At some point most all of us go through a time when we’d love to play… but just can’t.

Often it’s some sort of medical thing, or maybe it’s an extended vacation or a family thing – whatever it is the end result is the same… you’re not going to be on the guitar for a while 🙁

And while that might seem like the end of it, there are a few different things you can do while your guitar waits for you to return:

  1. Theory Time – Now is the perfect time to brush up (or start) on your music theory. Improving your understanding of music is never a bad thing, but it often takes a back burner to technique and learning songs. So when you can’t do those things, theory becomes high on your list.
  2. Counting  – You’ll hear me speak about active listening and this is a great time for it. Listen to a song and try to hear where the downbeats are. Try to count out loud and subdivide the beat into triplets, eighth notes, or sixteenth notes (whatever makes sense.) This is improving your ear which is much more important than your fingers when it comes down to playing faster and more in control.
  3. Working Your Ear – Listen to songs and try to imagine what the chords are without a guitar in your hands. In a blues, try to know what the I chord is, the IV chord, and the V chord. It doesn’t really matter if you’re right or wrong, the process of trying to guess will do a ton for your ability to listen through the mix of a song.
  4. Maintenance – Ever wanted to learn how to adjust the neck or intonate your guitar? Now might be a good time. I say, “might,” because often working on a guitar involves play-testing it and if you truly can’t play, that might not work out. But if you’re able to maybe at least pick it up and strum something you can check your work.

Of course, there may be other elements I haven’t thought of… so if you have something leave your suggestions in the comments below.


    87 replies to "How To Practice Without Your Guitar"

    • Robert Toms

      I sometimes play a song in my mind when I don’t have my guitar just going over the chords and riffs in my mind’s eye.

    • RustedOut

      Listen and learn.. good advice. I do that all the time… I listening to BB King Bluesville has been a good tool.. when hearing a never head of tune that resonates in my head I try to discern it’s chord progression then think of notes (licks). usually inspires me to pick up guitar “try it on” in trial and error sequences. My “testament” here is as you described, practice the images of what you hear in your head first leads to playing better.

      • PAUL

        IN MY 55 YEARS OF PLAYING GUITAR AND SEEING OTHERE JUST TRY, BUT ARE TONE DEFF, HAVE NO MUSIC IN THERE GENES, JUST CAN’T PALY ANY INSTRUMENNT. HAD A KEY BOARD PLAYER, ASSUME GUY AND VERY TALENETD, BUT TRIED FOR MONTHS TO PLAY GUITAR, BUT DID NOT HAVE THE CHOPS, OR GENES TO PLAY A STRING INSTRUMENT. EVEN PLAYING PIANO, AS I DO, I HAVE TO COUNT OUT LOUD TO STAY IN TIME. MUCH BETTER GUITAR PLAYER, BUT DO USE MY KEY BOARD FOR INSTRUMENT RECORDING.

    • Jeff Kent

      Band In A Box. You can compose songs, riffs. and licks. You can play them back to check/validate or change your ideas. You can learn a lot about how to write music when you compose music without an instrument. Then when you’re able to pick up your instrument, you can learn your compositions.

      Start off slow. Take licks you know and try to tab them out. After you start figuring out how to do that, compose your own new licks on paper. Then pick up your guitar and listen to what they sound like.

    • wil

      Your timing here Griff is hard to believe. This very thing has happened to me. I have somehow injured my hand doing of all things, trying to play certain inversions where my hand simply just stretch the way it should have to play that shape. I actually looked for an alternative way to play the inversion. But, it was too late. The damage was already done sobI sent my guitar out for some needed work on the electronics. In the meantime, I’m gonna take your advice and get into it the theory that I have been sorely missing. Thanks for your incredibly timely message.

    • Mike

      Griff
      I find taking a song you know in your head and reading along the tab. This is a no guitar exercise. It helps locate string and sound ( note) plus it helps reading tab and tempo. Give it a try.
      Thanks for all you do. Your # 1 on the net.
      Mike.

    • kim

      Think about the notes on the neck. Ask yourself what note is on the 7th fret of the A string. Then pick another random note/fret.

    • Warren

      Hi griff this could not have come at a better time. I had surgery on my right wrist in July and not being able to play the guitars very much so the course I purchased from you is just sitting trying to get wrist back in shape.

      • PAUL

        TO ME ITS LIKE RIDING A BIKE. YOU DO IT FOR OVER 50 YEARS, THEN STOP FOR 6 MONTHS AND IN 2 DAYS YOUR BACK RIDING. I DO THINK ABOUT IT AND WHAT I PLAY.
        NOW I HAVE SLOWED DOWN.
        I KNOW ONE GUY THAT WILL NOT LET HIS DISABILITY GET IN THE WAY OF PERFORMING. ERIC CLAPTON.

    • Mike A.

      Great time for theory and learning keyboards. A lot of songs I thought had challenging keyboarding were actually simple riffs played over and over. This may be a great time for you to add a new element to your band if you don’t have a keyboardist.

      • Mike A.

        And learning the use of pads.

    • Ken Terrill

      Thanks, Griff. I’ll definitely be checking out YouTube vids on theory and focusing on counting while I have a few weeks to just listen rather than just play.

    • Ian Robins

      Thanks Griff. This is very timely. I tore my left rotator cuff this last summer and also m dealing with my third bout of pneumonia in three years. It never rains rill it pours! Thanks for th encouragement and practical iseas. Blessings!

    • Michael Chappell

      Hey Griff,

      Good refresher, and I still do what I said above. Also now I listen to all the songs related to in BGU Courses,and also try to watch youtube versions of Clapton Cross roads, etc. All good
      However down with the flu ( even after having a a Flu injection 2 months ago) at present but still looking at your email lessons..)

      Cheers Michael-Sydney-Australia Sept 2017.

      • Michael Chappell

        Hey Griff,
        Since my above comment in 2017, I can advise that when I can’t play the guitar it is usually when taking my wife somewhere or shopping so at that time nothing can be done.

        If I am not well and hard to concentrate then I simply watch Bands playing songs I want to learn on Youtube or Lessons you have sent by email as a refresher. I have a music Den where my computer is and all my guitars and Amps are around me so if I can I just pick up a guitar and practice finger stretching, Bar Chords, or play chords of a song No Amp.

        I also read the BGU Manuals for Technical updating.

        All good

        Michael -Sydney- Australia- Sept 25, 2019.

    • Matt McCulloch

      Hi Griff! Nice notes on what to do with down time. I liked the counting ideas! I think Eric Clapton said “when I learn to play guitar, I’ll quit”. Thank you for the inspiration and thoughtful ideas!

      Cheers
      M

    • kSPAR

      Thanks Griff..
      I’ve been a member and student of yours for a few years now. Playing for about 25 years. I love the fact that I can always keep learning new things with music. Its very satisfying when you finally master that piece that has eluded you for so long. Sadly, 25 years ago, my friend and mentor passed on. He was an inspiration to me, and I quit playing for many years. As with all of us as well, life gets in the way sometimes, and we don’t always get to do some of the things that have so much meaning for us..
      My wife, God bless her, bought me a new guitar for Christmas a few years back.. A, a Gibson Les Paul, no less.. The beauty of the instrument and the amazing tones brought back fantastic and sometimes sad memories.. It also inspired me to get back into it. My wife loves to sing, so this is something we spend countless hours doing together. The music I’m learning again in these lessons is helpful to refocus this old brain, and it makes for very enjoyable family times.. Our friends love coming over to sing and play along.. I’ve also reunited with old band mates that I have missed dearly. Through all of this, the one thing that has made it simpler is understanding the theory of the guitar. I’m no musical genius, but knowing the chord progressions and scales makes it very easy to learn, play and transpose songs for different singers key pitches. I cannot stress enough how much you will appreciate know a few simple concepts such as key signatures and the I, IV, V progressions as well as natural minors, 7ths etc.
      Spend your down time on theory. Apply it with your ears and it pays off quite quickly..

    • Brian Burke

      Write out tabs for songs, solos, and scales you already know and don’t think you need tabs for. And then write the note letter over each. And then do counting notation underneath. So you think you know the piece? Sorta wonky but a really good exercise. Brian

    • DW Iverson

      This really hits home, 13 months ago I fell from a ladder and fractured and dislocated my right shoulder I was in an immobilizer for 6 weeks and 3 months of PT. It has never returned to what it was and the pain has just let up. I had to get a parlor Guitar for an Acoustic because my arm wont fit around a Dreadnought any more. Fortunately my electric does not cause a problem. So just as I am getting back to it my neck blew a disk and now my left arm and fretting hand feels like you just hit your funny bone and then it all goes numb! I can practice for about 10 mins tops and so goes it for awhile….music theory huh? I have been putting that off for years…guess now is as good a time as any to at least try it!

      • gypsi seagul

        I have the same problem with my left fretting hand because of my neck…(nerve having pressure against it, because of disc issue from my fall off of roof.But, what i do when im playing,an that happens is…,,i sorta stick my neck out an drop my left hand compleaty for better results an tilt my shoulder back as far as i can comfortably,, and for me that imediatly..within a few seconds ,,the numbness goes compleatly away an my hand feals alive an functional like brand new.. I think what im doing is relieveing pressure off the nerve. Without surgery it is something i have to live with but atlease for now im able to do that..it really helps..i can now positson myself while im playing for the most part but occasionaly drop my hand an do the little arm an shoulder thing that hendrex an stevie ray vaughn use to do. And that relieve pain an nerve presure an hardly no one notices that im doing it for that reason. Hope this helps. Giving it healthy reasonable exersize keeps it strong an healthy, but try not to over do it. It will take a great amount of time for it to get better an griff always gives us great theory an great practice tips an exersizes to streangthen us. I made the mistake once pf putting my guitar in the closet. If is not out then it doesnt get played or neither does the guitar or ability get its exersize. Sorry for being so lengthly, but hope this helps,…

    • Tom Stahnke

      I don’t mean to advertise for someone else but this is cool. Here’s something you can use to keep your fingers limber ans keep practicing even without a guitar. https://theviralgadgets.com/products/pocket-guitar-1

      • Wandering Peasant

        Research this before you try this company. The link doesn’t work, but there is a company by this name. It looks to be a scam from everything posted about ordering their products. Caution!

    • Joyce Knake

      How about writing music. You may not be able to do the notes but you can come up with a verse.

    • Gerald Phillips

      To who it may concern. .my name is Gerald Phillips an I want to learn how to play the guitar. ..I can’t afford one right now but it will happen soon. .I am getting married soon an would love to be able to play a song for my wife on that day …but it’s not looking good for me at this time …

      • PAUL

        you talk about phyical problems That may effect your playing. well i’m one. bad left hand.nerve damage. like Eric Clapton. I saw him play here in los angeles. he did not play aswell as he use too it really was americal hepulled off a 4 day concert he remeberd me from way back. i had back stage pass’s. he said it was painful, but it was worth it. it’s my last Gig. i hear you Griff Thanks Bro.

      • John mann

        Hi Gerald hope you get that guitar soon,you will never regret it, so much fun, even though it can be infuriating some times! When you finally get to play that song for your wife it will all be worth it! Don’t forget though any guitar will do to get you started, even a 3/4 size child’s acoustic ,which you can usually pick up for next to nothing! Good luck 🎸😎

      • Ozziejohn

        Hey Gerald – for a few $10s you can pick a fair quality new ukulele. Even less for 2nd hand. Make sure to find out if the thing is actually playable – just ask the shop staff / current owner to play it! May not seem a good substitute for a guitar, but it is. George Harrison was one of many guitar stars who always took his uke everywhere he went. Get a middling quality one (don’t just get the cheapest off ebay – they are – mostly – utter rubbish), find out how to string and tune it like a guitar (plenty of on-line resources to help there) and then learn your song on that.

        Ukes are particularly good for learning strumming patterns and for working your “listening” ear – by trying to strum along with tracks you like, then trying to pick out the melody line.

        If the choice is Uke now – guitar later, vs just guitar later, you’ll be very happy when you you finally get your guitar to have had the time with the uke first.

    • Alex Mowatt

      Hi Griff, All your wisdom shines once more. It is true, we at times do not have a guitar readily to hand to practice chords or scales or just bone up on finger memory. My daughter’s ex husband had an acoustic guitar that was left at our house. On revising the, then den, back to a dining room and making my ‘new’ den one of the lesser rooms I found that the acoustic was damaged (read the neck nearly broken off). I took the neck off and unfortunately had to discard the rest. Whenever I am alone and not able to pick up a guitar I pick up this guitar neck. Clearly it is never going to replace the sensation of holding a guitar for real but, it allows me to try out the fingering of chords I might not have tackled before. i have not purchased a ‘travel guitar’ but find myself with the guitar neck in the back of the guitar whenever we head back home to Aberdeen to see family.

    • Gundula Stevens

      I have not played my guitar for quite a while, out of various reasons. The most difficult thing is, that my fingertips are getting soft again by not playing, so that it start hurting again when I starty again. How can I keep my finger tips tough, also if I don’t play daily, any tips?
      Thanks
      Gundula

      • Kim Alexander

        Recently we bought our 8-yr.old Granddaughter an e-bass for Christmas. She was NOT playing it because her fingers hurt ! I found her some nylon strings on Amazon (since the local music “Nazi” said she “needed” to suffer like the rest of us did .I said B-S )as she isn’t playing our investment,so we NEED to figure something out. It worked GREAT .I also use Finger-ease,a Teflon? spray that helps me. Good luck -please don’t quit.& keep up the good work trying -you WILL get it- if you stick with it & it should NOT be painful but FUN !Respectfully, Kim

      • John Y

        Walking on your finger tips will keep them
        tough and you will see things from a different
        angle.

    • OhMostBobulousOne

      I read all the posted comments and was surprised to not find anyone mention maintaining/building calluses on the fingertips. I sometimes press my left thumbnail into the tips of my left fingers to maintain/build calluses on my fingertips.

      • Kevin

        Bobulous, I did the exact same thing when I was without guitar for about a week after I had initially developed calluses. It works – good tip!

    • Ravi

      Any tips to avoid Procrastination?

      • Seth Tyrssen

        I’ve got some good ones … which I’ll send, er, as soon as I can get around to it … 😉

        • Ravi

          Nice one! Seth.

    • Cat

      I listen to other musicians in my case smooth jazz saxophonists

    • Rod Woolley

      I printed out life size finger board diagrams showing which notes to press for Em pentatonic and/or Am pentatonic. One can ose two pages and glue on to cardboard or cartridge paper/bristol board.

      This is a very good reminder and I often refer to it.

      One can identify the first, second…..and fifth shapes by drawing brackets along the side, and the extended pentatonic shapes can be marked by drawing a loop around them

      Rod

    • JimJ

      Finger training. Teach yourself to move your left hand fingers to move independently from each other.

    • Stephen edwards

      I like the comment about sleep learning. When learning boxes or a song, I often go over them when drifting off to sleep. they seem much clearer the next day.

    • Jeremy

      I have had the misfortune of being so crazy busy that I sometimes find a month or two has past since I last held my guitar. In my experience since joining here, if I just read the blog and watch the videos, I seem to be improving even when practice eludes. THANK YOU GRIFF!! Your stuff is amazing!!

    • DeWayne Iverson

      Wow How timely is this! 8 weeks ago I fell off a ladder and dislocated and fractured my right shoulder…its a long painful recovery. I am missing my guitar, playing and practicing it has become a big part of my life. I tried to get it up under my arm last week and it is just too painful after 5 mins I have to bail. Sooo guess it time to get into some theory I seem to keep putting off…who knows I might like it!

      • Wayne Clinton

        I too DeWayne fell off a deck while putting up new deck boards in May of 2016. Dislocated right shoulder and had a massive separation of the rotator cuff. Had surgery in September of ’16. It has taken me 1 full year off the guitar trail after 50 years of playing. That was painfull. Just now starting to pick up the pieces. 6 months of physical therapy truly helped and Griffs constant contact kept the fire going. Good luck !!

    • Rick Riggs

      Griff I’ve heard you talk of chords I IV V. What does it mean

      • paul wilson

        hi Rick the I IV V chords are the basically the chords mostly found in Blues music,so you start with an A7 chord that is your I chord then you move to the 4 chord witch is D7 then to the 5 chord which is an E7 basic 12 bar blues in the key of A.
        Also if you can not play a guitar then why not try and put a song together with what you know ready for when you can play

        • Tim Moran

          The roman numerals refer to the seven notes in the scale. If the song is in E, that’s the I – F is the II, G is the III, A is the IV and so forth. As Paul said, most blues are based on the I, IV and V chords. So if you know the key, you can figure out the what the I, IV and V chords are. And you can move beyond the three-chord songs if you know how the progression works with the roman numerals. I could go on, but a lot of what I know I’ve learned from Griff, and he’s better at explaining it…

      • Bruce Barnhill

        Hi Rick,
        I am also posted below.

        And now the I – IV – V…
        Key of E: I=E IV=A V=B
        Key of A: I-A IV=D V=E

        Chords are played in the “12 Bar Blues Structure”
        U can Google this too.

        Hope this helps you.

      • Bruce Barnhill

        Hi Rick,
        I am also posted below.

        And now the I – IV – V…
        Key of E: I=E IV=A V=B
        Key of A: I-A IV=D V=E

        Chords are played in the “12 Bar Blues Structure”
        U can Google this too.

        Hope this helps you.

      • Rohn

        The 3 chord progression which most music is made up of—(A-D-E) (C-F-G) (D-G-E) (E-A-B7) ((G-C-D) – A=1 B C D=4 E=5 F G—-G=1 A B C=4 D=5 E F—ETC Keep the 1/4/5 chords married together and you can play most Rock/Blues/and country music
        rohn

    • Alex Mowatt

      Thank you for the information / suggestions in your Blog today. All good stuff and things we all should try and get into right away. There a couple of things that occured to me in reading your blog, that my grandfather picked up on when I was young and studying school level languages A) sleep learning was the first thing. Basically with sleep learning, in those days, there was a piece of equipment that was purchased and placed under your pillow to enable learning to continue as you sleep. Not rocket science by effective. I believe such equipment is now a lot more sophisticated and can be incorporated within the actual pillows. By the use of this method of learning all manner of elements to study can be enhanced. B) The second thing that I have is a finger strengthener. ‘It does what it says in the tin’. Holding down the likes of bar chords can and is difficult to master properly. By using a strengthener, the ability to carry out such actions is helped. I suspect that others might have already touched on those two points or, perhaps have even better suggestions.

    • BB

      Griff, nothing can be better than this advice of learning always even if one cannot play Guitar . Recently I was down in bed for 16 days due to old problem of slip disc had aggravated . I felt bad that practice cannot be done . Then I remembered about your videos and certain lesson, and some theory, which I had stored on my Tablet.
      I used my idle time in bed to revise the lessons and also make up on theory.
      How true y.ou are in teaching ,I have known now . Thank you
      .

    • Chief Rick

      When I was in the hospital, I took my iPad and used an app that helped me memorize the location of notes on specific strings and frets. I didn’t learn as much as I wanted, but it wasn’t time wasted. After nearly two weeks in the hospital, I found that my calluses hadn’t suffered as much as I had feared.

    • Erik Schneider

      Keyboards can be easier to play than guitar if, say, you grow old and develop arthritis in your hands and/or an incurable neurological condition that results in painful muscle cramps. And the cool thing about living in the digital age is that it is not even necessary to play a keyboard to write music–if writing music is enough. MIDI can be relatively intuitive if you have a piano-roll style editor on your computer or tablet or phone. They usually live inside of Digital Audio Workstation applications like Logic or Ableton or Cubase etc.

      And I gotta plug this guy’s stuff because it is so much fun: check out warmplace.ru for some software that looks very very simple but is very very deep. I don’t know him and he does not pay me. 🙂

      If you want to go full-on geek, you can look into algorithmic composition–or just building wave oscillators and sending them through random effects–in one or several of a host of free and open source audio programming software: pure data and SuperCollider are my first choices for that sort of thing, but there are so many tools out there that it would take many lifetimes to become acquainted with them all.

      I do sometimes miss the physicality of running my fingers up and down the fretboard, but I know more about digital signal synthesis and processing than I thought I would ever have time to learn. And when I want to Just Play, I plug in a small MIDI keyboard and pick a voice in one software synth or another and then take off.

      Oh and scales on a keyboard? Soooo easy!

      Maybe I should write a blog post..?

    • Joe Accardo

      Great advice as always Griff. I’ve been sidelined a few months due to surgery on both arms and I’ve actually worked on theory and counting and I have to admit it does help. I have a better understanding of music in general and counting makes me feel more in control.

    • Alexander Blue

      Smoke some refer and listen to Robert Johnson to get your Blues on if your fretting fingers are broke in a Harley collision with a pick-up truck. ! 🙂

    • Jeff

      Use a small soft ball and simply squeeze it repeatedly–your muscles will become stronger, spring ire, and your “blues turn” will spring to life!

    • Paleoblues

      Check out “Theory For The Road” at guitarcollege.com. It’s a series on CD that covers scales, chords,the Standard Harmony Rule and common progressions. You can listen and “practice” any time, anywhere you want.

      • raytuned

        What the heck is a a “Standard Harmony Rule” I’ve never heard ???ray

    • jeff

      Find a music store if your on the road and sample/practice at the store.

    • John

      Listen to your jam tracks and play to them,rythmn lead great time

    • Bruce Barnhill

      Believe this or not, I learned how to play “Simple Man” by looking at a tab & using my forearm for the neck of a guitar. When I actually got a guitar in my hands, it fell right into place & could play it immediately! Unreal but it happened.

    • Eric Mitchell

      This is great information. Thank you.

    • Kim

      Learn the notes on the guitar by asking: what note is on the seventh fret fourth string. I do that while I am away from the guitar. I check my “answer” by “walking” down the string chromatically until I get to the targeted note.

      Anything that involves memorization can be reinforced while away from the guitar.

      • Howard Spruit

        One of my goals when I decided to buy the acoustic blues coarse was to be able to read the dots on a sheet of music and locate them on the neck of my guitar, that coarse has taught me much more.
        Now when my hands are too sore from my work I can sit and stare at a sheet of music and visualize where to put my fingers on the fret board. I consider this a success. Another discovery, a friend of mine had pointed me at Beethoven, and Bach. I have found that these guys wrote and published thousands of note combinations that adapt very well to blues solos.

      • Steve Scott

        There’s a great app called “Fretuoso.” Take a look at it on itunes. It’s an interactive way to learn every note on the keyboard in game format. It’s fun. Depending on how much time you spend playing the game and any prior knowledge of the keyboard, it won’t take much time before you can find any note on the fretboard in less than 2 seconds.

      • Brandon

        There’s a good app called Fretboard Learn that is good for learning the notes on the fretboard too.

    • daveyjoe

      Good idea Griff. This is something I do while I’m at work and things are kind of slow. I mentally go over where the Major and Minor boxes are on the fret board and where the root notes are and sometimes go over the CAGED system in my head, etc. etc. I think this helps when you don’t have the chance to actually physically practice.

    • SlowHandFan

      Watch some concerts on DVD. If you ever wondered “How did he play that” you can find out by watching a concert. There are plenty out there on Youtube, Amazon, etc. If you turn up your surround sound system it sounds like you are there!

    • Michael Chappell

      Hey Griff,
      You are right, last 7 days I have practiced my scales without plugging into an AMP, (just made sure guitar was in Pitch..) 5-10 mins as having hectic family events and wife health problems which will be completed soon.
      Another method I use, is to practice stretching my left hand and fingers by using a (Berocca Tube Aust Health Tablets -slightly wider than a slide) in between the fingers to gradually widen them for the stretch like B 7th V of key of E..This helps with the Bar chords and the big hand stretches for 12 bar blues and timing.I have a Berocca tube in my car, in my bag for travel,in Draws and shelves around the house..It works. AS well I listen to BGU Blues songs in BGIAB 1 & 2.
      All works.
      Michael-Sydney-Australia. 26 Sept 2016.

    • Terry

      O yes I agree. I’ve been writing the neck down on paper and geting all the roots and 3rd’s to memory best I can.

    • Pete Roberts

      Hi Griff and fellow players, Having built three kit guitars I can quite understand that you would encourage people to intonate and maintain their own guitars. I believe, just like Griff, this is a very important skill to learn and perhaps those who have learnt to do it by building their own start with an advantage over those who simply bought and play ready made instruments.

    • Thomas Hauslein

      Thanks for your comments,Griff.. I just had a stage 4 agressive cancer brain tumor removed last month and forgot all I know about music/ guitar playing…. Starting from scratch and it’s great I have the DVDs and kept all your emails for last few years… Gives me hope for the future ?

    • Gary Powell

      Exactly, precisely, and to the point.

    • Danny

      Wow, you suggested counting a while back so I started doing it while driving in my truck and what a difference it made. When I started BGU I could play a couple songs and now 1 year later I can play 100s and even write my own. Besides blues my rock and roll solos are fast and always on time which were my biggest problem when to start and finish. It’s all about counting !

    • OzzieJohn

      Old saying: “you learn to play better tennis in winter and improve your skiing in summer” because visualisation exercises the same neural pathways and triggers the same muscle memories as “real” practice, with the big benefit that you always visualise doing it perfectly, rather than making the usual mistakes. Besides – gives the body a chance to get over repetitive strain injuries.

    • Don

      I agree there’s a lot u can study ,to make yourself a better guitar player without having the guitar in hand. For me though one of the best things is to get these e mail lessons they motivate me , they teach me ,they make me grow as a player and a student . I really don’t care what there about …if you think there important enough to make a video on the subject I’m paying attention . I am a customer of your …I don’t mind buy good content lessons . You support me as well as I support you .If the lesson is over my head… Then it’s something to grow into … If it’s old something to brush up on …everything else is up to the student …you should be much harder on counting …I like the counting out to learn new material . Thanks for your instruction and support while I learn to play guitar ..your lessons are a big part of it ??????????

    • Rob

      I visualize playing a part of a song or solo, etc
      While I’m running or away from the guitar for whatever reason
      It’s great for memorization
      It gives me a lot of confidence to have the music nailed down that well

    • Tony Unsworth

      Hi

      I broke my left wrist quite badly about 15 years ago (I am now 66) and since then playing has been very difficult as I cant rotate my hand above bout 90 degrees without rotating my entire arm. I also have restricted movement up and down so I cant use bar chords. I have tried other ways of holding the guitar and playing but would welcome some suggestions. I was never very good even before my accident but still get a lot of pleasure playing but really would like to improve as I have more time now.

      • Blair Rowley

        Gosh, I think I would try becoming a lefty. There got to be some inexpensive new/used left hand guitars.Sigh

      • Mike

        Hi Toni,
        Try tuning your guitar to a straight E, G, A or D chord, depending on what key you want to play. This way all you have to do is press on one fret to get a major chord (or just strum the open chord). You can also tune to any chord that sounds good to you, especially if you make your own songs.

    • John Rosendale

      Wow. I have been experiencing the same thing with my knuckle on my fretting hand index finger. Was thinking it was the beginning of arthritis. Will be interested in hearing a response.

      • Tim Wakefield

        John, thanks. Let me know what you discover. I saw an osteopath who manipulated painfully and it may be getting better. It would be v v depressing if I have to stop. I will see Dr and (I hope) a specialist, and keep u informed. If you want to keep in cct I a, on Tim @ wakefield . Gb . Com.

    • David Learmonth

      Sing. Try harmonising to songs on your device or the radio or whatever. Again this is good for the ear.

      • ChrisG

        David, you are spot on there !! I find singing scales (e.g. Minor Pentatonic) while “saying” the scale degree (1,3,4,5,7) in my head has helped my playing a lot. We’ve often heard Griff say “if you can hum it you can play it” when referring to rhythms; when it comes to scales, exercises and riffs I reckon “if you can’t sing it you don’t know it”. Keep this up and eventually you may reach the point where you can imagine a solo in your head, then sing it, then play it – that’s my number 1 goal.
        ChrisG.

    • Tim Wakefield

      Griff – encouraging- thanks. Have you ever had the painful first knuckle on the index finger of fretting hand? Could be my vibrato technique. Over-practicing? Gets better and then flares when I play for more than 40 mins a day. Should I lay off for say 3 months, or continue, or do something else? I know you are not a Dr, but you may have had experience from such a misfortune!
      Yours,
      Tim

      • Glenn Lego

        The wrist of my fretting hand is painful after practicing only 20 minutes a day. In 2012 I was t-boned by another driver who disregarded a stop signal and destroyed my car, gave me a dislocated left shoulder, and a fractured rib. Even though I had physical therapy, I’m not as good as I used to be playing, but I do play as long as I can stand each day., then I just quit and come back later. This may not help but it’s just my opinion and experience. God bless.

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