I’m literally having the opposite problem; as Josh taught us to push the body of the instrument with the forearm of the plucking hand, if I’m not fretting the neck of the guitar, it is moving forward like I’m trying to do some sort of ‘kickass’ Chuck Berry move. I’ll likely never be as good as Chuck Berry, but hey, I do have an ES 335!
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I just figured out I was having the exact same problem. The answer is, They may look the same and play the same, but they are not the same instrument. You dont really want to push either instrument with your forearm. With bass, the only pressure that should be on the body is a very slight downward pressure from resting your thumb on a pickup. You want to rest across the body of the guitar. It’s a much lighter instrument. I called it “hugging” in another post somewhere.
you can also pretty much just slide around on the neck of the bass without needing to release neck pressure. Much more finger movement on guitar.
Just to clarify, are you talking about pulling in with your rhythm hand forearm on the body so the neck moves forward? If so, this is also helpful on guitar even though I may not say it in the course. You just don’t want your neck to be waaay out in front. But it definitely is helpful to have the neck in front of the body slightly.
Definitely, it was just a matter of degree. Once I put less force on the body of the guitar and made sure my thumb was pointing up towards the headboard, fretting became easier. Now, time to repeat Module 2 using my middle finger rather than my index finger for the chord of Em. Additionally, I will contemplate the E that I am creating by fretting the second fret of the D string and how it fits in with the G,B,E of the other three strings.
Perhaps carefully reviewing Major/minor triads on my bass neck holds the answer. Trying to look at the bass neck to encode the above ended in a couple edits, but that will teach me to eat foods for dinner that I have a known allergy to. ![]()
Awesome, glad to hear it worked.
Without the E on the D string, the chord is technically an Em/G (Em with a G as the bass note). The E as the bass note makes it a true Em. Small technicality. Is that what you’re referring to?
YES! Not sure if I could have got there with a triad on the bass neck.
Just finished M2. My transitions to and from the simplified chords are alright. but now onto the full chords soon. ugh…at least I get some fun single note practice in between lol
Nah, yr good for a bit. Alex doesn’t start those until M5 now.
Gotcha lol
Well, I hit my first hurdle now, the Dsus2. High E was not exactly muted but I could feel it hitting my pinky after strumming the chord.
I started playing all the chords one at a time, slowly and discovered, I was pressing too hard, so my finger tip got flattened a bit and it was enough just to cause the vibration of the high E to gently meet my finger.
I can also feel my thumb floating towards the middle of the neck, like when playing bass. Small corrections has helped though. I’ve decided to take this as slow as needed. Just picking the Em and the Dsus2 gives me immense joy.
take all the time needed. No rush. You already have the course and it’s not going anywhere lol
Just finished M3! M4 is one of my favorites. YEY!
Interesting observation. I wonder how many others are having this issue. I hazard a guess you’re not the only one!
YES! Definitely no need to rush. It’s all about finding the pace that works for you.
Love it!
Hi I just finished module 6 and had a couple questions. Defintely enjoying the course but defintely was challeneged by the medium/fast workouts with the riff. Is it normal still be hitting the wrong strings/notes at this time? Ive done the slow workout many times and can even do the riffs without looking. What I notice when I get faster its harder to keep good fretting position since I’m trying to go faster.My fingers loose some of their curl. I’m really trying to incorporate all the tips and good habits.
This might seem silly but I notice I almost get nervous playing in time even when I can do the same thing on my own with correct time. If I loose my place I’ll try to catch the next part or rewind the exercise. I know I have to relax but any other advice?
The old mantra slow is smooth, smooth is fast comes to mind. And yes, it’s normal to sometimes hit the wrong strings when going faster. In my experience, that’s usually the time to take a step back, focus on this exercise/chord progression until it feels easy to do. Practice what you want to do with a metronome, gradually increase the speed. Don’t try and go too fast as you will only end up frustrated.
When you feel like “crap I’m not getting faster and it’s getting boring”, simply shift focus to something more fun, like noodling around. Your brain also needs time to implement all these new informations you are giving it. Keep at it and all of a sudden you will one day play it without thinking and you will think, how was this ever a problem.
This is the most economical way for me to prevent the dreaded SG neck dive horror show. A bit of picking arm control takes the load off the fretting hand a bit.
Lightweight tuning machines help a lot too ![]()
It just takes time man. You’ll get it. I’ve been through the course a few times already and still hit wrong notes and strings. It happens. The important thing to remember is that it’s JUST GUITAR. No need to panic, feel rushed to accomplish the mission, or be nervous. Your primary goal is to have fun.
Hey No Name!
This is super normal. As others have already mentioned, it takes a while. Just because you made it through the workouts for one lesson doesn’t necessarily mean that all the techniques you learned in that lesson will be perfectly integrated immediately.
This is a very natural response. Most of us tend to tense up when increasing speed, even though tensing up makes it way harder to play. Try to keep your whole hand, arm, and body as relaxed as possible. A few deep breaths before a rep can do wonders.
This is great, but you’ll get the best results if you focus on just one skill or technique at a time. If you’re having a hard time, say, using two birds fretting, then just focus on that. Don’t focus on two birds fretting AND picking precisely the right strings, because the best case scenario is that you get marginally better at both. But if you focus on one skill or technique at a time, you’ll progress much faster.
Be patient, have fun, and enjoy the ride ![]()