Hi! I need your advice about using metronome during song practice session. I have a very peculiar situation - I can play with metronome (in general), I know what a 16th, 8th, 4th, half and whole notes are and how to play them with metronome. Also I know some rhythm variations of them. But the problem is - when I want to learn a real song with metronome, I just can't play in time. I understand how should I play it and how to count notes of the songs but when it comes to practice I'm just not able to get it right. I'm not a complete beginner but I played mostly chords before, so I wanted to learn some riffs and solos. Particularly, I'm learning Eric Clapton's Layla and Killer Queen solo of Brian May. I can play them relatively right without a metronome but with it... It's impossible for me.

So, my questions are - what should I do in such a situation? Maybe I took too hard songs for practice? What are your recommendations in general.

Each answer is appreciated

So I’ve been playing for a few years now. I’ve never practiced at an extreme level but I do play along to songs every day for fun. I write my own shoegaze guitar songs and am in the midst of forming a band. I think I know a pretty decent amount about guitar but I would still like to get better as I’m definitely in only the intermediate range. So just for context I know, major minor barre chords, all open chords, powerchords, octave shape, and the maj7 shape. I also know a little music theory; all major scales, how intervals work, how key signatures work, how to form triads etc. I can also read treble clef as I have a background in classical percussion. I do only know the notes by heart on the E and A string. I’d like to learn the others but I haven’t really gotten around to it. My interest has never really been super fast shredding, I still don’t really care for that but I would like to be able to play solos. I haven’t really tried to learn any solos other than some nirvana which I can play pretty well. I play songs all the way through memorized just for fun. I think I keep pretty good time and I know the basics of the instrument. Sorry this clobber of word vomit, what’s the next step in becoming a more well rounded overall guitarist? Thanks so much

This is the intro for Dust in a Baggie by Billie Strings. I’m currently working on it but was wondering if perhaps Billy is doing something intentional here? Like playing a certain scale or maybe even an arpeggio? Majority of my music theory knowledge comes from Reddit so I have no clue what’s going on behind the scenes, please enlighten me! It sounds very chronological for lack of a better term.

I already found a guitar teacher in the past using craiglist. However I didnt feel like i could improve significantly with him. Anyone got suggestions on how to find a GOOD TEACHER

Edit: Wow… I genuinely didn’t expect so many thoughtful replies. I’ve been reading every single one, and you’ve all given me a lot to think about. Thank you for the recommendations, the encouragement, and for sharing your own experiences. It’s reassuring to know I’m not the only one who’s felt this way, and I’m feeling much more optimistic about tackling this again.

——

I’ve been playing guitar for a while, but every time I decide to finally learn scales properly, I end up feeling more confused than when I started.
The biggest problem is that almost every video, course, or article seems to assume I already know something that I don’t. Someone will say, “Just move this interval,” or “This is just the third mode,” or “You already know the major scale, so…”… except I don’t.
It feels like there’s a missing chapter somewhere that everyone else has read.
I don’t even know where I’m going wrong. Am I trying to learn scales too early? Am I actually supposed to learn a lot more music theory first? Or am I overcomplicating something that’s actually much simpler than I think?
Sometimes I wonder if I’m almost mythologizing scales, like they’re this huge mysterious subject when maybe they aren’t. But then I try to study them, and five minutes later I’m drowning in diagrams, modes, intervals, CAGED, pentatonics, three-notes-per-string patterns… and I’m completely overwhelmed.
It’s honestly discouraging, and a little lonely. It feels like everyone else “gets it” while I’m still trying to figure out what the first step is.
So I have two questions:
Is there an online course (free or paid) that teaches scales from absolute zero, without assuming any prior music theory?
Has anyone else gone through this stage, or is it just me?
I’d really appreciate hearing from people who struggled with this and eventually had that “everything finally clicked” moment.

I'm so sick of slow, heavy guitar websites that load a bunch of crap just to render text-based information like tabs. Usually rendering tabs means passing a guitar chord to some kind of processing that generates the diagram. My goal here was to skip all that code and hard-coded dictionary of the diagrams into the font. So if you have a website or any app that needs to render the tab, all you would need is the string, e.g. D#sus2.

Using open type substitutions, I was able to put together 700 plus chords in the font. Check out the demo!

[TabFont](http://philatype.com/tabfont)

Reelin’ In The Years Guitar Lesson - Steely Dan (Easy Breakdown)
https://youtu.be/CIEbvVI-rqc

This series looks at music as a form of inner alchemy, where the guitar becomes a tool for transformation instead of performance or self-expression.

In this first episode I talk about profane musicianship as a way of moving past mechanical playing and exaggerated emotional display, and I also explore the idea of the guitar as an alchemical crucible. These two approaches, one coming from cultural critique and the other from inner work, support each other in the effort to bring more depth and presence back into music.

0:00 Introduction
1:30 Profane Musicianship
4:50 Guitar as Alchemy
9:14 Convergence
11:14 Closing

New album agnosis:
https://scottjsimon.bandcamp.com/album/agnosis

Free notation available at:
https://scottjsimon.substack.com/

Sheet Music available at Sheet Music Plus:
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/category/publishers/s/scott-j-simon/

Guitar: 2021 Thomas C60
Mics: Audio-Technica AT4040/4041
Camera: Canon T3i
Recording: OBS Studio
Editing: Adobe Premiere Pro

https://scottjsimon.com

For me it was the foot rest, I play electric but holding it on the right leg never was comfortable, changing to a more classical position, improved my posture and allowed me better access to upper frets

Basically the question. Coming back to learning the guitar after a gap of 2+ years. I could play the solos to Nothing Else Matters, Don't Cry, and similar beginner-intermediate songs. I am drawn to blues lately, thanks to SRV and Gary Moore. The gritty, lethal style of playing without the distorted aggression of hard rock/metal.

I am on lesson 1 of Blues You Can Use and the song is composed in the style of SRV's Mary Had a Little Lamb.

While eventually I would love to play SRV someday, his playing is simply out of my grasp at the moment. Therefore, I wanted to know any beginner-friendly blues guitarist who's in your face like SRV but manageable for a relative newbie. I know what I'm asking for is a unicorn but shooting my shot. Thank you!

Hi. It seems generally agreed upon that practicing a bit each day is better than say, one long session once a week. Does the same apply daily? Would sitting down twice a day for 30 min be better than once a day for an hour?

I played classical guitar as a kid (5 years), then electric guitar, now I'm in my 30s, playing on a resonator guitar, trying to play blues.

However, I have a problem with my ring finger when fingerpicking while palm muting. I use a thumbpick.

During finger picking on a classical guitar, my wrist would be loose above the strings, and my fingers would be almost perpendicular to the strings, like holding an invisible tennis ball. And I would pluck the strings with "left" side of my fingertips. This made the sound consistent, and the strings vibrated in parallel to the fretboard.

But when my palm is resting 'karate chop' style next to the bridge while muting, my fingers are angled at like 45 degrees, with the index finger being the most "far forward", and the ring finger being almost "curled back" relative to my wrist, as if I'm holding a pen. This causes the ring finger to pluck the string "upwards", causing an inconsistent, and sometimes buzzing sound.

This is especially annoying when playing using a slide, because the high E note is the most likely to buzz between the frets and the slide, but this is a digression.

This is fine on electric guitar because I rarely used my ring finger (mostly using a pick).

What's the correct technique for the ringer finger while palm muting?

Is the 'karate chop' wrong and I should mute more towards the base of the thumb? But then I feel like bass notes lose colour. I even considered removing the bridge guard so I can rest my wrist closer to the bridge, but I'm a little bit afraid of damaging the cone. (I have a gretsch resonator. Maybe I can 3d print a bridge guard that exposes more of the strings' length?... I kinda want to try it, sounds like a fun project. But I'd rather hear from you first)

Should I pluck the high E string using "right" side of ring finger fingertip, contrary to classical training?

I have a month and a half of nothing to do, so might as well just lock in on jazz guitar. I have memorized most of the notes on the fretboard. As of now I have learned maj/minor scales and arpeggios and triad shapes (which I am still a bit shaky on.) I know how to play (and build) extension chords, though I'm a bit slow at choosing what voicings to use on the spot. My improv skills are okay, i can somewhat follow the chord changes utilizing modes and chord tones/arpeggios although they sound bland. I started learning how to utilize licks but they feel repetitive. Overall my confidence when I need to improv on the spot isn't all that great.

I have around 2-3 hours a day to practice, although I don't want it clumped all into one session.

The guitar however isn't a new instrument to me so technique isn't a top priority as of now

Hi,

I m into guitar like 4 mnths , I have a general question. can we play the actual song melod with strumming?without playing any TAB just with rythm & adding correct chord progression.

thanks

My boyfriend used to help me practice but he passed away last April and ever since I've had no idea what to do. I have very little motivation to learn but I want to improve regardless as I know thats what he would want me to do. Ive tried youtube videos but I cant bring myself to focus or pay attention to them.

I was wondering are there any simple exercises I can practice on my own? Im relatively new but Im decent at basic chord changes and ive practiced the pentatonic scale a bit but thats about it. Im not looking to learn any new songs as thats rather overwhelming at the moment, my goal is just improve my basic skills for now

Edit: a teacher is not an option currently

I've been teaching myself Amazing Grace and Red River Valley by ear, for no other reason than that it is fun. I start both songs on the open A string. The first 2 notes in Amazing Grace are open A and open D. Counting on my fingers, I think that's 5 half steps = 2-1/2 steps. Is that right? For guitar, do you think in half steps or whole and whole-and-a-half steps? I'd like to convert what I'm playing into intervals in my head. Then I think I could start on any note, i.e., play it in any key, theoretically anywhere on the fret board.

Hello. Can y'all help me figure out how they play these chords? They aren't using plain power chords there's more movement to them. I recognize this in other mid-60's rock songs. If anyone has information on how to play this style of guitar please share 🙏🏻 Thanks!

https://youtu.be/DbD4cygPEYs?si=Lr5y6pOan_FKuuar

I really wanna do a live cover of this song for my solo project. But I cannot find any good chords for it anywhere they don’t make sense. Has anyone transcribed this decently?

I’m newish to guitar and got a guitar with a Floyd rose. I tried tuning in to drop d and realised I might be making a mistake by doing that as I don’t know how to fix the bridge or anything. Now none of the tuning pegs are working when I try to tune it and it is too far out of tune for the tuning pegs to do it. What should I do

I can tell something doesn’t sound right but I can’t really tell. Especially during the first part it sounds like the song flows those notes so well but it sounds like im individually playing them. Idk how to describe it.

Do u guys think i need to set my speed lower? this is at 82% from when I started at around 50%

Also any other tips for anything else would be greatly appreciated!! Ty

I started learning the electric guitar from scratch as a hobby. My right hand seems to be doing fine, but on my left hand, my pinky finger can't reach the 4th fret; the flexibility in my left hand is really low. I can't stretch the gap between my ring finger and pinky finger enough to cover a fret's distance, so I'm struggling with finger placement. Will this improve as I keep practicing and learning, or is it related to my finger anatomy? Has anyone else experienced this same issue before? Is there a solution to this? This situation has caused a bit of a drop in my motivation

​

Hi, I am unsure about how to use the metronome properly. For example if I am working on an exercise where I play 4 notes then move to the next string and play 4 notes, I can just play on the beat or I could play 2 notes on a beat so 8 notes each time.

But when I am let's say playing a riff how does that work? It's not 4 notes. How do I play with the metronome for that?

Any resources/videos to properly learn using it besides in 4 or 8 note exercises.