How to Solve Problems on the Guitar

How do you solve problems when you play guitar? I know, you don’t have any problems, but if you did. Or maybe you have this friend who has problems with their guitar playing…

When you practice, you start at the beginning of a piece. You keep going until that one part you can’t play well. Now what? Do you just start over at the beginning and hope for the best? Maybe you’ll get lucky this time.

Is it fun to run through a piece? Sure. Running through the whole piece is fine for a piece you have learned well. It can be an important part of preparing for performance.

But simply playing from the beginning isn’t always the most effective approach. Sometimes you need to solve problems. Scott Tennant says that if you can spend 30 minutes solving a problem so that you never have the same problem again, that is time well spent. So what does this mean?

It means taking something you can’t play and converting it to something you can. Changing inconsistent to consistent. Transforming lackluster to exciting.

Be intentional about solving problems in your playing. Make it part of your practice approach. How?

For most problems, you can simply practice slower and/or practice shorter sections or music. You can study audio and video recordings of great musicians and learn from what they do. But how do you solve specific types of problems? 

  1. Right Hand Plucking the Wrong Strings

Practice right-hand alone. This allows you to focus all your attention on the right hand and make sure that you are plucking the right strings. Once mastered, return to playing the passage as normal.

  1. Left Hand Fretting the Wrong Notes

Practice left-hand alone. Or simplify an arpeggio passage by playing block chords, in other words, playing all notes of the chord simultaneously. Once mastered, return to playing the passage as normal.

  1. Reading Notes Inaccurately

Say letter names or solfege without playing. This allows you to make sure you are reading the notes correctly.  Then play the passage on the guitar.

  1. Reading Rhythms Inaccurately 

Count the rhythms out loud while conducting the beat but not playing on the guitar. Once you can do this accurately, play the passage on the guitar. Use a metronome.

  1. Confusion About Multiple Voices 

Practice voices separately. Play just the soprano line. Just the bass line. Tenor. Alto. Then try two voices at once. Three voices at once. Four voices at once, if necessary, though most solo guitar music only has three voices.

  1. Indecision in Choosing Fingerings

Examine videos of great musicians and emulate their fingerings. Try multiple options. For fast passages, gravitate to easy fingerings. For slow passages, gravitate to fingerings that produce the best tone.

  1. Indecision in Choosing Interpretation

Analyze melodic contour and harmonic contrast. Discover musical structure and phrasing and rhythmic attraction. Examine the interpretations of great musicians and emulate their approaches.

  1. Inability to Play Fast Enough

Be patient. Practice slowly with metronome and gradually increase tempo. Use speed bursts, alternating slow repetitions with fast repetitions. For more ideas, see this post.

  1. Tone Sounds Bad

If your strings are showing wear, change your strings. Give attention to your fingernails, making sure they are an appropriate length, shape, and smoothness.

Practice playing the open first string over and over with the same finger, listening closely to the tone and adjusting as necessary. Do this with each finger in turn.

  1. Inconsistency

Make a goal of playing a passage four times in a row correctly. Put four pennies on your music stand to count correct repetitions. Start with all four on the left. Each time you play the passage correctly, move a penny to the right. When you make a mistake, move all pennies back to the left and start over. When you get all four pennies to the right, you have made strides in consistency.

  1. Not Memorizing Music Securely

Visualize each passage away from the guitar, without the sheet music. If you cannot see the passage clearly in your mind’s eye, return to the sheet music. Once you have clarified the area of confusion, visualize again without the sheet music. When you can clearly visualize every aspect of a passage or piece without the sheet music and without the guitar, you have solidified the memory. For more ideas, see this post.

  1. Lacking Confidence in Performing

The most important element in confident performance is being well prepared. Once you are well prepared, you reach the point when running through a whole piece is beneficial. When doing a run-through, keep going until the end even if you make a mistake. Then evaluate. If there was a problem, what was it? If you need to do some problem-solving practice, go back to that mode. Then when you feel the problem is solved, test by doing another run-through.

Develop coping strategies for performance anxiety. Breathe deeply before starting a piece. Remember to exhale frequently during the piece. (Your subconscious mind will cause you inhale but will not always cause you to exhale.) Repeat simple positive phrases like “Enjoy the Music” or “Quiet Mind”. For more ideas, see this post.

The best way to handle problems is to solve them as soon as they occur. Avoid creating bad habits. The approaches above provide some ideas. But be creative. Come up with your own problem-solving approaches. And have fun! Happy practicing!

Whenever you’re ready, here’s how I can help you.

5 Day Classical Guitar Technique: Join the students in my course, 5 Day Classical Guitar Technique, which takes your classical guitar playing to the next level. Come inside and get my 25 years of classical guitar teaching experience, detailed technique tips, and a clearly defined technique workout for you.


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