How Often Should I Tune?

Playing in tune is an essential part of learning guitar.

I have students who come in all the time and haven't tuned once during the week. There are all kinds of electronic tuners available, so there is NO EXCUSE for playing out of tune! Why is it necessary to play in tune and what difference does it make?

It helps to develop your ear.

You can get used to an out of tune instrument as easily as you can an in tune instrument. Not everyone is blessed with the ability to hear the difference. You definitely don't want to think the instrument sounds good when in reality it's out of tune.

Playing in tune with others is essential.

Nothing is annoying quite like playing with someone who is out of tune and doesn't know it. This is more common than you would think. Using an electronic device to tune is a good way to get used to hearing what an in tune instrument should sound like.

Good tuners are very easy to find.

Back in the day, like all electronic equipment, electronic tuners were expensive, cumbersome and hard to use. My first tuner had two knobs on top, one to select the note and one to select the octave. It was also quite big and cost a couple hundred dollars. The new ones can be the size of a credit card or smaller, some clip on to the instrument, and they know what note you're playing. A couple of the tuners I recommend are: Martin Tuner: a free app from the Martin Guitar Company, it features several different guitar tunings, an ear trainer, and a small slide presentation on how to change strings. The Snark clip on tuner attaches to the peghead and senses the vibrations to tell you what note you're playing. There is no built in microphone which means it won't pick up outside noises. There are too many more to mention, but it's difficult to make a bad choice. The price and ease of use should be your guide.

What the different tuning modes mean.

There are guitar tuners, bass tuners, ukulele tuners, bluegrass tuners, chromatic tuners and the list goes on. If you think you'll be playing and tuning with other instruments, the best choice is a chromatic tuner. Chromatic means that the tuner has all of the notes on it, so you can tune any instrument as long as you know what notes to tune to.


Pitch Pipes, Harmonicas, Pianos and Relative Tuning.

While some people with years of experience or perfect pitch can tune by ear, I highly recommend that you get an electronic tuner so you get used to what your chosen instrument sounds like when it's in tune. The more you hear it being played in tune, the more you'll develop your ability to keep it that way.

Don't Be So Sure You Can't Do It.

My Pinky Won't Reach: I've got students with long, skinny fingers who insist they can't get the pinky to stretch. How do you change that? Stretching exercises, hand position, and practice. I'm the first to admit that physical limitations exist, but you really need to give it a chance first. There are lots of good exercises that can help you overcome at least some of the limitations. Think of it as physical therapy for your guitar playing. The key with stretching and strengthening exercises is to approach it like any other exercise program. Don't over do it, be patient, and be consistent.

Barre Chords: Ah, the dreaded barre chords, the scourge of guitarists everywhere. The problem with barre chords is the flat part of your index finger isn't toughened up, so at first it's very difficult to get all of the strings to sound. The mistake a lot of people make is to try and hold down all six strings without actually making the chord. Remember that when you play the chord even though the finger covers all the strings it's only playing 3 or 4 of them. The fingers in front of it are doing the rest of the work.

I Can't Play the F Chord: Again, the problem is toughening up a different part of your finger. Flatten the index finger out so it covers the first and second string. Place your thumb flat in the middle of the guitar neck and use a clamping motion to hold the strings down. Move this up and down the fingerboard until you can get both strings to sound clearly. Pay close attention to the placement of the thumb and index finger.

Put It All Together: The trick or secret is simply to not accept the idea that your hands are too small, fingers are too fat, or whatever your excuse is. Spend some time each practice session with the idea that you can do it if you continue to work at it.

 

Don't Quit Too Soon!

How long should you give it before you decide to quit taking lessons?

It happens every year about this time, students look back at the past year and wonder what they've really accomplished with taking guitar lessons. If it's been a relatively short time, less than a year for example, they really need to assess the situation.

A recent example of not giving yourself a chance.

Right after the holidays I had a student cancel lessons, even though it had only been a few months. (He started in October.) During that time he missed lessons because of working overtime, having car trouble and being sick, so he took about 12 lessons. He felt like he hadn't made a lot of progress and he was right, but how much time and effort did he give? I had him playing several chords, working on songs that he liked, and doing what I would consider reasonably well considering the circumstances and his previous skill level. The skills amounted to playing a couple of months on his own and trying to learn from the internet. Unfortunately I didn't have a "talent pill" to give him and he started to realize that with or without a teacher, you need to put in the time.

What can you do to change it?
  

• Lower your expectations. There, I said it, lower your expectations. Learning the guitar or the banjo is a time art. You need to commit to a practice schedule, set some goals, have a nice place to practice and put in the time. 
• Don't think you'll make progress every week. We've all been told that practice makes perfect, so we think every week we'll get better. Sometimes psychological, physical or mechanical problems hinder our progress. It's easy to get discouraged when you think you got worse instead of better.
• Be patient. I tell my students that in the beginning learning will be painfully slow. This is especially true if you've never played an instrument or if you've never played an instrument with strings and frets on it. You need to keep pushing and understand that your hours of practice will pay off with some persistence and dedication.
• Believe in what your teacher is telling you. I've had students think that I'm just trying to make them feel better when I tell them they're getting somewhere. I take into account the fact that you're nervous, you played better at home or you're having a bad day. Believe it or not I can still tell whether you've practiced and if you're getting better.

So there's your answer. Give it a chance, be patient, work hard, don't make excuses and believe in yourself. A few lessons or a few months of trying to play isn't always an indication of what your results will be down the road.

Are You Using Your Practice Time Wisely?

Many beginning students confuse playing the guitar with practicing the guitar. Here are some proven ways to make sure you're spending your time wisely.

1. Setting aside time to practice. A specific time of day is a good way to get yourself into a practice routine. A lot of my students, especially the adults, devote whatever time is left in the day to practice. This is usually after working, fixing dinner, cleaning house and whatever else is part of their normal day. It's much better to have a time set aside for practicing.
2. The practice space should be quiet, clean and private. I hear complaints all the time about the distractions that take place when trying to focus on music. Kids who come in and ask questions, spouses who interrupt or feel compelled to comment and/or criticize, music or tv playing in the other room, and the list goes on. I know it's hard, but try to get the rest of the family to understand that your music needs your undivided attention.
3. Getting the most out of the time you have. Having the guitar in your hands for 30 minutes isn't the same as practicing for 30 minutes! "Running through the songs" is a good way to warm up, but are you improving or just playing? After a thorough warmup, work on improving something about the song. You do warm up, don't you?
4. Have something in mind. I have many students who complain about not getting any better, but they don't seem to be doing anything to get better once we talk about their practice time. Work on one thing that will improve the performance of the piece. Record your playing so you can hear what it sounds like. A frequent comment is how they played the song perfectly at home last night, but now it's awful. Remember, recordings don't lie. 
5. Know when to quit. No, not quitting the guitar, ending the practice session. Sometimes it doesn't go that well and the harder you try the worse it seems to get. When that happens, either take a break or pick it up again tomorrow. 
6. Relax, don't put undue pressure on yourself. You will make steady progress if you practice, but sometimes it won't feel like it. We all have plateaus that make us wonder if we'll ever be any better or if this is as good as we'll ever get! Don't think it's something that just happens to beginners or amateurs, it's common and it happens to everyone. 

So hang in there, work at getting better, and keep on pickin'.

Negative Expectations

Are you sabotaging your chances for success?

"I'm going to give it another month, and if things don't get better I'm selling the guitar." This is another classic example of not making the time, but making plenty of excuses. What is going to change in the next month when that's the attitude you're carrying around with you?


How to make it work.

Don't try to convince yourself that you have no time. If you want to something badly enough you make time for it. Yes work, family life, political campaigns, vacations and everything else you mention does hinder your ability to make time. The problem is, you need to have an iron clad schedule that nothing can change. Start off with a few minutes a day, get into the habit of making it work, and pretty soon you'll find that you feel awful when you miss a day of practice. I always use exercise as an analogy, it's great when you commit yourself, but blow it off for a few sessions and pretty soon you're your old couch potato self.

Choose your environment.

A comfortable, padded chair with no arms, a sturdy music stand, a metronome and a kitchen timer are all you need to get started. Turn off the cell phone, close the door and issue a do not disturb mandate to the rest of the occupants in your home. Convince yourself that this is your private time and that phone calls, emails and text messages can certainly wait for you to finish practicing. Set the timer for whatever amount of practice you feel you can get in and don't let anything stop you.


Have a reason for practicing.

Practicing an instrument is not "running through each piece a few times." Pick a song, a technique, a trouble spot, or something else that needs work and get busy on that. Record you practice session and listen to it at the end so you can hear some progress. If you don't have a teacher, get one! It sounds self serving, but there's a lot more motivation if you're accountable to someone.

So don't give up easily, set aside a specific time to practice, make sure you're in a quiet place that makes it easy to practice, and work on something. Again, get yourself a teacher so you have to show that you've worked on playing on a weekly basis. The more you practice, the easier it becomes, the easier it becomes the more you'll want to practice.

Learning a New Song

How do you go about learning a new song? There are different approaches, and it's important to remember that what works for one person may or may not work for the other.

Phrase by Phrase:
One way to learn is to take a small piece of the music and practice it over and over until you can play it flawlessly. This is a good way to learn if you can stand to make what seems like little progress. The key elements would be a metronome, a program to slow songs down, and lots of patience. I use and recommend Riff Master Pro (affiliate link) to set up a loop that plays the phrase over and over. Choose a speed that's slow enough that you don't practice mistakes, and speed up a very small amount once you can play at the previous speed without any errors. A few measures at a time is best, no longer than one line.

The Whole Song:
I learn a new song by playing through the whole thing to see what I'm up against, and I'll do it a few times. Every song will have phrases that are fairly easy to play, some that are a little harder and some that will require the phrase by phrase, or even note by note technique to get them smooth and up to speed. Once I've played the song I have a better idea of what's going to need work.

One Page at a Time:
A long song or one that has different parts to it or maybe more than one solo is another challenge. I'll treat it like each solo is a separate song and work from there. Again, I'll play it all the way through before I break it down into smaller pieces.

Listen to the Song.......Often!
One of the common beginner mistakes is to think they know the song well enough that they don't need to listen to it. You may believe you're playing it right only to find out later that you've practiced a mistake over and over. When I took music theory our professor told us that you need to hear a song at least 10 times before you start to know and understand it. Note the key words start to know and understand it. Many times I'll have a student march into the room and proudly proclaim that he or she has memorized the week's assignment only to play it wrong. Trust me, play along with the recording and just as important, listen to the song when you're not practicing.


 

Being Logical and Taking Your Time

The method to your teacher's madness!

It happened again the other night, a student who "wants guidance" but doesn't recognize it when he's getting it. Here's what he needs to be looking for and listening to.

Why do we play songs at the lesson?

The best thing a music teacher can do for you is listen to you play, then play the song with you. This helps you learn to make music with other people, understand why timing is important, and it helps you get over nervousness/stage fright. Yes, I know, you play better at home. THAT'S WHY I'M PLAYING TOO!

I can't make the song sound like the recording.

The recording has been made by professional musicians with thousands of dollars' worth of equipment. In addition there is more than one guitar on the record and someone is singing or otherwise providing the melody. You're supposed to be playing rhythm guitar which means keeping a steady beat. A common beginner mistake is to try to strum with the phrasing of the tune to the song instead of a straight rhythm part.

Beware the evils of internet overload.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record about this point, watching You Tube videos of a "guitar teacher" showing you how to strum, how to play chords or whatever, you have no idea who's teaching you. He or she may know exactly what they're doing, or, they may not be a much better player than you are. Keep in mind that a good guitar player isn't necessarily a good teacher.

Take your time and learn it right.

The key to learning guitar is not multi-tasking. My emphasis is on teaching and learning each technique as a separate function. Don't worry about palm muting if you can't change chords in time. Don't worry about complex strumming patterns until you can play the song up to speed.

Summing it all up.

Learning to play guitar or any other instrument is a time art. Hurrying through so you can learn the next technique catches up to you in the long run. In the words of Ringo Starr: "You know it don't come easy."