What are your bad guitar habits?

[mtdmind]

Originally Posted by Slothead56

I never, ever wipe a guitar down after i play it. Ever.

Not even under the strings?

[aeisen93]

I would say my only bad guitar habit is buying more guitars when I shouldn't be!

[bls82261]

too self conscious to play with others or even take lessons

[whvick]

Playing in my recliner with guitar resting on my Winnie the Pooh tummy[emoji847]

[The Growler]

Originally Posted by rmp

Letting work get in the way of playing...

Ha! This one right here.

[Mike McLenison]

Playing the next day after a night of drinking. A day (or two) of abstinence is needed. Motor skills and strength are usually horrible. You don't want to "memorize" bad playing.

[jaymarsch]

Mine is probably not practicing slow enough. I sometimes blast through things and have to go back and then unlearn the sloppy technique. If I had slowed down at the outset, I could skip the unlearning step.
Best,
Jayne

[Mark Stone]

Not playing enough even though I'm retired. I play only 22 hours a day. Ugh.

[Mandobart]

I share many of the bad habits discussed earlier. In no particular order, mine are:

1. Often having bad playing posture/ergonomics
2. Lots of noodling, going through stuff I already know and not doing enough real, focused practice.
3. Being a musical snob against certain songs/genres/styles
4. Not unloading instruments I don't play anymore
5. Not recognizing/admitting all my bad habits

[biotechmgr]

Originally Posted by bls82261

too self conscious to play with others or even take lessons

This is a good one. I broke through it and it opened a whole new world. I hope you can too!

[Frostie]

Originally Posted by rmp

don't let any one kid ya, there is power in that thumb over thingy...

if Clapton can do it,, you can do it..

Kottke, too.

[Ryler]

Relying so much on tab that I just can' play without it, even when my fingers "know" exactly where to go. It's a psychological crutch.

Not playing when I'm tired. I'm always tired. (The job is a 12/hr a day affair.)

[Skip Ellis]

Not playing - I haven't played more than a couple hours since my last gig in January (2020). Just not that interested without a reason to do it. Playing for myself is not an option.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by jaymarsch

Mine is probably not practicing slow enough. I sometimes blast through things and have to go back and then unlearn the sloppy technique. If I had slowed down at the outset, I could skip the unlearning step.
Best,
Jayne

Been there too many times. I use Transcribe! for a lot of things now. Putting it on 50% play back forces me to go slow. I've even gone slower on those brain dead days that seem to happen more frequently now

[Pura Vida]

Originally Posted by LeDave

What're your bad guitar habits?

Mine are,

Changing strings every week.
Leaving my guitar out on stand when not playing.
Not practicing the F barre chord.
Not moving my wrist when strumming.
Strumming only, never finger picking.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

As others said, leaving your guitar on a stand is not a bad habit. Some might argue that it's a good habit. All of my acoustic guitars are on racks and stands (working on adding the electric ones).

My "bad" habits are/were: (1.) playing with short sleeves and resting my arm on the guitar. My body is toxic for the nitro finishes, so my friend UncleJesse provided me with a link to arm sleeves, which I use every times to prevent any finish damage... and (2.) not pushing myself to learn new songs and falling back on the same songs to play. I need to get organized with a playbook and work some new material into the mix.