away from life by hurrying all the time. Well, what has this to do with you as a guitarist!
First of all I would like to state that from personal experience I have found that many guitarists practice scales and licks faster than they should.
What do I mean with that?
Our present technical skill as a guitar player sets a limit as to how fast we can play scales and licks without doing damage to ourselves in various ways. What can happen if you play too fast?
Here is a list of things that can happen when you practice scales and other exercices or solos too fast:
1. If you play guitar in a speed that is above your technical skill level you will probably build up tensions in the muscles controlling your finger movements and also in other muscles that should not be used. You are also exposed to muscle injuries that might take a long time to cure.
The muscle tensions that is present when you practice on your guitar will tend to be there when you perform also. The way you practice is reflected in how you perform.
2. Always playing fast on your guitar deprive you of the opportunity to find out new things all by yourself on the guitar. I remember that one of my guitar pupils once came to me and said that he experienced a “dearth of licks” in his guitar playing.
One way to develop more interesting solos is to practice slowly. This will give your fingers and brain time to take other paths on the guitar frets. This will help you find your own style and help you play in a more innovative way.
3. The risk of making mistakes on your guitar increases the faster you play. If you want to learn a lick as fast as possible, the most effective way is to practice slowly without mistakes. Every mistake you make as you practice slows down your progression as you confuse your muscle memory with things that shouldn’t be there.
How can you start to play slower?
1. Use a metronome. If you don’t have one already you can buy a cheap digital metronome. You can adjust the volume so not to disturb your friends around you. I don’t recommend that you use a metronome all the time but part of your practice time and especially when you want to play slowly and when you practice new material.
Some players feel like the metronome slows down when they play. Actually these players of course speed up unconsciously. It really is an art to keep a steady pace playing slowly.
2. Use part of your practice time to play extremely slowly with your concentration on playing as relaxed as possible in your whole body. Focus on pressing down the frets with minimal force and holding your pick with as little force as possible.
3. Learn to be aware of tensions in your entire body and especially in your hands. Be careful never to play faster on your guitar than your technical skills allows you to without building up tensions in your hands and the rest of your body. The way your body reacts when you practice is the way it will react when your perform.
In order to understand and be aware of tensions in your body I recommend that you learn muscle stretching and apply these exercises before, during and after your guitar practice sessions. Also learn muscle relaxation exercises.
The more relaxed you are as you play the better you will play on your guitar and the faster you will learn new guitar exercises. You will enjoy your guitar playing more and even your audience will feel the difference.
Peter Edvinsson
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/guitar-lesson-the-art-of-playing-slowly-175449.html
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Just started playing guitar?
So I picked up a guitar a few days ago, and to my surprise I am picking it up kind of quickly – I am able to play some songs and riffs slowly (Fall Out Boy – Sugar We’re Going Down, Nirvana – Come As You Are, and random riffs).
Though, honestly, I really can’t do much but read the numbered guitar tabs. The tabs that read the lyrics with the chord letters above the words make zero sense. I wouldn’t even be able to show you what a a certain cord looked like.
My other problem is strumming. I don’t know how you know what the strum pattern is. Can you just down strum as long as you keep the beat? I can’t up strum AT ALL. I get caught on on strings coming up and it gets all clunky.
On top of this my fingers hurt REALLY BAD. Is this normal?
Should I maybe take guitar lessons or just keep at it?
If tabs work for you, then stick with it. Search for Ultimate-Guitar tabs and some of those will outline the fingering of the chord for you. Once you get the hang of it, it’ll be a lot easier. Also, the up strum will come about after enough practice. That’s the biggest thing, practice practice practice. I’ve had so many students drop guitar after the first couple of weeks because they don’t see immediate results. Keep with it, and it will be so worth it. Feel free to hit me up if you need any more advice, or help.
References :
Hello there,
I feel your pain. Man, I used to play until my fingers blistered and bled. In time, you do develop some toughness on your fingertips.
Seems like a better way to learn would be to learn a solid understanding of the basics. Then pick out the songs you like and tackle those. What you learned studying the basics will take you a long way towards mastering most songs. I never liked the idea of learning a song I did not like just because it was easy. Sort of ran against my sense of self esteem. I know, you have to start with something and playing songs seems like a good way to learn. Actually it is a good way to practice what you are learning, but not to learn alone. If you follow me.
Take a look at this series of video lessons at Youtube. This guy has a series of 12 lessons. He is a good teacher, enjoyable to watch (even for an old guy) and he does a good job of covering the basics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxhxIV0I5T8&feature=related
After you have worked your way through some of those lessons, try tackling some of the songs you actually like and want to play. It may take a while to master them, so be patient. But by following this approach you will become a better guitarist faster than just by learning a few easy songs.
When you are ready to tackle some of songs you like, google the name of the song and the word tab. You will see who have has the tabs available online for that song. Places like 911 tabs, Ultimate Tabs, Tab Crawler and the like can provide you with a great many tabs.
Later,
References :
Ok. From what music you listen to, your gonna need a pick. Pretty cheap, about 50 cents to 2 bucks, get one. That should stop your fingers from hurting. Strum patterns are easy.
4
4
That means that there’s 4 beats in a bar. So if your strum pattern is (for example),
one two and three four,
you would strum once on one, again on two and before you strum the "three" you strum again, then strum onto four after that. You just need a metronome to strum to as well (look up on Google for one). And don’t worry, I don’t really know a lot of chords, but you can get them over the internet.
All in all, if you want to get professional help in playing guitar lessons, and want to get better quicker, then get them, because they will help you a lot.
But if you think your fine just playing your self, then do it.
But those, I think, are easy riffs. The harder riffs come in with the solos, and the faster bits to them. Your also going to learn how to palm mute, and may need to learn artificial harmonics if your going to play metal, (gives it a really nasty awesome sound). You can learn everything you need over YouTube.
Anyways, enjoy guitar. Good instrument to play.
References :
If you want to be a musician, take lessons. If you just want to be some guy who knows a few tabs, keep up what you’re doing. Personally, I believe lessons is the way to go.
It will take a month or so for your fingers to stop hurting, maybe a little less or a little more depending on how often you play.
References :
47 years professional guitarist