The WORST Beginner Habit on Guitar
Classical Guitar Shed
8,272 views
https://go.classicalguitarshed.com/pl... Download the free Guitar Ergonomics guide: 5 Ways to Play with Less Tension and More Ease.
This video looks at one of the most common habits beginners build without meaning to: constantly looking at the fretting hand. We go through why looking works in the moment but slows down learning over time, when it's genuinely useful to look, and three simple ways to practice so you gradually stop needing to. Enjoy!
https://go.classicalguitarshed.com/4x... Click this link to learn more about our full course for classical guitar. It's organized, structured, and strategic from the beginning, so you make the most of your time and avoid injury and frustration. Build your basics, fill the gaps, and rise to more advanced levels of playing.
11 Comments
This reminded me of something from learning how to draw. A common habit people have in drawing from life is looking so much at their hands that they're no longer actually drawing what they see, just what they think they see. An exercise many teachers use to combat this habit is the "blind contour drawing". You draw in a continuous line, very slowly, while following contours with your eyes (in addition to looking carefully, this also encourages you to consider different lines as contours, not just the edges of objects).
The problem is how many teachers insist that you not look at your drawing at all, which is just discouraging when you look back at your piece and see nothing recognizable. It ends up being self defeating.
My college drawing teacher had a simple improvement that made all the difference: draw for 5-10 seconds, then stop and take a quick look to ground yourself, then resume looking at the contour you were following. In other words, as you said, use looking at your hands as just another tool, not the crutch that holds you up. It gave us the confidence we needed to feel like we were getting somewhere with our drawing and still feel motivated to keep doing the exercise.
In hindsight it's such an obvious connection, but it took watching your video to be reminded of it. So thank you again for a very helpful video 😊
The WORST Beginner Habit on Guitar
Classical Guitar Shed
8,272 views
https://go.classicalguitarshed.com/pl... Download the free Guitar Ergonomics guide: 5 Ways to Play with Less Tension and More Ease.
This video looks at one of the most common habits beginners build without meaning to: constantly looking at the fretting hand. We go through why looking works in the moment but slows down learning over time, when it's genuinely useful to look, and three simple ways to practice so you gradually stop needing to. Enjoy!
https://go.classicalguitarshed.com/4x... Click this link to learn more about our full course for classical guitar. It's organized, structured, and strategic from the beginning, so you make the most of your time and avoid injury and frustration. Build your basics, fill the gaps, and rise to more advanced levels of playing.