More Finger Stretchers and Warm-ups

How to warm up before playing songs

It's always a good idea to do some finger stretching and strengthening exercises before you start to play. I give my students a series of exercises to start with, and when I ask if they've been using them, the reply most of the time is a sheepish "I know I should do them more." So here's a sample of how you could get ready to practice by warming up.

• Spend at least the first 5 minutes doing finger exercises. You can do finger stretchers, play some chords, a few scales, or a combination of those things. To stretch out and warm up the fingers, put your 1st finger on the 1st fret of the 1st string. Without removing that finger, play the 3rd fret, 3rd finger, 4th fret, 4th finger, (yes, the pinky), then 2nd fret, 2nd finger. Do as many strings as you can do comfortably, remembering to always leave the 1st finger down. Use different combinations of fingers, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 4, 2, etc.
• Play some chords. Work on changing chords, getting crisp, clear notes and strumming evenly. Put your fingers on the chord, then play the strings one at a time to make sure they're all sounding. Buzzing or vibrations are caused by not holding the string down tight enough, playing too far away from the fret, or letting the pressure off. Muffled or deadened strings are almost always the result of something being in the way. Another finger, a sleeve, or fingernails that are too long are the prime suspects. They will also be muffled if you actually have your finger on the fret.
• Slowly and deliberately play through some songs. Again, work on playing slow and getting the notes clear.
• Don't forget the right hand. If you play with your fingers, try some arpeggio patterns, if you use a pick, try playing scales while you use up and down picking.

Try these tips and you'll hear your playing improve, guaranteed.

What's one thing you can do TODAY to improve your guitar playing?

Focusing on one thing at a time.

Sometimes learning to play guitar is really overwhelming. There are chords, notes, scales, arpeggios, theory, the circle of fifths, and the list goes on. A common beginner problem is trying to do too many different things and once and becoming overloaded with information. I've got students who surf the internet for info, then wonder how they're going to learn all that stuff. Playing guitar is a time art, it's not something that you learn in a short period of time. Finding a guitar teacher to help you sort things out is a good first step.

Finding the one thing to focus on.

Be honest with yourself, and assess your skills so far. There's no need to learn barre chords if you can't play simple open position chords, there's no sense in learning theory until you have a basic understanding of music, you get the idea. Deciding what type of music you want to play will be the easiest indicator of what you should focus on first. If you want to play the guitar and sing, practice chords. Don't buy a chord book and try to memorize 100 different chords, get a song with 3 or 4 chords and learn to play it at the correct speed, with no time lost between chord changes. Too many times a beginning guitar student will proclaim a song finished when it still needs lots of work. Do you want to play lead guitar? Start out with one basic scale pattern and explore it. Play a simple pentatonic scale and try out different note combinations. Once you know where the notes are, try to play something that sounds musical.

The main thing is to be advancing your playing and moving forward.

New Year, New Goals

Will you be a better musician than you were last year?

Now is the perfect time to assess your skills, give some serious thought to what you'd like to accomplish and decide how you're going to get there. Beginning guitar, like any other skill, needs goals that you can not only attain, but perhaps even pass. Be realistic but not over cautious. I've had guitar students who are more than happy to be a little better when they could make much more progress.

What are you working on?

Pick a song, style or skill, and work on it. What is the one thing holding you back and how do you fix it? Consult with your guitar teacher and have him or her help you zero in on what you need to work on.

Finding a good teacher.

There are lots of good guitar teaching websites, but there's nothing like taking guitar lessons one on one, in person. Your teacher will get to know you, help you through trouble spots and keep you motivated. Most people need to have someone to give them feedback, encouragement, and wisdom. Your guitar teacher can catch a developing bad habit and show you something that may take you a lot longer with no one to demonstrate what it looks and sounds like.

Setting aside the time to practice.

The biggest obstacle adult guitar students face is finding the time to practice. Make it clear to other members of the household that you're not to be disturbed, get yourself an inexpensive kitchen timer, set it for 30 to 45 minutes and start practicing. The difference between success and failure when learning guitar is 20% talent and 80% desire. Do you really want to learn to play guitar? Set aside the practice time every day. I know you're busy, I know you have other obligations, but if you want to achieve your goals you need to put in the time.

Finger stretchers and warm-ups.

Here are some ways to prepare yourself for practice or performance.

•  Warming up: Some simple exercises to warm up should be the first thing you think of when you're preparing to practice or or perform. Playing some chords, picking out notes or scales, and stretching exercises are all important. If you play fingerstyle guitar, doing some right hand arpeggios is also necessary.
• How to stretch your left hand. Doing stretching exercises helps to strengthen fingers as well as gain independence. Too many beginning guitar students avoid using the pinky. While it's possible to play without it, there are good reasons to use it. Start out by playing the 1st string, 1st fret with your index or 1st finger. Without taking that finger off, play the 2nd fret, 2nd finger, 3rd fret, 3rd finger, then 4th fret, 4th finger. Reverse the fingering, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st and do that at least twice on each string. The key is to not take the 1st finger off during the whole sequence. The exercise will become increasingly harder as you get to the thicker strings. Be careful not to try to do too much at first. If you're in pain, stop. Once you can do that, try using different finger combinations to help improve dexterity. Ultimately, all 4 fingers should work equally well.
• Right hand exercises. Fingerpicking players should play different arpeggio patterns while gradually increasing speed. Getting a steady thumb beat going, followed by smooth picking with the fingers will sound good. A simple arpeggio pattern: Thumb, Index, Thumb, Middle. The thumb alternates bass notes, the index plays the 2nd string and the middle finger plays the 1st string. Once you get a solid bass line going, add the other fingers and try to play a slow, steady rhythm.
• Isolate trouble spots. When preparing a song for performance, spend extra time on troublesome passages. Work through them slowly, paying particular attention to using the correct fingering, playing the right notes, and then tightening up the rhythm with a metronome. Don't practice a song too long without listening to it. 

These techniques will help you improve your playing, warm up properly, and build the confidence to perform songs under pressure.

Tablature vs Notation

Learning to play using guitar tablature (TAB for short).

We're seeing more and more music publishers using TAB as a way of showing you what to play. Learning from TAB is good news and bad news. The good news is, it's easy to learn how to read it. The lines represent strings instead of sounds, numbered from the bottom up. So in guitar music, the bottom line would be the thickest (6th) string, the top line would be the first. The numbers are the frets, and that's the basic concept. The bad news? No one's decided to standardize tab, so there's no agreement how to show timing. Most of the TAB you find either has regular notes above it, or there's no indication of rhythm at all. The other problem is that if the TAB is computer generated, there are times when it will have the right note but in the wrong position on the guitar. On guitar, unlike piano, you can play the exact same note on more than one string.

Learning to play using standard notation.

While it's an easy concept, there are lots of complications. The easy part is that the lines represent sounds and each line has a letter name. The letter corresponds with a note on the guitar. Beginning students have hard time, especially when they get to the low notes. Guitar notation is written one octave lower, so the C that we show as middle C in notation is actually 8 notes below where it would sound on the piano. As a result, all guitar notation is in treble clef, but we use lots of ledger lines which make the note reading more difficult. The good news is that standard notation is much more accurate since it's all universally the same. There are tempo markings, dynamic markings, ways to show the different positions on the guitar, and ways to notate the length of the notes.

So, which one should you use?

If you're heavily into rock or popular music, there's a good chance that TAB can work for you. Having a recording of the version of the song you're learning, and a device like the Riffmaster Pro to slow songs down, you can probably learn the song without reading music. There are even books of classical and jazz songs now that use TAB, so you may want to check it out.

Isn't it "cheating" to not learn to read music?

There are people that definitely think it's cheating, but I've always thought the best method was the one that works for you. I know how to read music and TAB, and to be honest, I usually find myself reading the notes. The best thing to do is to try out both ways and see which is most effective for you and the style of music you want to play.

Doctor Talk for Musicians

Music has its own terms, just like doctor talk.

There are several musical terms that sound very complicated, but in fact are easy to understand. Today's post will address a couple of those, because you will probably hear or read about them at some point. This should clear up the confusion. So here are two of my favorites:

• MODULATION: Changing keys during the song, usually moving up or down by a half-step or a whole step. On the guitar a half-step is one fret and a whole step is two.
• ENHARMONIC OR ENHARMONIC EQUIVALENTS: Two notes, chords or scales have different names but sound the same. For example, F sharp and G flat. The reason we need enharmonic equivalents? It all has to work out on paper.

These are just a couple of examples. The other confusing thing in music is that we have terms in different languages that also mean the same thing. For a complete list check out The Virginia Tech Multimedia Dictionary where you'll find the word or words, the proper pronunciation, and musical examples.

Internet Guitar Lessons-Blessing or Curse?

Are you improving your guitar playing by using the internet?

I have a couple new students who love surfing the internet to find beginning guitar information. The good news is that there's plenty of information out there, the bad news is that a lot of it isn't presented in a logical, understandable way. Consider how long you've been playing guitar and then decide how helpful some of these sites are. For example, if you've been playing for less than a year you probably don't need to work on complex scale patterns, barre chords or dig too far into music theory. A lot of it depends on what kind of music you'll be playing and how involved you want to be in the construction of the music. Some people love knowing everything about the theory while others just want to play.

Who's doing the teaching?

There are many good teachers out there, but there are even more that don't appear to have ever given a lesson. The fact that you can play well doesn't necessarily mean that you can teach. I've seen many flawed examples of teaching guitar from players who mean well but don't realize how complicated their simple explanations are. There's an idea called the "curse of knowledge". In a nutshell, I'm explaining something to you that I think is perfectly clear while you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Can the internet substitute for a live teacher?

In my opinion, yes and no depending on the student. The ease of understanding, the logical approach, and the ability to evaluate progress are the advantages of lessons with a live teacher. Your guitar teacher can spot bad habits, help with trouble spots, and most importantly, encourage you. A lot of progress depends on the feeling that you're getting somewhere. The guitar student who has played other instruments or who uses a combination of teachers can benefit from both experiences.