Forum - Banjo Ben Clark

Oops!

I’m two years into my effort to try and learn how to play the guitar and it has been a struggle. Especially strumming. I just couldn’t seem to get the same strikes on the strings that I was seeeing Ben do in his lessons. My pick was bouncing on the strings rather than flow across them. Well, I had enough so I decided to review the beginners rhythm lessons and I saw it. My guitar was at an angle away from my body. I had developed a bad habit of holding the guitar at an angle where I could see my hands better which aided my ability to chord, but just killed my strumming technique as well as causing my fingers to not make clean strikes when finger picking. I saw where Ben holds his guitar close to his body. My strumming improved immediately. However my chording suffered as I’m not use to the angle of the guitar. So now I’m going to have to unlearn a bad habit and get on the right track so I can progress. This is probably the biggest downside to online lessons. The teacher can’t see your bad habits and correct them early. On the other hand, maybe I need to pay closer attention to what I am seeing the instruction do and not just what he is playing…And so the title OOPS! Wish me luck as I have to undue some of what I have learned incorrectly.

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@Lefty70, I feel your pain! Went through a similar discovery on banjo in regards to where and how to plant my strumming/picking hand on the banjo head. It was awkward for a while, but in the end glad it got corrected to allow for continued improvement

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Remember you can always post a video and ask aboout any mistakes you might be making…

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I know all about unlearning bad habits. I just relearned how to hold a pick after 35 years of doing it wrong.

If you feel like you’re struggling anywhere, please post a video. I posted a video of my mandolin playing a few months ago for Ben to critique. In only a few sentences, he gave me info that immediately improved my playing.

One of the biggest benefits of gold pick membership is access to his experience. Use it! :blush:

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+1 to all the comments above. Finding out that you can do something better is a very good thing.

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