10 Things Holding You Back On Guitar (Fix These Things)

[@MrPolevaulter]

The first 1,000 people to use the link or my code elmokarjalainen get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/elmokarjalainen05221 Please check out more of my lessons: kzbin.info/aero/PLNaLwTdlpQNEQQfdhdttHV5rjmy7tmYCy

[@castleanthrax1833]

I got a very good tip from a snooker player regarding practice. He said to practice as if you are playing a match, bc your brain can't distinguish between practice and competition. I realised that this has implications for everything, including playing the guitar. I realised that if you take your practice too "casually", thinking "I'll ramp it up when I'm performing" doesn't work. You have to take practice as if you're performing in front of others (at least if you want to sound good).

[@MrPolevaulter]

Good advice.

[@cechichan]

This is one of the best advices a musician can get !! Another example of this would be : "when i press record i play worse" , then "practice" as its the real thing, press the damn recording when u practice so u full focus and u become one with the intensity of full focus and the "stress" that might come, all the possibly overwhelming emotions of recording, u get so used to it, they become a natural part of u, just imagine it , thats our greatest power imo :D

[@GiacomoVaccari]

I’ve been playing for 25 years and I’m generally considered accomplished… yet I still have to improve my pick holding and particularly timing a lot! Improving on guitar never ends and I love it!

[@jamiemascola6614]

Great tips, Elmo! I've been playing for 30+ years, though I took a long hiatus from daily practice when I retired from gigging a decade ago. Over the past year, I've began playing daily again for the joy of it. My hands and ears are back in shape. So it's time for a new goal. I haven't had one other than "git gud agin" for far too long.

[@joecool5670]

Thank you Elmo, great Points.

[@burnsZY85]

I have been wondering around on the guitar for years now, not sure where my destination is on it or how i will get there but i enjoy it.

[@daniellarson3068]

I'm one of these guys who can hear a lecture. It will make perfect sense to me while I am listening to it. However, when the lecture is done,..........brain wipe! So, for anyone out there like me. Here they are: 1) You are not setting goals (sailing analogy) 2) You hold the pick wrong (Comment - This can be extended to other areas of technique) 3) Your bends and vibrato are off 4) You are not transcribing stuff (relative pitch) 5) You are not measuring your progress. Record yourself to note your progress. 6) You are not learning licks 7) You are not playing a wide enough variety. 8) Play with other people 9) Learn theory (modes) 10) Focus when you practice (Eliminate Distractions) Elmo - Thanks again for the lesson. I happen to have a guitar theory library book soon. I may be able to apply number 9 and number 1. Have a good Spring! 😊

[@MrPolevaulter]

Cheers!

[@friedrudibega6384]

Record yourself. Notice what’s good and what’s bad and work accordingly. I found this to be extremely helpful.

[@grumpyrocker]

Me too. I've very recently started doing this while practising. Shocked at first how poor and sloppy my playing has gotten of late (been playing over 30 years) but now I can hear it and work on it.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Yep.

[@FurtiveSkeptical]

Great video as usual. I'm hopelessly distracted away from the fingering by those scalloped frets every time ....😅 Thanks

[@MrPolevaulter]

Thanks!

[@steveg.3022]

Very helpful. Thanks.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Glad you like it 😊

[@R0BERTMAY]

Love ya man! Thanks so much for the content!!!

[@MrPolevaulter]

And thank you 😊

[@fungar]

My top five. 1: Don't waste your time on KZbin when you can be playing guitar. You can watch KZbin in other moments, for example while in the bathroom. 2: Don't buy 'beginner' stuff when you don't even know how to set it up properly, buy the best gear you could afford/justify and stick to it for a while until you start searching for new stuff. You'll be able to play almost everything with what you already got. Stop searching for new gear all the time instead of playing the gear you already own. 3: Don't practice things because a teacher tells you so (modes, circle of fifths, whatever) although you don't understand why you need that thing. If he try to force you on that, search for another one, are plenty online. Life is short, learn what you want to know, there isn't better motivation for grabbing the guitar everyday. 4: Play over real music. Forget the metronome. Chose the song you like the most and play it slowing the spped without changing the pitch (play it on KZbin and slow its speed or import the mp3 in Reaper and change the BPM). Even if you're beginning with guitar, you'll be able to play the root note with one single finger on every chord change of the song. Enjoy the music beeing part of it. You don't need exercises in the same way you don't need training soccer if you aren't in a competition, just grab the ball and please yourself by kicking it. Furthermore, you don't need to win over the other guitarists. 5: If your mom says it's time to eat, then it's time to eat. Wash your hands, go there as soon as possible, eat everything, have a second helping, tell her the food was delicious and help clearing the table or washing the dishes or whatever before coming back to the guitar.

[@MrPolevaulter]

Mmm...food 😀

[@usuallyclueless4477]

3:08 I use the Marty Friedman method.

[@Krabadaque]

"Gone are the days we stopped to decide where we should go, we just ride" (Hunter-Garcia) :)

[@earthquakemagoon2505]

Hey Elmo. I was thinking that two of the biggest issues in leaning are: 1. Patience. 2. Perfect practice makes perfect then practice some more. 3. Meditate a few minutes before you pickup your guitar. Thanks Elmo. I learned things from this video!

[@MrPolevaulter]

Glad you liked it 😊

[@tlmoscow]

If you can’t stand playing with a metronome, try using a drum machine instead (a simple pattern from any basic app will do) - a lot of players find it more musical and enjoyable than the old ‘click-clack’.

[@RickMichaelis63]

Very cool video…Thanks for the advice Elmo! 👍👍😎🎶🎸✌🏻

[@MrPolevaulter]

👍

[@Alfredo78666]

Professor J is back! And remember, every skillshare shoutout (the 7 of them in this vid😜) ARE IN-JI-VI-JU-AL

[@MagisterTuomo]

Nummer 8 😁. Magisterns vardag 1994-1998. Och ☝️. Det fanns bara en skivaffär i hela Stockholm om man ville köpa något annat än Metallica eller Pantera. Svåra år, Elmo. SVÅRA år! 😅 Var iväg och hämtade en ny gitarrpedal idag och på hemvägen tänkte jag: "Åh. Det är måndag. Då kanske Elmos video publicerats när jag kommer hem. Hoppas att det är en med fokus på undervisning." Whaddayaknow! Well played. Well played, Elmo Practice your vibrato(r) Karjalainen

[@MrPolevaulter]

Undervisning ska det vara ibland. Borde nog spela mera musik på kanalen också. Ska fixa det under sommaren.

[@artwhat..]

Hi..E,you have a lot of followers, how do you keep from looking over your shoulder? All good points.. people got to want,if they don't? They can get a job digging a ditch,they won't have to think as much.. here I can help them out with that discipline, I got a spare shovel..

[@cechichan]

Time stemps would be amaznig man :p

[@PooNinja]

5:51 😂👏🏽👏🏽

[@hoosierdaddy2308]

Very interesting. I didn't take lessons and if I had I would have said I want to be able to play 2112 Rush lead. When I saw that live I was determined to figure it out. It took a long time, but have been playing it now for years and it was a lot easier than I thought when I finally accomplished it. ♥️🤘 Getting bends right is very useful. There's nothing that makes me cringe more than hearing someone doing double bends as I call them and coming up flat. Drives my ear crazy. 😂.. Recording yourself is one of the best ways to tell if you sound good because you can't concentrate on hearing yourself really well while playing if that makes sense. You notice more mistakes when listening only. 🤘♥️ A couple things I would add from trying to help people who asked me to teach them which I'm horrible at : Don't press the strings so hard against the frets !!! Just hard enough to make the note sound. My buddy who I've been helping because he wants to learn the bass was pressing so hard I thought he would break the neck. 😂.. I also would add learn to train your ear. Pick out a note in a song you like and try to find that very note the first time. It trains your ear. I can learn a. song really quickly now and I don't know theory, which is a good idea, but I'm old and it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. 😂😂 Great great video and tips as always my friend. Hope all is well in the great white north sir. It's getting warm here and spring is in the air. ♥️🤘♥️ Take care sir. 🤘♥️🤘

[@MrPolevaulter]

Cheers! 😊

[@hoosierdaddy2308]

@@FellowshipOfTheString Yeah. That's the first thing I do usually after hearing a song and deciding to figure it out. I find the key it's in and then decide all the possible notes I can use for playing lead. Usually to a backing track. I can't play to Metrodome. Drives me insane because it's so boring. 😂. So I just jam to backing tracks typically or just jam without an amp too a lot. Just find new riffs and play. 🤘♥️🤘

[@billbertagnoli4226]

Suomi kutsu Elmo!

[@DJCompiler]

Hi Elmo K, I have 3 exercises and 3 original songs I use to practice with. Over the course of 2 months I can practice and make progress. I'll throw in a different song and exercise as things progress. All of a sudden I'll have a day where everything turns ugly. I can't play anything accurately and my dexterity goes away. What can I do to overcome this? -D

[@MrPolevaulter]

I don't know, because I don't know what causes it. Sounds really strange. I mean, we all have bad days, but that just sounds extreme.

[@michaelk5507]

Your asked me... weeks ago... about a comment I'd made relating to the huge number of people who start to learn guitar and then give up during the first year. You wanted to know where I got the information. I couldn't remember! Anyway, I suddenly did, this morning when I was mowing the lawn. Andy Mooney the CEo of Fender Guitars, no less. He mentioned that around 90% of people who start playing guitar quit after just one year! Which obviously is a problem seen from Fender's perspecitive. It also shows, if these numbers are reasonably accurate, that something is very wrong somewhere, no? Regards. Michael K

[@Leo_ofRedKeep]

I guess that's why the guitar industry does all it possibly can to get those who stay to buy ten guitars instead of one, then ;)

[@MrPolevaulter]

Yeah there seems to be something wrong somewhere. I wonder if those numbers are the same these days, or if there's been a change.

[@michaelk5507]

@@MrPolevaulter Well, he said it a couple of years ago. My guess is, if anything, it's probably worse today. Why? Possibly because any kind of 'teaching' and 'learning' is more of a challenge than it used to be. We seem to live in a culture where things have to be... 'fast' to be popular. Like 'fast food' or 'just in time' logistics. Stuff, anything really, has to be 'easy to consume.' Even reading novels requires more effort than listening to an audiobook, and they are extremely popular. I'm rather old. I started to learn guitar a few years ago. My fingers aren't long enough for many chords and they are pretty stiff too. I should have started fifty years ago! It's taken a long time to build-up strength in all the fingers on my left, fretting hand. My little finger and ring finger seem stuck together compared to the index and middle finger! It's so easy to make music these days with a phone, sampling, compared to creating the sounds on your own with an instrument. This is a problem, because, I'd argue, the music is 'hidden' in the 'soul' of the intrument itself and the musician's job is to help it 'escape.' Angus Young said that he just follows his guitar where it leads him!

[@MrPolevaulter]

@@michaelk5507 Pretty much what I was thinking. People want everything instantly these days and that's bad when learning a skill.

[@philnicol8072]

Me. Laziness .....

[@soldierbreakneck771]

Elmo, I set myself a big goal few weeks ago - to play 2 and 3 string sweep arpegios in Yngwie style and speed and it is really hard for me)) can you explain some time how you play it?

[@MrPolevaulter]

I think I've made a video or two where I talk about Yngwie style licks, and they might feature those. You can look them up.