Anyone else practice hours on end only to come up empty handed in front of other people? This has happened twice already and itās pretty discouraging/embarrassing. Itās especially embarrassing when you tell people how much work youāve been putting into the guitar.
I jam for hours on my own learning songs and riffs. I start to feel really confident and as if I am really making progress. I sit down in front of someone else and I either go blank or I can barely put anything together. Itās so bad its almost funny.
My dad has been playing for years and we talk on the phone pretty frequently. Leading up to Thanksgiving I kept telling how much better Iāve been getting. I sat down with him to play and it was as if I had just picked up a guitar.
Iāve been playing everyday for 30 minutes to an hour for the past year. Iāve been playing on and off for years but this past year I wanted to really stay regimented and make some significant strides.
Anyone have any practice routine suggestions that can change this? Is this just one of those things that gets better with time? I was so annoyed with the situation that I didnāt pick up my guitar to play since early last week.
Have a bit of the same when Iām trying to make a video when Iām playing. Itās like I practice, then at a moment i think ok, now itās time to make a video of it, and then Iām making mistake after mistake
But itāll be better, today I was practicing improvisation on solos when my teacher plays guitar, but for the firstly time, there was a third player. A lady on the drums. The first minutes where really awkward for me, like to affraid to making mistakes. After a few minutes, I was playing more secure, thought whatever if I make a mistake, Iām here to making fun and to learn.
I think that weāre a lot with the same problem, I think the main problem is that weāre thinking about what can go wrong, instead of just having fun, like we do when playing alone.
I think itāll be better with time.
Hi there Jesse
It is normal to feel this, first of all, please dont compare you with other guitar players. That leads you to nowhere.
As rob said. Start out with easy songs and keep things simple. 1 year is nothing. It is a lifelong journey and there is always things to work on and get better atā¦
take a step back and focus on the things you have learned and keep at itā¦
And again. Do not compare youreself with others!!!
I struggle with this as well. The 2-3 chord campfire song suggestion is a good one. My daughter wanted to hear me play so I started with Horse With No Name. Itās hard to mess that up.
That helped me relax and I was able to play a couple other songs then.
The suggestion to recite yourself in video is also a good one. I do it regularly for another course and itās amazing how I forget how to play when the red light is blinking. Just like everything you improve with practice. So perhaps offer to play for everyone.
Got to agree with everyone else here. This is the same for everyone, you, me, Justin - we all lose some of our talent when the pressure is on. What you and I call pressure is different from what Justin calls pressure, but itās the same principle.
As others have said, keep it simple. Iāve been playing years, but if you thrust a guitar into my hands at a party and said āplay somethingā, then Iād probably sing Knocking on Heavens door - easy open chords. Once thatās out of the way you will probably relax a bit and gain a bit more confidence.
As with everything, the more you do it the easier it becomes - try and play in front of people in a ālow riskā environment whenever you can.
Same happened to me this Thanksgiving. Iām just finishing Grade 3 (been following Justinās course for ~3.5 years), and was starting to feel confident with my playing. I even brought my guitar along to jam with a 30+ year player friend who would be there. Even with my own guitar, it seemed like I couldnāt do the simplest things without screwing up. I had this problem even when practicing in a private room at my friends house with no one listening. So, it wasnāt performance anxiety, at least not in the traditional sense.
I think the only practice item that can fix this is to go and play your guitar in different places than your practice space to get used to playing in varied environments.
Jesse, do you video yourself playing? If not, try it and once youāve got used to the all-seeing eye of the camera watching you, then you can get to the point of submitting AVOYPs for the rest of us to comment on, and when youāve done that a few times performing directly in front of people shouldnāt be an issue
Nope. No videos. I just work on mastering all the practice modules. I try to break up my hour of practice into different segments the best I can to ensure Iām not just playing the same things. I also play along to backing tracks. I really try to commit fully to all of the lessons.
I hate to say it but I think Justinās app with all the songs/backing tracks might be setting me back. That or they are making me feel like Iām a better player than I actually am. Itās real easy when the rythm and chords are laid out on my iPad. You take that away and itās a whole other ballgame. Unfortunately itās just too fun to get sucked into all of the songs. Maybe I need to spend more time on just learning songs and trying to play along outside of the app.
Itās a gut punch for sure but i suppose itās all a part of it. I think I need to get away from playing a long with Justin;s songs on his app. Itās super fun but I think itās comparable to riding on training wheels forever. Maybe doing it old school by just printing out the song and playing by ear will get me further and help me build my confidence in playing.
Yes. That playalong app is really good when you start out, but do not stick to it too long.
Break away from that and try to play songs without it.
Youre better off trying to play along original recordings without that app.
I experienced the same as you describes, and you will come to a point were it is really difficult to play anything without the help from the appā¦
For next year, my 30+ year player friend and I agreed to work on two things that we will play together next Thanksgiving:
Wish You Were Here (chords, vocal melody & solos): We can take turns playing rhythm while the other either solos or plays the vocal melody.
Pick a chord progression or song and perform the āA Capo for Twoā lesson. One person plays the chords in open position while the other plyer plays the same chords further up the neck using a capo.
This way, the āwhat should we playā question is answered and I have a year to practice and prepare.
I often wonder if in person lessons would benefit me more. Sounds like the results are the same but in addition to the awkwardness of not making much progress you also get a hole in your pocket haha!
Thereās an old saying; āSteal a manās wallet and heās poor for a day; teach him to play a musical instrument and heās poor for the rest of his lifeā
Sounds like a excellent why having some jam buddies is a good idea. I can myself getting to that same point. The time will come when I feel the need to bite the bullet and get a musically minded friend or two who play over for a jam and whiskey eveningā¦
This happened to me as well last week (Thanksgiving in the US). I took my guitar to a vacation get-away my wife an I usually do for our anniversary. My mother was with us for the holiday and of course, I was asked to āshow your new play skillsā. I froze. In front of people that could care less if I was horrible. why??
After a few plunks of nothing special, I decided that I should at least attempt something that I could easily play at home without any trouble. I found the recording I play with and started it up. After a couple bars of sweating, I started to just listen to the song I knew and let external stuff be forgotten. About the 4th bar, I joined in and was able to play with the song without much error.
I chose a song I knew I could play. I used enough backing volume that if I goofed a little, which I did when mom stated to ask me questions while playing! I messed up a bar or two and just started grunting answers instead of having a conversation. She got the idea. I was in the zone most of the song and was pretty well on time because I was ignoring external pressures. You need to just focus on the song and let the stuff you know flow. hard to do compared to say, but this is what I was doing.
Be sure to select something you can do in private almost automatically and it will start to flow as you get into it. DO NOT worry about a rough start or you wonāt get into the song like you do in private. Generally, loved ones are not harsh judges and it is easy to play in front of them and these folks are good people to get your feet wet with.
For practice holding on to riffs or rhythm sequences, my wife will often come in to talk to me. I try to to keep playing and have explained to her that I need to practice talking while playing. She understands the need and is more than happy to test my skills (yeah, that is a little sarcasm - at least she ināt irritated with me playing thru our conversations now!). It does also give some experience for when you find the spotlight on you at unexpected times.
To me, playing for another person is a skill that has to be acquired through practice, just like the intro to Wish You Were Here or anything else on guitar.
Personally, I would never tell someone Iāve been getting really better at guitar and then plan to demonstrate that. Too much pressure, too much build-up.
My strategy is different: letās say I have a few people over for dinner. At some point, as weāre sitting around afterwards, Iāll pick up my acoustic and start noodling while everyone is conversing. Maybe Iāll try to play something that is recognizable (e.g. Norwegian Wood) and see if anybody notices, that sort of thing. Someone might say, āhey, pretty goodā or whatever. This might lead to singing a song or two, either on your own or in a sing-along. And if you screw up, no big deal. The stakes are very low.
Thatās how I ease in to playing in front of people. (I have only ever done this with family members and a small number of close friends).
You. I mean that at this level you might need to develop the skill to analyse your learningā¦thereās no right or wrong here, you just try to read your experience and make hypothesis of where the roots of the problem are so that you can start working on the aspects that prevent you to do well when youāre with other people. As others said you should record yourself, itās crucial to rewatch and self-assess and itāll allow you to build some self-confidence watching your self nailing the different aspects of playing, and outline those that need work will help you to set your practice routine. Your experience is widely relatable, but if I, the less confident learner and player in this world overcome it, you can make it as well.
