[Kentl]

Originally Posted by 1/2-Fast Player

Well, you're already seeing one way that playing in a group helps with learning, since the other guitarist is learning some chords from you. Why don't you see if you can learn rhythm and strumming from him? Then you'll both be improving.

he dose a bit but he is one of those who
"i don't know how i do it i just do"

it dose help a bit but i cant even tell what he dose


he says he "follows the words"

when he strums

not 100%

[Giga Hertz]

Originally Posted by Kentl

he dose a bit but he is one of those who
"i don't know how i do it i just do"

it dose help a bit but i cant even tell what he dose


he says he "follows the words"

when he strums

not 100%

I'm curious as to your strumming technique. One of the things I learned is that keeping your hand moving up and down (even if you aren't hitting the strings) is vital, as it allows you to throw in extra strums on, or in between, the beat.

How abouts do you practice strumming when you're alone?

[Kentl]

Originally Posted by Giga Hertz

I'm curious as to your strumming technique. One of the things I learned is that keeping your hand moving up and down (even if you aren't hitting the strings) is vital, as it allows you to throw in extra strums on, or in between, the beat.

How abouts do you practice strumming when you're alone?

I start with 12 bars of just down storkes then
I'll do things like

up up up up down
up up down down
ect

most of the time for 12 bars, but I've been known to go to one with out knowing


how ever I cant play those strums in front of them

[martinedwards]

playing with others helps.

rhythm, timing, volume, confidence.

due to a shuffle in our youth ministry we have two ogirls who are beibng freed up and would like to join the worhip team on a more permenent basis, rather than the occasional appearance that they have now, and playing in the kids work.

1st few times they play in church thier guitars wont the plugged in, AND THEY WILL KNOW THIS!!!

get them used to being up there where they can be seen, and get them used to strumming along with the same tempo as the rest of the band, and LISTENING to the rest of the band to hear whats going on and leaving space for other instruments.

we all know bedroom virtuosos who can play a million notes a second, and can shred like crazy in the guitar store on saturday morning, but can't play for toffee if you put them in a band situation.

like every thing else, playing with others won't take you from a beginner to a superstar in three weeks, but it WILL move you along that road a lot more quickly

[jeepnstein]

Talk to your lead player about this. A lot of guys are self-taught and they don't know how to explain what they are doing. Our lead player is like that. He's a monster flat picker and a former touring pro on the Bluegrass circuit. He keeps a crib sheet of chords in his case because some of what we're doing just never came up in his previous gigs. We spend as much time between the two of us as possible just alternating rhythms and leads. He's raised the level of my playing several notches doing this and I've shown him a bit about reading music.

As far as him changing chords goes, happens all the time. Chord sheets are kind of like an Italian speed limit sign, a friendly suggestion. You guys don't have to play exactly the same chord the same way. Some will say you should try to avoid that. Depends on the genre of music you're playing.

I can't believe you guys aren't practicing. That's a huge chunk of your problem right there. Even pros do a rehearsal if at all possible. It's a rare breed that can just take the sheet music and play it in a band setting on sight. If you aren't rehearsing then your progress as a group will be slower. It'll happen but it won't happen overnight. And people listening on Sunday won't understand why it is the way it is. Now I get why you're feeling the heat. If rehearsals aren't happening you just have to be as prepared as possible and listen to your lead player like your life depends on it.

Be oblivious to the comments. It's no surprise that some of the best pros I've ever known had no social skills at all. I mean they didn't have a clue what was going on outside their own little bubble. If they had listened to the whispers and the agendas they would have never survived. You're learning one of the hardest lessons a musician has to face, how to be thick skinned and slow to anger.

[martinedwards]

if you aren't practicing together, when do you get the opportunity to try something new without the fear of looking like a muppet if you don't pull it off?

My son plays drums in our worship band. for services he plays a LOT more clalmly than he does at practices

at a practice he can throw in a huge fill and if it works it might find its way into a service

the point is, its a safe, no pressure environment for him to try stuff