Get exclusive footage, become my Patreon: / theartofguitar Sounds too good to be true I know, but it's not. Check out www.the-art-of-guitar.com for more lessons.
Very true! He needs to earn a living too! We didn't have youtube back in the day to get lessons. We drove to the studio, paid for the half hour and practiced what we learned that day until the next week. This is very convenient.
this is solid advice. just about every professional jazz musician I have met has given me this advice. You can even tell how relaxed and happy they are when the play their instruments. Even the fucking drummers are calm while playing high tempo double time swing.
+fasterthings The faster the tempo of a piece, the lighter you should play. This is really true for drummers especially. The lighter the touch on drums, the easier it is to play to tempo. Playing hard does not always correlate to playing well, in fact the reverse is almost always the case.
Jon Faddis (trumpet) is one of the best examples of this. High, fast, loud, scorching lines screaming out of his horn while he stands there nearly motionless like a zen master. The only motion is his waist expands and contracts with his breathing and his fingers on the valves. It's amazing to see (and hear).
For Whom the Bells Toll I attack that song like I'm cutting meat with my strings lol But I get a very nasty growl crunch from that motion. I wont play it anymore because its so over played unless someone asks . 1 thing I did was get my drummer to listen to it several times because I have seen to many bands speed the tempo up even Metallica !! It got a special see-saw rhythm so its gotta be paced right . I'm a perfectionist cant help it ?
A very profound lesson! It's called "PLAYING" guitar, not "working" it. Relaxation is an art. Being nervous makes it harder, being confident makes it easier.
It's a really great advice. That about relaxing and using 10% of power can remind us all to stop doing anything by pushing ourselves too hard, wasting energy, getting nervous or even stiffen up unnecessarily. Those sort of natural but negative reactions are harmful that will frustrate you and ruin your performance. From now on, I will always remind myself "Take a deep breath. You only need 10% of your power to do it well!" Thank you.
This also kinda happened to me, I was trying to learn a riff very late at night and because my family was sleeping I tried to play it quietly, I didn't put as much force as I usually would when I picked, and when I tried to play it and put more force in my picking I couldn't play it up to speed like I did when I played relaxed.
I've seen a lot of videos with titles similar to this relating to guitar but none have actually been accurate, except this one. Really great advice, I've been a pretty dedicated player for 6 years and this is definitely one of the most important things I've heard. If there is a 'secret' to guitar playing, this is it. Thanks, really great video.
Should do a lesson on the MAJOR SCALE. Took me awhile to get good at guitar, because I had learned pentatonic first and got stuck in it for awhile. Then, studied MAJOR SCALE and it literally opened everything up. Modes, how to make scales by taking steps out, etc... DO ONE
Huh??? I thought pentatonic could be in either minor or major. To make a pentatonic major scale "true" major or (ionian) major, you just add what...5 notes? ... or am I missing something?
Playing with less force can prevent injury also. Wish I knew that a couple years ago. I read a phrase not long ago that explains it succinctly, "It's not about power, it's about precision".
I'm a new(er) player. Only been playing for about 8 months, but I've noticed this is true. You just "go easy" and it feels smoother and easier to play and transition and what not.
Man, this is old! Thanks for this. At 58 I really struggle with just playing w/o forcing things, and I've got the pain to show. This and the "yoga" vid helped me to realize what I'm doing wrong. The pain is slowly subsiding and I'm more relaxed and fluid than ever.
Mike that’s an awesome point. I came across this several times and forgot about it again, never having fully formulated the concept. Thanks for reminding me! 👍
One of my biggest problems and something I need to everytime I practice. I played in public for the first time at an open mic jam session. I was stressing at first but after 10 minutes I became more relaxed. Still a long way to go to be more fluid. Thanks for the advice
This is some solid advice for all instruments. Honestly for other things as well, both my trumpet teacher AND my golf pro gave me this exact advice and it is extremely useful and helps you even enjoy what you are doing a little more.
Hey, I don't normally comment on a lot of videos, but I wanted to let you know I appreciate what you're doing here. No annoying intro, owned up to the "click bait" and delivered great info. Thanks, man. Keep doing what you're doing!
This is great advice, dude. I've never played with great intensity but there are times when I do catch myself being super intense and there's a tremendous difference.
That's great advice. I feel the same playing the drums. I even hold my breath on difficult songs, making me exhausted afterwards. Difficult habit to break.
Great Advice. I know for me trying too hard and forcing myself to play something only leads to frustration. Just relaxing and letting my fingers do their thing often surprises me on what I can do and how I sound.
I did this once accidentally and it really helped and then I forgot about it until watching this. I will definitely use this again. Thanks for the reminder!
I had a teacher tell me to play and as I’m sitting there basically focus on each part of my body and release unnecessary tension from them.. I was surprised how much extra effort I was putting in when playing certain things.. especially extended lengths of trem picking or triplets.. even down to my feet and toes tensing up and my shoulder blades.. same concept you were talking about, def helped a lot to relax the tensed up muscles. Thanks for the advice
Hello. I discovered that a few weeks by focusing more on the sound coming from the guitar as a spectator would do than on playing the song. I was playing a lot better and I tried to figure out what made the difference. The answer was simple : no stress in the body, feeling completely relax and letting my hands do their job without interfering. I told to a friend. She is a dancer and she totally understood the idea since she was letting her body do the move focusing only on music. This video summarizes exactly that and gave some more insight on how to make it happen on demand. Thank you very much for this video and the others. CHEERS F4OM BELGIUM MATE!
Well I'm a Jiu Jitsu blue belt, a software engineer, & I just started playing guitar. I'm really waiting for the perks because my playing is terrible so far lol!
I’m a blue belt in BJJ and a white belt at guitar. They both have a decent learning curve, but there’s no better feeling than the moment when things start to click. Only problem is I’m paranoid about jamming the fingers on my fretting hand when I roll! Thanks for putting out great videos, I watch at least one a day.
This is very true! I have my HSC music performances in 2 days and this philosophy is very helpful. Just letting my hands and the guitar/bass do the talking rather than trying to force myself to make it happen not only makes makes the guitar feel lighter and easier to play, but also helps me with my stage fright!
Bruce Lee taught to be relaxed. I read in a biography of him that he told a singer to relax all his muscles when he sings, I think he sang opera, and the singer said he sang better than he ever did. The whole idea is that if you are tense then your muscles will all be pulling against themselves causing you to not be as fluent or good as you could be by using the only muscle or muscle groups for that certain task. Your bicep pulls your arm toward yourself while your tricep PULLS, not push, your arm away. If you use them both them you end up in a struggle between them and cause an injury. This video is so old I doubt anyone will read this.
It's the same riding motorbikes fast. If you really push frenetically through a turn, you will go slower. Way back an American champ, Kenny Roberts said, you have to go slow to go fast. Get it right relax and speed will come, without teeth gritting energy sapping panic.
I did this live when playing certain more energetic songs - pushing really hard down with my fingers because I was getting into it. I never do this when practising so I had to remind myself to step back a bit, you can do yourself some damage in the long term!
I noticed this myself once. I was practicing this solo off a song I was going to jam with a friend and while practicing it at home it felt so damn hard, but the next day when I went to the studio with my friend we were just chill af and I played it so perfectly because of that ^^ Really helps
This suggestion means a lot to me, after a live concert I was so fucking exhausted I was flying high and I forget about myself, I had to step back and calm down, pay more attention to technique, it was definitely a game changer for me, you are 100% correct and thank you.
Mike...you are,awesome! Great advice, this is easier said than done and requires effort to accomplish (just like in jujitsu) as it is not what comes naturally, but there are results when it can be attained.
I've done a bit of studying in sports psychology. What you've just described is the inverted u hypothesis there's an optimimum effort level which gives optimum performance when, you try too hard or too little performance drops. There's an optimimum level of effort for maximum payout.
OSU! You're now my guitar sensei! *bows* got any tips for sore fingers after rolling so I can play guitar when I get home from the dojo?Two stripe bjj white belt, karate shodan and bedroom wannabe hendrix
This is definitely true and something I realized almost immediately with guitar. Problem is most of the time I don't know how to get myself to back down.
Serious Question, even though it would affect the tone and might muddy the output. but for me i prefer lowering string height / using smaller gauge to allow for less tension on the strings. This makes it so it requires much less effort to actually hold down a fret and play faster pace music. (Metal) Would lowering string height / gauge help beginners?, or is this just setting yourself up to only get use to your own instruments?
It’s because often when you first learn something there’s a bunch of mental energy and focus going into it especially when you’re learning chords at first and you have to press down really hard but then once you get it you can back off a lot and still do it and a lot of times people just don’t realize that the intensity and amount of energy that you go into something when you first learn it it’s only really necessary for the first little bit and then you can do what Mike is saying.
I'm just learning to play guitar and this is great advice. The more I stress about playing the more tension there is in my hands which makes it difficult to play. When I relax it is easier.
I had noticed this before as well. I was playing and got pissed so I decided to play it as if I knew the song back and forward, and it sounded pretty good. For some reason I forgot to try it more often. Thanks for the advice!
Really enjoy your videos -- and as a BJJ practitioner myself, this one spoke to me in particular. As I've become more serious about my playing recently, I've also become more concerned about finger and wrist injuries from training. I've been using finger tape and training no-gi when I can but I still worry a bit about freak accidents. Do you have any tips on keeping your BJJ practice from hampering your guitar practice? Besides Herman Li, you're the only guitar player out there I've seen who dares to practice these two disciplines :D
I’m new at playing guitar and I have this problem: I need to push very hard with the tip of my fingers to get the strings in the right position. When I watch youtube tutorials it always looks like someone else’s strings aren’t as high from the neck as mine and it looks like they have another position with their fingers. Idk what I’m doing wrong tho...
Playing guitar well is hard enough without adding extra stress and attitude to it. Relaxing is the key to smooth and less tension filled playing. I always tell my own students, "Make it as easy on yourself as possible." Throw away the distractions and clear your mind. It works!
Alan Watts would have agreed, I think, that the essence of what you are comes through in much of what you do. Mike's manner of teaching has a respectfulness and thoughtfulness which it's hard to separate, I should guess, from what he believes outside of guitar-playing.
So true!!!! Had a mx lesson and the pro told me to go as slow as I can. Make it feel like I am going to fall over in the turns,. I thought what.. but I did it and by the 5 th lap I was clearing jumps I was not able to do because I had enough speed now out of the turns.. trying to go to fast makes everything tense and worse. Slow down and next thing u know u r going fast without even trying or knowing.. was the best thing I ever learned... now to make sure to keep doing it to make it a habit is the next step.....works for everything!!!!!
OMG, I can't believe you mentioned Alan Watts I've been binge-watching Alan Watts videos. Such synchronicity. Yeah this can be apply to anything in life thank you so much.
The-Art-of-Guitar oh and btw, what you say it's totally true, same thing in jiujitsu when you use too much strenght. I'll transfer that knowledge to the guitar and try to enjoy a little more while improvising in guitar, thanks bro!
I used to have a problem pushing down to hard from many yrs of either crappy guitars or bad setups . Once I realized that I could fix the mechanical issues i.e. the setup , so I had to remind myself that it doesn't require a lot of pressure to fret the strings. I also play GHS Boomers 9s which have served me very , very well since 1986 until now . I know people swear by other brands but Boomers feel right , they should after 30+ yrs I guess lol
Why does one guitar have really hard tension, while another guitar just like it feels like butter to play? and bending is so much easier, I don't understand why this is,I don't want to go down in string gauge, but I might try restringing through the bridge, instead of through the body on this tele, that has such tight tension, it's a string through with ferrell's on the back,my other tele is a Squire and is strung though the bridge and is a dream to play,very slinky, just wondering if anyone has the answer to this question, should I add relief to this straight neck would that help.
I’ve only got 89.9% better at guitar. Sooo clickbait.
Lol
Lol
I only got 87.96% better :(
😂😂😂😂
"I know a lotta people think it's just clickbait, partially true"
The most honest guy on youtube
Very true! He needs to earn a living too! We didn't have youtube back in the day to get lessons. We drove to the studio, paid for the half hour and practiced what we learned that day until the next week. This is very convenient.
Partial Honesty
Good video but I wanted a video on making guitar 88% easier to pay.
Just watch a little less of it. Haha
craig cotter That is the funniest thing I've heard all day.
craig cotter.
Like "6 Minute Abs."
craig cotter Lmao
Dear craig cotter, have a look at my comment above here #easyplayguitar
this is solid advice. just about every professional jazz musician I have met has given me this advice. You can even tell how relaxed and happy they are when the play their instruments. Even the fucking drummers are calm while playing high tempo double time swing.
fasterthings yup!! Best advice given! 🕶
+fasterthings The faster the tempo of a piece, the lighter you should play.
This is really true for drummers especially. The lighter the touch on drums,
the easier it is to play to tempo. Playing hard does not always correlate to
playing well, in fact the reverse is almost always the case.
yeaaaa its coz they all smoke the jazz tobacco
Jon Faddis (trumpet) is one of the best examples of this. High, fast, loud, scorching lines screaming out of his horn while he stands there nearly motionless like a zen master. The only motion is his waist expands and contracts with his breathing and his fingers on the valves. It's amazing to see (and hear).
So basically, play the song like you've already mastered it
How to make guitar 100% easier to play:
Practicing
Nee Nee if you wanna make electric guitar 100% easier ask James Hetfield.
Not true because you can practice the wrong techniques.
Being calm and knowing what you’re playing should be the first thing
But you're supposed to kill your strings when you play Metallica!
I mean you can do it in some of their songs😂
For Whom the Bells Toll I attack that song like I'm cutting meat with my strings lol But I get a very nasty growl crunch from that motion. I wont play it anymore because its so over played unless someone asks . 1 thing I did was get my drummer to listen to it several times because I have seen to many bands speed the tempo up even Metallica !! It got a special see-saw rhythm so its gotta be paced right . I'm a perfectionist cant help it ?
Aaron KM no gives a fuck about what u just said bruh
Metallica is trash but Death is one of the best bands ever so props
Andrew D your pick and your fingers too...
“This gets into Star Wars, philosophy and stuff.”
Dammit I love this channel.
A very profound lesson! It's called "PLAYING" guitar, not "working" it. Relaxation is an art. Being nervous makes it harder, being confident makes it easier.
10%... 90% easier to... Oh god damn it. You dad-joked all of us.
Holy shit when i clicked on this i thought 'this guy probably teaches jiu jitsu
1:05 I WAS FUCKING RIGHT LMFAO
How'd ya know? Haha
The-Art-of-Guitar honestly i was just guessing, you look like a martial artist for some reason
@@UriPhoneCracker 😳
It's a really great advice. That about relaxing and using 10% of power can remind us all to stop doing anything by pushing ourselves too hard, wasting energy, getting nervous or even stiffen up unnecessarily. Those sort of natural but negative reactions are harmful that will frustrate you and ruin your performance.
From now on, I will always remind myself "Take a deep breath. You only need 10% of your power to do it well!" Thank you.
This also kinda happened to me, I was trying to learn a riff very late at night and because my family was sleeping I tried to play it quietly, I didn't put as much force as I usually would when I picked, and when I tried to play it and put more force in my picking I couldn't play it up to speed like I did when I played relaxed.
It's like hitting a new zone or zen guitar. Love it!
vidiac2012
Bob Mercurio
piano piano pianissimo _ppp_
Having to play quiet sometimes is a blessing in disguise it seems lol
I've seen a lot of videos with titles similar to this relating to guitar but none have actually been accurate, except this one. Really great advice, I've been a pretty dedicated player for 6 years and this is definitely one of the most important things I've heard. If there is a 'secret' to guitar playing, this is it. Thanks, really great video.
Awesome man. Yeah it only took me 20 years to realize it. :)
Secret of every instrument or any technichal skill thing ;)
Should do a lesson on the MAJOR SCALE. Took me awhile to get good at guitar, because I had learned pentatonic first and got stuck in it for awhile. Then, studied MAJOR SCALE and it literally opened everything up. Modes, how to make scales by taking steps out, etc... DO ONE
Huh??? I thought pentatonic could be in either minor or major. To make a pentatonic major scale "true" major or (ionian) major, you just add what...5 notes? ... or am I missing something?
A pentatonic scale contains 5 notes, hence the "penta". They could be either major or minor.
Same.
Tone tone semi tone, tone tone tone semitone
@@andresgizmos1271 3-4, 7-8
2-3, 5-6
Playing with less force can prevent injury also. Wish I knew that a couple years ago. I read a phrase not long ago that explains it succinctly, "It's not about power, it's about precision".
You just made my day, I wasn't having a very good one. Respect
I'm a new(er) player. Only been playing for about 8 months, but I've noticed this is true. You just "go easy" and it feels smoother and easier to play and transition and what not.
Man, this is old! Thanks for this. At 58 I really struggle with just playing w/o forcing things, and I've got the pain to show. This and the "yoga" vid helped me to realize what I'm doing wrong. The pain is slowly subsiding and I'm more relaxed and fluid than ever.
This actually works! Death - Symbolic gives me trouble, but constantly reminding myself of this keeps me moving through it well.
loved this. It's something i realized about a week ago on my own and it really works!
This wisdom has given my playing such a boost! Thank you to the moon and back!
Solid advice : add distortion
Mike that’s an awesome point. I came across this several times and forgot about it again, never having fully formulated the concept. Thanks for reminding me! 👍
Whoa! A golden piece of advice! Thank sir!
Didn't knew John Cusack makes guitar tutorials.
Me cago en la Luna know*
Me cago en la Luna I just pissed myself. 😂
Me cago en la Luna know*
Oh no. lol. But he is super nice and informative with his lessons!
I thought he was the guy from Stargate Atlantis.
this was soooo helpful!! i was struggling with that exact metallica riff and i can play so much better now. thanks so much.
the world needs more teachers like you buddy!
My teacher literally just gave me this lesson!! He told me to dig in less and just graze the strings with the pick, and it felt great!
One of my biggest problems and something I need to everytime I practice. I played in public for the first time at an open mic jam session. I was stressing at first but after 10 minutes I became more relaxed. Still a long way to go to be more fluid. Thanks for the advice
One of the most accurate pieces of info, apply it to everything. Learned it in the Army as a Scout. Also love the fact that you quoted Alan Watts.
This is some solid advice for all instruments. Honestly for other things as well, both my trumpet teacher AND my golf pro gave me this exact advice and it is extremely useful and helps you even enjoy what you are doing a little more.
Hey, I don't normally comment on a lot of videos, but I wanted to let you know I appreciate what you're doing here. No annoying intro, owned up to the "click bait" and delivered great info. Thanks, man. Keep doing what you're doing!
+Jake Miller Thanks Jake. Trying to keep it real over here. :)
you're right,i've learned this advice by myself,its seems so easy for people looking at you playing guitar,
Thanks a lot man! As usual, ur advises are always the best ones! You deserve a lot for the great tips you give!
Great advice . I had a teacher once say to me to fret and pick as lightly as possible. Not the same thing .... very helpful thank you.
This is great advice, dude. I've never played with great intensity but there are times when I do catch myself being super intense and there's a tremendous difference.
2:56 I immediately though of that quote from The Matrix, "stop TRYING to hit me, and hit me."
That's great advice. I feel the same playing the drums. I even hold my breath on difficult songs, making me exhausted afterwards. Difficult habit to break.
Great Advice. I know for me trying too hard and forcing myself to play something only leads to frustration. Just relaxing and letting my fingers do their thing often surprises me on what I can do and how I sound.
So accurate. i had this same issue on piano and it works so well to just stop tensing up and chill out
hey brother , did you just mention Allan Watts in the lesson? you are quite something. respects!
Heck yes, Watts is one of my heroes! :)
The-Art-of-Guitar you are also probably the first philosophical guitar teacher I knew from UA-cam. Awesome!
Guitar makes us all crazy eventually. ;)
Alan Watts, Vernon Howard, David R Hawkins (and the map of consciousness) etc.
I did this once accidentally and it really helped and then I forgot about it until watching this. I will definitely use this again. Thanks for the reminder!
Yep! Tried it and is a good pearl. Thank you for this and best Wishes
Excellent advice, I kind of always knew it and had a relfex of doing that when I get a part wrong too many times but I never consciously did it.
I had a teacher tell me to play and as I’m sitting there basically focus on each part of my body and release unnecessary tension from them.. I was surprised how much extra effort I was putting in when playing certain things.. especially extended lengths of trem picking or triplets.. even down to my feet and toes tensing up and my shoulder blades.. same concept you were talking about, def helped a lot to relax the tensed up muscles. Thanks for the advice
Hello. I discovered that a few weeks by focusing more on the sound coming from the guitar as a spectator would do than on playing the song. I was playing a lot better and I tried to figure out what made the difference. The answer was simple : no stress in the body, feeling completely relax and letting my hands do their job without interfering. I told to a friend. She is a dancer and she totally understood the idea since she was letting her body do the move focusing only on music. This video summarizes exactly that and gave some more insight on how to make it happen on demand. Thank you very much for this video and the others.
CHEERS F4OM BELGIUM MATE!
Thanks for the upload this helped a lot.
This video is really good for beginners / intermediate guitar players like me!
Thanks!!
Great tip! Should try this out soon 😃
Very useful tip ,thank you!
you do Jiu Jitzu AND play guitar!! i subscribed for that. Respect.
Awesome man. Yeah you'd think the two arts would contradict but a lot of the philosophy translates. :) Thanks.
Being a nerd engineer and playing music compliment each other as well. I know lots including myself.
Well I'm a Jiu Jitsu blue belt, a software engineer, & I just started playing guitar. I'm really waiting for the perks because my playing is terrible so far lol!
THEJOEBECK keep on play and trying your best and you will become sussceful
I’m a blue belt in BJJ and a white belt at guitar. They both have a decent learning curve, but there’s no better feeling than the moment when things start to click. Only problem is I’m paranoid about jamming the fingers on my fretting hand when I roll! Thanks for putting out great videos, I watch at least one a day.
This is so simple but a huge thing no one should over look. Glad to be reminded to try and stay calm lol.
This is very true! I have my HSC music performances in 2 days and this philosophy is very helpful. Just letting my hands and the guitar/bass do the talking rather than trying to force myself to make it happen not only makes makes the guitar feel lighter and easier to play, but also helps me with my stage fright!
Thanks for your help man.
Bruce Lee taught to be relaxed. I read in a biography of him that he told a singer to relax all his muscles when he sings, I think he sang opera, and the singer said he sang better than he ever did.
The whole idea is that if you are tense then your muscles will all be pulling against themselves causing you to not be as fluent or good as you could be by using the only muscle or muscle groups for that certain task.
Your bicep pulls your arm toward yourself while your tricep PULLS, not push, your arm away. If you use them both them you end up in a struggle between them and cause an injury.
This video is so old I doubt anyone will read this.
Great advice man, thanks!! Seems really obvious once you know, but when you're struggling you don't see it. I love your channel, cheers!!
omg - what brilliant advice! best guitar lesson I've seen in ages
Great tip! I get like that when someone is looking at me playing. Or when I try to play it perfect from the original song.
excellent point very well made
So helpful! Thank you.
that helped a ton, thanks
This is a shockingly easy way to remember to relax. Thank you!
So important. Thank you for this video 🙏🏻🎶🎸
such a wise and simple advise. thanks!
It's the same riding motorbikes fast. If you really push frenetically through a turn, you will go slower.
Way back an American champ, Kenny Roberts said, you have to go slow to go fast.
Get it right relax and speed will come, without teeth gritting energy sapping panic.
Igbon5 slow is smooth, smooth is fast
Yery true!! That is a very good point that you are making. Thank you
Sounded more like he was using 25% if you ask me.
Great advice! Cool ref to your martial arts teachings.
I did this live when playing certain more energetic songs - pushing really hard down with my fingers because I was getting into it. I never do this when practising so I had to remind myself to step back a bit, you can do yourself some damage in the long term!
I noticed this myself once.
I was practicing this solo off a song I was going to jam with a friend and while practicing it at home it felt so damn hard, but the next day when I went to the studio with my friend we were just chill af and I played it so perfectly because of that ^^
Really helps
This suggestion means a lot to me, after a live concert I was so fucking exhausted I was flying high and I forget about myself, I had to step back and calm down, pay more attention to technique, it was definitely a game changer for me, you are 100% correct and thank you.
Thanks so much. I love this.
Mike...you are,awesome! Great advice, this is easier said than done and requires effort to accomplish (just like in jujitsu) as it is not what comes naturally, but there are results when it can be attained.
I've done a bit of studying in sports psychology. What you've just described is the inverted u hypothesis there's an optimimum effort level which gives optimum performance when, you try too hard or too little performance drops. There's an optimimum level of effort for maximum payout.
OSU! You're now my guitar sensei! *bows* got any tips for sore fingers after rolling so I can play guitar when I get home from the dojo?Two stripe bjj white belt, karate shodan and bedroom wannabe hendrix
I got stuck the last two days this saved me thank you
How do so many guitarists headbang while they play? How are their fingers relaxed while they're going crazy at the same time
Very good lesson.
This is definitely true and something I realized almost immediately with guitar. Problem is most of the time I don't know how to get myself to back down.
Serious Question, even though it would affect the tone and might muddy the output. but for me i prefer lowering string height / using smaller gauge to allow for less tension on the strings.
This makes it so it requires much less effort to actually hold down a fret and play faster pace music. (Metal)
Would lowering string height / gauge help beginners?, or is this just setting yourself up to only get use to your own instruments?
It’s because often when you first learn something there’s a bunch of mental energy and focus going into it especially when you’re learning chords at first and you have to press down really hard but then once you get it you can back off a lot and still do it and a lot of times people just don’t realize that the intensity and amount of energy that you go into something when you first learn it it’s only really necessary for the first little bit and then you can do what Mike is saying.
thank you so much amazing video
Really help me, thx!!
thanks for the advice .. it ws very useful for me too !!
I'm just learning to play guitar and this is great advice. The more I stress about playing the more tension there is in my hands which makes it difficult to play. When I relax it is easier.
I had noticed this before as well.
I was playing and got pissed so I decided to play it as if I knew the song back and forward, and it sounded pretty good.
For some reason I forgot to try it more often. Thanks for the advice!
Very good advice!
Really enjoy your videos -- and as a BJJ practitioner myself, this one spoke to me in particular. As I've become more serious about my playing recently, I've also become more concerned about finger and wrist injuries from training. I've been using finger tape and training no-gi when I can but I still worry a bit about freak accidents. Do you have any tips on keeping your BJJ practice from hampering your guitar practice? Besides Herman Li, you're the only guitar player out there I've seen who dares to practice these two disciplines :D
+Sure BJJ brother. I'll put that up later this week. :) MogomoGame
ua-cam.com/video/m8l3aUH0bj8/v-deo.html
I’m new at playing guitar and I have this problem: I need to push very hard with the tip of my fingers to get the strings in the right position. When I watch youtube tutorials it always looks like someone else’s strings aren’t as high from the neck as mine and it looks like they have another position with their fingers. Idk what I’m doing wrong tho...
Playing guitar well is hard enough without adding extra stress and attitude to it.
Relaxing is the key to smooth and less tension filled playing. I always tell my own
students, "Make it as easy on yourself as possible." Throw away the distractions and
clear your mind. It works!
Alan Watts would have agreed, I think, that the essence of what you are comes through in much of what you do. Mike's manner of teaching has a respectfulness and thoughtfulness which it's hard to separate, I should guess, from what he believes outside of guitar-playing.
So true!!!! Had a mx lesson and the pro told me to go as slow as I can. Make it feel like I am going to fall over in the turns,. I thought what.. but I did it and by the 5 th lap I was clearing jumps I was not able to do because I had enough speed now out of the turns.. trying to go to fast makes everything tense and worse. Slow down and next thing u know u r going fast without even trying or knowing.. was the best thing I ever learned... now to make sure to keep doing it to make it a habit is the next step.....works for everything!!!!!
Helpful, thank you mister :)
Thank you sensei.
OMG, I can't believe you mentioned Alan Watts I've been binge-watching Alan Watts videos. Such synchronicity. Yeah this can be apply to anything in life thank you so much.
Dude, I play guitar too and you just got me when you told you do jiu-jitsu! I just subscribed to your channel now!
Sweet!
The-Art-of-Guitar oh and btw, what you say it's totally true, same thing in jiujitsu when you use too much strenght. I'll transfer that knowledge to the guitar and try to enjoy a little more while improvising in guitar, thanks bro!
I used to have a problem pushing down to hard from many yrs of either crappy guitars or bad setups . Once I realized that I could fix the mechanical issues i.e. the setup , so I had to remind myself that it doesn't require a lot of pressure to fret the strings. I also play GHS Boomers 9s which have served me very , very well since 1986 until now . I know people swear by other brands but Boomers feel right , they should after 30+ yrs I guess lol
Another Jiu Jitsu reference! Love it! As a guitar newbie, I can really relate to your BJJ analogies. 🤙🏼
Why does one guitar have really hard tension, while another guitar just like it feels like butter to play? and bending is so much easier, I don't understand why this is,I don't want to go down in string gauge, but I might try restringing through the bridge, instead of through the body on this tele, that has such tight tension, it's a string through with ferrell's on the back,my other tele is a Squire and is strung though the bridge and is a dream to play,very slinky, just wondering if anyone has the answer to this question, should I add relief to this straight neck would that help.