25 years of guitar knowledge in under 21 minutes

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Grab all my scales and arpeggio shapes to confidently play across the fretboard in any key: www.SoloOnGuitar.com

[@aisandler]

If anyone's on the fence of Daniel's Diagonal Pentatonic course, don't be - it got me out of a 10 year plateau and changed my playing in a matter of days and reinvigorated my passion for learning guitar, I promise this isn't hyperbole. In a sea of endless guitar experts, this is the one people. It's been 4 months and I continue to use it regularly, there's tons of extras, including lick exercises from guest guitarists Daniel invited to contribute. Do it.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Dude!! You are the man. Thanks so much. Been awesome to see your progress!

[@gr637]

I’m left handed and completely agree with Daniel; I naturally gravitated towards playing right handed guitars as I felt that fretting was more challenging.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Nice! Thanks for the comment

[@alexwood8555]

Man the format of these latest videos is great!

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Thanks brother!!

[@gr637]

I believe that there’s so much valuable advice in this video alone to save guitar learners years of misery.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Thank you!

[@kenkatie]

I’ve never heard anyone talk about the left hand thing before. I’m left handed, started playing in 1986 at 14 years old, the guitar store in my little town didn’t even have a left handed guitar so I learned right, very glad I did.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Yes! So glad that you did. I think it's better.

[@WickBeavers]

I burned at 4 minutes. Yoweee- a LOT of content here, thanks.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

A ton for sure!

[@Matt-1d]

Wow, an avalanche of wisdom! I’ll be coming back to this often to take notes. Also, after 30 years of playing, I’ve finally started playing with others and live at open mics. I’m improving so quickly. I wish I hadn’t let the idea of perfection prevent me from doing this when I was younger.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

I can totally appreciate. So glad it is helping you now!

[@doubled5383]

One thing that gets a bad rap: noodling. I have discovered so many things noodling around. Granted I always try to connect what I have learned during practice sessions, but it is super helpful to just be creative and have no boundaries sometimes. It’s ok to paint outside the lines without an agenda. For Exile on Main Street, Keith Richards just walked around for months noodling. That’s where his riffs came from.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

100% you have to spend time noodling…but that’s not practice. Sacred and important…not practice. The reason it gets a bad rap is because as a teacher, you find out over and over that noodling is students idea of practicing.

[@sisuriffs]

Thank you for writing “had known”. So many would have written “knew”. :)

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Haha. Welcome

[@kevindean1327]

My favourite guitarists are Albert King and Otis Rush. I think left handed guitarists who play upside down (Hendrix didn’t) have a major advantage when it comes to string bending and applying vibrato to a bend. Pulling is easier than pushing!!!

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Absolutely!!

[@davidpatrick1813]

This is unbelievably helpful... printed sheet and will try to use this to get myself into a daily routine.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

So awesome!! Thanks so much for watching and really appreciate the comment.

[@Mssrmikeone]

Outstanding. Again.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Thank you so much for being here.

[@lucienne66]

Great advice, Daniel! Speaking as a lefty who learned lefty because I was self-taught and didn’t have anyone to advise me otherwise, the best and only reason learn to play righty as a beginner is that you will have a lot more choices of guitars and you can play your friends’ guitars. However, if you don’t care about that, and considering that it’s easier nowadays to find quality left-handed instruments (though you may have to special order them), if you strongly feel inclined to play lefty, just do it. The thing about having your strong hand on the fretboard is just a rationalization to try and make it easier for lefties to swallow going against their natural inclination, it has no real validity. I have professional lefty guitarist friends who learned to play righty and they say that they struggled a lot with getting good rhythm and had to work extra hard at it. Arguably, good rhythm is far more important than fretboard dexterity, plus most of the guitarists who can shred like crazy on the fretboard are playing with their weaker hands on the fretboard. All that said, my lefty friends who learned to play righty don’t regret it, so it’s really just a personal choice.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

I really appreciate your thoughts on this. Great comment. However, I 100% stand by the fact that...the guitar isn't inherently left or righty and it's so much simpler for folks to just learn "righty" when starting.

[@flocdeneu5179]

@@DanielSeriffMusic I play both right and left hand. Started as kid with the right hand, and I know professional lefty that play this way, but guitar is percussive, rhythmic, and if you wanna play a solid bass in your country blues, Robert Johnson, Jerry Reed, you better have your dominant thumb doing that. I know many think otherwise, but that is my case, and it has been a matter my whole life. Anyway, great tips in this video.

[@joebarkan]

I'm a lefty who plays righty, and I agree with you. It was very unnatural at first. After 40+ years of playing/practicing/gigging, my right/picking hand still isn't great -- no matter how hard I try.

[@chriswells966]

@@DanielSeriffMusic I would have to disagree with you, that unless you are left handed and learnt to play right handed you don't really know from experience how important the dominant hand is for your Rhythm, picking speed and endurance. I have been playing guitar and bass for over 40 years. I started with classical guitar and did a Degree with Classical guitar as a major then got into bands in the 1980's when every pub had a band on Friday and Saturday nights and the music scene was great. I am not a great guitarist but very experienced playing classical, jazz and rock/pop in ensembles/bands etc. and have always have people want me in their band so never seem to be out of a group for any time. Things I find hard to do are Tremolo in Classical, for example Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Tárrega I can play but about half way through I start to slow down as my right hand gets tired. Rock songs that have a lot of fast down picking really tire out my right hand quickly but often don't sound as good using up and down picking so really needs fast down only picking. Playing 4 hour gigs I would chose which songs really needed just down picking and play the others as up and down so I can get though the whole night. Really for me after decades of practice I have got a good right hand technique as I have really concentrated on it but still lack endurance and I also feel my Rhythm might be better if I played left handed. I only learnt right handed because my first teacher I had for 6 weeks was too lazy to change the strings for me and the second teacher said I was always too far along to change. Unfortunately I will never know whether I would play better enough to justify losing the ability to walk into a music shop, friends house etc. and play any guitar which is a great thing. I certainly agree with you that is a huge advantage to playing right handed as far as not needing your own instrument with you all the time. I have strung guitars left handed and try practicing but it feels so odd I never got very far. Also I use fingernails on my picking hand so had to play without fingernails when trying to swap over. I feel the best advice for a left handed new player is to buy a drum stick before buying a guitar and try playing different Rhythms with one hand and then the other. If after a few weeks practicing the right hand still feels way behind the left hand in control then play left handed. I have been doing this as an exercise to improve my right hand rhythm but my left hand is still much better with a drum stick. As a lefty learning right handed I feel you progress quicker as initially the fretting hand is harder but as you progress to more difficult music I feel it swaps and the picking hand becomes more difficult. Finally there are many great left handed musicians who play right handed, Gary Moore started left handed on a cheap nasty guitar trying to play Shadows covers playing higher up the neck where the frets are closer due to his small hands but as the guitar had bad action his right hand didn't have the strength to fret the strings so he swapped to playing right handed so his stronger hand could pull the strings to the fingerboard. He kept playing right handed. BB King played chords strumming with a group as a kid and found it hard to make the chords when young with his right hand so tried playing right handed so he could use his dominant hand on the finger board. He now says that he likes the vibrato technique he can get with his left dominant hand. Mark Knopfler said his sister told him he was holding the guitar wrong when he held it left handed. I really like some of your other advice.

[@johnber9482]

Lots of great advice here. But as a lefty professional guitar player I also have to disagree with being able to just choose to play righty or lefty. When I started I was told to play righty even though I am left handed. Even though I couldn’t play yet I could feel it felt unnatural for me and playing lefty was so much easier. I wouldn’t have continued to play guitar if I didn’t do the switch. I’ve come to learn that this issue is highly individual, some people are more ambidextrous than others.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Appreciate the comment!

[@MrXyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

Paul McCartney also started playing right handed guitar, but then realised that it was much more natural for him to play left handed. This was in the really early das of lerning the guitar, before he had even met Lennon.

[@tomm5023]

On the drumloops and backing tracks vs metronome: I tend to disagree. With these you often have the false feeling you’re grooving. With a click (use high hat tick vs a bleep) you will hear a lot better if you groove or not. I noticed myself when switching between the two. I practice a lot with just a tick now and have my foot tap along to really internalise. Challenging because your foot tends to tap along with accents.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

I don’t disagree entirely but I think the metronome is an advanced tool. It only provides the pulse. Not syncopation or a groove. Many people can’t just create a groove out of thin air. The drum tracks help with that.

[@tomm5023]

@ In that order maybe yes. Starting with a drumloop and see if you can groove on a tick after. Because to me it was misleading. I thought I was grooving until I muted the drumtrack. The drummer was grooving and I played in time but without the drummer it lost that vibe. Easy to analyse when you record yourself 😄. I learned this the hard way practicing a song like crazy with the original in the back until my teacher asked me to play it bare. Ever since the tick became my annoying friend telling me the truth.

[@dprudhotube1]

Playing right handed as a lefty is certainly attractive for some of the reasons you mentioned. Maybe it can be conquered but not at all natural or intuitive to me. But I respectfully disagree that since left is the strong hand it makes fretting easier. If that were the case, shouldn’t right handed players be playing lefty 😀? Love your video and your diagonal pentatonic course.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Thanks for the kind comment. Totally appreciate your thoughts on this. I just don't think guitars are actually righty or lefty. I think the guitar is just a guitar and it's hard no matter what. Right handed guitars are just more prevalent and available. Gonna stick with my recommendation.

[@saint.vitus.7775]

I'd say it's a trade off... Yes, fretting with one's dominant (stronger) hand is easier. But playing Rhythm with one's Non-dominant hand is (imo) not ideal. I definitely think it's best to play Rhythm with the dominant hand. It just feels a lot more natural and you can do more complex things. I speak from experience as a natural Righty - who plays as a Lefty. So overall i'd say don't switch from your dominant hand playing rhythm (unless you have to for some reason).

[@JS-nf1sn]

Im a left handed guitarist. So wish i learned right handed.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Thanks for watching

[@davidatyootoob]

I can't find the free basic backing tracks - can you please help me?

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Hey! Did you sign up for the toolkit? Shoot me an email: [e-mail]

[@LorinCohenBassist]

💥💥👍

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

My man!!

[@rajennaidoo7]

Listened intently for whole duration: Absolutely resonate with EVERYTHING you said apart from left hand right hand guitarist, no offence meant. Just didn't interest me. I've been doing some of the things you mentioned by default and they work. Thanks for affirming. Going to use this video on a regular basis to help me through my journey. Profoundly grateful for this video.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

So glad you enjoyed it. Thank you!

[@StuartwasDrinkell]

Telling doesn't work showing does.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Neato!

[@sandippatel1969]

Hard disagree, Daniel. I found a leftie Gibson Les Paul within 30 seconds! I know we are only 1% of guitarists , but there's no need to alienate us

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

I am not alienating anyone. I'm so glad you play guitar. You chose to play left handed or were instructed to. There is nothing inherently right and left about the guitar. For newer players, it makes no sense to start leftie. 1. Can't play at parties with no leftie sitting around 2. You're unlikely to find any decent leftie guitars in a shop...of course you can find them online. 3. Chord and scale charts are all written the opposite way. 4. There is nothing inherently right or left about the guitar...it's just guitar. And I still maintain my opinion that you might even play better if you played RH. Thanks for the comment.

[@sandippatel1969]

Hard laugh: I'm actually right handed but for the life of me cannot play right handed no matter how hard I try. We have Jimi for inspiration... And I don't have to ever worry about being invited up on stage to play! And yes, my local guitar shop think I am of the devil because he had to order in my Redondo. I don't feel alienated as watching others on screen is just a straight mirror image for me after one gets used to it

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

@@sandippatel1969 Agree to disagree. Have a good day.

[@sandippatel1969]

@DanielSeriffMusic and the sane to you, sir And thank you for the video. I picked up a guitar 2 years ago at the age of 52 and enjoy seeing these insights on KZbin

[@michaelelwert4184]

Sorry, but to play right-handed as a lefty is the badest advice you can give to someone, start playing the guitar. Nowadays you can easily get good quality guitars. In the earlier days they forced lefthand children to learn writing with the right hand. Nowadays the do this anymore, because there are so many left handed suffering to learn right handed stuff. question: Would you play the guitar left-handed as a right handed musician, when you have a better feel to play it right-handed?......I guess you won`t!

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

I stand by my opinion on this.

[@garyhalliday2140]

I sold a pedal to a guy who picked up my RH guitar to try it. He plays left handed with a right hand strung guitar. That's one way to do it.

[@michaeltrowbridge9324]

Gary Moore, Mark Knopfler, Duane Allman, Steve Morse, Johnny Winter - all left-handed players playing right-handed. They seemed to manage ok.

[@tillyshaker]

I don't have an opinion but when I found out that orchestral string players don't have an option I came to believe that new guitarists ought to be able to go either way with it. I do think it's weird that right handed people seem to universally want to play in the standard right handed orientation and vice versa for lefties. Why would that even be? Beginning with air guitar people exhibit a preference.

[@cerberuscombatmma]

To be honest. This was not helpful at all. Just talking.

[@DanielSeriffMusic]

Here is a novel thought, not every video is made for everyone. This video is clearly not made for you.