Strumming Problems!

I've gone thru Guitar basics 1 & 2. I've had probally every trouble one could have. F Major,Changing Chord speed and just plain slow. Have many more. I have been practicing C scale and A scale. I'm learning but slowww. I practice 15 minutes and stop and try going back later. I'm working on the Country Beginner1. It's fun but fruststating. I'm hoping to practice one day and it just start sounding like I,m learning something. I love Music but don,t see alot of Talent.

Try strumming muting all six string with no chord in mind.. Different variations. Just get your wrist loose. Then try strumming with two of the chord you can do best.. Use different strum patterns.. At 15 minutes, your may barely be getting warmed up. Work on getting practice time longer.. Have no song in mind.. Just feel the rhythm... relax and let your mind go where it wants..
That pretty much how I got to doing better

people learn at different rates what i usually do is i don't move on to an advanced section until i have felt comftorble with the previous. and always have a fall back lesson i can fall back on when i get fustrated, one that i'm comfotable with just to get the confidence back and then hit the difficult section later.

I have trouble telling how the instructor is strumming. I can't tell if their strumming on the up strum so I have trouble getting the pattern. I wish they would say down down down up down ect.

Hey all,

It might help to do a tutorial in the very basic foundations of strumming, so that the variations you are seeing in the Country course make more sense to you.

Acoustic Strumming Step-by-Step will talk you through right from the beginning, and help build the skills that will help all the 'up and down' stuff fall into place.

Hope this helps!
Keep us posted - Lisa

All had some very good ideals!! I need to practice more, and I do have several fall back lessons. If I start getting frustrated, I just go back. I love the ideal of just strumming without worring about changing cords. I can see that I am inproving, I'll get there.
Lisa I will try the strumming basics also. I also really like your lessons.

Thanks for all the good feedback!!

Don't try too many things at once.
Ex: Practice changing chords. Let your right hand rest.
Practice different combinations. c to f , c to am, c to g, etc .

When you can do the left hand chord changes without hardly even thinking about it, and not loooking at the guitar, then your're ready to try the right hand by itself.

When you practice the R. hand, mute the strings with the L. hand. Make sure you are keeping an even beat with a metronome. When you have mastered the correct strumming rhythm, then its time to practice with one chord and that rhythm. Then another chord and its rhythm.

When that is mastered , then try it all slowly.

That is a great Ideal too. I have actually tried this and it has helped. I have improved. I think I'm just trying to make it all happen to fast and i'm just not there yet. I know with the improvements I've made I will get there though. THANK YOU ALL FOR THE GREAT IDEALS!!

Originally Posted by: jayplayThat is a great Ideal too. I have actually tried this and it has helped. I have improved. I think I'm just trying to make it all happen to fast and i'm just not there yet. I know with the improvements I've made I will get there though. THANK YOU ALL FOR THE GREAT IDEALS!!

I struggle in the same areas as you do. What I find is that I have had so many bad habits over the years and now that I am trying to learn on here them habits are brutal to change. I get frustrated and try to find something that I can pickup easier to build confidence.
One thing that really bothers me is that is to stay focused when it just doesn't come. For example, walking into chords, some I am pretty good at and I was doing some of them over time and didn't know how accurate I was, but others are a battle. I can go from the C chord and walk into G like a pro, but the other way I keep doing it over and over and it just doesn't seem like I can get it. I will practice it, but when I go into the C chord my fingers get confused and the chord sounds horrible. However, when I go from G into C just chording, the difficulty is a lot less.
Any suggestions in this. Sometimes I feel like I am too old at 61 and I'm not teachable or capable of breaking those bad habits.

Hi JL,

I might be able to help you if I could see what is going on.

Any chance you could create a little video of your hands doing those walks, and post it on YouTube or someplace so I could see it?

Best - Lisa

You Saw I Was Going To Fast And Movin Around Too Much And Sent Me A E-nail And Ask Me To Stay In Beginners And Easy For Awhile,i Want You To Know I Appreciate That.

David,

Thanks so much for your note - I really appreciate it.
Let me know how I can be of help in the future.

Happy playing, Lisa

Jayplay,

I had the same problem that you're having. There are some places in the Guitar Tricks instruction that kind of jump a gap. It's like continually taking batting practice but never playing in a game. Or more discouraging, getting put into a game that is more advanced than you're ready for. I think the addition of Caren Armstrong's beginner songs is a good start at bridging that gap, but there isn't enough material like that yet.

I tried some of this guys stuff on the link below for awhile. At least I felt like I was playing something musical rather than just endless, monotonous, practicing of unmusical chord changes. You will be getting practice making chord changes with different strumming patterns and training your muscles which will also help later when doing something new, from say, Lisa McC. You're fretting hand will know what to do without thinking about it so much, while you're learning something new with your strumming hand. And you won't be bored half to death before you get there.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL40ECE967D9E8397A

Then I came back to GT for awhile, but had to drop my paid membership for now due to taking flying lessons and some other financial stuff that I'm dealing with from my previous marriage for the next several months. But I do intend to come back because, there is a lot of good more advanced material on here.

Originally Posted by: LisaMcCHey all,

It might help to do a tutorial in the very basic foundations of strumming, so that the variations you are seeing in the Country course make more sense to you.

Acoustic Strumming Step-by-Step will talk you through right from the beginning, and help build the skills that will help all the 'up and down' stuff fall into place.

Hope this helps!
Keep us posted - Lisa

I can recommend this tute - I'm self taught (not very good!) and these basic lessons instantly removed a couple of bad habits and made me feel more confident. Really good stuff.

I got my metronome out at started it at 60 bpm and progressed up by 10 bpm until I was strumming at 100 bpm. I kept doing this procedure starting at 60 and increasing by 10 with different strumming patterns. Once I felt confident with that I advanced up to 120 bpm. I had done this also to increase my picking speed.

Joe