5 ways to improve your playing today

5 Ways To Improve Your Playing Today
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It is super important to have a decent chord vocabulary and be able to
play some scales but it's the right hand that adds the musicality to
guitar playing. With this in mind all of the suggestions below are
concerned with right hand technique.
1. Alternate picking
There is probably no more essential habit for fluid playing than alternate picking as it
supports all aspects of strumming and playing single notes.
A good idea is to make up some exercises that you warm up with every practice session
that promote the habit of alternate picking. Check out String Skip Challenge on the free
lessons at pathtomasteryonline.com. That piece is a killer exercise to build the alternate
picking habit.
It isn't that in every situation alternate picking is the best strategy, but in a majority of
situations I is in playing rhythm guitar and lead.
”Groove is how we engage with music. Yeah, the lyrics are
cool and the guitar solo rules, but all of those sit on the
groove.”
2. Playing in the groove
Playing in the groove is playing in time but is more than that as well. The groove is what
we dance to, is what we nod our heads to as we listen to music we love.
Groove is how we engage with music. Yeah, the lyrics are cool and the guitar solo rules,
but all of those sit on the groove.
To understand groove you must listen to a lot of music and it help to figure out the songs
that you connect with most.
That is where you are forced to listen very closely and use trial an error to figure out what
the guitarist does to get such a killer groove.
Groove is mostly in the right hand attack but there are some aspect the left hand must
supply like hammer ons and pull offs that can really be important.
“Listen to the Beatles or Led Zeppelin. Their tempos vary
but that helps the music to breath and they do it as an entire
unit.”
3. Playing at a consistent tempo
This is related to the groove but can be a little different. It's not that we want to play at the
same speed the whole song. Listen to the Beatles or Led Zeppelin.
Their tempos vary but that helps the music to breathe and they do it as an entire unit.
In order to become competent musician you should play with a metronome or drum
machine regularly to establish the skill of keeping a steady tempo so deep that you do so
automatically.
This only happens when you do it daily to create and reinforce the habit. Then you can
vary the tempo and use it intentionally as a way to increase tension.
“It's contrast that makes Music's effect more potent and you
should develop the skills to play well at any dynamic level.”
4. Using dynamics in our playing
Playing everything at the same volume gets boring pretty quick. All the greatest bands are
masters of loud and soft, light and shade.
It's contrast that makes Music's effect more potent and you should develop the skills to
play well at any dynamic level.
It's physically different to play soft than it is to play loud. We have a tendency to slow down
when we play softly and speed up when we play loudly. ]
To counteract this, try playing your favorite chord progression quiet and fast and then play
it loud and slow. A couple of my favorite songs that feature great contrast are Ten Years
Gone by Led Zeppelin, Three Days by Jane’s Addiction, Baba O'riley by The Who, and
Mayonnaise by Smashing Pumpkins.
“To strum musically, we have to be able to hear the rhythm
in our head.”
5. Strumming smoothly
The biggest difference between a beginner guitarist and an intermediate guitarist is the
ability to strum smoothly and consistently.
This is what makes the chords sound like the song and what makes a certain band’s song
sound like that bands song.
To strum musically, we have to be able to hear the rhythm in our head. If we can then
learning it is only a matter of slowing it down and hammering out the repetitions until we
have it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------You have to listen to a lot of music in order to have a wide vocabulary of rhythms and be
able to make your playing more interesting.
The common denominator of all these suggestions is listen to a ton of music. It's super fun
to listen to music and it has always been my well of inspiration so it's never been a chore
for me. I hope it’s never a chore for you.
I really hope this helps you improve your playing.
Let me know what I can do to help more.
All The Best!!
Byron (Creator of pathtomasteryonline.com)
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