On top off that a trick u can do is when u get more knowledge swap the chords and position out off the song helps to and then u later on starts creating ur own variations :). don't be afraid to experiment.i'm a begineer myself but i find that really fun . The song kinda becomes a little bit more personal to. ^^ But yeah most important is to have fun.
I think this might depend on your personality. Learning to allow myself to do some mistakes while playing helped me a lot to not frustrate over a piece. Being too perfectionist can be a problem also.
I was given that tip back in high school. The context was choir, but I took it with me to everything I do. "An amateur practices until he gets it right. A professional practices until he cannot get it wrong."
@@LakriTs9 My middle 8`s,invariably consisted of the chords for the verse,in reverse order. Later on i realised,a lot of Bands do that.It made me feel slightly less Amateur. Ha ha
Dad: "You... Wait- what?!" You: "I'm playing guitar. By myself. In a dark room. What did you THINK I was doing?" Dad: "... Nothing... Carry on." XD This made me laugh, I'm sorry.
Yeah, but just because you are the time keeper, doesn't mean it's accurate. Lots of drummers feel the need to practice with something that keeps them honest; click, metronome, or backing tracks. I recall Jaco saying that most of the drummers he ever played with had poor time, and he had to take over the role of time keeping.
I dont because of all the fucking things people use to make fun of guitarists. No one wants to be the guy with the guitar at the party. Or maybe I just go to the wrong parties
Mary is right. If you're making music with a guitar, you're a guitarist! Now, somebody takes that as "I'm kinda like Jimi Hendrix" that's their own damn problem, not yours.
I used to NEVER think or call myself a "Musician", even after years of playing and writing. Same reason as you. Then I had a friend, piano student at university. She says "writing a pop song is so hard!! I've never been able to" I'm thinking "you play full Chopin pieces from memory, you call THAT 'very intuitive', but you have a hard time putting 3 or 4 triads together into a 3-min song?? whhat the fuckedy fuck!?! " Fast forward 15 years -> I'm a musician (no if's, but's). And my friend has written plenty of pop-folk songs too. But only after she picked up an acoustic and became a beginner (at guitar) again. Moral of the story? -> Happy playing everybody! And ROCK ON!
I played exclusively in complete dark for 1 year. Totally changed everything on a deep level. The motor memory was almost trivial in comparison to the conection to music that happens, you become completely aware of your sound. It becomes like a hidden pleasure you cant wait to experience again at the end of the day.
I recently started playing in the dark with my eyes closed on accident because I practice at like 1 am so I don’t want to turn my light on. I think being in the dark helps me relax and focus only on the ringing of the strings. When I can see and I am looking around I am freaking out and going against my muscle memory because I’m thinking too much about it.
I started playing at the age of 24 and struggled. By my mid-thirties, I was legally blind. My guitar playing improved since I was focused more on sound rather than trying to find spots on a grid. Playing in the dark is excellent advice. Picking up the guitar was one of the best decisions I ever made. My only regret is that I wish I started earlier. It's one of the few things I can still do. I have a hard time with songs that jump all over the neck, but I've gotten pretty good at cheating. Where there's a will...
London Buell Are you kidding...? There are a lot of options for blind people, like assistive technology (for example, screen readers). They’re blind, not deaf and stupid.
ive been playing for less than a month and I've already learnt 2 songs already, I know its not much but I'm pretty proud of myself and its my dream to become a pro guitarist. thanks for these though, this is very helpful
@@zoinket3568 I've got a brand new guitar just 5 days ago and I m a total beginner So....what do you think. I should learn the *cords and stuff first* or *fretting and picking* I m totally confused...cause I've just learned 'happy birthday' till now 😂
1. Make sure you are comfortable when playing. Keep your shoulders and back relaxed. Keeping your shoulders relaxed will greatly increase your ability to play faster portions of a song. 2. Find your anchor point for your right hand. It is much easier to play fingerstyle when you properly anchor your right hand by either resting your pinky below the strings, our if you prefer, your wrist or heel of your hand above the strings or on the bridge. 3. Learn to selectively mute strings that you do not want to play. Open strings will resonate along with picked strings and this can make playing sound noisy. You can mute with both your right and left hands. 4. Slow it way down. Play along with a metronome and play a slow as you can for as long as you can. This will make your playing sound cleaner, and also build the muscle memory for when you play faster, allowing you to play faster while still sounding clean. 5. Try not to practice in front of other people. Practice on your own, and only play for others once you feel confident that you have the piece down. 6. Learning a new song involves learning the mechanical movements, then doing those movements fluidly and then playing with feeling. The one thing that sets all the guitar greats apart from the rest of the world is that they can play with feeling EVERY SINGLE TIME. 7. This one goes with 6. One of the best things you can do while playing guitar is to smile. Smile when you nail a particularly challenging run. Sure your family will think you are crazy, but this one really really works. Smiling while you play will teach you how to put more feeling into playing. 8. When you play guitar, it is just you and the guitar. You and your guitar are having a private conversation. Learn to make the world disappear and just focus on the two of you. 9. Learn to hear where you are going while playing, rather than think where your fingers have to be next. Jimmi Hendrix said his aim was to ultimately be one with the music, and I personally believe that when you start thinking in music rather than finger movements, then you get closer to achieving this. 10. Tap your foot to keep rhythm while playing. This one imparts a natural rhythm to your playing that listeners will immediately appreciated. 11. Rhythm rhythm rhythm. Practice with a metronome, until you can maintain the beat through-out your entire fingerstyle piece. You will notice that while playing parts you find challenging you will fall behind the metronome. The minute I start playing along with a metronome my wife will often tell me that my playing is sounding better than normal. A persons ear is naturally drawn to rhythm. 12. Don't be afraid to zoom in on parts of a song you are having difficulty with. If you have a chord change you are struggling with, just practice that chord change over and over, and you will find that you very quickly start over coming that road block. 13. Try to think ahead of where you currently are in a song. Once you get really comfortable playing a song you can start thing ahead so that you never end up blanking out on where to go next and losing rhythm while you figure it out. 14. Always make sure that your tuning is spot on while practicing. It does not matter how well you play a piece, if your guitar's tuning is out, it will not sound as could as it could. I tune my guitar every time I practice. Thank you for your great tips Mary. If I had to pick the most important two above it would be, smile while playing and play with a metronome/tap your foot while playing.
All great tips! Regarding number two, however, I would say try to avoid resting your pinky below the strings. Having an anchor is important, but anchoring with your pinky out like that creates extra tension in your hand, and the idea is that you want to play with as little tension as possible. It's a good anchor to have, but does ultimately affect your playing in the long run.
I've been playing probably about 8 years and I still struggle with 3. After a year away I'm coming back and really focusing on fixing the sloppy playing I've always had an issue with. It's frustrating (hi gain metal nerd so everything rings >_
@@Shugo819 I agree, anchoring is a personal preference. There are some song which i like to anchor when playing as it offers more stability however there are other songs where i feel that my hand is restricted by being anchored to one position when playing. Great tips all the same!
It took me about a year and a half of playing to be able to sing and play at the same time -- until that I, like you, was amazed by it. I found that two songs helped me get over that hurdle -- "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan and "True Love Will Find You in the End" by Daniel Johnston. Both have easy chord changes that correspond to the phrasing of the lyrics (to Noëmi's point). Obviously there are tons of others but these are songs I like that are in my singing range, that worked for me. Having the song printed out from something like Ultimate Guitar Chords helps too, with the chord indicated directly over the lyric where the change happens, with no extraneous musical notation.
It's easy as pie once guitar-playing is automatic! I sing and play too. But, the first bit is that you have to be adept enough with chord changes to easily play without looking, hence Mary's playing in the dark advice (which is good). You shouldn't need to look! Once all that is running smoothly it's easy to add singing on top, especially since you're keeping time with the guitar and following your own cues.
I agree with you, Mary's tips of playing while standing with your guitar and playing without looking/or playing in the dark make a difference if you intend to sing at the same time as play, especially with a microphone, as you won't be heard if the mike is too far from your face. I sang before I started playing the guitar, so I guess I'm learning the other way from others, but learning to find the different chords and notes without looking is a game changer.
I’ve been playing for 28 years as a novice. I recently started learning from someone who tied it all together, but your method of playing in the dark has taken my playing to another level! Thank You
5:50 YES, there were so many times when I couldn't get a progression right, I would give up and go to bed, and the next day I would get it right in the first couple of tries. A good night's sleep can make a huge difference.
T-t-t-timing: I had a friend with a good singing voice but who was crap at keeping in time. I told him to do it as he danced, and after a while he'd be able to do the dance in his head. It worked - he got good timing - and became a dancer. 😂 Anyway, I just thought I'd pass on my tip for helping to get good timing: do it as a dance. And that's a tip for life too: do it as a dance. 🎼🎶💃🕺♫♬👍
My daughter bought me a guitar stand about 10 years ago. I had not played much for the previous 30 years, but I started playing again because the guitar was there and have enjoyed playing ever since.
I'm an intermediate guitarist but I've found some of these tips useful. Another advice I have is spend half of your practice time learning a new thing (whether thats a new song, technique, scale etc) and the other half playing the songs and backing tracks you enjoy. You'll stay more motivated and you'll get better at the same time
Good advice. It`s easy to play stuff you can play. Learn how to play something you can`t. Treading water is easy,and reassuring,but will stop any progress.
@@Pieter_Auper i honestly feel like should play however long you like. If you dont like it just dont play i play the guitar daily because i want to not because i make myself do it
My undergrad is in music... and then I took an interest in psychology and neuroscience (which probably means I will perpetually be a student). Thank you for mentioning #12. This can't be stressed enough. Research has shown that WHEN you practice in relation to when you sleep can also make a difference in skills acquisition or memory retention (and there are different optimal strategies based on what you're trying to accomplish). The following ties in to sleep and that is... stop practicing the same thing over and over again for hours on end. While repetition is needed to get something into muscle memory, many people often overdo it. Let's say in a given week you want to practice comping, learn a song, and maybe a finger style exercise. You're better off practicing each of those things for 15 minutes per day (45 minutes total per day) for a total of 5 hours and 15 minutes for the week instead of practicing each skill for 3 hours, on 3 different days (for a total of 9 hours of practice for the week). Why? Because sleep is when the brain optimizes those new neural connections you've made by practicing earlier in the day. Giving your brain seven opportunities to optimize each skill will result in faster progression by using short practice sessions, vs. only one opportunity in the approach where you practice fewer days, but for a much longer period. In addition, there is a point of diminishing returns when focusing on one skill. In that 3 hour practice session, if it's skills based, you'll make the bulk of your progression in the very beginning of that session, and then the rest of it... not so much. If you're trying to memorize something, "cramming" by practicing for an extended period will improve memory retention for the very next day (so this is a good strategy if you need to learning something ASAP) but research shows that long-term retention is very poor when you employ cramming. There's a great lecture from The Great Courses called "The Learning Brain" (don't get it directly from The Great Courses website... it's like $250 bucks... Audible has it for $15... not sure what their logic is by having a ridiculously high price on their website). It was produced fairly recently so the research is still relevant. Guitar Zero is a good read as well (it's about the neuroscience and cognitive psychology of learning guitar at an older age). Finally, while it's not about psychology or neuroscience, "The Music Lesson" by bassist and music educator extraordinaire Victor Wooten combines fiction and non-fiction to convey Victor's experience and philosophies towards learning music. I'd recommend listening to the audio book, and not reading it as Victor narrates it himself and there's some aspects of the storytelling that are enhanced by Victor's performance.
Something to add to the 7th point: Gear doesn't make you better, but it's a lot easier to blame "sounding bad" on bad gear, than it is on good gear. When I bought a good instrument for the first time, it really clicked and I knew I didn't sound bad because of my instrument and that made me work a lot harder.
I learned this as well. A brand new inexpensive guitar with a terrible "stock" setup vs fairly expensive used one with a perfect (to me) setup is such a jump in progress. But it does make you appreciate the extra work you put in to play the bad one.
Very true but, you don’t need to spend a shed load on gear. Just make sure it isn’t unplayable crap. Some of the really nasty cheap beginners kits (normally fender strat lookalikes) are so well priced they tempt people in on the basis of ‘well if I take to playing I can spend more’ later The reality is it can put you off because no one will spend out on a pro setup if they’ve only spent 100£ on the whole ‘kit’ !
I disagree with one thing you say. You say buy an instrument you like the look of so it will inspire you. We're talking musical instruments. Sound matters much more than looks. Buy an instrument you like the sound of. That sound will inspire you.
Journey of Awesome yes it does but anyone can work out that a guitar that’s worth £1k (regardless of whether you like the colour, sound or style will be better than one costing £100 - the point is, spend what you can reasonably afford and try and steer clear if the cheapest of the cheap
That used to be when I was a teenager, I used to play many, many hours. Try to keep up with it, even if you reduce the hours when life starts getting in the way, starting over somehow it's proving harder for me than the learning the first time.
its such a good feeling when you’re the only guitarist in your band and someones like “what do you play?” and you get to say “oh, me? im the guitarist”
hi abigail: look on wikipedia into major thirds tuning and perfect fourths tuning. i use major thirds and while it's really different, it reduces the basics you need to learn. it also forces you to figure out why things are the way they are. but it's also more complicated because nobody plays this way. look it up and decide for yourself!
The lyric “Hello darkness, my old friend” comes from Paul Simon’s habit of sitting in his bathroom in the dark and playing his guitar there because of the acoustics.
In my opinion practice with a purpose. Don’t just start playing as fast as you can. Start slow and gradually move up in speed paying attention to string muting. Also, don’t over practice! If you’re over practicing you’re practicing without any real purpose, not paying attention to your string muting or hand synchronization and moving through pieces too fast with no idea or concept of time. Practice with a metronome. And if you just don’t have it that day, take a break and come back to it the next day or in a couple days, until you have more focus on practice with a purpose. If you think about it, you might practice extremely well and have great hand sync but the next three days you don’t and your muscle memory goes right out the door. You need consistent practice with good hand synch and timing to ingrain that in your hands and keep it there.
I totally agree! But I think that's what you should do when you start wanted to learn seriously, when you decide you want to become a better and better musician, but before that I'd just go straight ahead and just try to please yourself
How do you over practice? Just take a break and come back later. I practice in 15 to 20 min intervals multiple times a day. Each time i try to work on something a little different but the same. Pactice new cords , then those new chords with different strums , later just a practice exercises .
@@hunterraoulduke IMO if your not practicing with proper technique it’s a waste of time and effort. When people get tired or bored and noodle around it’s probably time to put it down. Otherwise you emphasize bad technique and your undoing all the good technique you were learning.
@@NatureandSpirit111 im sure noodling has its benefits. If i get to make it sloppy i just take a break for a bit, and good when i come back. There is nothing wrong with breaks. when i get sloppy it shows me what bad habits i have tendcy for and how to fix it because i realize why something is not working for me. Sloppy play helped me figure out what causing ceratin issues and to do things like lower my thumb on the neck to gap so i dont touch surroundingstring, to tuck my elbow in. Shit now that i think about sloppy play taught me a lot with out direction from anyone.
@@hunterraoulduke you could be right. For me it didn’t work out that way. We’re all different though. I never realized what was causing my sloppy play and it became very hard breaking out of my patterns after so many years when I tried to take lessons. Sometimes after I take a break and come back I feel like I play way better and seem to sound better too. That’s why I figured it was better from a long term standpoint plus it’s more fun that way for me and that keeps me motivated. I’m nowhere near where I want to be but working my way there.
Wow, her voice is just so deep and how professional she acts while giving tips. Fun fact, at first I said, I'll just watch until the tips are over. But when she started singing, daammmm what a nice voice. I hope you achieve success at your career.
In the early days of one of my bands, the bass player actually suggested we do your tip #11! We'd work on songs together for a few hours, then run through them with the lights out. It made us concentrate - and (most importantly) it made us listen to each other more carefully to make sure we were locked in. I completely forgot that we ever did this, but on down the road I'm going to to try it out again!
Leave it to the bass player to come up with something profoundly creative! (Bass is my favorite instrument to play). I practice daily and will play in the dark probably once a week just to keep my muscle memory sharp. And yes, it always helps me listen to the rest of the music more carefully.
All of this is great advice. More than half a century onto my life, I'm finally realizing the importance of sleep and its countless benefits to everything from biological, physiological, mental, psychological to even spiritual. Good practice/work habits and falling asleep with a positive attitude will get you where you want to go, and transform you into whatever you want to be, faster than just about anything else on the planet. And you won't be frustrated, worn out and tired. You'll be energized and excited. Everyone can spare 5 minutes a day. Most of us waste more time than that watching some idiotic thing on TV or just staring at social media. Imagine the rewards of applying it to something you really want to do. As Mary said, you'll quickly lose track of time and spend it learning, practicing and playing.
I just love how you keep an open mind and keep growing: every time I hear you play Primrose, I swear you allow it breathe and grown in its own way. I love it... the slightest changes in inflection, tone, rhythm, pace ... I love the thought that your songs are an integral / bi-product of you and your own core - so you allow to grow and develop just as you do too. It's just beautiful to see and hear :)
I've been playing for quite some years now and this is the BEST beginner advice I've seen in TH-cam! Experience players may benefit from your advice as well! Thank you!
Practice when you're insanely depressed. I'm always surprised at my playing under great stress and depression. Avoid pinene terpenoids. Don't practice on a full belly. Have a hedgehog in the same room. All good advice!
Ron Callahan nah... I've been dealing with it since 2003, and in the last 45 days I lost my mother and them my cat of 16 years, Zipper. It was like getting my depression tank topped off for another 5 years. To be honest, I'm surprised I haven't died of a broken heart yet. I'm in hell these last few weeks. I barely know what's real anymore. My guitar keeps me grounded a bit though.
5: Or "musician", this is particularly important for women. You are what you do every day, get over your imposter syndrome right now. It has nothing to do with how good you or anyone else thinks you are, it's just a functional description of what you do. Great advice.
tl;dr shred only gets you attention for a few minutes, people in general really are interested in hearing complete music rather than impressive sections of songs The first tip really hit me hard, I remember the moment I realised that I can play the first two minutes of Far beyond the sun, the Rising force solo, the section between the country part and the jazz part of Jason Richardson's Hos Down, some mindless sweep arpeggios, a bit of No Boundaries by MAB, a part of Jason's solo in Aviator, a part of Through the fire and flames, first two minutes of Vivaldi's Summer, random bits of Andy James' songs, some more shredding and some more sweep arpeggios, but can't even play Nothing else matters from the start to finish. Or Stairway. Or Green day. Or even the bloody Wonderwall. I've been playing instruments for as long as I can remember (literally), I even studied performance arts (cello), so being 21 now it makes for about 17 years of playing instruments. I'm a programmer now, but I keep music as a big hobby, however that's besides the story. I've always been interested in playing fast, even when I was like 10 I always wanted my cello teacher to give me the fast pieces, the tough ones, the ones, that will impress the moms that came to watch their kids at the school concert. I don't see that as a bad approach of course, learning difficult pieces rather than "just to play something" taught me that practise was the key. This escalated even more when I joined the conservatory, as my professor was excited to teach technique, so my requests for tough pieces were even more welcome. But the real thing started when around that time I picked up the electric guitar (after years of it just sitting in my bedroom) and discovered all the shred. I've spent about 4 years perfecting NOTHING but technique, every day I was fierce to play faster than yesterday. I'd spend several hours daily just building speed. I thought this was the key to finally get recognised as a guitarist or a musician at all. Fast forward to something around a year ago, when I started socializing on my uni, we would go out in the park to drink and play guitars and I'd at some point borrow a guitar off of someone and do my thing. Of course people listened up, looked at my fingers flying across the fretboard, my right hand banging out one note right after the other, saying "wow damn u can play" and stuff. For fifteen minutes, till I ran out of 30-second shred segments of songs. Then the rest of the evening was all for the people that knew chords almost every song anyone there could think of, singing, having fun and stuff. A while later I met my current girlfriend, she was fascinated by people that play instruments, so I of course played for her. She even liked shred, said it was nice to look at thinking how much time had gone into it, but I'd every now and then play River flows in you, of course only a bit and terribly, as I'd never really practised fingerstyle or even playing music for the sake of musical value. And this is the one she remembered and would want me to play, saying "awww, this one is so nice, shame you don't know the whole thing", to which I thought something like "out of all the stuff I played this beginner fucking thing is the one you want me to play, phew.." but giving it a second thought, that was the moment I finally realised that while fretboard acrobacy certainly DOES impress people, playing beautiful complete music will make them stick around, seek your performance and truly like your playing. And also, many of the tough shreddy bits are just a part of a nice song, so why not just learn the whole thing? :) If you read this far, thanks. Hope this helps you. Have a nice day and happy playing, whatever instrument it is.
I'd advise any beginner to start writing asap. Songwriters get paid more than musicians for a reason: because it's harder to do. I could play famous solos after a couple of years. It took me six years to write something I'd let anybody hear and even then it was quite naive.
I normally am a bit long winded if I choose to comment at all but, in this case I am going to have to cut myself short and say only part of what I'm thinking and, if possible I'll return later to complete my thoughts. I read your entire comment and couldn't agree more, being 48 yrs old and having spent so much time practicing lead blues stuff, 1 or 2 sweeping arpeggios and some riffs, finger tapping,, mainly though I spent a lot of time having fun improvising leads over backing tracks of my own on an old 4 track , or joining in on the radio with jazz or blues instrumentals. As much as I enjoy doing that , it gets tedious after awhile for me and anyone else who is interested. At first it's , wow , you really jam, but the simple Songs I've learned to play and sing , a few chords and that's what people want to hear are the songs , little stories, poetry in motion. People respond to music, and that's all cultures, and not just the human animal. Music hath charms right? People love stories and songs are these little stories that are more apt to make people cry, I think, than a beautiful instrumental, because the words hit so hard when set properly to music. Chris Cornell of Soundgarden fame(God rest his soul) would do an acoustic version of I will always love you, Dolly Parton's song popularized by Whitney Houston and, it would break up the monotony for him and was amazing for the audience as well. He does a great cover of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean , more a rendition than a cover, and that's the other great thing about guitar, music in general is it's all Rock and Roll, and there are no rules. We always hunger to improve and learn more, but the most important thing is having fun. You and those listening and, people respond to your enthusiasm. If you're having fun, 3 chords and the truth, huh? That's as good as 1 million notes per second, flight of the bumble bee is always engaging ,with it's speed and required dexterity, but the little stories, Bob Dylan or Led Zeppelin, are the ones that are most viscerally impressive, when you feel something, again I think, is when your on to something. Instrumental like Little Wing, or just a little 3 chord song like All along the watchtower. I've managed,once again to have no discipline when it comes to talking music and I really gotta go. If you've come this far lol, I appreciate your patience but music is really something. For those of us who are lucky enough, blessed enough to be passionate about it, to get it,the power of it....I think we're all very lucky. A blessing to have this powerful thing in our lives and love it above all things, or at least as well. We have something special. Bonnie Raits father , John Rait ,famous for his big voice, showtunes like "Oklahoma" Broadway stuff said something like 'there are only 2 kinds of music, Zippidy Doo Da, and the blues" and Duke Ellington said "there are only 2 kinds of music , Good music , and the other stuff'.....I really like good music, both kinds. ☮️ Peace , Stan
Sometimes I feel that youtube comments can be unnecessarily lengthy, but dude, in this case I really enjoyed the whole freakin' story. I think that this point about learning entire songs cannot be overstated, and you did a great job of illustrating that idea with your own story. I have had a similar journey with my own playing and awakening, but it sounds like you've practiced more that I have, and you told it better that I would have. Thanks for this.
Just found about you a couple days ago. And i'm so grateful. You're such a nice woman not afraid to talk about how hard it is to learn and how often we're going to make mistakes even after many years of practice. Not only showing your perfect recordings like in "why georgia", a video that i loved. Keep it up, you're great and thank you for what you do. Love from france
You are wise beyond your years . Been playing for 56 years and enjoy the way you present a subject . Along the lines of number 3 -it’s not the amount of notes you play that’s important it’s playing with feeling .You can connect you heart with one note and feel all the joy of the world . You play and sing with your heart . Keep up the good work ! Rich Whalley “Blues Hangover”
Another version of step 11 (call it step 11.5 if you wish), is practicing in front of a mirror. Pros: it keeps your eyes away from the guitar while not completely removing the need to look when you need to. It does help reinforcing muscle memory and playing without looking at the guitar. Cons: you may catch yourself looking for reflective surfaces during performances. I have done this, and it's distracting not just to you, but the audience as well. at this point, practice in the dark or with your eyes closed
if you dont want to practice in the dark a blindfold can also work. Comfort is also key, adjust the guitar position so you are comfortable, my girlfriend has been trying to play a few chords for years always struggled, i looked at what she did and simply lifted the guitar slightly and she felt much more comfortable and was able to hit the chords she had been struggling with, same applies for standing up
Some of the best tips ever and I agree with them all. I feel #7 is so so important . Get a guitar that really trips your trigger. You’ll wanna play it simply because you like the guitar . I ran into this problem . I have a new guitar that just didn’t feel comfortable to me or ..... just wasn’t what I wanted so there for I lost interest. After several years I finally went and picked up a guitar that felt comfortable and was absolutely beautiful . I just can’t stop admiring this guitar , so I pick it up constantly and play it. It really made a difference for me.
I think It is because she must be English, because if she were North American, oh God, what a horrible tone of voice she should be, like speaking through her nose🙂like almost north american does🤨
@@evaskjerd I certainly presumed she's English. And I agree with you, I think - I think my reaction wouldn't have been the same if I'd pegged her as some region of America. I remember getting the same kind of reaction from myself once while watching a Kate Beckinsale interview.
Her voice is incredible, but not just because of the accent...it's the tonality of her voice...and ZERO horrid fry tones. It's just a beautiful instrument and she clearly takes care of it. There's a correlation I think between great singers and their dulcet speaking voices. I've noticed the connection! I've never noticed someone with awful creaky fry tones singing like this.
Listen to everything she says. She is spot-on with every tip. I've been all over the internet for 3 years regarding beginner tips. Now that I'm no longer a beginner, I totally agree with everything she says.
I'm playing the piano and the last tip is really important, but i use it so, when i'm practicing and something does not work i play something else that i enjoy and know and i try what did not work again and most of the times it clicks second time.
Mary, you’re a lifesaver. I’ve been practicing in the dark. I’m actually playing better IN THE DARK. I’m faster, more confident. My tone and accuracy has improved. And I’m more creative. This one simple thing.
Same here at 51. I am taking Mary's beginner course. It's done quite well and well worth it. Hardest part for me is getting my fingers to contort to ungodly positions lol
I am still a beginner and when you said, "Accompany me", I thought I wasn't good enough but when I started playing and the chords started lining up, it felt so hauntingly good! Thank you for that! Kudos to the great videos you make. P.S. Congrats again on the John Mayer thing that happened (Both your version and his actual song are so darn good).
Mark Rup this is really interesting. I definitely resonate with it - I’ve been playing for more than half of my life now but still really consider myself a guitarist and not a musician per se. Maybe that’s just a personal judgement thing. What do you think are the factors? My brother is someone I consider a musician - wonderful guitarist but also plays keys and others. Perhaps it’s because I feel that he’s a musician first and the guitar is just a vessel? Hard to put the finger on!
@@cowieson For me, I guess it's several factors. I have been playing guitar for over 40 years. I can play just about anything -- but it's always other peoples music. ZZ Top's La Grange? Hell yeah, I can play the solos note for note. Pearl Jam's Yellow Ledbetter? Same thing. But ask me to improvise my own stuff over those same chord progressions and I'm at a loss. Every time i try it all just sounds the same -- IDK, maybe that's my "sound." Haha. And writing -- i have never written an original piece of music -- and not for a lack of trying. Believe me, I've tried. I am so envious of people like Mary, like Paul Davids, like Darrel Braun, etc. that can sit down and just noodle and it sounds great. Or write their own original riffs. Hell, I'm embarrassed to go into a Guitar Center and plug in. I just end up playing some REM song or some Foo Fighters song. It may sound good, but I'd rather just "noodle" without reservation and have it sound legit.
@@markrup6369 What helped me a lot to break out of the pentatonic trap was taking lessons from a teacher who taught music theory. A few very simple principles open up whole new ways to approach improvisation. I watch Rick Beato's channel a lot and his videos help to keep that information fresh. And I don't think I could play "La Grange" note-for-note for what it's worth :-). Love that track.
I had some issue with tip no. 5 ("call yourself a guitarist"), for I have put some thought and have had some conversations about that with other people. An interesting point of view I heard about referred to the level of the individual: - Guitar player: a person that plays guitar, as if it were just a set of instructions to follow. - Guitarist: a person with a deeper understanding of the instrument, knowing how to inject something of their own onto the instrument (come up with ideas, write riffs or songs, improvise or something on the like). - Musician: a person whose understanding and comprehension of music is not limited to the guitar (or any single instrument for that matter), and doesn't depend of it to comprehend or generate musical ideas. For me, it's a mix of the idea above and this: there's no major distinction between being a guitarist or a musician, it's more about what the individual has to actually do with it (music or guitar). It's not the same a doctor/lawyer/etc. that plays guitar really well, than having a person that not only plays guitar (or whatever instrument[s]) really well, but actually does for a living and it's what their life is about. And I know people are not just unidimensional beings who can only be driven by their profession, but it's fair to say that there's something in most people's lives that makes up for most of their dreams, passion and drive (e.g. I really, really like astronomy, but I wouldn't dare to even try making a career out of it or investing as much time to it as I have done with music). I call myself both a guitarist and a musician, for that's what I do. I have to, it's all I do and know how to do. I wouldn't call myself great, maybe not even good, but that's what I am. My two cents on the topic.
What’s crazy is I first watched this video about 5 months ago and couldn’t play B minor. And now I can. Thanks Mary Spender and to everyone playing guitar 🎸, keep rocking 🤘🏽
Tip 1 about about learning songs not riffs immediately rings true for me. I’ve tried and given up several times and I think not ever learning anything completely was a big part of the problem. I’ve started again recently with the approach of learning songs and it’s much more satisfying and might actually stick this time 😊
I didn't expect you to start singing. Very impressed with the tone of your voice. Fantastic! As a guitarist starting out, i really appreciate you putting the chords to the side when you sing. This way i can follow as well and learn the song. Many instructors don't do this and think that you automatically know how to play. Keep up the great work Mary!
I loved the "simplified" version of Primrose. For me, it touches someplace raw and pure that neither the official nor the acoustic version do. I am a beginner bassist. Thank you for this video, especially regarding learning complete songs that I love to listen/play and simplify if necessary. It inspired me to work on a bass part for Primrose simplified, it's haunting.
I always cringe at the idea of calling myself a Musician. I just feel that everyone will think i`m a Tosser.I am,but i don`t want other people knowing. I think it`s partly due to my inbuilt English trait of feeling i am bragging. I`ve settled on,"Shit Musician". It kinda ticks both boxes.A lot of what You say,sounds obvious,but You clearly understand how we operate,and need things spelled out to us. I was guilty of most,ok,all 12 scenarios that You presented. Great Video. Thank You
Ahaa same with the musician thing. I think it's mostly just because I don't feel good enough to give myself that title, but this video was incredibly useful
As someone addicted to scales in my younger days, and all the shredders, I had this idea one day. I would always be playing, enough to drive mom crazy, while just watching a movie, etc.. So, I took a small dish towel. Put this over your hand. It's actually a fascinating thing. You can still hear every note, but it completely dampens the sound. The best thing that I realized was, it made the tightness from my pick and my fretboard very prominent. In other words, I could feel every note rather than hearing the sustain. Granted, I'm only referring to practicing scales. Scales were always a meditative thing for me. Even fall asleep doing it. Great points Mary. Stay positive eveyone. Cheers!
12. Is so TRUE. My friend and I picked up the guitar around the same time (so i'm 3 weeks into it and he's like 5 or 6) and we learned plenty of songs, I wanted and almost learned 'kiling in the name' fully and same for him with 'master of puppets'. We went on a vacation with some other friends for around 4 days and when we got back home it's like we were experts with the guitar. The chords I had a hard time with before the vacation were so easy to play when I got back home. I know practice is important, but so are breaks. So when you can, take 2 days off and relax, then see how it goes for you
I'm playing for 2 months now and I've had most of these habits. I practice from 30 mins to 2 hours per day (some days i just don't) Almost got my first song , crying lightning bt the arctic monkeys And I'm now getting my first electric guitar aswell
Seriously. Number 2 is so underrated. I'm a gamer. I sit at my computer desk all day. If my guitar is right next to me, i'm gonna pick up that guitar every day and play it whenever a natural break occurs. If it was inside it's case or in a different room i would never play.
anyone ever told you you have the most beautiful mouth on earth, your talking voice is so warm and comforting but when you sing it`s like being hit by a freight train, this makes you unique and unique is always wonderful, keep up the great work.
Just a few observations but they're only my own opinion, others may disagree: *4 - Play in time* 100%. I've been playing a long time and I still forget this one. The bends, the pull offs and all the other tricks are useless if it's out of time. *7 - Gear doesn't make you better* As someone has already said, but it's worth repeating, it doesn't make you better but bad gear can really slow you down and even make you stop. Buy the best you can afford and save up. *9 - 5 minutes a day* Absolutely agree and I find that watching TH-cam or TV is a great time to practice. I can listen to a none musical YT session and get 10 minutes in easy. Great video, thanks.
Wow, I didn't start to make some progress until I stopped trying to play to a click. It caused me all kinds of trouble. For me and I am speaking only for me, no playing to a time click until I can play first. I commited to 1 year of just learning to play, learning theory, learning how to finger pick may way around the board. I don't play in a band, never will, I don't play in public or to an audience. I don't care if I ever can ever play in time. All I want is to be able to play a song possible next year. For now I just want to get my hands to work, I just want to be able to land my fingers on the right frets and pick the right string. When I learn that then I will play to time if possible. Like I said, this is likely not the way for 99 percent but it's the only way for me. Mary, love your playing and singing.
"Buy a stand for the room you spend the most time in" Well it's gonna be an awkward place to put it but I guess I'll put it in the shitter, maybe even guests could play🤔
I guess one tip I would have loved receiving when I started playing was: pick the guitar style that drives you. A lot of people say we need to start on the classic guitar, then move on to the folk guitar and finally the electric guitar. I personally found it more rewarding to start with an electric guitar, as it really matched what I wanted to play at that time. Also, electric guitar is slightly easier than the other types, so it makes it easier to improve faster and not feel demotivated.
If I could go back and advise myself years ago, I would have said to stick with electric guitar never give up, learn Nashville numbers, challenge yourself, and understand cord theory.
Guitar is basically the only thing that I want to do so much that I want to practice. I have been playing violin in school for a few years and I never want to practice 😅
This is one of the best advise. I always make sure that whenever I practice I keep my room dimly lit. Firstly it makes you able to play without heavily relying on the fretmarks and secondly the feeling is awesome.
Really good tips and a wonderfull song, Mary! I'm practicing not only standing up but also walking and looking around. And sometimes in the dark too. Don't keep looking at the fretboard all the time like a driving school beginner searching the pedals. Dare making mistakes. Don't try to be perfect in the beginning or compare yourself to Hendrix, Page, Gilmour, M. Spender ... :- ) Mary is playing and talking to the camera simultaneously. Try this! Play some chords or licks while talking to somebody or singing the song! Most important: Never give up learning! Sometimes you feel desperate seeing no progress or even a silver lining and some days or weeks later you're playing the song or the technique like barre chords better and better. That pushes you to go on! And: Always have fun playing guitar, no matter what level or song. Forget "Must" practice. Just play and succes will come by itself. Mix easy and challenging songs and techniques. Practicing always the same like Pentatonics is boring. Diversity helps to improve as well as repetition. Understand, how and why chords or licks (and so on) are working together! Theory! About gear: By my opinion you shouldn't buy too cheap. For beginners midprize guitars are sufficient. If you seriously want to learn and play, buy an instrument about 800$ or more. You'll soon feel and hear the difference of sound and quality. I bought a Dean Hardtail (2 humbucker, great sound) e-guitar to learn Paranoid/Black Sabbath and ... over. Just for fun. Then ... I caught fire and now I'm playing almost every day one or two hours or more especially now during "stayin home". :- ) In the meantime a Fender US Strat and an acoustic by Ortega complete my collection. Cheers to all and to our wonderful Mary from Bavaria/Germany. Take care!! P.S. Sorry for the XXL comment! But I wish I knew all this before when I started playing.
@@zahrah5836 I have my dream guitar now 🖤 I bought the Schecter Research Damien with Floyd Rose and sustainiac 6-string left handed satin black electric guitar 🤍 it’s truly so fucking beautiful and it was worth every penny
@@machinedaluminum haha ment it as in practice is worth^^ but I actually post on insta if you don't trust me ;P @relizmusic ^^ honestly as long as you have fun playing you'll vet better that's my spirit:)
Reliz i am exactly like that, i’m approaching two years and i’m very proud of my progress. putting in the hours really shows in the long run. i play 45-1 hour a day, or even 4+ hours if i’m feeling super creative 👍👍
I'm 75, and you don't need an endorsement from an old man who's no more than "adequate" as a guitarist, but I'll go ahead anyway. Excellent advice, Mary, from start to finish. I don't read music, and the only "tabs" that have ever made sense to me are the diagrams that take up part of the screen when you're playing "Primrose" (Now I know that chord shape I've been playing for years is a B Minor!). Mostly, I've learned by watching and listening to others. I have multiple guitars - all of them low-end in terms of cost, but all of them professionally set up by a luthier to suit me - and I leave some of them out on stands in the room where I'm typing this. I play daily, rotating from one guitar to another, at least once, usually for two or three songs, sometimes for an hour if I really get into it. "Slow down" is great advice for anyone playing live in front of an audience, and I do occasionally play in the dark - it's great for muscle memory. Cheers!
Hi Mary My first question for a future guitar player : Do you listen music ? if the answer is NO forget to learn music ..... and some people told NO If the answer is YES : imo a total of 30 mins /day during 90 days and the probability to continue playing guitar is pretty good but few will be mentally engaged to continue and endure the light pain on the tips on the fingers I think to incorporated bass guitar in the mix of connaissances is a very good thing for the most involved new guitarists. Just few hours by month by the side ....just for fun . It will enlarge the vision of musicality Many of my friends are guitarists and with 2-3-4 guitar players around i preferred playing some basic bass with them than guitar sometime Je joue depuis 43 ans et il y a toujours place a améliorer son jeu et le son . Chaque nouvelle chanson apporte aussi son lot de petites finesses propre a chaque artistes
I started with a teacher who forced me to play to a click. I got nothing accomplished. I was still struggling just to get my fingers in place and I could never keep up. He kept talking, watch me, follow me list, listen to what I'm playing and listen to the click. I would try and then just one more input and I went totally blank. Blank, blank, blank, blank, then it would take a minute to clear my mind and start over. 1 hour of practice time was gone in the blink of an eye and so was 30 dollars and nothing accomplished. Now before you jump all over me, I understand why it's important but there is absolutely no point in doing this until I start to find the strings, changes etc. No way I can play to a click until first I can play a bit. When I tried to explain what was happening and why it was giving me trouble, he would not listen. I wanted to slow down and go back to basics and he wouldn't hear of it. I fired him and I am making much more progress on my own. When I become somewhat proficient, I will give it a try. But for me as a beginner it flat out causes nothing but trouble. I might work fine for most but not me.
@@pcmountaindog like any skill in life, you have to lay foundations first. Never go for the second step until you make the first. You need to strive to put the basic things in your unconscious so you can build on it. If you can't do some task, go back a step and spend all the time you need to master it. Always go back to basics. Become a master of basics.
Best tip I've heard: "Don't just play a piece until you get it. Play it until you can't get it wrong." Nice video! :)
Scott Debruyn many of the tips is so fresh. I love it.
On top off that a trick u can do is when u get more knowledge swap the chords and position out off the song helps to and then u later on starts creating ur own variations :). don't be afraid to experiment.i'm a begineer myself but i find that really fun . The song kinda becomes a little bit more personal to. ^^ But yeah most important is to have fun.
I think this might depend on your personality.
Learning to allow myself to do some mistakes while playing helped me a lot to not frustrate over a piece. Being too perfectionist can be a problem also.
I was given that tip back in high school. The context was choir, but I took it with me to everything I do. "An amateur practices until he gets it right. A professional practices until he cannot get it wrong."
@@LakriTs9 My middle 8`s,invariably consisted of the chords for the verse,in reverse order. Later on i realised,a lot of Bands do that.It made me feel slightly less Amateur. Ha ha
"get the healthy 8 hours of sleep"
*me watching this at 4 am* : O.O
oopsies
🤷🏻♂️ At 4 am you can still get 8 hours of sleep.....
You can still get it. Just not at the right time.
Exactly 4:14 am here hahaha
Matheus César Casante 4:10 for me rn
Bought a guitar 3 hours ago, tuned it & now I’m a guitarist
@@BrightBlueJim play it on any string
You won't be for long ,you will have broke it and smashed it up, trying to learn in the dark.😂🤣😂🤣
No... you are not a guitarist.... you are the BEST GUITARIST!
You have to earn it
YES U IZZZZZZ🤙🎼
Dad: "What are you doing sitting a dark room?"
You: "Playing with myself"
AHAHAHAH NOOO HFGDFDGSLDHFG
Dad: "You... Wait- what?!"
You: "I'm playing guitar. By myself. In a dark room. What did you THINK I was doing?"
Dad: "... Nothing... Carry on."
XD This made me laugh, I'm sorry.
Dad:*EMERGENCY MEETING!!! "
Grow up, you are not funny.
@@can_sir125 What is that profile pic for? it looks familiar
I've been drumming for 20 years. I AM THE METRONOME.
Ok. Give me a beat at 85bpm, now!
@@whitewalker608yes boss: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Not. Yet.
Ima pianist and guitarist... drums are next
Then I'll evolve to be
THE METRONOME AND THE BAND
Yeah, but just because you are the time keeper, doesn't mean it's accurate. Lots of drummers feel the need to practice with something that keeps them honest; click, metronome, or backing tracks.
I recall Jaco saying that most of the drummers he ever played with had poor time, and he had to take over the role of time keeping.
I have tried practicing in the dark, but it took me half an hour to find my guitar LOL
That would be me if I tried to do that
Lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
😂🤣😂
😑😑
I stepped on mine. Maybe we should switch to grand piano.
Tip 5. Wow... I don't know, but i never say "I'm a guitarist" Cuz i think that someone will overestimate me.
Same. I dont want someone asking to play a certain song when the only thing I'm confident in is a g major chord.
I dont because of all the fucking things people use to make fun of guitarists.
No one wants to be the guy with the guitar at the party.
Or maybe I just go to the wrong parties
Mary is right. If you're making music with a guitar, you're a guitarist! Now, somebody takes that as "I'm kinda like Jimi Hendrix" that's their own damn problem, not yours.
I used to NEVER think or call myself a "Musician", even after years of playing and writing. Same reason as you. Then I had a friend, piano student at university. She says "writing a pop song is so hard!! I've never been able to"
I'm thinking "you play full Chopin pieces from memory, you call THAT 'very intuitive', but you have a hard time putting 3 or 4 triads together into a 3-min song?? whhat the fuckedy fuck!?! "
Fast forward 15 years -> I'm a musician (no if's, but's). And my friend has written plenty of pop-folk songs too. But only after she picked up an acoustic and became a beginner (at guitar) again. Moral of the story? -> Happy playing everybody! And ROCK ON!
Yeah I'm not ready to call myself a guitarist. I'm barely comfortable saying I play guitar.
I just called myself a Guitarist and it made me smile 😂
Me too haha
That’s good
I just called myself a guitarist, and laughed. With everyone else.
Yeah lol
It makes me feel like I'm a pro lmao
@@Baalaaxa honestly same- probably the same for most people XDD
I played exclusively in complete dark for 1 year. Totally changed everything on a deep level. The motor memory was almost trivial in comparison to the conection to music that happens, you become completely aware of your sound. It becomes like a hidden pleasure you cant wait to experience again at the end of the day.
I love how you described it!
damn making me want to buy one now lol
So like a music nut?
I recently started playing in the dark with my eyes closed on accident because I practice at like 1 am so I don’t want to turn my light on. I think being in the dark helps me relax and focus only on the ringing of the strings. When I can see and I am looking around I am freaking out and going against my muscle memory because I’m thinking too much about it.
Its strange, I have just recently started playing and when i close my eyes or practice in the dark, I locate chords better than looking.
I started playing at the age of 24 and struggled. By my mid-thirties, I was legally blind. My guitar playing improved since I was focused more on sound rather than trying to find spots on a grid. Playing in the dark is excellent advice.
Picking up the guitar was one of the best decisions I ever made. My only regret is that I wish I started earlier. It's one of the few things I can still do. I have a hard time with songs that jump all over the neck, but I've gotten pretty good at cheating. Where there's a will...
I'm 24 and I've been taking guitar lessons for the last 2 months. Thank you for this, so motivating!
There's a way ...
I’m 23 and still saving money for a guitar
How does that make sense if your blind than how did you watch this video and than reply to it?
London Buell Are you kidding...? There are a lot of options for blind people, like assistive technology (for example, screen readers). They’re blind, not deaf and stupid.
ive been playing for less than a month and I've already learnt 2 songs already, I know its not much but I'm pretty proud of myself and its my dream to become a pro guitarist. thanks for these though, this is very helpful
How much have you improved?
@@harshnarayan7656 well uh ive learned more songs and im practicing chords and stuff lol
@@zoinket3568
I've got a brand new guitar just 5 days ago and I m a total beginner
So....what do you think. I should learn the *cords and stuff first* or *fretting and picking*
I m totally confused...cause I've just learned 'happy birthday' till now 😂
@@jyotikukade2777 you can start off with tabs, they help you learn songs and stuff by picking only one string. They're good to use and understandable
@@zoinket3568 oh...thanks a lot man 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Why does she look like so many celebs at once? Emma Watson, Emma Mackey, Jenna Fischer, damn.
Maeve Willey, Pam Beesley, and Hermione Granger in 1 person
You forgot Katie Holmes!
My Money is on Emma Mackey.. hell I'm ALL IN!!
looks like ellen page too
edit: elliot page
Christian Stuart a bit!
“Make sure your strap is at a suitable length”
*has guitar at knee level*
... oh
Macd 199 this made me laugh way to hard and I don’t know why
Or Tom Morello armpit height..
Nahh mah dude ya fine it’s perfect Punk length
Agree! You don't need the other half of the neck! It's purely ornamental... I'm sure
*billie joe Armstrong has left the chat*
1. Make sure you are comfortable when playing. Keep your shoulders and back relaxed. Keeping your shoulders relaxed will greatly increase your ability to play faster portions of a song.
2. Find your anchor point for your right hand. It is much easier to play fingerstyle when you properly anchor your right hand by either resting your pinky below the strings, our if you prefer, your wrist or heel of your hand above the strings or on the bridge.
3. Learn to selectively mute strings that you do not want to play. Open strings will resonate along with picked strings and this can make playing sound noisy. You can mute with both your right and left hands.
4. Slow it way down. Play along with a metronome and play a slow as you can for as long as you can. This will make your playing sound cleaner, and also build the muscle memory for when you play faster, allowing you to play faster while still sounding clean.
5. Try not to practice in front of other people. Practice on your own, and only play for others once you feel confident that you have the piece down.
6. Learning a new song involves learning the mechanical movements, then doing those movements fluidly and then playing with feeling. The one thing that sets all the guitar greats apart from the rest of the world is that they can play with feeling EVERY SINGLE TIME.
7. This one goes with 6. One of the best things you can do while playing guitar is to smile. Smile when you nail a particularly challenging run. Sure your family will think you are crazy, but this one really really works. Smiling while you play will teach you how to put more feeling into playing.
8. When you play guitar, it is just you and the guitar. You and your guitar are having a private conversation. Learn to make the world disappear and just focus on the two of you.
9. Learn to hear where you are going while playing, rather than think where your fingers have to be next. Jimmi Hendrix said his aim was to ultimately be one with the music, and I personally believe that when you start thinking in music rather than finger movements, then you get closer to achieving this.
10. Tap your foot to keep rhythm while playing. This one imparts a natural rhythm to your playing that listeners will immediately appreciated.
11. Rhythm rhythm rhythm. Practice with a metronome, until you can maintain the beat through-out your entire fingerstyle piece. You will notice that while playing parts you find challenging you will fall behind the metronome. The minute I start playing along with a metronome my wife will often tell me that my playing is sounding better than normal. A persons ear is naturally drawn to rhythm.
12. Don't be afraid to zoom in on parts of a song you are having difficulty with. If you have a chord change you are struggling with, just practice that chord change over and over, and you will find that you very quickly start over coming that road block.
13. Try to think ahead of where you currently are in a song. Once you get really comfortable playing a song you can start thing ahead so that you never end up blanking out on where to go next and losing rhythm while you figure it out.
14. Always make sure that your tuning is spot on while practicing. It does not matter how well you play a piece, if your guitar's tuning is out, it will not sound as could as it could. I tune my guitar every time I practice.
Thank you for your great tips Mary. If I had to pick the most important two above it would be, smile while playing and play with a metronome/tap your foot while playing.
All great tips! Regarding number two, however, I would say try to avoid resting your pinky below the strings. Having an anchor is important, but anchoring with your pinky out like that creates extra tension in your hand, and the idea is that you want to play with as little tension as possible. It's a good anchor to have, but does ultimately affect your playing in the long run.
neopolythe Wow #8 is golden.
I've been playing probably about 8 years and I still struggle with 3. After a year away I'm coming back and really focusing on fixing the sloppy playing I've always had an issue with. It's frustrating (hi gain metal nerd so everything rings >_
@@Shugo819 I agree, anchoring is a personal preference. There are some song which i like to anchor when playing as it offers more stability however there are other songs where i feel that my hand is restricted by being anchored to one position when playing. Great tips all the same!
fuck this is gold, thank you!! im learning, I will follow each the advice you gave.
I’m a guitarist there I said it.
luke, the guitarist.
proudd
@@dalal2492 it does has a ring to it
Me too! It’s nice to meet another GUITARIST
I'm blown away when musicians can play the guitar and sing at the same time like this. You have a beautiful voice and great song.
I sing when playing. I’m not a good singer but when I sing while playing it helps me so much with timing! It just makes sense when to change chords
It took me about a year and a half of playing to be able to sing and play at the same time -- until that I, like you, was amazed by it. I found that two songs helped me get over that hurdle -- "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan and "True Love Will Find You in the End" by Daniel Johnston. Both have easy chord changes that correspond to the phrasing of the lyrics (to Noëmi's point). Obviously there are tons of others but these are songs I like that are in my singing range, that worked for me. Having the song printed out from something like Ultimate Guitar Chords helps too, with the chord indicated directly over the lyric where the change happens, with no extraneous musical notation.
It's easy as pie once guitar-playing is automatic! I sing and play too. But, the first bit is that you have to be adept enough with chord changes to easily play without looking, hence Mary's playing in the dark advice (which is good). You shouldn't need to look! Once all that is running smoothly it's easy to add singing on top, especially since you're keeping time with the guitar and following your own cues.
I agree with you, Mary's tips of playing while standing with your guitar and playing without looking/or playing in the dark make a difference if you intend to sing at the same time as play, especially with a microphone, as you won't be heard if the mike is too far from your face. I sang before I started playing the guitar, so I guess I'm learning the other way from others, but learning to find the different chords and notes without looking is a game changer.
🚨 SIMP ALERT 🚨
I play in the dark while tripping on acid to recreate that real 80s rock concert experience.
😂😂😂
DissonancePlays 👏👏
😂
*D E V E R A S B R U T A L*
Lol
I’ve been playing for 28 years as a novice. I recently started learning from someone who tied it all together, but your method of playing in the dark has taken my playing to another level! Thank You
You are not teaching your fingers to play it.... you are teaching your brain to remove itself from the process!! :)
5:50 YES, there were so many times when I couldn't get a progression right, I would give up and go to bed, and the next day I would get it right in the first couple of tries. A good night's sleep can make a huge difference.
T-t-t-timing: I had a friend with a good singing voice but who was crap at keeping in time. I told him to do it as he danced, and after a while he'd be able to do the dance in his head.
It worked - he got good timing - and became a dancer. 😂
Anyway, I just thought I'd pass on my tip for helping to get good timing: do it as a dance.
And that's a tip for life too: do it as a dance. 🎼🎶💃🕺♫♬👍
@@abigail-tn5ds There's these gadgets too: www.soundbrenner.com/?TOF+%7C+Conversions+%7C+WW+%7C+28.5.20&Lookalike+%28Worldwide%2C+1%25%29+-+Facebook+Page+%7C+Sent+Message+%7C+90DAYS&fbclid=IwAR17NERno_7DVLXilXvszT9mAsjrBudIITZBEFquclkbfNd6DJ9Y8oa6s7w
That’s a great tip to remember. I have played with musicians who struggled to keep time. Maybe I will tell this to them. Haha.
Good tip! I read t-t-t-timing like the start of Dora in the tune d-d-d-Dora
@@Idontknowwhattoputlmao11 lol I was just about to say that
@@fbhdqjwjrjgj 😂
I have been doing this for decades. Playing in the dark tunes my ears to every string and develops a solid muscle memory. A metronome is a must.
My daughter bought me a guitar stand about 10 years ago. I had not played much for the previous 30 years, but I started playing again because the guitar was there and have enjoyed playing ever since.
Likewise. I found a good quality small amp and a few choice effects also helped to make playing more pleasurable and naturally ended up playing more.
Damn! didn't know Maeve Wiley is such a great guitarist, singer and advisor!
Yeah bro that's what I thought.....
Maeve Wiley??
Gregg Sidwell she's a character played by Emma Mackey on a series called Sex Education. She looks remarkably similar for sure!
IKRRRRRRRRRRRR
Just came scrolling to see if there's someone feeling the same!
I’m a classical violinist why am I here
please, i play clarinet, i asked myself the same thing
Because I’m not practicing violin 😭😔
Same
I should be practicing my violin now but...
I have the answer to all of you questions! you are here because....
you clicked on the video.
Mary when I play my wife says it sounds like I’m playing in the dark
Per Context' Dear Lord' Thats Funny!🎸👍
f
Lol nice one
Reported.
LOL
I'm an intermediate guitarist but I've found some of these tips useful. Another advice I have is spend half of your practice time learning a new thing (whether thats a new song, technique, scale etc) and the other half playing the songs and backing tracks you enjoy. You'll stay more motivated and you'll get better at the same time
How do i do all that in 5 minutes?
Good advice. It`s easy to play stuff you can play. Learn how to play something you can`t. Treading water is easy,and reassuring,but will stop any progress.
@@Pieter_Auper i honestly feel like should play however long you like. If you dont like it just dont play i play the guitar daily because i want to not because i make myself do it
My undergrad is in music... and then I took an interest in psychology and neuroscience (which probably means I will perpetually be a student). Thank you for mentioning #12. This can't be stressed enough. Research has shown that WHEN you practice in relation to when you sleep can also make a difference in skills acquisition or memory retention (and there are different optimal strategies based on what you're trying to accomplish). The following ties in to sleep and that is... stop practicing the same thing over and over again for hours on end. While repetition is needed to get something into muscle memory, many people often overdo it. Let's say in a given week you want to practice comping, learn a song, and maybe a finger style exercise. You're better off practicing each of those things for 15 minutes per day (45 minutes total per day) for a total of 5 hours and 15 minutes for the week instead of practicing each skill for 3 hours, on 3 different days (for a total of 9 hours of practice for the week). Why? Because sleep is when the brain optimizes those new neural connections you've made by practicing earlier in the day. Giving your brain seven opportunities to optimize each skill will result in faster progression by using short practice sessions, vs. only one opportunity in the approach where you practice fewer days, but for a much longer period. In addition, there is a point of diminishing returns when focusing on one skill. In that 3 hour practice session, if it's skills based, you'll make the bulk of your progression in the very beginning of that session, and then the rest of it... not so much. If you're trying to memorize something, "cramming" by practicing for an extended period will improve memory retention for the very next day (so this is a good strategy if you need to learning something ASAP) but research shows that long-term retention is very poor when you employ cramming.
There's a great lecture from The Great Courses called "The Learning Brain" (don't get it directly from The Great Courses website... it's like $250 bucks... Audible has it for $15... not sure what their logic is by having a ridiculously high price on their website). It was produced fairly recently so the research is still relevant. Guitar Zero is a good read as well (it's about the neuroscience and cognitive psychology of learning guitar at an older age). Finally, while it's not about psychology or neuroscience, "The Music Lesson" by bassist and music educator extraordinaire Victor Wooten combines fiction and non-fiction to convey Victor's experience and philosophies towards learning music. I'd recommend listening to the audio book, and not reading it as Victor narrates it himself and there's some aspects of the storytelling that are enhanced by Victor's performance.
Thank you for this very underrated and helpful input.
Way too long. You verbose tool.
Men, you say really useful thinks. Thanks for it!
Something to add to the 7th point:
Gear doesn't make you better, but it's a lot easier to blame "sounding bad" on bad gear, than it is on good gear. When I bought a good instrument for the first time, it really clicked and I knew I didn't sound bad because of my instrument and that made me work a lot harder.
I learned this as well. A brand new inexpensive guitar with a terrible "stock" setup vs fairly expensive used one with a perfect (to me) setup is such a jump in progress. But it does make you appreciate the extra work you put in to play the bad one.
Very true but, you don’t need to spend a shed load on gear. Just make sure it isn’t unplayable crap. Some of the really nasty cheap beginners kits (normally fender strat lookalikes) are so
well priced they tempt people in on the basis of ‘well if I take to playing I can spend more’ later
The reality is it can put you off because no one will spend out on a pro setup if they’ve only spent 100£ on the whole ‘kit’ !
"Spend a lot " means different things too different people.
I disagree with one thing you say. You say buy an instrument you like the look of so it will inspire you. We're talking musical instruments. Sound matters much more than looks. Buy an instrument you like the sound of. That sound will inspire you.
Journey of Awesome yes it does but anyone can work out that a guitar that’s worth £1k (regardless of whether you like the colour, sound or style will be better than one costing £100 - the point is, spend what you can reasonably afford and try and steer clear if the cheapest of the cheap
Wow, you have such a calming voice. You really make people believe in themselves with that calm voice - amazing!
'Keep your guitar out of it's case'
Me sitting in my tiny living room with 12 guitars scattered about
... Yep I think we got that one down
Your so jammie ah know can only play one at a time but give a thought to those of us who have one two max and any chance of giving me one 🤔😜🙏
"5 minutes a day". Wow I must be pretty into guitar cause right now in quarantine I play up to 7 hours a day.
Omg saammme!!!!!
That’s great! Just make sure not to burn yourself out!
@@Excelsior1937 lmao so far in quarantine I have written 4, 40+ second, only guitar instrumental songs
@@cybo9977 same
That used to be when I was a teenager, I used to play many, many hours. Try to keep up with it, even if you reduce the hours when life starts getting in the way, starting over somehow it's proving harder for me than the learning the first time.
its such a good feeling when you’re the only guitarist in your band and someones like “what do you play?” and you get to say “oh, me? im the guitarist”
I told my parents I wanna learn and they said that would be cool and they said they might get me one for my birthday coming in March
I hope you get it! It's an amazing experience
I hope they're not politicians.
If you get one, def make sure to start with a simple song that you love. That will hook you on guitar instantly, at least it did for me. :)
My friends just got me one for my 18th bday!!!
hi abigail: look on wikipedia into major thirds tuning and perfect fourths tuning.
i use major thirds and while it's really different, it reduces the basics you need to learn. it also forces you to figure out why things are the way they are.
but it's also more complicated because nobody plays this way. look it up and decide for yourself!
“Call yourself a guitarist” I don’t think I ever thought about that up until this point. Great advice
"Playing in the dark", sounds like the tittle of a song.
Or my search history
Fishin in the dark
Maybe
th-cam.com/video/129kuDCQtHs/w-d-xo.html
?
Coil's album
The lyric “Hello darkness, my old friend” comes from Paul Simon’s habit of sitting in his bathroom in the dark and playing his guitar there because of the acoustics.
Great tips! I've been playing off and on for 45 years. Practicing in the dark is the best advice I've ever gotten. Thank you!
In my opinion practice with a purpose. Don’t just start playing as fast as you can. Start slow and gradually move up in speed paying attention to string muting. Also, don’t over practice! If you’re over practicing you’re practicing without any real purpose, not paying attention to your string muting or hand synchronization and moving through pieces too fast with no idea or concept of time. Practice with a metronome. And if you just don’t have it that day, take a break and come back to it the next day or in a couple days, until you have more focus on practice with a purpose. If you think about it, you might practice extremely well and have great hand sync but the next three days you don’t and your muscle memory goes right out the door. You need consistent practice with good hand synch and timing to ingrain that in your hands and keep it there.
I totally agree! But I think that's what you should do when you start wanted to learn seriously, when you decide you want to become a better and better musician, but before that I'd just go straight ahead and just try to please yourself
How do you over practice? Just take a break and come back later. I practice in 15 to 20 min intervals multiple times a day. Each time i try to work on something a little different but the same. Pactice new cords , then those new chords with different strums , later just a practice exercises .
@@hunterraoulduke IMO if your not practicing with proper technique it’s a waste of time and effort. When people get tired or bored and noodle around it’s probably time to put it down. Otherwise you emphasize bad technique and your undoing all the good technique you were learning.
@@NatureandSpirit111 im sure noodling has its benefits. If i get to make it sloppy i just take a break for a bit, and good when i come back. There is nothing wrong with breaks. when i get sloppy it shows me what bad habits i have tendcy for and how to fix it because i realize why something is not working for me. Sloppy play helped me figure out what causing ceratin issues and to do things like lower my thumb on the neck to gap so i dont touch surroundingstring, to tuck my elbow in. Shit now that i think about sloppy play taught me a lot with out direction from anyone.
@@hunterraoulduke you could be right. For me it didn’t work out that way. We’re all different though. I never realized what was causing my sloppy play and it became very hard breaking out of my patterns after so many years when I tried to take lessons. Sometimes after I take a break and come back I feel like I play way better and seem to sound better too. That’s why I figured it was better from a long term standpoint plus it’s more fun that way for me and that keeps me motivated. I’m nowhere near where I want to be but working my way there.
Wow, her voice is just so deep and how professional she acts while giving tips. Fun fact, at first I said, I'll just watch until the tips are over. But when she started singing, daammmm what a nice voice. I hope you achieve success at your career.
I feel obligated to point out that her bedroom nightstand is an amp.
That is not fair I cant do that, mine is 1m20 height. Who in the world has a nightstand that much higher than his bed
what if she puts a drink on itt 😭
In the early days of one of my bands, the bass player actually suggested we do your tip #11!
We'd work on songs together for a few hours, then run through them with the lights out. It made us concentrate - and (most importantly) it made us listen to each other more carefully to make sure we were locked in. I completely forgot that we ever did this, but on down the road I'm going to to try it out again!
Leave it to the bass player to come up with something profoundly creative! (Bass is my favorite instrument to play). I practice daily and will play in the dark probably once a week just to keep my muscle memory sharp. And yes, it always helps me listen to the rest of the music more carefully.
@@ghosttownreview1531 Classic bassist response! (Only joking - I love basslines and sometimes the people who play them)
Hmmm, sounds like your bass player was diplomatically telling the rest of you to listen and pay closer attention to what you were playing. lol ; )
All of this is great advice.
More than half a century onto my life, I'm finally realizing the importance of sleep and its countless benefits to everything from biological, physiological, mental, psychological to even spiritual. Good practice/work habits and falling asleep with a positive attitude will get you where you want to go, and transform you into whatever you want to be, faster than just about anything else on the planet. And you won't be frustrated, worn out and tired. You'll be energized and excited.
Everyone can spare 5 minutes a day. Most of us waste more time than that watching some idiotic thing on TV or just staring at social media. Imagine the rewards of applying it to something you really want to do. As Mary said, you'll quickly lose track of time and spend it learning, practicing and playing.
I just love how you keep an open mind and keep growing: every time I hear you play Primrose, I swear you allow it breathe and grown in its own way. I love it... the slightest changes in inflection, tone, rhythm, pace ... I love the thought that your songs are an integral / bi-product of you and your own core - so you allow to grow and develop just as you do too. It's just beautiful to see and hear :)
I've been playing for quite some years now and this is the BEST beginner advice I've seen in TH-cam! Experience players may benefit from your advice as well! Thank you!
Practice when you're insanely depressed. I'm always surprised at my playing under great stress and depression. Avoid pinene terpenoids. Don't practice on a full belly. Have a hedgehog in the same room. All good advice!
The hedgehog is the best tip on here - not easily achieved but an absolute must
"Pinene terps" got me.
Hey man maybe you need to get help for your insane depression......lol
Ron Callahan nah... I've been dealing with it since 2003, and in the last 45 days I lost my mother and them my cat of 16 years, Zipper. It was like getting my depression tank topped off for another 5 years. To be honest, I'm surprised I haven't died of a broken heart yet. I'm in hell these last few weeks. I barely know what's real anymore. My guitar keeps me grounded a bit though.
I was depressed and my best song was "Black Dog " by Led Zeppelin. I think that Someone slipped me a bad trip at the time.
I cannot help falling in love with your British accent.
5: Or "musician", this is particularly important for women. You are what you do every day, get over your imposter syndrome right now. It has nothing to do with how good you or anyone else thinks you are, it's just a functional description of what you do. Great advice.
IU had no idea HOW MUCH I had given in to the imposter syndrome. Has taken me a while to realise yet alone just working on it.
tl;dr shred only gets you attention for a few minutes, people in general really are interested in hearing complete music rather than impressive sections of songs
The first tip really hit me hard, I remember the moment I realised that I can play the first two minutes of Far beyond the sun, the Rising force solo, the section between the country part and the jazz part of Jason Richardson's Hos Down, some mindless sweep arpeggios, a bit of No Boundaries by MAB, a part of Jason's solo in Aviator, a part of Through the fire and flames, first two minutes of Vivaldi's Summer, random bits of Andy James' songs, some more shredding and some more sweep arpeggios, but can't even play Nothing else matters from the start to finish. Or Stairway. Or Green day. Or even the bloody Wonderwall.
I've been playing instruments for as long as I can remember (literally), I even studied performance arts (cello), so being 21 now it makes for about 17 years of playing instruments. I'm a programmer now, but I keep music as a big hobby, however that's besides the story. I've always been interested in playing fast, even when I was like 10 I always wanted my cello teacher to give me the fast pieces, the tough ones, the ones, that will impress the moms that came to watch their kids at the school concert. I don't see that as a bad approach of course, learning difficult pieces rather than "just to play something" taught me that practise was the key. This escalated even more when I joined the conservatory, as my professor was excited to teach technique, so my requests for tough pieces were even more welcome. But the real thing started when around that time I picked up the electric guitar (after years of it just sitting in my bedroom) and discovered all the shred. I've spent about 4 years perfecting NOTHING but technique, every day I was fierce to play faster than yesterday. I'd spend several hours daily just building speed. I thought this was the key to finally get recognised as a guitarist or a musician at all.
Fast forward to something around a year ago, when I started socializing on my uni, we would go out in the park to drink and play guitars and I'd at some point borrow a guitar off of someone and do my thing. Of course people listened up, looked at my fingers flying across the fretboard, my right hand banging out one note right after the other, saying "wow damn u can play" and stuff. For fifteen minutes, till I ran out of 30-second shred segments of songs. Then the rest of the evening was all for the people that knew chords almost every song anyone there could think of, singing, having fun and stuff.
A while later I met my current girlfriend, she was fascinated by people that play instruments, so I of course played for her. She even liked shred, said it was nice to look at thinking how much time had gone into it, but I'd every now and then play River flows in you, of course only a bit and terribly, as I'd never really practised fingerstyle or even playing music for the sake of musical value. And this is the one she remembered and would want me to play, saying "awww, this one is so nice, shame you don't know the whole thing", to which I thought something like "out of all the stuff I played this beginner fucking thing is the one you want me to play, phew.." but giving it a second thought, that was the moment I finally realised that while fretboard acrobacy certainly DOES impress people, playing beautiful complete music will make them stick around, seek your performance and truly like your playing. And also, many of the tough shreddy bits are just a part of a nice song, so why not just learn the whole thing? :)
If you read this far, thanks. Hope this helps you. Have a nice day and happy playing, whatever instrument it is.
I'd advise any beginner to start writing asap. Songwriters get paid more than musicians for a reason: because it's harder to do. I could play famous solos after a couple of years. It took me six years to write something I'd let anybody hear and even then it was quite naive.
I normally am a bit long winded if I choose to comment at all but, in this case I am going to have to cut myself short and say only part of what I'm thinking and, if possible I'll return later to complete my thoughts. I read your entire comment and couldn't agree more, being 48 yrs old and having spent so much time practicing lead blues stuff, 1 or 2 sweeping arpeggios and some riffs, finger tapping,, mainly though I spent a lot of time having fun improvising leads over backing tracks of my own on an old 4 track , or joining in on the radio with jazz or blues instrumentals. As much as I enjoy doing that , it gets tedious after awhile for me and anyone else who is interested. At first it's , wow , you really jam, but the simple Songs I've learned to play and sing , a few chords and that's what people want to hear are the songs , little stories, poetry in motion. People respond to music, and that's all cultures, and not just the human animal. Music hath charms right? People love stories and songs are these little stories that are more apt to make people cry, I think, than a beautiful instrumental, because the words hit so hard when set properly to music. Chris Cornell of Soundgarden fame(God rest his soul) would do an acoustic version of I will always love you, Dolly Parton's song popularized by Whitney Houston and, it would break up the monotony for him and was amazing for the audience as well. He does a great cover of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean , more a rendition than a cover, and that's the other great thing about guitar, music in general is it's all Rock and Roll, and there are no rules. We always hunger to improve and learn more, but the most important thing is having fun. You and those listening and, people respond to your enthusiasm. If you're having fun, 3 chords and the truth, huh? That's as good as 1 million notes per second, flight of the bumble bee is always engaging ,with it's speed and required dexterity, but the little stories, Bob Dylan or Led Zeppelin, are the ones that are most viscerally impressive, when you feel something, again I think, is when your on to something. Instrumental like Little Wing, or just a little 3 chord song like All along the watchtower. I've managed,once again to have no discipline when it comes to talking music and I really gotta go. If you've come this far lol, I appreciate your patience but music is really something. For those of us who are lucky enough, blessed enough to be passionate about it, to get it,the power of it....I think we're all very lucky. A blessing to have this powerful thing in our lives and love it above all things, or at least as well. We have something special. Bonnie Raits father , John Rait ,famous for his big voice, showtunes like "Oklahoma" Broadway stuff said something like 'there are only 2 kinds of music, Zippidy Doo Da, and the blues" and Duke Ellington said "there are only 2 kinds of music , Good music , and the other stuff'.....I really like good music, both kinds. ☮️ Peace , Stan
@@stanphillips7277 Great comment Stan, I'm glad mine spoke to you on these levels
Sometimes I feel that youtube comments can be unnecessarily lengthy, but dude, in this case I really enjoyed the whole freakin' story. I think that this point about learning entire songs cannot be overstated, and you did a great job of illustrating that idea with your own story. I have had a similar journey with my own playing and awakening, but it sounds like you've practiced more that I have, and you told it better that I would have. Thanks for this.
Beautiful voice. Love your playing. I’ve been a guitarist for over 50 years and I still learned something from your 12 tips. Thank you.
When you play in the dark dont forget the guitar!
Lmao
You win the internet for today, or well, just my laughs, haha Ltd gz
Just found about you a couple days ago. And i'm so grateful. You're such a nice woman not afraid to talk about how hard it is to learn and how often we're going to make mistakes even after many years of practice. Not only showing your perfect recordings like in "why georgia", a video that i loved. Keep it up, you're great and thank you for what you do. Love from france
You are wise beyond your years . Been playing for 56 years and enjoy the way you present a subject . Along the lines of number 3 -it’s not the amount of notes you play that’s important it’s playing with feeling .You can connect you heart with one note and feel all the joy of the world . You play and sing with your heart . Keep up the good work ! Rich Whalley “Blues Hangover”
Another version of step 11 (call it step 11.5 if you wish), is practicing in front of a mirror.
Pros: it keeps your eyes away from the guitar while not completely removing the need to look when you need to. It does help reinforcing muscle memory and playing without looking at the guitar.
Cons: you may catch yourself looking for reflective surfaces during performances. I have done this, and it's distracting not just to you, but the audience as well. at this point, practice in the dark or with your eyes closed
Totally.
if you dont want to practice in the dark a blindfold can also work.
Comfort is also key, adjust the guitar position so you are comfortable, my girlfriend has been trying to play a few chords for years always struggled, i looked at what she did and simply lifted the guitar slightly and she felt much more comfortable and was able to hit the chords she had been struggling with, same applies for standing up
Some of the best tips ever and I agree with them all. I feel #7 is so so important . Get a guitar that really trips your trigger. You’ll wanna play it simply because you like the guitar . I ran into this problem . I have a new guitar that just didn’t feel comfortable to me or ..... just wasn’t what I wanted so there for I lost interest. After several years I finally went and picked up a guitar that felt comfortable and was absolutely beautiful . I just can’t stop admiring this guitar , so I pick it up constantly and play it. It really made a difference for me.
5:07
That’s Maeve and Otis,
You can’t deny it...
Omg-
ohh myyy.. hell yeah
Damn homie your voice is smooth asf, makes me feel really calm listening to your tips
I think I could listen to Mary talk all day long. What a wonderful voice.
I think It is because she must be English, because if she were North American, oh God, what a horrible tone of voice she should be, like speaking through her nose🙂like almost north american does🤨
@@evaskjerd I certainly presumed she's English. And I agree with you, I think - I think my reaction wouldn't have been the same if I'd pegged her as some region of America. I remember getting the same kind of reaction from myself once while watching a Kate Beckinsale interview.
Bristol? It's in her song, Primrose.
Her voice is incredible, but not just because of the accent...it's the tonality of her voice...and ZERO horrid fry tones. It's just a beautiful instrument and she clearly takes care of it. There's a correlation I think between great singers and their dulcet speaking voices. I've noticed the connection! I've never noticed someone with awful creaky fry tones singing like this.
"Practice in the dark"
Me, who is still afraid of the dark sometimes: No, I don't think I will.
can you talk in normal lingus, you fool?
then i would recomend not looking at the neck when playing focus on a dot in the room you are and just go by feel on the neck that is what i do
@@davidpetersson8827 Thanks, man.
Maybe playing « fear of the dark » would help you 😂
Joseph Morris, playing in the dark is actually really good advice and will help your ability to play without looking at your fingers.
You look like Emma Watson's cousin or something XD
Omg! I see it!
DeathBunny thought the same
Exactly what I thought!
tru
Yep yep
Listen to everything she says. She is spot-on with every tip. I've been all over the internet for 3 years regarding beginner tips. Now that I'm no longer a beginner, I totally agree with everything she says.
I'm playing the piano and the last tip is really important, but i use it so, when i'm practicing and something does not work i play something else that i enjoy and know and i try what did not work again and most of the times it clicks second time.
I've spent so much time on tips #12.
I guess I am a good guitarist
Mary, you’re a lifesaver. I’ve been practicing in the dark. I’m actually playing better IN THE DARK. I’m faster, more confident. My tone and accuracy has improved. And I’m more creative. This one simple thing.
Thank you!
I'm a middle aged beginner, and the things that you've said really make sense.
Really appreciate it
same here.
Same.
Same here at 51. I am taking Mary's beginner course. It's done quite well and well worth it. Hardest part for me is getting my fingers to contort to ungodly positions lol
Same here.
"Gear doesn't make you better" - Try telling that to my dealer.
i'm here for the vigier and the two-rock amp !! ;)
So true...
'Hi, I need a new pick'
Leaving with a new guitar
Tip 13, don’t let your dealer buy you stuff you don’t want ;-)
Now when you say "gear"....
I am still a beginner and when you said, "Accompany me", I thought I wasn't good enough but when I started playing and the chords started lining up, it felt so hauntingly good! Thank you for that! Kudos to the great videos you make.
P.S. Congrats again on the John Mayer thing that happened (Both your version and his actual song are so darn good).
You can only defeat yourself. Never give up and be patient. Learning guitar is like learning another language. It takes time so don't give up.
Mary -- great advice. I have no issue calling myself a "guitarist" but I WANT to call myself is a "musician." I'm a looooong way away from that.
Mark Rup this is really interesting. I definitely resonate with it - I’ve been playing for more than half of my life now but still really consider myself a guitarist and not a musician per se. Maybe that’s just a personal judgement thing. What do you think are the factors?
My brother is someone I consider a musician - wonderful guitarist but also plays keys and others. Perhaps it’s because I feel that he’s a musician first and the guitar is just a vessel? Hard to put the finger on!
@@cowieson For me, I guess it's several factors. I have been playing guitar for over 40 years. I can play just about anything -- but it's always other peoples music. ZZ Top's La Grange? Hell yeah, I can play the solos note for note. Pearl Jam's Yellow Ledbetter? Same thing. But ask me to improvise my own stuff over those same chord progressions and I'm at a loss. Every time i try it all just sounds the same -- IDK, maybe that's my "sound." Haha. And writing -- i have never written an original piece of music -- and not for a lack of trying. Believe me, I've tried. I am so envious of people like Mary, like Paul Davids, like Darrel Braun, etc. that can sit down and just noodle and it sounds great. Or write their own original riffs. Hell, I'm embarrassed to go into a Guitar Center and plug in. I just end up playing some REM song or some Foo Fighters song. It may sound good, but I'd rather just "noodle" without reservation and have it sound legit.
@@markrup6369 What helped me a lot to break out of the pentatonic trap was taking lessons from a teacher who taught music theory. A few very simple principles open up whole new ways to approach improvisation. I watch Rick Beato's channel a lot and his videos help to keep that information fresh. And I don't think I could play "La Grange" note-for-note for what it's worth :-). Love that track.
I had some issue with tip no. 5 ("call yourself a guitarist"), for I have put some thought and have had some conversations about that with other people.
An interesting point of view I heard about referred to the level of the individual:
- Guitar player: a person that plays guitar, as if it were just a set of instructions to follow.
- Guitarist: a person with a deeper understanding of the instrument, knowing how to inject something of their own onto the instrument (come up with ideas, write riffs or songs, improvise or something on the like).
- Musician: a person whose understanding and comprehension of music is not limited to the guitar (or any single instrument for that matter), and doesn't depend of it to comprehend or generate musical ideas.
For me, it's a mix of the idea above and this: there's no major distinction between being a guitarist or a musician, it's more about what the individual has to actually do with it (music or guitar). It's not the same a doctor/lawyer/etc. that plays guitar really well, than having a person that not only plays guitar (or whatever instrument[s]) really well, but actually does for a living and it's what their life is about.
And I know people are not just unidimensional beings who can only be driven by their profession, but it's fair to say that there's something in most people's lives that makes up for most of their dreams, passion and drive (e.g. I really, really like astronomy, but I wouldn't dare to even try making a career out of it or investing as much time to it as I have done with music).
I call myself both a guitarist and a musician, for that's what I do. I have to, it's all I do and know how to do. I wouldn't call myself great, maybe not even good, but that's what I am.
My two cents on the topic.
What’s crazy is I first watched this video about 5 months ago and couldn’t play B minor. And now I can. Thanks Mary Spender and to everyone playing guitar 🎸, keep rocking 🤘🏽
So this is what Maeve did when she left for a while..
OMG yeahhh
Yash Kapur YES !!!!!! Thank you
WOAHH
Wthhh😹😹😹😹
Was thinking the same lol
Just found you and I'm sold. Your voice is calming and I just started calling myself a guitarist today.
Thank you!
I'm sold, too.
hi its been 5 months now..hows it
@@srersh05 it's going well and I'm about to begin recording
Tip 1 about about learning songs not riffs immediately rings true for me. I’ve tried and given up several times and I think not ever learning anything completely was a big part of the problem. I’ve started again recently with the approach of learning songs and it’s much more satisfying and might actually stick this time 😊
11… Practicing in a dark room, well I am blind so I got this one covered LOL
So... how can you be sure that the room's dark 🤔😉
@@WideCuriosity For him the room is always dark.
I’m sorry but your banner is killing me idk why it’s so funny 💀
roaring twenties tossing pennies in the pool what?
@@JustinHollandFitness Your channel banner is funny to me
I didn't expect you to start singing. Very impressed with the tone of your voice. Fantastic! As a guitarist starting out, i really appreciate you putting the chords to the side when you sing. This way i can follow as well and learn the song. Many instructors don't do this and think that you automatically know how to play. Keep up the great work Mary!
I loved the "simplified" version of Primrose. For me, it touches someplace raw and pure that neither the official nor the acoustic version do. I am a beginner bassist. Thank you for this video, especially regarding learning complete songs that I love to listen/play and simplify if necessary. It inspired me to work on a bass part for Primrose simplified, it's haunting.
Did you ever record it?
@@levipicard7685 No I did not. I never got past the beginner level.
I always cringe at the idea of calling myself a Musician. I just feel that everyone will think i`m a Tosser.I am,but i don`t want other people knowing. I think it`s partly due to my inbuilt English trait of feeling i am bragging. I`ve settled on,"Shit Musician". It kinda ticks both boxes.A lot of what You say,sounds obvious,but You clearly understand how we operate,and need things spelled out to us. I was guilty of most,ok,all 12 scenarios that You presented. Great Video. Thank You
Ahaa same with the musician thing. I think it's mostly just because I don't feel good enough to give myself that title, but this video was incredibly useful
David Scargil...if you tell people you’re a shit musician, you will probably remain that way.
Same
Mikael Lewis not true
She didn't say musician. She said guitarist
As someone addicted to scales in my younger days, and all the shredders, I had this idea one day. I would always be playing, enough to drive mom crazy, while just watching a movie, etc.. So, I took a small dish towel. Put this over your hand. It's actually a fascinating thing. You can still hear every note, but it completely dampens the sound. The best thing that I realized was, it made the tightness from my pick and my fretboard very prominent. In other words, I could feel every note rather than hearing the sustain. Granted, I'm only referring to practicing scales. Scales were always a meditative thing for me. Even fall asleep doing it. Great points Mary. Stay positive eveyone. Cheers!
12. Is so TRUE. My friend and I picked up the guitar around the same time (so i'm 3 weeks into it and he's like 5 or 6) and we learned plenty of songs, I wanted and almost learned 'kiling in the name' fully and same for him with 'master of puppets'. We went on a vacation with some other friends for around 4 days and when we got back home it's like we were experts with the guitar. The chords I had a hard time with before the vacation were so easy to play when I got back home. I know practice is important, but so are breaks. So when you can, take 2 days off and relax, then see how it goes for you
I'm playing for 2 months now and I've had most of these habits.
I practice from 30 mins to 2 hours per day (some days i just don't)
Almost got my first song , crying lightning bt the arctic monkeys
And I'm now getting my first electric guitar aswell
you’re doing great! keep going
welcome to the Dark Side - electric is so f'n great
Crying lightning was my first one as well :')
Ive been playing for 2 years and cant do shit because i rarely practice
Congratulations mate. You never forget your first !
Seriously. Number 2 is so underrated. I'm a gamer. I sit at my computer desk all day. If my guitar is right next to me, i'm gonna pick up that guitar every day and play it whenever a natural break occurs. If it was inside it's case or in a different room i would never play.
In between game queues are my go to.
anyone ever told you you have the most beautiful mouth on earth, your talking voice is so warm and comforting but when you sing it`s like being hit by a freight train, this makes you unique and unique is always wonderful, keep up the great work.
Just a few observations but they're only my own opinion, others may disagree:
*4 - Play in time*
100%. I've been playing a long time and I still forget this one. The bends, the pull offs and all the other tricks are useless if it's out of time.
*7 - Gear doesn't make you better*
As someone has already said, but it's worth repeating, it doesn't make you better but bad gear can really slow you down and even make you stop. Buy the best you can afford and save up.
*9 - 5 minutes a day*
Absolutely agree and I find that watching TH-cam or TV is a great time to practice. I can listen to a none musical YT session and get 10 minutes in easy.
Great video, thanks.
Wow, I didn't start to make some progress until I stopped trying to play to a click. It caused me all kinds of trouble. For me and I am speaking only for me, no playing to a time click until I can play first. I commited to 1 year of just learning to play, learning theory, learning how to finger pick may way around the board. I don't play in a band, never will, I don't play in public or to an audience. I don't care if I ever can ever play in time. All I want is to be able to play a song possible next year. For now I just want to get my hands to work, I just want to be able to land my fingers on the right frets and pick the right string. When I learn that then I will play to time if possible. Like I said, this is likely not the way for 99 percent but it's the only way for me.
Mary, love your playing and singing.
"Buy a stand for the room you spend the most time in"
Well it's gonna be an awkward place to put it but I guess I'll put it in the shitter, maybe even guests could play🤔
Here's a link on YT named "Chet Atkins: A Life in Music..." Skip ahead to the the 3 minute mark. th-cam.com/video/FEswohCU6Ts/w-d-xo.html
Dan McKinnon Thanks for that link, I actually died laughing
jimi hendrix used to bring the guitar to the toilet with him so i wouldnt be so embarased about that :)
@@Dtruthseek holy crap,🤣🤣
Hercules wall hanger
I guess one tip I would have loved receiving when I started playing was: pick the guitar style that drives you. A lot of people say we need to start on the classic guitar, then move on to the folk guitar and finally the electric guitar. I personally found it more rewarding to start with an electric guitar, as it really matched what I wanted to play at that time. Also, electric guitar is slightly easier than the other types, so it makes it easier to improve faster and not feel demotivated.
"YoUsiciaN iS a GreAT wAY TO prAcTIcE aNd lEarN thE gUItaar"
Wdym that is the best advice I’ve ever listened
I got scammed out of like $150 from Yousician
@@michaelbruh126 how did you get scammed? I paid but I use it everyday
Bro I love Yousician it taught me how to play guitar so fast
Rocksmith all the way
If I could go back and advise myself years ago, I would have said to stick with electric guitar never give up, learn Nashville numbers, challenge yourself, and understand cord theory.
Guitar is basically the only thing that I want to do so much that I want to practice. I have been playing violin in school for a few years and I never want to practice 😅
Practicing in the dark: I'm just closing my eyes, works well :)
Well she did say you could do that, but you can cheat that way.
When it comes to making video, you're a natural. Please keep them coming.
This is one of the best advise. I always make sure that whenever I practice I keep my room dimly lit. Firstly it makes you able to play without heavily relying on the fretmarks and secondly the feeling is awesome.
Really good tips and a wonderfull song, Mary!
I'm practicing not only standing up but also walking and looking around. And sometimes in the dark too.
Don't keep looking at the fretboard all the time like a driving school beginner searching the pedals. Dare making mistakes. Don't try to be perfect in the beginning or compare yourself to Hendrix, Page, Gilmour, M. Spender ... :- ) Mary is playing and talking to the camera simultaneously. Try this! Play some chords or licks while talking to somebody or singing the song!
Most important: Never give up learning! Sometimes you feel desperate seeing no progress or even a silver lining and some days or weeks later you're playing the song or the technique like barre chords better and better. That pushes you to go on! And: Always have fun playing guitar, no matter what level or song. Forget "Must" practice. Just play and succes will come by itself. Mix easy and challenging songs and techniques. Practicing always the same like Pentatonics is boring. Diversity helps to improve as well as repetition. Understand, how and why chords or licks (and so on) are working together! Theory!
About gear: By my opinion you shouldn't buy too cheap. For beginners midprize guitars are sufficient. If you seriously want to learn and play, buy an instrument about 800$ or more. You'll soon feel and hear the difference of sound and quality.
I bought a Dean Hardtail (2 humbucker, great sound) e-guitar to learn Paranoid/Black Sabbath and ... over. Just for fun. Then ... I caught fire and now I'm playing almost every day one or two hours or more especially now during "stayin home". :- ) In the meantime a Fender US Strat and an acoustic by Ortega complete my collection.
Cheers to all and to our wonderful Mary from Bavaria/Germany. Take care!!
P.S. Sorry for the XXL comment! But I wish I knew all this before when I started playing.
I turned the lights off and tried this....then I realized I don’t even have a guitar yet-
don't you just hate when that happens?
@@emilymason9836 the worst 😔
Right 🥲 my guitar is supposed to come Tuesday or Thursday
@@jiggy_j6741 I have one but it finally broke so I’m saving up for a new one! Glad you have yours already technically 😁💪🏽
@@zahrah5836 I have my dream guitar now 🖤 I bought the Schecter Research Damien
with Floyd Rose and sustainiac 6-string left handed satin black electric guitar 🤍 it’s truly so fucking beautiful and it was worth every penny
You have a beautiful voice both speaking and singing. I appreciate your tips ( I am learning the ukulele)
I've been playing for only a bit over a year but I've been playing for at least an hour every day and I must say it shows:)
@@machinedaluminum haha ment it as in practice is worth^^ but I actually post on insta if you don't trust me ;P @relizmusic ^^ honestly as long as you have fun playing you'll vet better that's my spirit:)
@@machinedaluminum havha no worries :P much appreciated :)
Reliz i am exactly like that, i’m approaching two years and i’m very proud of my progress. putting in the hours really shows in the long run. i play 45-1 hour a day, or even 4+ hours if i’m feeling super creative 👍👍
@@stevenh5057 dope! Keep grinding🔥
Brah i play like 4-10 hours a day and I don't think im improving a bit I've been play for a year now
I'm 75, and you don't need an endorsement from an old man who's no more than "adequate" as a guitarist, but I'll go ahead anyway. Excellent advice, Mary, from start to finish. I don't read music, and the only "tabs" that have ever made sense to me are the diagrams that take up part of the screen when you're playing "Primrose" (Now I know that chord shape I've been playing for years is a B Minor!). Mostly, I've learned by watching and listening to others. I have multiple guitars - all of them low-end in terms of cost, but all of them professionally set up by a luthier to suit me - and I leave some of them out on stands in the room where I'm typing this. I play daily, rotating from one guitar to another, at least once, usually for two or three songs, sometimes for an hour if I really get into it. "Slow down" is great advice for anyone playing live in front of an audience, and I do occasionally play in the dark - it's great for muscle memory. Cheers!
I am a Guitarist and I am recording when I practice as often as I can . Nice Song Mary Spender !
This was so helpful! When you start with 5 mins, you get caught up and play for way longer. It's a great mental trick. ;)
Another tip: play the guitar
Another: be consistent with practicing and avoid taking long breaks from practicing, some people take years long breaks
Ohhhhh! Ha, every time I want to practice the guitar, I go pick up the bassoon and play that. No wonder I'm not getting better at guitar!
do yall know what strumming pattern she was using during the song part? thumb-4-4, thumb-4-4?
Stone Cat yeah u got it
Another tip: Get a guitar
Hi Mary
My first question for a future guitar player :
Do you listen music ? if the answer is NO forget to learn music
..... and some people told NO
If the answer is YES : imo a total of 30 mins /day during 90 days and the probability to continue playing guitar is pretty good but few will be mentally engaged to continue and endure the light pain on the tips on the fingers
I think to incorporated bass guitar in the mix of connaissances is a very good thing for the most involved new guitarists. Just few hours by month by the side ....just for fun . It will enlarge the vision of musicality
Many of my friends are guitarists and with 2-3-4 guitar players around i preferred playing some basic bass with them than guitar sometime
Je joue depuis 43 ans et il y a toujours place a améliorer son jeu et le son . Chaque nouvelle chanson apporte aussi son lot de petites finesses propre a chaque artistes
Timing is everything. Counting in, out loud is SO important, especially for "beginners."
Metronome is God.
I started with a teacher who forced me to play to a click. I got nothing accomplished. I was still struggling just to get my fingers in place and I could never keep up. He kept talking, watch me, follow me list, listen to what I'm playing and listen to the click. I would try and then just one more input and I went totally blank. Blank, blank, blank, blank, then it would take a minute to clear my mind and start over. 1 hour of practice time was gone in the blink of an eye and so was 30 dollars and nothing accomplished. Now before you jump all over me, I understand why it's important but there is absolutely no point in doing this until I start to find the strings, changes etc. No way I can play to a click until first I can play a bit. When I tried to explain what was happening and why it was giving me trouble, he would not listen. I wanted to slow down and go back to basics and he wouldn't hear of it. I fired him and I am making much more progress on my own. When I become somewhat proficient, I will give it a try. But for me as a beginner it flat out causes nothing but trouble. I might work fine for most but not me.
@@pcmountaindog like any skill in life, you have to lay foundations first. Never go for the second step until you make the first. You need to strive to put the basic things in your unconscious so you can build on it.
If you can't do some task, go back a step and spend all the time you need to master it. Always go back to basics. Become a master of basics.