# What's Your Playing Weakness? What Would You Like To Improve About Your Playing?



## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I have a problem with carrying on other thoughts while I'm playing... I am going along just fine, then I will think about something that is completely unrelated, and this thought will be in my head and I am playing almost through subsidiary awareness. Then I sort of wake up and then I am lost for a moment. I am trying not to think about anything while I am playing now... I find that hard to do. I've heard too many thoughts called "monkey brain". I may have a case of monkey brain.

Another issue is I don't have the memory I wish I did for memorizing all the scales, arpeggios, triads, in all positions and in all keys. I have some things down, but I need to spend more time in keys like C#, G#, A# etc. I doubt I will ever have the fretboard memorized the way I imagine I would like to.

How about you? What's your weak spot? How are you working to correct it?


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

I like this, this is a good thread!
My weakness right now is just getting loose. I gave up playing for about 10 years and i have been struggling to just "play" again.

I'm 37 now and apparently my brain forgets that feeling of just opening up and being free with the neck.

I am trying to correct it by finally breaking down and learning songs in the hopes that once I got that down it will force me to just loosen back up because you have to switch from "learning a song" to playing a song and you can't play songs when your heart isn't in it.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

arthritis. 
adapt and conquer.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

laristotle said:


> arthritis.
> adapt and conquer.


Does slide work as an alternative with guitar? (I think you are mostly bass now?)


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

player99 said:


> Does slide work as an alternative with guitar? (I think you are mostly bass now?)


yes, bass. a slide would be weird on that. lol


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## Okay Player (May 24, 2020)

Problem: Having a 1 year old.
Solution: List him on Kijiji.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

Okay Player said:


> Problem: Having a 1 year old.
> Solution: List him on Kijiji.


You will find there are not a lot of buyers out there and the ones there are.... well, I can't say I would recommend it.
I have been trying just to give mine away and she is 8 now.... with two more sisters


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## FatStrat2 (Apr 7, 2021)

Noodling around, but the issue is I like it.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

I’d like to improve my ability to sight read and also to improvise while reading a chord chart. I can read music but not play it without spending a lot of time working on it. I can improvise by ear but if the song is complicated I get lost easily. I find it very hard to concentrate on anything but playing.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Brunz said:


> I like this, this is a good thread!
> My weakness right now is just getting loose. I gave up playing for about 10 years and i have been struggling to just "play" again.
> 
> I'm 37 now and apparently my brain forgets that feeling of just opening up and being free with the neck.
> ...


I have some exercises I go though daily. They really help with everything. 
One is going thought the minor pentatonic scale but doing each note then it's octave. I go through the whole scale like that at the 5th fret. A on the first string 5th fret, then it's octave A on the D string 7th fret. I go through all the notes from the A minor pentatonic at the 5th fret up and down, then move up to the 6th fret up and down, 7th fret etc until the 9th fret. Then back down.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Mine is simple coordination, I think, I did years of lessons and scales and playing and the 10k hours and I absolutely suck at any aspect of soloing, tho I do a decent Malcolm/Pete T rhythm type stuff, and, like Larry, switched to bass



player99 said:


> I have a problem with carrying on other thoughts while I'm playing... I am going along just fine, then I will think about something that is completely unrelated, and this thought will be in my head and I am playing almost through subsidiary awareness. Then I sort of wake up and then I am lost for a moment. I am trying not to think about anything while I am playing now... I find that hard to do. I've heard too many thoughts called "monkey brain". I may have a case of monkey brain.
> 
> Another issue is I don't have the memory I wish I did for memorizing all the scales, arpeggios, triads, in all positions and in all keys. I have some things down, but I need to spend more time in keys like C#, G#, A# etc. I doubt I will ever have the fretboard memorized the way I imagine I would like to.
> 
> How about you? What's your weak spot? How are you working to correct it?


I too suffer from busy brain distractions.



laristotle said:


> arthritis.
> adapt and conquer.


Yes. The big joints on my fretting hand. I was in a band couple years back that had shitty heat in their rented rehearsal space, took me forever to feel comfy, sure I made it worse that winter. I left them just before the pandemic in part because they were going into another winter in that space.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Another exercise is to play up the strings. I start on the 1st string 5th fret with the 1st finger then the 6th fret (1st string) 2nd finger. Then the 7th fret 3rd finger, 8th fret 4th finger. Then I repeat, moving up to the 6th fret 1st string. I play the 6th fret-1st finger, 7th fret-2nd finger, 8th fret-3rd finger, 9th fret-4th finger, then back to the 7th fret-1st finger, 8th fret-2nd finger etc. I do this until the 4th finger is on the 12th fret then I reverse this from the 12th fret-4th finger, 11th fret-3rd finger, 10th fret 2nd finger etc. going back down with the pattern. Once back down to the 5th fret I do the whole thing up and down the A string, D string, G, B E, B, G, D, A, and low E string. All this I use alternate picking. I have become very fast and legato fluid up, down and over to the next string up down etc.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

Another failing of mine was not to spend time daily working on repertoire. I can improvise solos and noodle like a mofo, but I have very few songs I can pull out on my own. I am great at sitting in on a blues style jam. I am super fast at learning a song while it's being played, but I never learned to play enough songs on my own. I will put aside some time from each daily practice to learn new (new to me) material.

He who owns the song, owns the stage. Front man verses side man.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Right now it's motivation.

Before the 19 I was just getting into playing in places; mostly just me on vocal and guitar and only playing songs that I wanted to play. No way I'm playing stuff that I don't like and that means nothing to me and I like the idea of just showing up by yourself with a guitar. If I had to stand on the side and play backing chords I'd get bored, forget my name and walk off. Thought I was going to start playing out again back in November but that shit the bed with the numbers going up. I can learn words really fast and remember them but it requires a few run throughs to get phrasing and breathing where I want it. I can play and make up my own leads/riffs etc well enough for what I do. Lot easier to make it up yourself than try to figure out what Earl Scruggs was playing and Earl just made that shit up his way anymore anyway so that's how it's done. I don't practice scales and such I just run through my songs and add a riff here and there as they come out when I'm playing. If I come up with something I like I'll work on getting to the point where I can play it the same again and again.

Need motivation; this new world order sucks.


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

player99 said:


> Another failing of mine was not to spend time daily working on repertoire. I can improvise solos and noodle like a mofo, but I have very few songs I can pull out on my own. I am great at sitting in on a blues style jam. I am super fast at learning a song while it's being played, but I never learned to play enough songs on my own. I will put aside some time from each daily practice to learn new (new to me) material.
> 
> He who owns the song, owns the stage. Front man verses side man.


You're my guy at the jam. I could play rhythm till I fall over from hunger.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

player99 said:


> Another failing of mine was not to spend time daily working on repertoire. I can improvise solos and noodle like a mofo, but I have very few songs I can pull out on my own. I am great at sitting in on a blues style jam. I am super fast at learning a song while it's being played, but I never learned to play enough songs on my own. I will put aside some time from each daily practice to learn new (new to me) material.
> 
> He who owns the song, owns the stage. Front man verses side man.


Amen to that!
I learned to play Dee by Randy Rhodes about 3 months into playing, pitch perfect. I will never forget that night. Stayed up all night long working on it. From that moment to now, 21 years later I have learned zero songs.

People are not overly impressed listening to scales and jamming in your head I have noticed 

It is also my goal this year to become a more robust player and actually gain a repertoire.


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## Permanent Waves (Jun 2, 2020)

Some days it seems all I have is weaknesses. 

I need better fretboard knowledge for improvisation and free-style jamming.
I get stuck in the same ruts and patterns, need to expand my technique and "bag-o-tricks".
Speed and dexterity, more precision and coordination between picking/fretting hands at higher speeds.
Discipline, motivation and daily routine, especially since the COVID. No band rehearsals to prepare for.
This feels like 5th grade when the fathers used to come over to school to hear confessions.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

The more you all say the more weaknesses I am feeling. I might not be able to participate in this conversation anymore 



Permanent Waves said:


> This feels like 5th grade when the fathers used to come over to school to hear confessions.


This put a smile on my face, thank you.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

Time / Inner clock: I took drum lessons in 2020 and practiced daily and it helped.
Ear training: I thought I had a decent ear but when taking Beato's Ear Training course, lots of work to do
Sight reading. I could read a bit and slowly when I was teenager but no good now. Drum lessons helped a bit on that front as it was part of the curriculum but sight reading is a big plus to be a better player (imo).
Rhythm playing: love funk guitar playing and listening to Mark Lettieri or Cory Wong for example, is a motivator


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

player99 said:


> I have a problem with carrying on other thoughts while I'm playing... I am going along just fine, then I will think about something that is completely unrelated, and this thought will be in my head and I am playing almost through subsidiary awareness. Then I sort of wake up and then I am lost for a moment. I am trying not to think about anything while I am playing now... I find that hard to do. I've heard too many thoughts called "monkey brain". I may have a case of monkey brain.


I asked my organ teacher, a very accomplished and senior musician and teacher, about how to shut down the chatty guy in my head. He said that _his_ teacher suggested counting.


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

Wish I had more time to work on classical and jazz studies. I read okay, but teaching the damn instrument prevents me from refining and improving at the pace I would otherwise be capable. Been thinking about semi-retirement a lot lately so maybe it’s more imminent than it feels.

It’s a little weird that folks come to me to help them prep for theory exams, university entrance, etc, when I don’t myself have a music degree. In a perfect world I would return to school too, but I fear I don’t have the stamina.


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## Always12AM (Sep 2, 2018)

Transposing from guitar to piano and back, I want to be able to do this with fluidity. Also, I want to play less guitar and learn more on piano as it is a simpler tool for writing.

I am also looking at different positions for chords so that I don’t have to do bullshit finger gymnastics in order to play something that is a simple shape in another position.


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

I can either play chords or I can do single note solos. I wish I could do more things while soloing that involved more than one string.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

My weaknesses are everything I've let slide in order to woodshed some ideas for the past year or so. (Mostly ideas and patterns to help with improvising.)

It's always a bit of a gamble. What if that thing you're learning turns out to be useless or impractical? It'd be a total waste of time.

It's starting to bear fruit, though. I can see how it's going to be a part of my playing vocabulary.

Things I've learned through this process:

If an exercise sounds good musically, you're more likely to remember it.
Patterns that loop are easier to practice and remember.


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## JethroTech (Dec 8, 2015)

I don’t ever play any song from start to finish. Never. It’s always random noodling. Sometimes I’ll sing and play acoustic guitar but after a couple of verses and half the chorus, look a squirrel.

(Great topic, by the way.)


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## DrumBob (Aug 17, 2014)

My weakness is rudimentary knowledge of the fretboard, chord inversions, general chord knowledge, and knowledge of other modes that would give my soling a fresh approach. That's what I should work on. I spoke to the owner of the local mom & pop music store today who is a very good guitar player, and he has agreed to give me some lessons. He understands my limitations. There is another guitar teacher there, but he's a metalhead and a biker type. I'd rather stay away from him.


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## Sketchy Jeff (Jan 12, 2019)

I don't know how to play a solo line that makes musical sense, starts, leads somewhere, and wraps up

j


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

player99 said:


> I have a problem with carrying on other thoughts while I'm playing... I am going along just fine, then I will think about something that is completely unrelated, and this thought will be in my head and I am playing almost through subsidiary awareness. Then I sort of wake up and then I am lost for a moment. I am trying not to think about anything while I am playing now... I find that hard to do. I've heard too many thoughts called "monkey brain". I may have a case of monkey brain.
> 
> Another issue is I don't have the memory I wish I did for memorizing all the scales, arpeggios, triads, in all positions and in all keys. I have some things down, but I need to spend more time in keys like C#, G#, A# etc. I doubt I will ever have the fretboard memorized the way I imagine I would like to.
> 
> How about you? What's your weak spot? How are you working to correct it?


I do that too (thinking of unrelated things). My issue is getting a good vibrato. My wrist doesn’t want to cooperate.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

1SweetRide said:


> I do that too (thinking of unrelated things). My issue is getting a good vibrato. My wrist doesn’t want to cooperate.


You know I have seen this from a few people now and frankly I must be gifted or lucky or something.... I play guitar so I _don't _think about things. That's what draws me in 
You know that feeling you get when you are just lost in playing, thats the whole reason I play. It is like meditation. It is also why I love my djembe... which I must play more. 
Turns out I have another weakness.... I ignore all my instruments besides my guitar.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

Sketchy Jeff said:


> I don't know how to play a solo line that makes musical sense, starts, leads somewhere, and wraps up
> 
> j


My former guitar teacher once put a Muybridge sequence in front of me and said "play that". Nothing else. Just play while he recorded me. So I played some hesitant garbage and then had to listen to it.

The whole point of the exercise was to show me the value of having a beginning, middle and end in a solo. When he did a pass, he pointed out what he was trying to convey in the Muybridge sequence. And it did have a beginning, middle and end.

I'm not sure about how much I've improved since then, but the lesson definitely stuck with me.

I can't remember if this was the same image, but it's the same idea. You sort of make up a story about what's going on and then play it.


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## Rollin Hand (Jul 12, 2012)

I have more weaknesses than strengths!

Right now, it's just not being able to do things I want to do. I get very little practice time or playing time, so I don't develop or progress.

Another weakness is being lazy about certain things. I almost NEVER learn solos because I don't want to spend the time on it. And that has hurt my development. I know it. And yet I can't seem to change.

I also play alone (heh, heh) 90 percent of the time (actually, that starts to sound sad if I put it that way), so I don't often get all the way through songs. I play the parts I like. That was exposed BIG TIME when I jammed with a friend a few months back, so I want to get better about that.

Then we circle back up to having no time.....


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Lots of weaknesses. LOL At this point in my life, I'm not even thinking on improving on anything. I like playing in a band, playing with other people. I like performing. Right now, I just put in what is required for me to be able to get my band going. I was telling the guys in this new band that I just got together (vox/sax, guitar, keys, bass and drums) that this is my last kick in the can. So I'm giving myself 5 years tops and then time to pack it in. I do have goals these next five years, produce an album of the music we have been writing, play in as many festivals as we can and just enjoy playing. Right now I am very happy with the new members as they are very good. Very much accomplished musicians than I am. But they have been telling me that they are enjoying playing with me and Angie (my songwriting partner) as well as enjoying the music we wrote to the point that they look forward to our practices.
Anyways, I think I got a little off-tangent in here. LOL


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## nbs2005 (Mar 21, 2018)

My brain is pretty good at understanding the theory; it's putting it into practice in real time that's the challenge. When it was warm I was gathering with about a dozen guitarists in the park doing a song circle; that was great training in figuring out how to add to a song. I'm also clunky transitioning from a rthymn part to a melody line.


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## 1SweetRide (Oct 25, 2016)

Brunz said:


> You know I have seen this from a few people now and frankly I must be gifted or lucky or something.... I play guitar so I _don't _think about things. That's what draws me in
> You know that feeling you get when you are just lost in playing, thats the whole reason I play. It is like meditation. It is also why I love my djembe... which I must play more.
> Turns out I have another weakness.... I ignore all my instruments besides my guitar.


i generally only get distracted when playing songs I know really well. When I’m learning new material or trying to solo over beats, I get lost in the music too. But, I need to be careful when playing out lest I forget where we are in the song.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

My right hand is my weakness. I'm a lefty that learned to play right hand. So my left, fingering hand is very strong. Sometimes its hard for my right hand to keep up to my left hand and I really have to concentrate to maintain good timing.


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

Interesting thread to read : Thanks guys !

As a self taught player, I now play sight reading tabs quite fluently with the staff above for notes placement and duration. My main problem is my hearing : I do struggle transposing an air on a tab. It is easier now that I can use the scale the chords come from to find the right notes.
I practice everyday and the mandarory warm up helped me much because I sometimes get lazy. Some days I am fully at it, while some others I would focus on some bits here and there instead of putting the needed energy. But I still improve from week to week.


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## BobChuck (Jan 16, 2012)

My picking/fingering hand.

I went through a lot of phases through the years... From fast picking teenager, to hybrid picking to no pick at all.

While I am clearly gettin better and faster with my fingers, I wish the attack of the notes would follow. Compressor pedal is a new thing for me.


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

Brunz said:


> You know I have seen this from a few people now and frankly I must be gifted or lucky or something.... I play guitar so I _don't _think about things. That's what draws me in
> You know that feeling you get when you are just lost in playing, thats the whole reason I play. It is like meditation. It is also why I love my djembe... which I must play more.
> Turns out I have another weakness.... I ignore all my instruments besides my guitar.


Flow state

"There's this focus that, once it becomes intense, leads to a sense of ecstasy, a sense of clarity: you know exactly what you want to do from one moment to the other... Sense of time disappears. You forget yourself. You feel part of something larger."


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

I'm happy with my rhythm playing and timing. I'm happy with my tone. I'm happy with my self-restraint. And I don't have a problem with blocking out intrusive thoughts, because I'm always thinking about what the next notes _ought_ to be (or ought NOT to be). I left speed behind as an issue long ago, and leave that to others, preferring to play to my strengths rather than tempt fate with my weaknesses.

But I am sorely disappointed in my inability to play chromatic runs like most of my heroes can do. They don't have to be* fast*. They just have to be chromatic, smoothly introduced and exited in a flowing way, and appropriately placed.

I also wish I had learned to read music decades ago. Not that I have difficulty learning and playing by ear, but there are SO many other avenues and choices available when one can read.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

CathodeRay said:


> Flow state
> 
> "There's this focus that, once it becomes intense, leads to a sense of ecstasy, a sense of clarity: you know exactly what you want to do from one moment to the other... Sense of time disappears. You forget yourself. You feel part of something larger."


Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (chick-sent-me-hi), the psychologist who came up with the concept of flow, passed away this past October.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Alex said:


> Time / Inner clock: I took drum lessons in 2020 and practiced daily and it helped.
> Ear training: I thought I had a decent ear but when taking Beato's Ear Training course, lots of work to do
> Sight reading. I could read a bit and slowly when I was teenager but no good now. Drum lessons helped a bit on that front as it was part of the curriculum but sight reading is a big plus to be a better player (imo).
> Rhythm playing: love funk guitar playing and listening to Mark Lettieri or Cory Wong for example, is a motivator


A lot of these are my issues.

-I know I have choppy timing. I tried working with a metronome but it was sooooooooo boring. 
-I can pick out some of the notes, or the key, but I end up playing it in the wrong part of the neck, so I (usually) make it harder. I remember figuring out the solo for "Love Song" by Tesla. Then I found a lesson. That is so much easier that way!!! DUH!! 

Sight read?? Uh, no.
Rhythm playing... kinda goes with #1. I have been lucky to play with other guys with really superior sense of timing. Locking in with one of those guys was always my crutch. That's why I can get away with solo acoustic gigs with just my guitar and my vocals. Musicians will know I'm all over, but the general punters don't!
adding: noodling. I don't learn new songs, and I've all but stopped writing. I can learn them. When I brought the Gretsch home I learnt "Having an Average Weekend" in no time. But I don't do it often enough to then build my own skills. I just go back to noodling blues licks.


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## Mikev7305 (Jan 6, 2020)

Accuracy with slide is probably the biggest weakness I have that actually bothers me. I pick up the slide for 2 or 3 songs in my one bands setlist, and we only jam about once a month. So slide only gets about 10-15 minutes of practice per month. Nowhere near enough. I don't think I have more than 2 minutes of interesting material to pick from with improv slide solos. 

Jazz chording is the other thing that I wish I had more ability with


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Does your slide go on your pinky or ring finger?


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

mhammer said:


> Does your slide go on your pinky or ring finger?


Slide placement is all about individual comfort. Most prefer ring, then pinky. Billy Gibbons uses his middle. Allows him to do shuffles. I’ve never been comfortable with that. I was ring, but it limited me, so I forced myself to use pinky. The key to pinky playing though is the slide itself. Pretty hard to use a Coricidin bottle on your pinky.
I prefer pinky, with the small chrome plated slide for reso or acoustic, and glass for electric. Find a liquor bottle that you think will fit and go to town with a glass cutter and emery cloth.

EDIT- and ditch the pick. Use your fingers.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

SWLABR said:


> A lot of these are my issues.
> 
> -I know I have choppy timing. I tried working with a metronome but it was sooooooooo boring.
> -I can pick out some of the notes, or the key, but I end up playing it in the wrong part of the neck, so I (usually) make it harder. I remember figuring out the solo for "Love Song" by Tesla. Then I found a lesson. That is so much easier that way!!! DUH!!
> ...


Learning songs/solos by ear or with software that slows down the tempo ends up more gratifying for me and helps develop as a player. I cheat as well and will go on Youtube and get humbled by a 17 year old......

All my favourite musicians have put blood sweat and tears in their craft. The ones that really wanted it bad put in the hard(er) work. I agree with your comment about "general punters" - in the end, it's all about making music and people reacting to it (hopefully positively).


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## Mikev7305 (Jan 6, 2020)

mhammer said:


> Does your slide go on your pinky or ring finger


Ring finger. I've tried many times to put it on my pinky so that I can use my first three fingers as muting fingers or to more effectively play non slide parts. I can't do it. 

I think with slide, with more important techniques to work on are your picking hand. One day I'll really work on it. The biggest problem is I never plug in at home, it's just grab a guitar and dink around on the living room couch. And slide is pretty uninspiring to play unplugged to me


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

I grip the neck, the pick, a pen, a golf club (and just about everything else) WAY too hard.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Mikev7305 said:


> Ring finger. I've tried many times to put it on my pinky so that I can use my first three fingers as muting fingers or to more effectively play non slide parts. I can't do it.
> 
> I think with slide, with more important techniques to work on are your picking hand. One day I'll really work on it. The biggest problem is I never plug in at home, it's just grab a guitar and dink around on the living room couch. And slide is pretty uninspiring to play unplugged to me


I asked about finger because "accuracy" CAN be (but isn't necessarily) an issue of angle, and placing a slide perfectly parallel to frets can be trickier with slide on one's pinky.

I saw Sonny Landreth a number of years ago, and made a point of situating myself close enough to the stage to see what he was doing. I still don't know how he does it. My vision isn't that fast.

But, following up on an entirely different thread in a different sub-forum here, I wonder how much difficulty people have playing slide on a fanned fret neck. I can't imagine there are a LOT of people attempting to do so.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

My current (of many) playing weakness is my fingers are sore. I do not have the sufficient callouses to play as long as I would like but I keep doing it anyway. Turns out a decade off leaves your fingies sore. 
I have only been back for 3 weeks and it is vastly improved so I can see the light. 
Turns out 4 hours of playing is just too many hours right now.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

Brunz said:


> My current (of many) playing weakness is my fingers are sore. I do not have the sufficient callouses to play as long as I would like but I keep doing it anyway. Turns out a decade off leaves your fingies sore.
> I have only been back for 3 weeks and it is vastly improved so I can see the light.
> Turns out 4 hours of playing is just too many hours right now.


I took 30 years off. Been back at it for about twelve now. It took a while to build up the calluses. I have not been able to play as fast as I used to but I think I am a better musician. I was not very patient before and I hogged the limelight. Now I like to sit back in the mix and try to support the song. After I had built up some calluses I took a few lessons from a really good local musician. That helped with getting back into it. He was able to point out some bad habits. It seems I remembered the bad habits, not the good ones.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

mhammer said:


> I wonder how much difficulty people have playing slide on a fanned fret neck. I can't imagine there are a LOT of people attempting to do so.


Probably not a lot of people. 😆

I brought my 7 string Ormsby to a jam a while back and my drummer friend remarked that it "looks like a guitar for people who find guitar too easy". That would be my take on anyone playing slide on a multi-scale guitar.

(For the record, I do not find guitar too easy.)


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)

mhammer said:


> I asked about finger because "accuracy" CAN be (but isn't necessarily) an issue of angle, and placing a slide perfectly parallel to frets can be trickier with slide on one's pinky.
> …


I don't think a slide should always be perfectly parallel to the frets. One of the advantages of playing slide (read up on pedal steel tuning -- they are not tuned to equal temperament) is that you're free to adjust away from equal temperament. The great weakness of equal temperament is that the thirds are sharp compared to a natural third. So a _very_ slight twist of the slide away from parallel can actually sound better (more Hawaiian) than strictly parallel if it flattens the third just a bit.


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## Merlin (Feb 23, 2009)

laristotle said:


> yes, bass. a slide would be weird on that. lol


Possible though...


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

I would think bass slide is the same as a fretless bass. Just inverted.

I also think when playing slide on my guitar my ear becomes very important. More important than my eyes.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Merlin said:


> Possible though...


I totally enjoyed Morphine and then looked them up. So sad and tragic!!


*Mark Sandman* (September 24, 1952 – July 3, 1999) was an American singer, songwriter, musical instrument inventor, multi-instrumentalist and comic writer. Sandman possessed a distinctive, deep bass-baritone voice and a mysterious demeanour. He was an indie rock icon and longtime fixture in the Boston/Cambridge music scene, best known as the lead singer and slide bass player of the band Morphine. Sandman was also a member of the blues-rock band Treat Her Right and founder of Hi-n-Dry, a recording studio and independent record label.

On July 3, 1999, he suffered a heart attack during a concert in Italy and died instantly.[_citation needed_]

He was highly regarded by many other bass players for his unique "slow and murky" style, with Les Claypool,[1] Mike Watt, and Josh Homme all citing Sandman as an influence.

Sorry for the derail.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

player99 said:


> I would think bass slide is the same as a fretless bass. Just inverted.


Not exactly. Yes, the ability to gliss up or down would also be there in both instances. But a fretless bass also provides an interesting drone, and consequent filtering effect, that slide will not have, because it's only string against the slide and not string against wood.


> I also think when playing slide on my guitar my ear becomes very important. More important than my eyes.


I think that's an excellent point. If you can't rely on the frets as anything more than markers (as opposed to determinants of pitch), listening becomes very important.


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## player99 (Sep 5, 2019)

mhammer said:


> I think that's an excellent point. If you can't rely on the frets as anything more than markers (as opposed to determinants of pitch), listening becomes very important.


There are times playing slide I find 1/2 and 1/4 fret slides up to a note or notes across the target fret sound better than whole fret transitions. I play mostly in open G so other tunings may be different.


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## Alex (Feb 11, 2006)

greco said:


> I totally enjoyed Morphine and then looked them up. So sad and tragic!!
> 
> 
> *Mark Sandman* (September 24, 1952 – July 3, 1999) was an American singer, songwriter, musical instrument inventor, multi-instrumentalist and comic writer. Sandman possessed a distinctive, deep bass-baritone voice and a mysterious demeanour. He was an indie rock icon and longtime fixture in the Boston/Cambridge music scene, best known as the lead singer and slide bass player of the band Morphine. Sandman was also a member of the blues-rock band Treat Her Right and founder of Hi-n-Dry, a recording studio and independent record label.
> ...


I used to listen to Morphine quite a bit in the 90's. Its been a while and will revisit.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

What I love most about slide is you can bend just as easy as you can fret a big bend. But you can go flat too. A little pull back to flat, then slide to bend is Duane, Duane, Duane.


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

Permanent Waves said:


> Some days it seems all I have is weaknesses.
> 
> I need better fretboard knowledge for improvisation and free-style jamming.
> I get stuck in the same ruts and patterns, need to expand my technique and "bag-o-tricks".
> ...



Technique can be an obstacle.
When I feel my playing is too mechanical, I put the guitar down for few days, listen to Blues or other music like 70's Progressives Rock to expand my mind.
The guys I'm playing with, are going to add in some Yes, Saga, E,L,P and early Genesis ( Peter Gabriel era ) .
The other guitar player ( a great Guitarist too ), is a virtuoso Keyboardist, he flexed his chops on the keys with our cover of UFO's , Love to Love, and now I'm relearning music thru him !!!!


I am eternal guitar student !!!!


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## Speck_WFTR (2 mo ago)

... all manner of judgment ... part of that constant "thunk/think layer" that gets in front of what i'm about to play ...

If i can let that go, be open & naked, and stop trying & thinking ... then the stuff that happens makes me feel really good! ... pants-shitingly good ...


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## diyfabtone (Mar 9, 2016)

Can't improvise/solo. Classical training has programmed me to 'need' some kind of notation to read before notes come out! I can memorise stuff if I repeat it enough, but the second I have to 'make something up', other than noodling, I get brain freeze.


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## MetalTele79 (Jul 20, 2020)

My playing weakness would be turbo speed. Always want to play faster.

General guitar weakness would be finding time to play and always selling or trading nice stuff that's worth keeping because I like trying new stuff.


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

I am amazed that I didn't reply to this thread first time around. I tend to cycle through what I think my greatest weakness is. Currently, I am disappointed with how poorly I listen to what the rest of the band is doing. I would like to play better lead guitar, but, at the moment, it's not at the top of my list of concerns as I rarely need to do it.


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## Speck_WFTR (2 mo ago)

Grab n Go said:


> It's always a bit of a gamble. What if that thing you're learning turns out to be useless or impractical? It'd be a total waste of time.


... over the recent past I have found myself recognizing & realizing that NONE of it/this is useless, impractical, or a waste in any way ... every moment spent on music, related to guitar or not, every air guitar run, every time you blind count a clock, every note we hear, every rhythm you work out with your fingers, counting, and every lick & run ya hear in yer nugget ... is practice, learning, growth, and a potential something to build on ... the value of which is beyond value ...

It has helped me "knowing" this. Much more comes from out of nowhere for me - and what comes is doable, useful, and makes me feel really good.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

Speck said:


> ... over the recent past I have found myself recognizing & realizing that NONE of it/this is useless, impractical, or a waste in any way ... every moment spent on music, related to guitar or not, every air guitar run, every time you blind count a clock, every note we hear, every rhythm you work out with your fingers, counting, and every lick & run ya hear in yer nugget ... is practice, learning, growth, and a potential something to build on ... the value of which is beyond value ...
> 
> It has helped me "knowing" this. Much more comes from out of nowhere for me - and what comes is doable, useful, and makes me feel really good.


That's a good way to think of it.

Maybe "waste of time" is a bit strong. More like "this didn't help me accomplish what I wanted". It still has value, but perhaps not as useful as I'd hoped.


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## jdto (Sep 30, 2015)

Playing lead. I can learn solos fairly well with some practice, but even just figuring out the key to solo in on a song trips me up. I guess I just don’t practice it enough. I’ve read that putting on songs and soloing over them with the melody at first can help, but when I’m playing with others I often draw a blank. Having come late in life to guitar and music in general, I don’t have a great ear to pick up the right key to play.


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## whyarecanadiangirlshot (2 mo ago)

Rhythm


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

jdto said:


> Having come late in life to guitar and music in general, I don’t have a great ear to pick up the right key to play.


Well from what I’ve seen you’re doing pretty good.

I just make up my own songs about cracked windshields, broken motors and busted lives because I realized early on that I was never gonna be as good as Earl Scruggs. If you make up your own songs an guitar solos an such no one can tell you that you’re doing it wrong.. lol


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## whyarecanadiangirlshot (2 mo ago)

jdto said:


> Playing lead. I can learn solos fairly well with some practice, but even just figuring out the key to solo in on a song trips me up. I guess I just don’t practice it enough. I’ve read that putting on songs and soloing over them with the melody at first can help, but when I’m playing with others I often draw a blank. Having come late in life to guitar and music in general, I don’t have a great ear to pick up the right key to play.


Maybe you can start by just doing arpeggios over the chord shapes. Then work that into a single note progression. Or 2 notes at the same time.


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## whyarecanadiangirlshot (2 mo ago)

whyarecanadiangirlshot said:


> Maybe you can start by just doing arpeggios over the chord shapes. Then work that into a single note progression. Or 2 notes at the same time.


Personally, I find it much easier to solo with fingerstgle as well.


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## leftysg (Mar 29, 2008)

Alternate picking.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

I would need to hire someone like Tolstoy to write out my post for this thread.


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## CathodeRay (Jan 12, 2018)

greco said:


> I would need to hire someone like Tolstoy to write out my post for this thread.


I have a friend that can deliver, just tell him your woes. Writes emails so long your scroll bar becomes a speck.


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