Hi Jenny, welcome to the community forum. If you are going to play both, you could practice your finger stretches on both, but you might need to do the finger stretches at a higher fret on the larger guitar.
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Hi @beerasaur, you can just do your finger stretch exercises on your 3/4. If you also play or want to play a bigger guitar, just start doing the exercises spanning 2 frets in stead of one once you can do them comfortably enough at the low frets.
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I struggle to exceed 50ish beats per minute on metronome. To be honest, I had to do half-speed for the last moduleâs songs. Justin said we should be at 80-100 bpm. Does this mean I need to stay on this module until Iâm closer to 80 bpm?
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Thanks for the alert @Jexthis ⌠my apologies that it was lost in the mists of time and youâve waited for a long overdue reply. I have passed this to the team.
Richard
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Ricardo, welcome to the community. I donât remember Justin mentioning a preferred range of metronome speed for songs in Grade 1. I do know that he recommended One Minute chord changes at least 30 bpm. I also think that I remember later in grade 2 that he said that scales should be practiced until a speed of 80 to 100 bpm is achieved. Could you tell me which lesson that he said that song should be done at 80-100 bpm?
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In deciding when to move on, it looks like at this stage Justin is looking for 30 chord changes a minute. Yet in practice songs, making only 30 changes a minute seems way too slow. And considering that now, varied strumming patterns are introduced, it seems impossible to do these strumming patterns while making 30 changes a minute. I can do at least 60 changes a minute with most chord changes and even at 60, I seem too slow for any strumming patterns beyond a basic 4 strums per bar. Should I be moving on, even though I struggle with strumming/chord changes?
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Welcome to the forum Ron
This would depend on how much practice time you have a day.
If you have time to work on strumming/chord changes and new material the the answer would be Yes to moving on.
If you are pressed for practice time the moving on isnât going to help with you strumming/chord changes and will only compound 5he problem.
Have you used the Strumming Machine to help you practice your patterns.
Getting some patterns down just muting your strings can help with both the patterns and the changes. Not having to think about both really helps
My guess is itâs not the speed of changing chords thatâs the problem, itâs the combination of chords changes + strumming pattern. You have to get your mind around changing chords in time + strumming in time + using a certain strumming pattern. This means that, contrary to the chord changing exercises, your brain canât spend 100% of its focus on the chord changes.
As Stitch has said: practice the strumming pattern separately, with muted strings so you donât have to think about anything else. Do this with something to give you the rhythm, so you donât have to think much about this either. The Strumming Machine is great for this. Get that strumming pattern ingrained in your brain. In the end, you will be able to do it on autopilot, which frees brain space for other things, like chord changes.
FWIW: a lot of songs have a tempo of 120 bpm or less. With 4 beats per bar, 120 bpm means 30 bars per minute. With 1 chord change per bar, 30 bars per minute equals 30 chord changes per minute.
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Thank you so much stitch.
Interesting answer and I think that makes sense. I need more practice. I have no problem doing the strumming exercises. Itâs just that when I actually use the strumming patterns in a song, those chord changes just donât come fast enough. Think of this. Letâs say a single strumming pattern takes 4 seconds. That would be a slow beat but letâs say 4 seconds. So each down strum or up strum would take a half second. So a chord change would have to happen in a half second or in other words, being able to make 120 chord changes a minute. So why does Justin shoot for 30?
But at any rate, yes, you are right. I need more practice before I move on. Thank you!
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LadyOfTheCastle, thank you so much for your answer.
I think you nailed it for me. I do have a problem with having to do two things at once. But I think itâs more not knowing when to make the chord change. A strumming pattern, to me seems like one thing, not 4 separate beats. Itâs all one pattern in my head. And especially with a strumming pattern when the second beat is not played, itâs hard for me to make a chord change on that silent beat.
But you and I see the speed of chord changes differently. If you read my response to stitch, you can see why itâs 120 chord changes a minute seeing they have to happen in a half second.
Thank you for your insight and u will definitely spend more time with strumming patterns as you suggested.
This is where youâre wrong. Yes, theoretically, you should only lift your fingers after the last strum for bar one, and land them before the first strum for bar two. But thatâs not what people do. In one of his lessons, Justine even says so: aim to be ready for the first strum of bar 2, not to keep your fingers on the string until after the last strum of bar 1. Yes, this means you will strum the open strings on beat 4, but you know what? No-one will notice. So no, your count is not correct.
You need to practice strumming and chord changes separately. But you also need to slow things way down when starting to combine strumming and chord changes.
- Slow down the music, backing track, whatever youâre using, so you get more time.
- Start with 1 strum per bar, on the 1st beat, and make sure youâve changed your chord ready for the strum on beat 1 of the next bar. If that means you have to lift your fingers immediately after strumming, then thatâs ok. You will soon notice you get quicker at this.
- When this goes well, go faster, step by step. You can go faster by maybe 5 bpm at a time.
- When you got the tempo of the original song, repeat the process, but now strumming 2 times per bar, on beats 1 and 3.
- Repeat, but now strumming 4 times per bar, only down strums, on each beat. But remember, itâs totally normal to lift your fingers before beat 4 to be ready for beat 1 of the next bar.
- repeat, but now using the strumming pattern of your choice.
This may sound (read) like a very slow proces, but you will see that progress is quick.
Youâre at module 5 - thatâs right at the beginning of your journey. You shouldnât be trying to play songs with chord changes on beat 2. As you notice, this is really hard. Go with something simple for now - learning to play guitar is hard enough as it is, you donât need to make it even more difficult. Youâre trying to run before you can walk.
And you donât have to believe me, but even seasoned players use (a variation of) this proces when learning a new song. Of course, their experience will get them quicker from one step to the next. So will you once you get more at home with your guitar. So donât beat yourself up over this, youâll get there.
You are so helpful. Thank you. Yes, I have been trying to make chord changes between beats so that had to happen in a split second. You liberated me from trying that. But I think somewhere in module 5 Justin talks about switching chords, just as I described. So now I feel free from having to do that at this point.
I actually have been trying to learn guitar for quite a while but Iâve never been as serious as I am now. Itâs nice to know there are people out there willing to give advice.
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This is where the Strumming Machine can help. You can setit at any speed, with or without a metronome or beat count.
It will show you the 4 beats and up strums when loaded. There are a bunch of different pattern but start wi5h the easy ones first.
Thanks, stitch.
I will definitely use it.
Ron
When you are doing a strumming pattern that ends on an up strum it is fine to strum the up strum with no chord or your hand off the fretboard according to Justin
You can even hear it in professionally recorded songs
Also when you hold down a chord like A or D and strum a pattern like Old Faithful that only counts as 1 chord change
If you play a strumming pattern in 4 seconds and 1 chord per strumming pattern that is 15 chord changes per minute (EDIT: technically this is 14 chord changes, since the chord changes is one less than the number of chords played, but if you play for several minutes you can add the extra chord change linking each minute of strumming)
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Iâve learned all the chords thus far. I can switch between them 40-50 times per minute, and can find them fairly easily while playing songs. My question is this: Is it OK that I have been moving forward without the ability to find all the chords without looking? I can get some of them without looking, and I am trying to get better at this, usually during song practice. Is that normal, or should I have them all, without looking befor moving forward in the lessons?
Also, on a related note, I frequently hold the guitar slightly angled, away from my body, not perfectly vertical. This makes looking at my hands (chord placement) easier. Obviously not a long term solution, but is it OK that Iâm doing this now, or do you feel this is a bad habit that needs to be stopped ASAP? Please donât take this from me, as it is a helpful crutch that I think will fade away as I develop muscle memory for each of the chords
Thank you for the incredible lessons and thank you for responses to these questions.
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Peaking at your hand from time to time is ok for now, but work on being able to play without looking as you move forward. But donât angle your guitar to look. Guitar position influences the position of your hand and body.
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I have seen a few others do similar in videos on the BLIm course I am on for the 2nd time. I did have the same habit, but it can actually make it harder especially later on. If you are breaking you wrist joint too much then I would recommend you have the guitar more vertical pulling the bottom of it into you hip if you are sitting. IMHO it is better to get into good habits now rather than later.
What is the best way to change chord from C to E minor - Iâm thinking maybe moving the first finger across to make E minor and keep the middle finger routed on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string? Thanks
A good general rule is that the âbestâ choice is the one that minimizes how many fingers have to move, and how far they have to move. So, in the C to Em change, I agree that lifting your third finger and moving your 1st finger up to the A string at the 2nd fret would be the way to go.
As you progress, youâll run into times when using your 2nd & 3rd fingers to fret the Em will be the better choice.
YMMV
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