Quote:
Originally Posted by Howard Klepper
Uh-oh. I think any method that encourages a beginner to see how fast he can play and to quantify speed while ignoring accuracy is a bad idea. Forget speed, stop measuring your speed. What matters now is fretting the chords cleanly; take however long that takes. When you try for speed and "don't have to be perfect" you are practicing playing sloppy and developing bad fretting habits that will have to be unlearned and relearned later on.
If you are not already fretting the open G with your middle, ring, and pinky, this would be a good time to start. It will be hard at first, but will speed your changes later. You need that fingering to change to a G7 chord anyway.
|
I'm so glad someone of your stature in the guitar domain made this point regarding speed. I was tempted to do so myself.
I don't have the guitar chops to speak with any authority, but I know that a brass player who learned speed and not precision will spoil the sound of an entire section. No matter how cleanly the other eight trumpeters play they can't make up for one who plays sloppily.
As a soloist a player who values speed over precision will always sound rushed, even to an audience that doesn't quite know what's going on.
P.S. Playing the song "It's Hard Ain't it Hard" in the key of G is a great way to imprint the G, G7, C progression using the fingering you suggest.