Relaxation is definitely a big part of it… I’m practicing songs with 1/16th note strumming and that basically can’t be done if you’re not relaxed - it’s just impossibly fast if you’re not, and it’s everything, your fingers, your hand, your wrist, your arm, your shoulder and even your face!
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In my case I start to grip like the incredible Hulk when I play Who says … staying on one chord is very difficult for the muscles but @mattswain is right , when the tempo starts to increase , the grip increases too , so trying to relax everything ( the hand , the shoulder , the fingers etc ) is a neccessity
I realised that on House of the rising sun
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I think in my case the grip also increases because my fingertips just aren’t very good at developing a callous. This could be because my practice lately has been less often, but given how long it took my finger tips to tighten up when I first started, I’m thinking it’s just my skin. Anyway, you sit on one chord for too long (or like with the stuck chords, the whole time the two fingers stay put), and the groove from the string gets deeper and you have to press harder to keep the string on the fret and not buzzy / muted.
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Day 212 / 42 weeks streak :
Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise
Challenge of the week :
I hate myself for loving you by Joan Jett & the blackhearts / basic melody / level 4 ==> DONE
grade 2 in JG :
module 11
Practiced the sus chords
I watched the video : Shifting The F
Practiced the F barre chord on the chord trainer and shifted it to fret 5
Songs on the Musopia app :
Practiced Have you ever seen the rain by CCR at a low speed with the new strumming pattern given by my teacher ( module 10 ) at 104 bpm and full speed
Played The house of the rising sun at a low speed with the new strumming pattern given by my teacher ( module 11 ) at 96 and 112 bpm
I also tried it at full speed with the strumming pattern given on the appPracticed the sus chords with the song Who says by Selena Gomez at full speed ( module 11 )
Played Hey Ho by the Lumineers at full speed ( module 10 )
Played in the air tonight by Phil Collins
Guitar teacher :
Worked on the A minor pentatonic scale with legato and the alternate strumming
Did the left hand exercices ( legato / fingers independance )
Practiced the Sweet child of mine intro
My left hand is very tired so I will not play until my next guitar lesson on wednesday
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Why not practice some rhythm patterns with muted strings. Save the left hand, work the right ?
I remember Justin saying : " Knowing when to have a break is also a part of learning guitar "
I ve been playing 212 days this year and the only break I had was when it was too hot to play
I guess I owe my body some time to rest
There ll be a school break soon I should do the same and not practice at home for 2 weeks
Just do the workshops at the music school and relax the rest of the time
Since my physiotherapist will also be on break , it would be a perfect timing
I wont learn my christmas song until the end of october 
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Wow ! How many days per week do you practice on average ?
I take one or two days off each week … so I play 4 or 5 days each weeks , at the beginning it was for half an hour , now its 2 hours of practice
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That’s great dedication 
By the way, your profile drawing with the cats playing guitat on stage is really cool !
ah ah thanks !
that was a game I drew for a kid magazine here in France ( it was made for Le journal de Mickey )
there are 7 differences between the 2 pictures
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Cool Did the magazine asked for a guitar theme or were you inspired by your own journey ?
I loved that kind of game when I was a kid ! I’m faster now, but it still took me a few minutes, specially for the last one (the bracelet on his wrist) 
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I ve been a cartoonist for 15 years … I think I did almost all the themes possible that could be turned into a game 
Im dry out of ideas for christmas halloween summer etc … every year a new game on seasonal themes , I seriously dont know what to draw anymore
Hey you ve found all the differences 
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Oh no Deborah, now you’ve got me playing spot the difference !
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Do you have harder ones for us adults ? 
thats a nice way to relax between 2 BLIM exercices
hey i work for kids so games can t be too hard
I have so many in stock …
Its almost halloween so there’s this one
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Day 213 / 42 weeks streak :
Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise + a warm up song/melody called 4 flat tyres on a muddy road
grade 2 in JG :
module 11
Practiced the sus chords
Practiced the F barre chord on the chord trainer and shifted it to fret 5
Songs on the Musopia app :
Practiced Have you ever seen the rain by CCR at a low speed with the new strumming pattern given by my teacher ( module 10 ) at 104 bpm and full speed
Played The house of the rising sun at a low speed with the new strumming pattern given by my teacher ( module 11 ) at 128 bpm
Trying to learn You ve got to hide your love away /module 11 ( work on sus chords )
Played Hey Ho by the Lumineers at full speed ( module 10 )
Played in the air tonight by Phil Collins
Guitar teacher :
Worked on the A minor pentatonic scale with legato and the alternate strumming
Did the left hand exercices ( legato / fingers independance )
Practiced the Sweet child of mine intro
I restez my hand for 2 days
I think I know why its tired
my pinky : Sweet child of mine practice i use my pinky a lot on this and the muscles are not happy
my thumb : Who says when I strangle my neck so I dumped the song
Oh and I went to my guitar lesson this morning , my teacher taught me the basics for Merry christmas everybody by Slade ( a classic ! ) so now I just have to work on it
lots of power chords , glad I already learned it on Yousician
and now I can play the C major and A minor scale with alternate picking , im a little in advance on module 12
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Day 214 / 42 weeks streak :
Trained on finger stretches and crawling as a warm up and did the pinky exercise + Everybody hurts by REM as a warm up song
grade 2 in JG :
module 11
Practiced the sus chords
Watched the video : Re-Active Listening ™
Songs on the Musopia app :
Practiced Have you ever seen the rain by CCR at a low speed with the new strumming pattern given by my teacher ( module 10 ) at full speed
Played The house of the rising sun at a low speed with the new strumming pattern given by my teacher ( module 11 ) at 128 bpm
Trying to learn You ve got to hide your love away /module 11 ( work on sus chords )
Played Hey Ho by the Lumineers at full speed ( module 10 )
Played in the air tonight by Phil Collins
Guitar teacher :
Worked on the A minor pentatonic scale with legato and the alternate strumming
Did the left hand exercices ( legato / fingers independance )
Practiced the Sweet child of mine intro
Practiced Merry christmas everybody by Slade , helped by a youtube video
I usually use a .88 pick for playing , but lately I also use 1.0 for picking single strings or a .60 for strumming
I realised that something thinner would help me on House of the rising sun so I found a .46 somewhere in my room and tried playing
It was better but I could use something even thinner on this song I think
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You surviving Storm Leslie down there ?
the one yesterday ?
didnt hit badly where I live , its in Lyon and the south of Rhone that it turned for the worst ( and in the Loire too )
Yesterday I went near Lyon by taxi ( medical appointment ) and the driver told me that it was crazy , roads were flooded
I saw the water getting high in a matters of an hour in fields near Lyon , I mean , when I went to my appointment , the horses in the fields were grazing , one hour later when I was on the way back home , the horse were in a pool , I feared for them
The rain was pouring hard but when we got back home … no more rain
We’ve been lucky here
It was the worst day ever to have an medical appointment 
No trains for a while between Lyon and St Etienne ; its flooded
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Saw the pictures on the news and thought of you but happy you are not in some of the worst hit places. Enjoy your weekend.
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