That’s not what we’re saying at all.
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I meant when practicing a scale.
Yeah, as JK said, that’s not what we are saying, but I can see how it may seem that way 
I 100% agree with you that you need to be aware of what’s the right way, otherwise, like you say, how would you know. However, I think what the research is getting at is that by avoiding mistakes and only ever playing at a level where perfection can be achieved could be hindering the ability to progress, or at least slowing progress to a significant extent. So, based on that research, it may be beneficial, once you have a reasonable grasp on what’s required (enough to determine when you’re doing it wrong) to start pushing it, with the emphasis on extending past the boundaries of your ability so the errors are generated and can be learned from (if only at a subconscious level).
In saying this, and as @roger_holland mentioned, a lot of this is probably still new-ish science and could well change down the track, but I guess it’s worth considering what the research seems to indicate now (which could also be correct of course).
Thanks for engaging in this conversation! So important to have these various perspectives as it helps with assimilating all this information we’re lucky enough to have at our fingertips these days! 
And sorry again @Helen0609 for straying from the core thrust of this thread!! 
I hope you don’t mind the tangent too much! 
I will stop typing now! I promise! 
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This is key to when you can transition from slow with very high accuracy, to faster with more errors. Because once you know what the scale sounds like your brain will know if a note is right or wrong, and this drives it to incrementally adjust its internal “wiring” so you will play the correct note. Each repetition with a correct or incorrect note nudges the brain’s wiring towards playing more correctly. Hence the need for many repetitions.
As per Huberman, these incremental adjustments will happen while you sleep. So bigger improvements happen from day to day than within a single practice session. Which leads to the number 1 suggestion which is to get you daily sleep schedule under control.
One totally crazy thing Huberman has said is that while you sleep, your brain replays what you are learning in reverse!
Sorry for nudging this back on a tangent from Helen’s original question.
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I saw this recently, but have to rewatch it!
Sorry the post appears at a wrong position…
@stitch @Tbushell
I tried to take a picture of my wrist with my fingers on the low E string = maximum bend. Doesn’t look too bad, I think? But I already was trying different positions within the last weeks, including standing up, lifting the headstock etc. Helps in terms of wrist bending but also feels weird. I’m getting old…
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Thanks Jozsef, I theoretically know that, wasn’t aware that my fingers weren’t flat enough. My individual feeling cheated me.
JK, I understood it differently as Rick quotes it here. I think, I understood what you meant 
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I thank all for your engagement. I love this community, because it’s a place to discuss different points of view and there are so many people to learn from!
Never mind to enlarge the discussion, I’m totally happy with that, it’s inspiring and I plead guilty for sometimes getting slightly of topic myself. Recently @brianlarsen complaint, I was getting “off piste” 
.
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Relax…
@brianlarsen I’m completely relaxed . I already sharpened my pencil to enter your “What’s the point?” post…
But there is so much to do right now, didn’t have the time yet and now it’s a little late…but this was a really good post!
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This sort of depends on what you are working towards and playing. On a scale exercise or fast improv, flat is good, but for a complex picking out notes in and around a cord maybe the flat fingers get in the way.
In classical training it is all about the very tips and you are doing it correctly.
I am a fan of the classical position for holding the guitar. I find it much easier to articulate notes and easier on the wrist. It can make some more contemporary guitar techniques a little harder, but my shoulder and back thank me! I play both my classical and steel acoustic that way, with a lift on a stool.
@Jamolay I worked hard in the beginning to get the very tips of my fingers onto the strings while playing chords. I have relatively big hands and my fingertips are pretty big, so before callouses built up, I had a really hard time to place them without touching adjacent strings. I had also to learn to curl my fingers correctly. Now another technique is requested, that’s part of the game… only have to adapt that, I’m pretty sure, I’ll get there 
. Now, that I know, that fingers weren’t as flat as I thought, I can work on that.
Concerning the classical position: I don’t feel comfortable with it at the moment, but who knows were I’ll get as I try a lot to come to my optimal individual position.
I think alot of the reason they can move so fast is because they are doing hammer on’s and pull off’s… which I am learning is a whole new experience of tension in my fretting hand.
It all comes with time and practice and because everyones hands are different and everyone learns differently you have to adjust things and try different things to find what works best for you.
There’s an instructor at a college near me that was teaching a guy that had huge hands… it was simply impossible for the guy to use 3 fingers to make an A major chord. So the instructor told him “you have 2 options… you could quit… and I don’t want you to do that, or we can find a way to work around this” So he made it work for him.
Dave
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Thanks for your encouragement! I hope, it comes with time, like so many other things. I didn’t expect to nail it after only one year of playing, but I hope to get it all under control one day!
Very good advice! The former isn’t an option at all
UPDATE
After 2 weeks of trying out different approaches to relax my fretting hand, just a little update for all who are interested or have similar problems. Maybe it helps others too?
I had a huge breakthrough . I experimented with different positions of guitar and headstock and found out, that my fretting hand doesn’t get as much tension, when I’m moving the headstock of the guitar slightly away from my body. The angle maybe is 30-40°, so the guitar sits more at my right hip. In my case, this leads to a less crampy hand position and a more stable position of the guitar itself. Only have to adjust my right hand position for picking. So the very basic problem seems to be solved and I’m able to work on all the other tasks, like pressing strings too hard, flattening fingers more for scale playing, etc.
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I play this way also. I don’t know how common this is and I’ve always wondered if it’s considered poor position, but playing with the guitar parallel to my body feels extremely uncomfortable to me. Not only because the fretting hand is more cramped, but because the right arm position becomes more uncomfortable.
Anyway, glad you found a solution!
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@jjw Iˋm not sure, maybe someone more experienced could tell us?
I also held the guitar quite parallel to my body (stratstyle) and it didnˋt feel right anyway. The new position feels a lot better.
I struggled a lot with playing position early on. This lead me to deep dive into it on the internets, not always helpful.
I did notice that most people sitting down playing standard “cowboy” style with the guitar over the right thigh, have the head of the guitar almost over the left knee.
That seem like what you have done.
Others, like me, bring the guitar between the legs classical style, raising the neck so the head is close to your jaw level and also much closer in, not out over the knee. This is what my shoulder can manage, while still comfortable for my fretting hand.
Standing with a strap actually brings the guitar closer to the classical position, although I have seen some people with it angle out more than up.
I am glad you found something that works!
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This thread was/is an interesting read. I too have Andrea’s initial problem of sometimes getting high tension when playing scales. Mainly its anything where I have to stretch over three frets and literally anything having to do with the bass E and A strings. If practice and time is all it takes to win that battle, I guess I/we will just have to relax (mentally that is) and trust the process. But yes, hard to do when you have no one to show you the way in person at the time of the struggle, and thinking we will learn it wrong is so stressful.
I just want to say that I am glad Andrea asked for assistance with this kind of thing. Beginners all make the same mistakes and we all benefit from the conversation about it. Something about the way people in this community break down the topic is so much better than the way its discussed out on the internet. SO MUCH BETTER. Videos from Youtube are rarely helpful and articles out in the web are almost worthless.
I know I forget that it is okay to make mistakes. Something about sitting in front of Justin, seeing him do it perfectly (which is a great thing, so I can know what to strive for) just makes me feel like I have to do it perfectly too. And even though he stresses quite often that we WON’T do it anywhere near perfect, it still just goes in one ear and out the other. I would have probably stopped doing the course entirely if it weren’t for the Nitsuj videos. I mean honestly, without that example of how bad it can be- by someone so good, and still go ahead and move on to the next module…its critical to me as a beginner. And when there are no more Nitsuj videos I think I might freak out.
Single note playing versus chord playing - I wish so hard that Justin would do a lesson on that. I tried to use one technique on both and it was miserable, and I had to ask multiple times in this community before I finally got it through my skull that I should may my fingers flat during scales and yet I still find myself not doing it, a lot. The thought of touching a string I am not intending to touch seems like the worst thing I could do, its like an instinct that I need to break. I think we, as beginners, think the correct thing sometimes, but we just don’t have the confidence to act on our thoughts without Justin or someone in the community confirming it by answering our question. Like knowing we have a sore throat but needing to depend on a doctor to confirm it- yep, its a sore throat, take this and call me in the morning.
Also Andrea, yes I have also been trying out the positioning of the headstock out in front of me more versus parallel to my body. I think its a little bit better…not sure yet, and some of the chords felt a little off so I’ve had to sort of get comfortable with strings at the different angle. The more I look at Justin, the more I think his guitar is parallel to the camera, but he isn’t. He’s sitting angled slightly. Maybe he addressed that in Module 1, I can’t remember. I go back to earlier modules all the time when I start overthinking. Sometimes I find an answer, sometimes I don’t. But certainly a lot of other people I see on the internet have the guitar angled, so I’m going with that for awhile.
Sorry such a long post, but there’s lots that I identify with in your initial question and throughout this discussion. Sometimes I ask a question and don’t get an actual answer even with lots of discussion- like I’ll get plenty of answers ‘why’ but not many answers about ‘how’ to fix it. I think we’ve gotten some good things to think about here.
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