Simplify¶
Summary: Don't try to do too much at once -- break it down to small components and master those first. ☆☆☆☆☆
This seems so obvious, but I still need to remind myself of it from time to time, and maybe it will remind others too … so it gets its own entry.
Many problems can be reduced. Some miscellaneous examples I’ve used myself:
Picking hand¶
From a picking-only perspective, these measures are equivalent, though the notes are different:
The second measure is easier than the first, because the fretting hand can stay in one position, with no stretching or shifts.
Same with this:
If I can’t pick the second one well, I won’t be able to do the first (which is more complicated due to hand synchronizing).
And a crosspicking example (all alternate picked). Before I do this fast:
I need to be able to do this, completely fast and loose:
Fretting hand¶
Take Travis picking of a two-chord progression, C to G. If you can’t shift from chord to chord lightning fast with no effort, then Travis picking will tough for you. Just work on shifting from chord to chord, no effort, no stress, for a few minutes, interleaving that with other practice. Repeat that a few times a day.
Fretting hand shifts to new chords can often be practiced independently for repertoire. Simply working on each pair of chords in a progression, silently shifting from chord to chord, can get that process to be more automatic, before you add other components like melodies and rhythms.
Another more fiendish example would be something like the following (part of a longer arpeggio sequence):
If you can’t make the fretting hand shift and fingering quickly and easily, work on that before adding the alternate picking.