Hi everyone,
I started grade 1 in mid May and have been consolidating for 12 days. I’m hoping to get as much feedback as possible so feel free.
I didn’t know which songs i should post, but for the purposes of technical feedback I thought putting whichever one feels smoothest right now, that’s Get Lucky, next to the lumpiest one, This Year’s Love.
These are the issues I’m dealing with at the moment:
• ‘hesitant’ fingers. I often feel I have to adjust their positions by a mm or so after landing on the chord so they feel exactly ‘in control’. Sometimes they jump slightly and then settle back down before I press. I think this is at least partly because i was pressing too hard, which is getting better but still there.
• Not consistently strumming the right strings
• hitting the pickguard on the downstrum
• strumming just before i press the strings so i get a muted strum, especially on the D- chord. But i think that’s just about getting the change faster
• pick angle confusion but I should leave that for a separate post to clarify
Very solid first AVOYP Norhan! Definitely much better than me 3-4 months after starting Unit 1 .
I like how consistently your strumming hand keeps moving. This will serve you well as you get into unit 2 and beyond.
Perhaps work on air changes in your practice routine - I see fingers 2 and especially 3 lag behind finger 1 on some of the changes eg going to the C chord.
Well played, Norhan, and congratulations on your first AVYOP. Thoughts:
Firstly, you are making huge progress just by identifying areas for improvement.
Forming chords and smooth chord transitions are tough; work on accuracy at slow speed. As you develop “muscle memory” you will speed up over time.
Pick angle is worth spending time on to avoid developing and practicing with a poor technique. Learning is much easier than “un-learning”.
Strumming: you might be keeping consistent rhythm and your chord changes cannot keep up with your bpm. Metronomes are not easy to work with for us beginners, so I prefer to use a simple drum beat backing track. There are plenty around, depending on your setup: Win, iOS, Android, Linux, etc. There are Apps available, also YouTube.
JG also has well structured lessons in developing
these skills.
Just some random thoughts from my 4yr old ‘guitar brain’
Hi Norhan, you looked like you had very good feel for the rhythm of the 2 pieces. You also looked and sounded well on top of your playing. Look forward to seeing your progress.
Thank you!
You’re definitely right about the lagging problem. But when I tried air changes, it was so awkward that I was afraid it would “confuse” my fingers even more if i started them too early. They’re starting to happen here and there so i was trying to ‘prep’ my fingers a bit more. But I should give it another try now I guess.
You’re probably right about my strumming being a little faster than my changes. I have been practicing strumming with a metronome though, it’s growing on me :), but not chord changes. Do you think it would help with changes too ?
you are well on your way for consolidating Grade 1! Also, congrats on posting your first AVOYP - it’s a huge milestoneto achieve and good to do it early along the journey to get used to it.
It’s good you take your time on reflecting your playing and observe some areas of improvements yourself - that’s one of the most valuable skills we should develop when learning “on our own”.
There are already some good points in your self-observation and also mentioned by others, so no need for repeating.
But one thing I’d like to add regarding this point you raised:
This is nothing unusual when it only happens occasionally, especially when playing very fast/harder stuff. But it shouldn’t be happening all the time. This is often related on how we hold the guitar, angles of strumming arm/hand and so on. You might want to experiment a little on how you hold your guitar and maybe think about getting a strap. It really helps to hold it in a position that’s comfortable for you and get your angles right. And probably, it will help you to avoid hitting the pickguard.
You are well on your way and what’s great to see is how consistently your strumming hand is moving. That will serve you well along the journey ahead.
Great first shot Obvious you have a good ear and rhythm. Don’t worry, everything will fall into place. Left hand muscles have to build up. Keep on the good work. Thanks for sharing
Great job. You look so chill when your playing, thats good. Seems like you are ahead of the curve going into grade 2, you will learn a lot of good things in grade 2 that will help all your concerns and I am sure you will enjoy it. The only advice I would offer is to get a strap and use it everytime you play.
Thanks for the bravery of your first successful video post.
Hi Norhan, just wanted to day well done on your recordings, including your first one ever! I think you are doing really well, chords are landing nicely without much hesitation; you definitely dont drift away rhythm wise. I would say dont be too obsessed with hitting “right strings”, accuracy will come with more and more practice. Keep up the good work!
Great AVOYPs, I can’t believe you’ve only been doing it three months, frankly! Given that information, don’t stress about hitting the right strings. It’s muscle memory, and it’ll just sort itself out. I’ve been learning for less than a year and was worried about that too, and it seems to have mostly fixed without me paying it too much mind.
For this, I’ve been focussing on air changes recently as well. I found I got to a level with my one minute changes where I was in the habit of putting down my fingers one at a time and it was slowing me down. I lifted my fingers on and off the strings for a chord, keeping them in place and trying to think about how it felt, and then I started doing chord changes where speed was nothing to do with it, and I would try to move my fingers into position as I changed from one chord to the next. If I had a really sticky chord, like the A chord is a bit annoying for me, I would purposefully change my usual ‘order’ of putting my fingers down, forcing myself to rethink instead of keep with the habit, and that has helped a lot. It’s also helped me not death-grip the guitar so much, although that’s still very much a work in progress.
I’ve also found closing my eyes when my fingers aren’t behaving with a chord that I know I can play already has been helpful - they seem to know what they’re doing better than you would think when you’re focussing really hard on not stuffing up. Helps reset when it all starts falling apart.
Thank you Adrian I wasn’t too worried about hitting the right strings but it just started being so annoying with D and Dm especially that I don’t feel smooth enough to really control dynamics yet so I thought I’d pay a little more attention to it. Won’t go too far though!
Hi Norhan. This was excellent for the first few months, way better than I could do at that time. You have a good ear for music/rhythm and you are already in a very good position by self analysing and actively trying to adress issues. Your strumming hand looks excellent, moving constantly (few pauses only) and not too rigid (some flexibility in the wrist). For the fretting hand, you are doing thumb at the back as Justin explains in the grade 1. This is in order to build your strength. You will change this shape to thumb at the top or over the top at one point, so there will be further few adjustments in finger placements and/or those small accuracy adjustments you identified. What is important is that with practice, they will start falling into place every time. Well done and keep practicing, I look forward to seeing your progress.
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Obvious you have a good ear and rhythm. Don’t worry, everything will fall into place. Left hand muscles have to build up. Keep on the good work. Thanks for sharing 
I wasn’t too worried about hitting the right strings but it just started being so annoying with D and Dm especially that I don’t feel smooth enough to really control dynamics yet so I thought I’d pay a little more attention to it. Won’t go too far though!