As an English teacher/interpreter Guitar teacher/ performer..it's been quite a discovery to stumble upon your materials..your American English is super understandable,pleasant to the ears Your lessons are first-rate..especially (in my opinion)ur straight-to -the -point, no-nonsense Instantly applylable flamenco techniques. Greetings from Cuba.
first to say thank you for this video , very useful , and also i would like to know if you use any support holding your guitar old school , wish you a great day
I was a garage band electric guitarist in the 60's. Trying to learn flamenco, I always find my thumb sneaking over the neck. I'm going to try your advice of keeping it beneath the middle finger. Thanx- I love your channel!
Thanks I appreciate it! Does your guitar have a narrow/crossover neck? If so that can make you really want to bring your thumb over like an electric guitar
I reviewed you 10 mistakes list and I do three or 4 of those. 1. The thumb lags behind on the back of the neck. 2. I stop reading at the end of a measure. 3. Looking for left hand finger confirmation too much. 4. Lifting fingers too far away from the strings. I have been working on these things.
everyone has a reason to give a guitar lesson and in the end it all comes down to what the person personally chooses to learn but you are a good guitarist and teacher
I took your advice, or guidance and forced myself not to look at my left hand. Oh my God, I got instant results, you know what you are doing, as I practiced and played this way I felt like I had just been released from a prison cell. Now I can listen and feel more intently. Thank you very much. I am getting better with my rasqueo strumming. There is a little gap between the first flourish and the second rush when there should not be one.
I'm so glad I stumbled upon your video. I'm so the considerate neighbor who wants no one to hear them. I've only be playing classical for around six months so time to reprogram myself on several of these mistakes I am making. Thanks so much.
Bravo! The first ten years would have been a lot easier if someone had shown me this in the beginning. Thanks for helping the struggling beginner student.
Great tips. I make several of those mistakes. Will work on correcting them! One thing I notice about a lot of well known classical guitarists it that they practically lay their head on the guitar and stare at the fretboard from milimeters away. It's kind of creepy, like they are going to actually lick the fretboard! lol.
I used to play base notes on the E string with my thumb on the neck which is a necessity on a couple of the 60s/70s rock riffs such as the intro to The Byrds version of Turn, turn, turn to name one. I accidentally impaled the knuckle and no amount of practice will let me use it in that manor again because it won't bend. Especially because like you, I already have hyper extended thumbs.(hope you don't mind me pointing that out) But in all other respects I can play the guitar just as well as before. You give some pretty sage advice. I recently discovered on my own that I sometimes don't always keep the strum moving CONSISTENTLY along during cord changes. I think that is in my mind the #1 mistake any guitarist should fix and getting the cord change right should be secondary. And your positioning of your thumb for picking will no doubt help improve my picking immensely so thank you.
Thank you for addressing the best way to play gypsy chords. I was having trouble getting the cord clean and on time but your method is amazing. Thank you.
I'm mainly a Piedmont finger picker and I've struggled for years with getting to higher speeds. After watching this video I now understand that the most likely culprit is I watch both of my hands too much. Sometimes they get very slightly out of sync. I can play regular rhythm without needing to look at my fret hand much at all, but fingerpicking is a bit more intricate with the fret movement. I'm going to start working on trusting my hands, especially the left one. Thanks a million!
Hi Scot 👋 thank you for your good exercises for flamenco guitar, yesterday I had trained some of your picado exercises goes well little by little thanks a lot! May I ask you to check my performance soleares where should I improve ,please!
He blasts right through mistakes I never even thought of, one's I never even tried (but now I will, you bet!) but this is foundational stuff, the bricks and the bones of playing.
Thanks for the video. I suffered from a couple of the mistakes that you mentioned [ I'm entirely self-taught]. The one I find the most difficult is not looking at my left-hand. I've watched Julien Bream play the most complicated phrases without ever looking at his hands. He just has his eyes closed and listens to the music! I'll try and practice that skill.
This program is very good for advices. I used a cheap Yamaha C40 laminated top for late night/early morning practice. It's very quiet but has very nice tone. I mention Yamaha, because it has good intonation.
My God! This is so helpful. I have always known that I wasn't really doing most things correctly but didn't know what exactly. Watching you just brought everything up. I'm guilty of all the charges 🙌🏾. Time now to start with the correctional moves. Thanks a million 🙏🏾. Your latest subscriber.
I somehow developed over the years the flying off finger syndrome paired with the pressing as hard as I could syndrome. I had to remind myself to fix it everytime I grabbed the guitar. I did exercises and adapted pretty quickly with new pieces but it was way harder with my old pieces.
As a mostly self taught player for decades, I have made most of these mistakes at one point (except thumb over). But the need to look at the music when learning a piece, has forced my fingers to mostly find their own way. To beginners, it seems impossible, I know. But it happens gradually, not overnight. One day, you will realise that you have played a whole passage without looking at your left hand at all. Trust your fingers...use the force (or whatever).
Your opening remarks (playing loud as you can) are, per physics, right on the mark. I was a martial arts instructor and a student of physics so I understand entropy. In karate, we learn big in practice because in th real world, movements are smaller…
hi Scot, thanks again, I heard you mention that nails can be to long I think that mine are! Is it possible you could make a video showing what to do with your nails please, only if you have time.
I’d like to add one more . . not alternating right hand fingers during scales or phrases. Many beginners use one finger only. ‘Never the same finger twice’.
do you have any advice... I didn't follow finger crossing rules for picado for like 15 years.. now for the last 1 or 2 years I have been trying to correct it but I find I have to learn a piece each i and m as if I just play it without learning it maticulously I get all muddled and can't tell when I am using i or m.. like I go down a string m,m instead of m,i and I have no idea I did it.
Yes, crossing strings is always an issue when trying to maintain strict I & M alternation. Check out my video on the Picado technique it gives you a few exercises and specifically one really great string crossing exercise where you play triplets towards the ceiling on open strings
I had the same issue. Took me weeks of slowplaying and gradually increasing the tempo to get over it, especially on pieces I was already playing for years.
The reason for the “problem” with the ring finger is physiological (shared muscles, tendons, etc). Try this experiment to help understand: (1) make a fist and place (kind of) palm down (2) extend thumb and each finger EXCEPT the middle finger (3) with all fingers and thumb now pressing against the tabletop, begin to lift one finger at a time. Thumb up and down, index finger up and down, SKIP THE RING and lift the little finger up and down. They all work. Now try the ring finger… hmmm. Since muscles work in pairs (one contracts as the other loosens, and since the two fingers sharing a few of the same one(s), with the middle finger curled beneath the fist, those muscles are already utilized and cannot do any more. A similar effect takes place in ALL movements of those fingers, only in lesser degrees but still somewhat noticeable. [I left out medical terminology as it will not be needed unless you are in medical school or on a game show]
My tip is how so many hold a guitar in a position where their hands cannot play in a relaxed manner and the left arm comes to the neck at an awkward angle....or standing they pose with the guitar at a low slung level to look cool. Then hit the strings so they slam into the neck. Good times!
You need to practice coming on and off the same chord (being sure to keep the shape in the air) as I mentioned! Then go between 2 chords.. most of the time it’s a matter of *leaving early* which even the best players have to do to get to the next chord without pausing
I feel better now that I don’t do the biggest mistake. I do though , never sit correctly in the right chair or on a stool, I always sit on the edge of the bed.
this video should have way more views... You should put some red circles and arrows in the thumbnail so it gets instantly flowed by view like in every clickbait video there is xD l agree with almost everything except that playing very loud could make you very tense so l would not recomend it right at the beggining when you ahave to be more focused on precision of the left hand rather than sound in the right. Especially having in mind most kids will be playing electric guitar anyways.
I teach and play nylon string guitar which is very right hand intensive, so volume is an important thing from the start and hard to “undo” once the habit of playing quietly is ingrained
@@TheVersatileGuitarist l agree but you alwayshave to trade volume for speed when playing. And there are external microphones that can amplify the Guitar really good. Now, IF you are playing with an Orchestra then yes you are quite right that playing louder its a must, but then again you are sacrificing quality of sound for volume
@@TheVersatileGuitarist sorry for coming back l just wanted to say l was a few day ago doing a practice where l had to watch a class so l just could barelly stand the professors play, completely metallic sound and overly picked strings that man was creating, iut just ruins every possible enjoiment out of the sound of a Classical Guitar. So is it really worthy? l know you for being in a Masterclass from Eduardo Fernandez you CAN have a potent sound AND beautyful at the same time, but how many can achieve that when they are starting to study? And also does starting with loud sound actually improves your later sound? Just wondering anyways
I just roll-up tissue Lay it under the Strings at the bridge Amazingly one can Still hear the notes And chords... As if in the distance. If the neighbours do Hear...music? They'll think it's coming From across or down The street. This will, psychologically, Calm down their irritation As the noise problem... Will become some others... Irritation. I worry about my self... Sometimes. My psychological state Of mind, that is. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Just kidding...I hope!
the next mistake i see players my pupils of course doing this way way way too much its super important not to lift the fingers too high or itll take you ten years to get back and all the fingers must go down at the same time not one after the other and the way to correct this is to do the opposite so that you end up somewhere over the rainbow in the middle with your thumb over the neck this not always wrong I find with strumming the d chord you wont hit the sixth string and the thumb keeps up with the fingers sometimes the thumb is sticky but it should work like a clamp if you keep all your fingers down all you need is the pinky but dont let the fingers what does he mean too much talk well i reckon he means er this….
i'd say your lessons have the exact & correct amount of everything needed , for a guitarist to learn to play better , thank you ! also , a bit of humor in a lesson of any sort, makes the student feel at ease , i've learned this from being both a teacher and a student. keep up the great lessons ! as for didi= go somewhere else ... @@TheVersatileGuitarist
I agree with all this except the issue of your fingers going to the right place without looking. More like 9 times out of 10 my fingers go to the wrong place. I’m still working on that muscle memory.
Not looking at the left or right hand positioning is a game changer! Thank you!
Cool 😎
As an instructor, I have incorporated many of these fixes in my teaching for years. Happy to see someone at your level sharing the same tips.
I’m not alone!
Best explanation ever on when/when not stick your thumb over the neck.
As an English teacher/interpreter
Guitar teacher/ performer..it's been quite a discovery to stumble upon your materials..your American English is super understandable,pleasant to the ears
Your lessons are first-rate..especially (in my opinion)ur straight-to -the -point, no-nonsense
Instantly applylable flamenco techniques.
Greetings from Cuba.
Thank you Mariano, I went to Cuba in 2017 hope to go back someday!
You'll be more than welcome!!
Very true ...
I agree 100%
I thought that was an English accent until I saw USA.
first to say thank you for this video , very useful , and also i would like to know if you use any support holding your guitar old school , wish you a great day
I don’t use any support, I just have it tilted in a way that keeps it still, for the most part
I was a garage band electric guitarist in the 60's. Trying to learn flamenco, I always find my thumb sneaking over the neck. I'm going to try your advice of keeping it beneath the middle finger. Thanx- I love your channel!
Thanks I appreciate it! Does your guitar have a narrow/crossover neck? If so that can make you really want to bring your thumb over like an electric guitar
I reviewed you 10 mistakes list and I do three or 4 of those.
1. The thumb lags behind on the back of the neck.
2. I stop reading at the end of a measure.
3. Looking for left hand finger confirmation too much.
4. Lifting fingers too far away from the strings.
I have been working on these things.
I've watched thousands of videos about mistakes on guitar, but this is surely the best. Thanks a lot!
Wow that’s great to hear!
everyone has a reason to give a guitar lesson and in the end it all comes down to what the person personally chooses to learn but you are a good guitarist and teacher
So Cool! 🎉It's refining how you explain the process from what I need to improve on. I'm learning. Thank you! 🎉
Glad I could help!
I took your advice, or guidance and forced myself not to look at my left hand. Oh my God, I got instant results, you know what you are doing, as I practiced and played this way I felt like I had just been released from a prison cell. Now I can listen and feel more intently. Thank you very much. I am getting better with my rasqueo strumming. There is a little gap between the first flourish and the second rush when there should not be one.
Great to hear!
I'm so glad I stumbled upon your video. I'm so the considerate neighbor who wants no one to hear them. I've only be playing classical for around six months so time to reprogram myself on several of these mistakes I am making. Thanks so much.
Glad I could help, keep it up and good luck!
Bravo! The first ten years would have been a lot easier if someone had shown me this in the beginning. Thanks for helping the struggling beginner student.
Better late than never!
Brilliant thanks.. Started in 1975 beatles stuff.. Still going.. Always. Improving Thank God
It never ends!!
Very good Scot. You have gained a new subscriber.
Welcome aboard!
I found at least 2 big things to work on, thanks to your expert counsel. Bravo, Scot.
Great! When I started to read your comment for a second I thought it was going to say “I found at least 2 things wrong with this video…”
I just started learning the guitar and this has been very useful as l was committing these mistakes. Thanks a lot ...
Glad I could help!
Great tips. I make several of those mistakes. Will work on correcting them! One thing I notice about a lot of well known classical guitarists it that they practically lay their head on the guitar and stare at the fretboard from milimeters away. It's kind of creepy, like they are going to actually lick the fretboard! lol.
Yeah you never know if stuff like that is just for show since they’re in front of an audience..
I used to play base notes on the E string with my thumb on the neck which is a necessity on a couple of the 60s/70s rock riffs such as the intro to The Byrds version of Turn, turn, turn to name one. I accidentally impaled the knuckle and no amount of practice will let me use it in that manor again because it won't bend. Especially because like you, I already have hyper extended thumbs.(hope you don't mind me pointing that out) But in all other respects I can play the guitar just as well as before. You give some pretty sage advice. I recently discovered on my own that I sometimes don't always keep the strum moving CONSISTENTLY along during cord changes. I think that is in my mind the #1 mistake any guitarist should fix and getting the cord change right should be secondary. And your positioning of your thumb for picking will no doubt help improve my picking immensely so thank you.
Thank you for addressing the best way to play gypsy chords. I was having trouble getting the cord clean and on time but your method is amazing. Thank you.
Great video. Tip 3 and 1 I'm definitely guilty of. Love to see your view on how to play barre chords properly and without pain
Really quality content here! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
Thanks very much Scot for a great tutorial which has helped me a lot. Take care. David.
Great to hear!
I'm mainly a Piedmont finger picker and I've struggled for years with getting to higher speeds. After watching this video I now understand that the most likely culprit is I watch both of my hands too much. Sometimes they get very slightly out of sync. I can play regular rhythm without needing to look at my fret hand much at all, but fingerpicking is a bit more intricate with the fret movement. I'm going to start working on trusting my hands, especially the left one. Thanks a million!
Close your eyes and “use the force”!
Hi Scot 👋 thank you for your good exercises for flamenco guitar, yesterday I had trained some of your picado exercises goes well little by little thanks a lot! May I ask you to check my performance soleares where should I improve ,please!
He blasts right through mistakes I never even thought of, one's I never even tried (but now I will, you bet!) but this is foundational stuff, the bricks and the bones of playing.
Thanks for the video. I suffered from a couple of the mistakes that you mentioned [ I'm entirely self-taught]. The one I find the most difficult is not looking at my left-hand. I've watched Julien Bream play the most complicated phrases without ever looking at his hands. He just has his eyes closed and listens to the music! I'll try and practice that skill.
You’ll be surprised at how much your fingers really DO know where they are!
Fabulous. Thank you so much. Keep up the great work.
Thanks!
This program is very good for advices. I used a cheap Yamaha C40 laminated top for late night/early morning practice. It's very quiet but has very nice tone. I mention Yamaha, because it has good intonation.
Good stuff, Scott! Good to see you amigo.
Hey Miguel, hope you are well!
Great list and plain explanations. Thank you.
Excellent video. Very clear advice which will make a huge difference to everyones playing.
Very good concept for a lesson. Super useful! Thank you!👏👏👍
Glad it helped!
My God! This is so helpful. I have always known that I wasn't really doing most things correctly but didn't know what exactly. Watching you just brought everything up. I'm guilty of all the charges 🙌🏾. Time now to start with the correctional moves. Thanks a million 🙏🏾. Your latest subscriber.
That’s great to hear! Glad I could help
Every tip a gem, with intelligent correction techniques! Thank you. 👍😎
Thanks for this video Scot, it has been very helpful to me.
Help Scot, I'm making a weenie motion. Thanks for the video, it was very helpful. A little self examination is always a good thing.
This video was very helpful Thanks for sharing! Subscribed.
Welcome to my guitar obsessed mind!
Thankyou wish I knew this stuff 20 years ago . Had to find it all on my own, but I did still learn something I am guilty of.
I somehow developed over the years the flying off finger syndrome paired with the pressing as hard as I could syndrome. I had to remind myself to fix it everytime I grabbed the guitar. I did exercises and adapted pretty quickly with new pieces but it was way harder with my old pieces.
Yes it’s interesting how we encode some of these movements into old pieces but are able to do it efficiently with new pieces… Keep it up!
Thank you great lesson
your great at putting it across , thanks so much for sharing your knowledge . important little things that add up to a lot , Thanks Malcolm
Thank you!
Great video. Thanks for sharing. Haha. My family wishes I made mistake number 10. 😂
They’ll thank me later!
This advices are good, quite rare to find real teachers on TH-cam 👍
Wow thank you!
This was well done. Succinct and useful. I'm definitely subscribing. :) Thank you!
Welcome to my guitar-warped mind!
As a mostly self taught player for decades, I have made most of these mistakes at one point (except thumb over). But the need to look at the music when learning a piece, has forced my fingers to mostly find their own way. To beginners, it seems impossible, I know. But it happens gradually, not overnight. One day, you will realise that you have played a whole passage without looking at your left hand at all. Trust your fingers...use the force (or whatever).
Yes! Getting visual confirmation seems like a good idea but becomes a very bad habit!
Your opening remarks (playing loud as you can) are, per physics, right on the mark. I was a martial arts instructor and a student of physics so I understand entropy. In karate, we learn big in practice because in th real world, movements are smaller…
Awesome content. Subscribed.
Thank you!
Video utilissimo per ogni chitarrista.
Or build a sound proof room... so glad i found your channel..
Welcome!!
Excellent. No strings attached!
You can also use expanding spray foam to fill the cavity of the guitar
Great teacher
hi Scot, thanks again, I heard you mention that nails can be to long I think that mine are! Is it possible you could make a video showing what to do with your nails please, only if you have time.
Now that I sent that message it seems to me a strange request, however, my mama used to say to me you won't get if you don't ask! Have a nice day
I think I talk about this this in another video but I can’t remember which one…
I think I talk about this this in another video but I can’t remember which one…
@@TheVersatileGuitarist Thank you for reply, I suppose I'll need to watch every video then, sure its all going to be great fun!
I’d like to add one more . . not alternating right hand fingers during scales or phrases. Many beginners use one finger only. ‘Never the same finger twice’.
Yes definitely that is an issue! Although we can cheat on that sometimes I’ve got a video on that coming up!
Great, thanks a lot 🙏🏻
Brilliant!
Best looking guitarist who sits in front of a cello on TH-cam! 😍
.....and he has a killer smile and cool sense of humour too! 😎
do you have any advice... I didn't follow finger crossing rules for picado for like 15 years.. now for the last 1 or 2 years I have been trying to correct it but I find I have to learn a piece each i and m as if I just play it without learning it maticulously I get all muddled and can't tell when I am using i or m.. like I go down a string m,m instead of m,i and I have no idea I did it.
Yes, crossing strings is always an issue when trying to maintain strict I & M alternation. Check out my video on the Picado technique it gives you a few exercises and specifically one really great string crossing exercise where you play triplets towards the ceiling on open strings
I had the same issue. Took me weeks of slowplaying and gradually increasing the tempo to get over it, especially on pieces I was already playing for years.
I do the quiet thing still, can't stop.
10 and 1 are the best :)
Or the worst…
I love your video's
The reason for the “problem” with the ring finger is physiological (shared muscles, tendons, etc). Try this experiment to help understand: (1) make a fist and place (kind of) palm down (2) extend thumb and each finger EXCEPT the middle finger (3) with all fingers and thumb now pressing against the tabletop, begin to lift one finger at a time. Thumb up and down, index finger up and down, SKIP THE RING and lift the little finger up and down. They all work. Now try the ring finger… hmmm. Since muscles work in pairs (one contracts as the other loosens, and since the two fingers sharing a few of the same one(s), with the middle finger curled beneath the fist, those muscles are already utilized and cannot do any more. A similar effect takes place in ALL movements of those fingers, only in lesser degrees but still somewhat noticeable. [I left out medical terminology as it will not be needed unless you are in medical school or on a game show]
that teacherly stare at the end 😅
👁️ 👁️
My tip is how so many hold a guitar in a position where their hands cannot play in a relaxed manner and the left arm comes to the neck at an awkward angle....or standing they pose with the guitar at a low slung level to look cool. Then hit the strings so they slam into the neck. Good times!
I cant switch chords fast enough any tips?
You need to practice coming on and off the same chord (being sure to keep the shape in the air) as I mentioned! Then go between 2 chords.. most of the time it’s a matter of *leaving early* which even the best players have to do to get to the next chord without pausing
@@TheVersatileGuitarist thank you!
6
I feel better now that I don’t do the biggest mistake. I do though , never sit correctly in the right chair or on a stool, I always sit on the edge of the bed.
this video should have way more views... You should put some red circles and arrows in the thumbnail so it gets instantly flowed by view like in every clickbait video there is xD
l agree with almost everything except that playing very loud could make you very tense so l would not recomend it right at the beggining when you ahave to be more focused on precision of the left hand rather than sound in the right.
Especially having in mind most kids will be playing electric guitar anyways.
I teach and play nylon string guitar which is very right hand intensive, so volume is an important thing from the start and hard to “undo” once the habit of playing quietly is ingrained
@@TheVersatileGuitarist l agree but you alwayshave to trade volume for speed when playing. And there are external microphones that can amplify the Guitar really good. Now, IF you are playing with an Orchestra then yes you are quite right that playing louder its a must, but then again you are sacrificing quality of sound for volume
@@TheVersatileGuitarist sorry for coming back l just wanted to say l was a few day ago doing a practice where l had to watch a class so l just could barelly stand the professors play, completely metallic sound and overly picked strings that man was creating, iut just ruins every possible enjoiment out of the sound of a Classical Guitar. So is it really worthy? l know you for being in a Masterclass from Eduardo Fernandez you CAN have a potent sound AND beautyful at the same time, but how many can achieve that when they are starting to study? And also does starting with loud sound actually improves your later sound? Just wondering anyways
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I just roll-up tissue
Lay it under the
Strings at the bridge
Amazingly one can
Still hear the notes
And chords...
As if in the distance.
If the neighbours do
Hear...music?
They'll think it's coming
From across or down
The street.
This will, psychologically,
Calm down their irritation
As the noise problem...
Will become some others...
Irritation.
I worry about my self...
Sometimes.
My psychological state
Of mind, that is.
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Just kidding...I hope!
Wear ear plugs. Trim your finger nails really short on your left hand.
Jesus, this guy is giving me anxiety!
Too much talk....
You’re right, who needs to hear ideas explained? Next time I’ll just put some bullet points on the screen and let the viewer figure it out
the next mistake i see players my pupils of course doing this way way way too much its super important not to lift the fingers too high or itll take you ten years to get back and all the fingers must go down at the same time not one after the other and the way to correct this is to do the opposite so that you end up somewhere over the rainbow in the middle with your thumb over the neck this not always wrong I find with strumming the d chord you wont hit the sixth string and the thumb keeps up with the fingers sometimes the thumb is sticky but it should work like a clamp if you keep all your fingers down all you need is the pinky but dont let the fingers what does he mean too much talk well i reckon he means er this….
i'd say your lessons have the exact & correct amount of everything needed , for a guitarist to learn to play better , thank you ! also , a bit of humor in a lesson of any sort, makes the student feel at ease , i've learned this from being both a teacher and a student. keep up the great lessons ! as for didi= go somewhere else ... @@TheVersatileGuitarist
I agree with all this except the issue of your fingers going to the right place without looking. More like 9 times out of 10 my fingers go to the wrong place. I’m still working on that muscle memory.
Close your eyes and visualize!
@@TheVersatileGuitarist I’m usually looking at the sheet music, actually!
All the more reason to trust your fingers! But it takes a while….
@@TheVersatileGuitarist It must because mine go to the wrong place a lot.