Here is this week’s 10-second tip.
It is such a basic one that is crucial to your success, but easy to forget…
Cut the nails of your fretting hand short!
So many guitarists let the nails of their fretting hand get longer than they should.
This is bad because it means some notes and chords will buzz or sound dead no matter what you do.
I used to have a student who would turn up each week with nails longer than they should be.
I made him leave a pair of nail clippers in his guitar bag. That way, if they were too long, he would cut them right there and then!
No matter how long you have played, overly long nails get in the way.
Only the other week, I had to stop playing to cut my nails.
The reason?
A simple A minor chord was feeling awkward – and I’ve played for a long time! As soon as the nails were cut, it was fine.
If a long nail is getting in the way, it doesn’t matter how good you are, it’s just physics!
Yeah, like I said this is a super simple tip but one that is easy to forget.
Talking of simple tips, if you want more of them, you might want to check out my The Ultimate Guide to Strumming.
It is a digital book for now (later this year I will get it turned into a paperback), but it is a great one for strumming. There are lots of tips on technique, strumming patterns, and a whole section on things like “pick strumming”, strumming with bass runs, palm-muted strumming, and much more.
Here are the details…
The Ultimate Guide to Strumming
Thanks for reading and feel free to send in any 10-second tips of your own.
Although I said in a recent email, I can’t always reply to everyone, but I certainly try, and either way, I love getting them!
Dan Thorpe
Guitar Domination
P.S. This post was originally taken from Dan Thorpe’s private email list. To get blog posts like this sent to you which are full of great tips to make fingerpicking, strumming, and learning guitar more enjoyable (especially if you are over 40) join Dan’s list. It’s 100% free, HERE.
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