Bad habits you know you should break.

Wooly · #1 07-29-2017, 06:00 PM

Being a self taught player i likely have a few bad habits.

I think the one I really have to work on is, while sitting, i should be holding the guitar close to my body so the top is pretty much vertical. I find myself letting it slide down the top of my leg until the guitar top is at a 45 degree angle and I'm looking at the fret board. I'm sure my playing would be a lot cleaner if I got out of this habit

What else do we need to work on?

tonyo · #2 07-29-2017, 06:13 PM

Great topic. Gene Bourque's blog recently covered a few things that made me change at least one of my bad habits.

http://www.capecodacoustics.com/acou...-habit-with-me

Wooly · #3 07-29-2017, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyo

Great topic. Gene Bourque's blog recently covered a few things that made me change at least one of my bad habits.

http://www.capecodacoustics.com/acou...-habit-with-me

Good read. I'm going to bookmark that one. Thanks.

TBman · #4 07-29-2017, 07:41 PM

Wearing a strap fixed all my posture problems. I was using a foot stool, wrestling with the guitar, hunching over and tilting the fret board, doing the same as you. Then I put strap buttons in the heels of the necks of all my guitars, bought a couple of decent straps and problems went away. Now the size of the guitar doesn't matter either and playing my dreads is back like it was 40 years ago, no problem.

EllaMom · #5 07-29-2017, 09:08 PM

I just realized that just because I have figured out certain fingerings and chords and such does not mean I have truly learned a song. Songs are not simply puzzles. D'oh!!.. As Homer Simpson would say. I STILL have to learn how to play these pieces as music, not puzzles.

What does that mean? Well, smooth timing across the entire piece is the most apparent. And then there is the whole thing about playing melody notes louder than filler notes.

And so it goes..... Lots to learn.... and PRACTICE with PATIENCE! LOL

Wooly · #6 07-29-2017, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EllaMom

I just realized that just because I have figured out certain fingerings and chords and such does not mean I have truly learned a song. Songs are not simply puzzles. D'oh!!.. As Homer Simpson would say. I STILL have to learn how to play these pieces as music, not puzzles.

What does that mean? Well, smooth timing across the entire piece is the most apparent. And then there is the whole thing about playing melody notes louder than filler notes.

And so it goes..... Lots to learn.... and PRACTICE with PATIENCE! LOL

A good realization and good advise.

Ditch · #7 07-29-2017, 10:42 PM

I have a few I'd like to brake. One is getting my thumb behind the neck. The other big one is fretting on my finger tips. I have been playing 2-3 years now and I have pretty deep groves in the pads of my fingers. The bad thing is they're back to far. It's making it very hard to brake that habit.

Llewlyn · #8 07-30-2017, 07:37 AM

Coming from electric guitar, I bad basically to redo the whole posture thing, which means a lot of habits to break. Those include preventing the right pinky from being anchored to the top (I know some acoustic folks like that but I don't), learn to keep my left fingertips vertical when I fret (in the electric you often bend them down to mute the other strings), and analogs for thumb and wrists.

It helps me a lot to play in front of the mirror!

Ll.

srick · #9 07-30-2017, 07:40 AM

Playing by yourself leads to several bad habits. With me, it's a rhythm issue. Playing with a metronome or on top of a track on a regular basis is needed to keep me honest.

Wooly · #10 07-30-2017, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by srick

Playing by yourself leads to several bad habits. With me, it's a rhythm issue. Playing with a metronome or on top of a track on a regular basis is needed to keep me honest.

Metronomes do serve a purpose. I should make use of one more often than I do.

lpa53 · #11 07-30-2017, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyo

Great topic. Gene Bourque's blog recently covered a few things that made me change at least one of my bad habits.

http://www.capecodacoustics.com/acou...-habit-with-me

I'm sure I have a bunch of bad habits, but one line in Mr. Bourque's blog reminded me of an old habit I had.

"Right off the bat I try to have them deal with what can only be described as bad habits."

After playing guitar for over 40 years, several years ago I thought I'd get a few lessons to see if I could move to another level. In my first lesson the teacher asked me to pay a bit and then asked me why I kept my pinky anchored on the soundboard. I had been having pain in that finger for awhile and had been posing that question to myself. The teacher told me that it was obvious that my hand knew where it was and that, while it wasn't a terrible thing to do, it was a crutch I didn't need.

He challenged me to stop anchoring for awhile and though it was difficult at first, I finally was able to stop the habit. I discovered that, despite my concern over loss of power, I was actually able to increase my power and it also freed me up to do things I could not have done with the anchored pinky.

I only took a few more lessons but that first one opened up a whole new world for my playing.

Wooly · #12 07-30-2017, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lpa53

I discovered that, despite my concern over loss of power, I was actually able to increase my power and it also freed me up to do things I could not have done with the anchored pinky.

I only took a few more lessons but that first one opened up a whole new world for my playing.

I have done similar. I used to anchor the pinky and ring and play fingerstyle with the remaining. I don't anchor anymore and now use my ring finger almost always. (There are exceptions although).

SprintBob · #13 08-01-2017, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TBman

Wearing a strap fixed all my posture problems. I was using a foot stool, wrestling with the guitar, hunching over and tilting the fret board, doing the same as you. Then I put strap buttons in the heels of the necks of all my guitars, bought a couple of decent straps and problems went away. Now the size of the guitar doesn't matter either and playing my dreads is back like it was 40 years ago, no problem.

You might also want to consider the Neck Up or the De Oro Guitarest. AGF member Eric Skye is a big fan of the Neck Up. He demonstrates its use in his 30 Day Guitar Challenge video blog series. Check out his segment on Posture.

tonyo · #14 08-01-2017, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lpa53

I'm sure I have a bunch of bad habits, but one line in Mr. Bourque's blog reminded me of an old habit I had.

"Right off the bat I try to have them deal with what can only be described as bad habits."

After playing guitar for over 40 years, several years ago I thought I'd get a few lessons to see if I could move to another level. In my first lesson the teacher asked me to pay a bit and then asked me why I kept my pinky anchored on the soundboard. I had been having pain in that finger for awhile and had been posing that question to myself. The teacher told me that it was obvious that my hand knew where it was and that, while it wasn't a terrible thing to do, it was a crutch I didn't need.

He challenged me to stop anchoring for awhile and though it was difficult at first, I finally was able to stop the habit. I discovered that, despite my concern over loss of power, I was actually able to increase my power and it also freed me up to do things I could not have done with the anchored pinky.

I only took a few more lessons but that first one opened up a whole new world for my playing.

After being told by a guitar playing friend that I should anchor my pinky to improve my fingerstyle, I tried it for several hours and just couldn't get used to it. Attended a 'master guitar workshop' with a well known international tutor, during my one on one with him, I asked about it as I'd seen him anchor sometimes and not other times.

He said he didn't realize he still anchored, he thought he didn't (I know what I saw ;-) ) and I stopped worrying about anchoring.

Spoke to another friend about the experience and they pointed out that classical guitarists have great effect without anchoring.

My take: if you find it helps you, go for it, but it's not a mandatory. Most of my fingerstyle doesn't use the pinky, I do have a couple of patterns where I do use it.

6FM · #15 08-08-2017, 11:58 PM

Playing too much....

I have things to do and people that count on me when i am home. Some days though I just cant do what I need to do in life, I sit in my room or out back, smoke buts and play. There just isn't an option on my brain to put it down and go live life. I sit in my head, play, sing and write while life moves on without me.

I need scheduled time to play and be a more functional person.