Hello, I am a new student from Quebec City in Canada, I am a 66 old woman and I play since I’m 8. I’ve learned classic guitar first and I’be learned by myself chords and strumming and picking.
I am French speaking and my English is sometimes not bad but most of the time it’s hard to make myself understood, so, excuse my language mistakes.
Now, I want to improve my play, I want my notes sound cleaner, more precise and I want to get rid of the noise I make all the time despite my long experience with the guitar. I’ve stopped playing between 30 and 40 more of less. My hands are older now but my spirit is younger than me !
So, should I take all the lessons by the beginning or should I focus on specifics lessons ?
Thank you and « on lâche pas ! » Don’t give up !
Bonjour Christine!
Welcome to GW fellow Canuck! Nice to see you here. I'm from Western Canada.
I don't have much to offer in terms of advice as Tomo will I'm sure chime in eventually. However, if it's clear notes and less string noise may I recommend Tomo's patented chromatic scales? We just finished a 30 day challenge on them and there is a live YT stream tonight to close out the challenge. Maybe you can make it and get a sense of what we did and how it improved our playing in many respects.
My experience is that chromatic exercises did exactly the things you are looking for. I think my finger/thumb placement on the fret board/neck has improved and I noticed less strain to play guitar. Second, chromatic scales definitely help to reduce string noise by a variety of techniques and I've also seen noticeable improvements in that area.
Nice to have you here fellow Canadian. Good luck on your guitar journey with GW and happy holidays/happy new year!
All the best!
Welcome to TFGW!
Thanks so much for subscribing Guitar Wisdom and thanks for sharing a great topic!
Please read those November Challenge threads. So that you will understand clearly how to practice simple chromatic scale.
This simple exercise will get rid of any noise include finger noise and string noise. Not only how to practice this exercise but also you will learn about good posture, lefthand thumb position, muting technique, pacing, righthand palm muting, pacing, deciding a proper tempo... so much details with this simple exercise. You can practice 5 to 10 minutes a day and you should record yourself later.
You should use a little note book to write any ideas and progress etc.
Actually I am going to do my live stream tonight at 8:00pm EST.
If you can not watch, you can watch later. I am going to talk about "How to balance - Learning, practicing, playing....
"Exercise timing" thread really inspired me! Thank you so much!
So definitely "Technique"
Then please check essential theory: first 3 lessons only now.
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/music-theory-i
Essentail chords: Strumming etc. You can pick a few lessons and watch 4-5 times each lesson.
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/beginner-series
Slowly learn about triads:
https://tomovhxtv.vhx.tv/foundation-triads
Thank you!
Tomo
Thank you Michael for your kindness & generosity to other GW members!
You are so sweet!
Thank you.
Tomo
Thank you very much ! I’ve spent hours juste checking the Novembre challenge videos this morning ! Great stategy indeed. I’m very excited. But no more wayching, let’s go practicing !
Thank you very much Tomo. You are one of a kind in my opinion ! I’ve watched many, many teachers on YouTube. You blend technique, musical spirit and kindness in a unique way !