Beginner Seeking Advice

[TBman]

Originally Posted by dkstott

You're sounding good!!

Just curious, have you tried holding the notes with your left hand fingers a little bit longer? Is staying on the fret for as long as possible..

I may be way off base, but my ears seem to tell me that I'm hearing notes cut short.

Could be! Nothing worse than a half note getting played as a quarter note

[Canoeman]

Some squeaks are hard to completely eliminate, but if you play it very slowly and try to lift and plant the left fingers more vertically it could help. Remember to add no more pressure than needed. If you are planting with your right fingers, perhaps reviewing Bill Kanengiser's You Tube on planting with the right hand. To get more in the stroke, without adding more left hand force, try thinking about your right arm like cello player and then doing full strokes with your fingers, allowing your stroke to come from the base joint and following through up into your palm, to get the feeling of completely stroking through the string. Perhaps have the initial contact as close to where the nail meets the skin as possible on the corner of the nail. Go super slow for this, just a measure or two at a time, gentle diaphragm breathes and sit up as relaxed as possible.