You're looking at an archived, read-only version of our old community forum. See our new community forum here.

Guitar Help Needed

Rick

Unusual

Joined: Apr 17 2007

Hey guys, it's me again, the creepy lurking guy.

It's been about, wow, four months or more since I actually picked up my guitar and played something for real. I've sat down every now and then and did a thing here and there, but today when I actually tried to sit down and play, I clearly lacked the ability to play the stuff I used to.

I hadn't realized I haven't played my guitar in that long. But since I'm more or less starting over, I want to get rid of my bad habits while it's easy, such as tensing up my Right(Strumming) hand and having an extended pinky against the guitar body.

Any advice on proper position, fingering, handling, practicing, and the like? And are there any typical bad habits I should make sure I don't have?

Edit: This should probably go into the Help/Tips/Suggestions section... someone please move it lol, sorry

Submitted on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 00:30

Moved :-)

auriplane

Joined: Sep 06 2008

Moved :-)

----------

Auriplane!!

Submitted on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 00:45

Re: Moved :-)

Rick

Unusual

Joined: Apr 17 2007

Thank you! Now I feel less silly lol.

----------

I opened one box of cereal only to find a totally different bag of cereal inside... such is life

Submitted on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 00:51

Guitar Help Needed

GuitarFailKid

Joined: Nov 28 2009

It's debatable wether the extended pinky against the guitar body is a bad habit. I was told to DO IT. and I'm glad I did. I always know where I am now reletive to the strings and if you come up for a fast tapping part or A-Harmonic or whatever would result you in moving your picking hand. It's so easy to quickly come back down again without looking and know exactly where you are relative to the strings.
Lots of professional guitarist use the pinky on the body technique, I don't believe it slows you down at all.

Only time I ever take my pinky off is if I'm doing a fucked up hybrid picking chord. But then again I'm not entirely sure if you are playing electric or accoustic, I personally anchor my pinky down on everything.

Only advice that I can give is to set your targets higher than you can play, but not "too" high. You will progress very fast that way. Don't mess about playing the stuff you can already play perfectly over and over, start trying to learn some Major Scale shapes, in key of C only while naming the notes in your head as you work your way up the fretboard. try other keys once you are confident with C, but instead of naming all the notes in other keys you just want to learn the root note of the scale shape then use pattern recognition.
Try downloading a backing track playing over the top of it in key.

Get Guitar Pro or tux guitar. try out lots of different tabs, pick ones you really like, and commit to memory

try working simple stuff out by ear. I did this with REAL simple stuff like the simpsons theme. and Men Behaving badly theme. then worked up to actual songs. I'm not very good with arranging songs yet, which reminds me I have to ask KabukiBear very nicely for some advice on a particular.

My guitar teacher basically has me working on scales a lot. I play them everyday, or even use them as a warmup.

I don't really know what to say that I havn't already. if you do everything I said, it could keep you occupied for the rest of your life.

Peace

Submitted on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 08:02

Sounds good. The only bad

Rick

Unusual

Joined: Apr 17 2007

Sounds good. The only bad thing about the pinky thing, from what I hear, is that it's a sign that you're strumming hand is too tense. For the same reason as you, I used my pinky as well, for whatever reason I gave me better knowledge of which string I was on.

As far as the scales go, any idea where I can find scale tablature? I'd learn more if I could find some lol.

Thanks.

----------

I opened one box of cereal only to find a totally different bag of cereal inside... such is life

Submitted on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 12:59

Really, it's debatable? I

auriplane

Joined: Sep 06 2008

Really, it's debatable? I thought everyone agreed anchoring your pinky was a bad habit...

----------

Auriplane!!

Submitted on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 16:55

http://www.xtalcy.com/tabs/ex

auriplane

Joined: Sep 06 2008

http://www.xtalcy.com/tabs/exercises/guitar_e_major.txt
http://www.xtalcy.com/tabs/exercises/guitar_e_penta_major.txt

----------

Auriplane!!

Submitted on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 16:58

I think it's a bad idea to

archard

Joined: Jan 11 2007

I think it's a bad idea to anchor if you're a fingerpicker. There are some really good players who do it, e.g. Tommy Emmanuel and Gareth Pearson, but I think if you're a meer mortal it's going to hold you back because, like you said, it makes your hand so tense and you have have no freedom to move around, change the timbre, etc. It's particularly hard to have a good tremolo if you anchor, which was my main motivation for breaking the habit recently.

----------

DANG

Submitted on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 17:19

Interesting, I've never

Rick

Unusual

Joined: Apr 17 2007

Interesting, I've never Anchored my pinky while fingerpicking, but I can't not anchor when using a pick, strange! lol

I think major just in general I should stop, I don't think having my hand that tense will do me any good, personally I think it comes from my stressed personality lol.

And thank you Auri! You remain a beacon of hope XP

----------

I opened one box of cereal only to find a totally different bag of cereal inside... such is life

Submitted on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 17:49

Don't listen to the haters

Frogma

Joined: Jun 25 2008

Don't listen to the haters man, anchoring the pinky is a necessity! In today's modern world it is easy to get blown off course by the storm of sex, drugs and acoustic grooves, but with your pinky firmly planted on a solid bit of wood you will always know which way is up when you have been cast into the ocean of despair. When the guitar tab of life throws you nothing but awkward jazz chords and you are a guitar with too much string action, you are going to thank yourself for having your pinky set on the rock of stability, melding you and the rock as one, setting your future success in stone and allowing you to rock out in front of the non-anchoring peers who will be sent to guitar hell, doomed to listen to Nickelback B-sides for the rest of eternity while we are up jamming with Emmanuel in a pinky-anchored lazy Sunday party that never ends.

----------

"Frogma is not a communist! He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a communist, but he is not a porn star!"

Submitted on Sun, 11/14/2010 - 23:49

Frogma

A Dead Fly

A Dead Fly

Location: Reno

Joined: Aug 07 2010

The next time I randomly do a monologue I will remember what you said Frogma, lol, loving the signature too XD.
I always felt that when you play guitar you play it how you want to and what feels comfortable for you, and you don't really need to break a bad habit, I think you'll find that if it's holding you back you just naturally stop doing it. Personally I play both ways anchoring vs. non anchoring it just depends on what song I'm playing. If you're rocking out and jumping around while performing anchoring is the best thing to do to keep track of where you're playing. But if there is a song that requires lots of strumming, tremolo picking, finger, or hybrid picking then I switch to non anchoring. I think by doing what you like and not following what someone tells you is right, you develop you're own playing style and that's what a lot of really good performers did and that's part of what makes them unique. When I first started playing guitar I didn't have enough finger strength to play an easy power chord right so I would wrap my thumb down and use it to hit the bass note while my middle and ring fingers made up the other two notes. A lot of people would tell me I was doing it wrong, but it worked and eventually I switched to the normal fingering. However I found that now, using my thumb, I can make a few oddball chords that other people would not be able to without practice. Just as an example.

Submitted on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 00:25

Frogma, that didn't help me

Rick

Unusual

Joined: Apr 17 2007

Frogma, that didn't help me at all, other than make my life Amazing. A Dead Fly, that probably makes the most sense, but I'd like to have knowledge of different forms etc. to see what feels best.

Thanks for the input lol

----------

I opened one box of cereal only to find a totally different bag of cereal inside... such is life

Submitted on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 02:07

Fine, don't anchor. I guess

Frogma

Joined: Jun 25 2008

Fine, don't anchor. I guess this is just you reminding me of what you really are:

No finger anchoring for chad kroeger. Do you wanna be like chad kroeger? do ya?

----------

"Frogma is not a communist! He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a communist, but he is not a porn star!"

Submitted on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 04:32

Re: Don't listen to the haters

tiganior1

The following post may contain mature humour, violence and coarse language which is not suitable for younger audiences. Parental discretion is advised.

Location: Look behind you

Joined: Apr 09 2010

Frogma said

Don't listen to the haters man, anchoring the pinky is a necessity! In today's modern world it is easy to get blown off course by the storm of sex, drugs and acoustic grooves, but with your pinky firmly planted on a solid bit of wood you will always know which way is up when you have been cast into the ocean of despair. When the guitar tab of life throws you nothing but awkward jazz chords and you are a guitar with too much string action, you are going to thank yourself for having your pinky set on the rock of stability, melding you and the rock as one, setting your future success in stone and allowing you to rock out in front of the non-anchoring peers who will be sent to guitar hell, doomed to listen to Nickelback B-sides for the rest of eternity while we are up jamming with Emmanuel in a pinky-anchored lazy Sunday party that never ends.

God among men! God among men!

Submitted on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 06:30

Now I feel as if though I

Rick

Unusual

Joined: Apr 17 2007

Now I feel as if though I should anchor... lol

----------

I opened one box of cereal only to find a totally different bag of cereal inside... such is life

Submitted on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 14:31

anchoring or not anchoring...

RexLeRouge

IMPACTO

Joined: Aug 15 2008

anchoring or not anchoring... err, why do you have to choose? :/

you can switch position during a song, so practice both :3

Submitted on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 14:44

I completely fail at playing

CpxAzn

Lurker

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Joined: Sep 21 2007

I completely fail at playing the guitar when I decide to anchor my pinky. Feels like useless weight on my picking hand and restricts movement, which leads to fail in alternate picking. I like my picking hand feeling free.

My anchor is pretty much my palm (bottom left of my hand) against the top of the guitar bridge (Low E String). This probably explains why I have a hard time playing when I have my pinky anchored. If I anchor my pinky, this would mean that my hand is anchored in two spots on opposite sides which completely restricts movement. I like anchoring my palm because it gives a lot of control over muting. It lets you palm mute when you want and remove excess noise easily.

In the end, its all up to you. Some people do it and some don't. You need to decide which path to take.

Here are some debates from another forum about this topic
http://racerx.edutom.co.uk/board/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13486
http://racerx.edutom.co.uk/board/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=10913
http://racerx.edutom.co.uk/board/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=4271

There will be some bias because it's a Paul Gilbert forum.

Submitted on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 15:43

Haha, I have no idea how I

Rick

Unusual

Joined: Apr 17 2007

Haha, I have no idea how I would anchor my palm, I watched some of your youtube vids and I can't seem to do it comfortably.

But other than anchoring, anything else I should know in terms of form, or technique?

----------

I opened one box of cereal only to find a totally different bag of cereal inside... such is life

Submitted on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 15:52

Re: I completely fail at playing

Ranulf

I will not join your gametabs.

Joined: Oct 15 2009

Palm anchoring is the way to go.

Submitted on Mon, 11/15/2010 - 17:07

Being able to stretch your

CpxAzn

Lurker

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Joined: Sep 21 2007

Being able to stretch your left hand is helpful

Like for example

--------9-12-15-
----------------
9-12-15---------
----------------
----------------
----------------

Submitted on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 04:39

real men use the floating

SalemJeanette

Save Your Tears.

Location: Popular Land.

Joined: Jul 03 2009

real men use the floating hand technique

----------

23:33 Vic9mm said: its ture ida benn gone she took out like 3 kids before had what was that fat ass asian kid gonna do

Little J.

Submitted on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 05:05

my 5-point exploding finger

Frogma

Joined: Jun 25 2008

my 5-point exploding finger anchor technique would end you.

----------

"Frogma is not a communist! He may be a liar, a pig, an idiot, a communist, but he is not a porn star!"

Submitted on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 07:51

wtf I never think about this

StrangeJam

Da Manliness

Joined: Aug 23 2009

wtf I never think about this shit.
just do whatever feels comfortable, everybody has different hands.
rule of the thumb is just to avoid wrist pressure

----------

http://ocremix.org/artist/11879/strangejam
http://strangejam.tumblr.com/

Submitted on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 13:18

Re: wtf I never think about this

RexLeRouge

IMPACTO

Joined: Aug 15 2008

StrangeJam said

wtf I never think about this shit.
just do whatever feels comfortable, everybody has different hands.
rule of the thumb is just to avoid wrist pressure

wiseness has spoken

Submitted on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 14:00

Re: wtf I never think about this

SalemJeanette

Save Your Tears.

Location: Popular Land.

Joined: Jul 03 2009

RexLeRouge said

StrangeJam said

wtf I never think about this shit.
just do whatever feels comfortable, everybody has different hands.
rule of the thumb is just to avoid wrist pressure

wiseness has spoken

french agrees

----------

23:33 Vic9mm said: its ture ida benn gone she took out like 3 kids before had what was that fat ass asian kid gonna do

Little J.

Submitted on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 15:09

Wrist pressure? Do you mean

Rick

Unusual

Joined: Apr 17 2007

Wrist pressure? Do you mean tension?

----------

I opened one box of cereal only to find a totally different bag of cereal inside... such is life

Submitted on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 15:43

Re: wtf I never think about this

CpxAzn

Lurker

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Joined: Sep 21 2007

StrangeJam said

wtf I never think about this shit.
just do whatever feels comfortable, everybody has different hands.
rule of the thumb is just to avoid wrist pressure

I've never thought about anchoring my pinky before either. Seems like everyone who asks the anchoring question are the ones who are currently pinky anchoring. It could be a sign that it is a bad thing since they most likely are experiencing problems if they are asking.

Submitted on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 15:54

Re: Haha, I have no idea how I

CpxAzn

Lurker

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Joined: Sep 21 2007

Rick said

Haha, I have no idea how I would anchor my palm, I watched some of your youtube vids and I can't seem to do it comfortably.

But other than anchoring, anything else I should know in terms of form, or technique?

Do you ever palm mute? It's basically having your hand in the palm mute position. I always palm mute the low E and A string because my hand is in that position, and it sounds cleaner when you palm mute the low strings. I can control the palm mutes for the rest of the strings by tilting my hand.

Submitted on Tue, 11/16/2010 - 15:53