"Muscle Memory"?

OK, I'd guess that this problem comes up now and again. In starting the core lessons I'm working on the simple chords, and need to be looking at the strings constantly to find where I place my fingers. When I make a conscious effort to look away my fingers go all over the place. I suppose (hope) that in time and with much practice my hands will automatically and unconciously remember where the strings and frets are, but I'm wondering if there are any tricks to facilitate this ability. Anyone?

Hi Richie, your guess is correct, once your muscles get used to the motion it becomes easier to look away and let them be on "auto-pilot," but this takes a little time, so be patient with yourself. It's good that you're trying to look away though, that's a good test of your progress.

...and don't 'fret' ( ;) ) about looking. By watching your hand and fingers you more easily ensure that you're doing things correctly, not developing bad habits or practicing the wrong thing.

Don't just look at your fingers. Once you make the chord so that it sounds like you want. Stop look at the bigger picture. What angle is your wrist at, feel the muscles in your wrist, back of your hand. Your fingers are not the only muscles that need to remember.

Make D 20 times; close your eyes and make D.
open your eyes to see how close you are. Now let go of the guitar neck, shake out your hand, close your eyes feel the neck on your palm, wrap your fingers around the neck. Think about the angle your wrist was in and how all the other muscles felt when you made the D chord. Make it. Open your eyes. How close are you?

I remember when I was a kid and my dad called me into the room Jose Feliciano not sure about the spelling the blind guy who played guitar on TV shows back in the 60's, 70's was playing. His hands flew up and down the neck. I was too young to figure out how he did it. But then the neck never moves or the frets and strings on it. It all about feel and confidence

Something i like to work on with my younger cousin (he's just beginning) is teaching him to make the chord he wants to master, press hard against the strings with all fingers at once, then relaxing without taking his fingers off the strings. This will help develop that muscle memory he needs to instantly pull the chord from his brain.
Another way I like to train him is by getting him to lift his fingers right off the guitar, mainting some shape of the chord and then pressing back down all at once. You can pull away farther and farther the more comfortable you get.

Hey this is actually a really cool topic :)

Playing guitar fast and smooth requires two skills to develop: your fingers' 'muscle memory', and your brain's processing speed! It's actually quite important to train BOTH of those, but rarely do you hear mention of the brain. The focus is almost always on your finger's strength, speed, agility, calluses...etc.

I will show you exactly how to BLAST your way through any learning curve, using a few very simple techniques that train both of your two skills separately, and then together at the same time.

Relaxing your fingers:

First of all, it's important to understand that playing fast for long periods of time does NOT come from finger strength, speed of motion, or anything like that. It comes from how fast you RELAX your fingers after playing each note. Therefore, in this first exercise, you will train your fingers to play RELAXED! Here's what you do:

Take a long string of notes that you've already memorized (a scale pattern for example, or a song that keeps your fingers moving). Instead of playing this piece by pressing down on the strings, what you should do is just gently rest your finger on the string, WITHOUT pressing down to touch the wood! So instead of getting a sound, it should be a muted note.

Play with that muted-note technique slowly at first, then gradually build speed. You can continue to pick the notes that should be played, even though there will be no sound. It's as if you're playing invisible notes! :D

There should be very little tension in your hand, wrist, fingers, and body. You need to stay relaxed while you're doing this. It's CRITICALLY IMPORTANT! I won't go into details here because it's not the focus of this post. Just picture what would happen if you were doing anything while being tense. If you were driving you might slam on the brakes and hurt someone, if you're talking you might scream... just keep yourself at a very relaxed state, and do NOT try to go as fast as you can. That will mess up the whole process.

Play in that muted-note technique for about 10 minutes. You should already feel the effects. The next time you play guitar normally, it will be a little bit easier for you to play faster, longer, and without as much tension. Continue to practice in this way for several weeks.

Brain Processing:

Advancing players will eventually notice that they are able to play very fast in a small section of the guitar neck, say repeating pattern of 5 notes. However, as they try to blaze up and down scale patterns in various directions up and down the guitar neck, it becomes difficult to keep up the speed, and very easily they will get lost and forget where they are. This is normal.

Your brain is actually working VERY hard to visualize all the scale patterns that you've practiced for so long, and then trying to connect the scale patterns together, and then telling your fingers to do all this stuff... As you start to focus on building speed, your brain can no longer think about visualizing the patterns, and thus you will slow down. It's like a computer bogging down because there are too many processes running at once.

The solution to this problem is actually quite fun! It won't take very long, and you can also work on building speed while pushing your brain to think faster:

Basically, instead of playing a scale across 6 strings, you're going to play it across 2 strings but all the way up the fretboard and back down.

Pick any two strings on your guitar neck to work with. Play the first 6 notes of any scale that you know (that should use up the two strings you picked, 3 notes on each string). Move up one or two frets. Play the next 6 notes in that scale, using the SAME pattern.

It should look something like this:

A string: --------3-5-7-------5-7-9--------7-9-10----------9-10-12---
E string: --3-5-7-------5-7-8-------7-8-10--------8-10-12------------

Naturally this requires knowledge of how to play a scale up a single string. It shouldn't be too hard to pick out the notes by ear, and then tab them out on a piece of paper.

You should pick a repeating pattern, and go up and then back down these two strings just like above. Change patterns every couple of repetitions.

Just force your brain to think faster and faster by constantly shifting the position of your hand, and changing the starting position of the scale.

As you start to process these notes faster, you can add another string! This time you can play across 3 strings... and then 4 strings... and soon 6 strings will be no problem, and you can just hop around anywhere across any section of the neck anywhere else fluttering notes up and down the block. :)

I suppose it's difficult to explain this through words. I can possibly create a video if that will help more.

I didn't realize you said CHORDS. I thought you were talking about playing regular songs or whatever... Anyways :)

Thanks to all; interesting ideas there.

Originally Posted by: maltmnI didn't realize you said CHORDS. I thought you were talking about playing regular songs or whatever... Anyways :)

Yeah, I said chords, because that's where I'm at. But your diagram

A string: --------3-5-7-------5-7-9--------7-9-10----------9-10-12---
E string: --3-5-7-------5-7-8-------7-8-10--------8-10-12------------

should not be beyond me, if I must go slowly and deliberately at first. And looks to be a good exercise. I'm going to try it.

I started playing about 2 years ago. At the beginning there were many days I almost quit out of frustration. I repeated the fingerings of chords literally thousands of times before they became routine. As everyone will tell you, it is a matter of practicing. It can be boring at times but if you stay with it, it will come to you. I still have a problem with the F open chord. I can play the F barre chord much easier but I will continue to practice the open form as it will make me a more complete player.

And you will find that as the chords become more automatic your finger's dexterity also improves, making it much easier to learn more chords. Just keep at it.

Finger Control.

You know the Spock live long and prosper thing. Learn to do that with your pointer and second fiinger, then the ring and pinkie. Then to really gain control, make the spock then and without your other fingers move your 2nd finger over to touch the pointer. You can also make the spock and just move your ring finger over so it touches your pinkie. After a while you get so you can move so your fingers kind of looks like scissors.

Give it a try.

hey MALTMN, please make this video....

Originally Posted by: hubkubashey MALTMN, please make this video....

The idea of practicing a scale on two strings is contained & expanded upon in these tutorials.

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=928
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=929

Then you can expand the idea across the fretboard!

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=419
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=898
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=899
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=453
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=887

Its sound a good way to help mm. I think i will try it out. Keep u the good tips Thanks!!

This is an interesting topic indeed. You always want to work at making sure that you can play without looking at the neck, and along with that I always recommend singing whatever you play.

It's truly about making that real connection to your instrument, being able to play what you hear in your heard and to know the notes of the fretboard really well. After playing guitar for a few decades, I still have to look at the neck quite often to make sure I get it right. You play so much and that real connection has to be reestablished constantly. It truly is a never ending journey.

Keep at it, but practicing this way will only benefit you in the end. Good luck! :D

=After playing guitar for a few decades, I still have to look at the neck quite often to make sure I get it right.:D

Douglas, that's a bit discouraging! :(

I absolutely loved reading your post here..I am mostly a self taught older female guitar player..I describe my playing as being all over the place. I have no idea what I know or what i really can do. Reading about how to teach your self to relax your fingers was such a great tip to read. I can see myself practice this technique till i have learned to relax..Thank you so much..
PS I am brand new to this site and already I love it..

Originally Posted by: maltmnHey this is actually a really cool topic :)

Playing guitar fast and smooth requires two skills to develop: your fingers' 'muscle memory', and your brain's processing speed! It's actually quite important to train BOTH of those, but rarely do you hear mention of the brain. The focus is almost always on your finger's strength, speed, agility, calluses...etc.

I will show you exactly how to BLAST your way through any learning curve, using a few very simple techniques that train both of your two skills separately, and then together at the same time.

Relaxing your fingers:

First of all, it's important to understand that playing fast for long periods of time does NOT come from finger strength, speed of motion, or anything like that. It comes from how fast you RELAX your fingers after playing each note. Therefore, in this first exercise, you will train your fingers to play RELAXED! Here's what you do:

Take a long string of notes that you've already memorized (a scale pattern for example, or a song that keeps your fingers moving). Instead of playing this piece by pressing down on the strings, what you should do is just gently rest your finger on the string, WITHOUT pressing down to touch the wood! So instead of getting a sound, it should be a muted note.

Play with that muted-note technique slowly at first, then gradually build speed. You can continue to pick the notes that should be played, even though there will be no sound. It's as if you're playing invisible notes! :D

There should be very little tension in your hand, wrist, fingers, and body. You need to stay relaxed while you're doing this. It's CRITICALLY IMPORTANT! I won't go into details here because it's not the focus of this post. Just picture what would happen if you were doing anything while being tense. If you were driving you might slam on the brakes and hurt someone, if you're talking you might scream... just keep yourself at a very relaxed state, and do NOT try to go as fast as you can. That will mess up the whole process.

Play in that muted-note technique for about 10 minutes. You should already feel the effects. The next time you play guitar normally, it will be a little bit easier for you to play faster, longer, and without as much tension. Continue to practice in this way for several weeks.

Brain Processing:

Advancing players will eventually notice that they are able to play very fast in a small section of the guitar neck, say repeating pattern of 5 notes. However, as they try to blaze up and down scale patterns in various directions up and down the guitar neck, it becomes difficult to keep up the speed, and very easily they will get lost and forget where they are. This is normal.

Your brain is actually working VERY hard to visualize all the scale patterns that you've practiced for so long, and then trying to connect the scale patterns together, and then telling your fingers to do all this stuff... As you start to focus on building speed, your brain can no longer think about visualizing the patterns, and thus you will slow down. It's like a computer bogging down because there are too many processes running at once.

The solution to this problem is actually quite fun! It won't take very long, and you can also work on building speed while pushing your brain to think faster:

Basically, instead of playing a scale across 6 strings, you're going to play it across 2 strings but all the way up the fretboard and back down.

Pick any two strings on your guitar neck to work with. Play the first 6 notes of any scale that you know (that should use up the two strings you picked, 3 notes on each string). Move up one or two frets. Play the next 6 notes in that scale, using the SAME pattern.

It should look something like this:

A string: --------3-5-7-------5-7-9--------7-9-10----------9-10-12---
E string: --3-5-7-------5-7-8-------7-8-10--------8-10-12------------

Naturally this requires knowledge of how to play a scale up a single string. It shouldn't be too hard to pick out the notes by ear, and then tab them out on a piece of paper.

You should pick a repeating pattern, and go up and then back down these two strings just like above. Change patterns every couple of repetitions.

Just force your brain to think faster and faster by constantly shifting the position of your hand, and changing the starting position of the scale.

As you start to process these notes faster, you can add another string! This time you can play across 3 strings... and then 4 strings... and soon 6 strings will be no problem, and you can just hop around anywhere across any section of the neck anywhere else fluttering notes up and down the block. :)

I suppose it's difficult to explain this through words. I can possibly create a video if that will help more.

Originally Posted by: Richie0Douglas, that's a bit discouraging! :(

Sorry about that :cool:

I can play without looking most of the time. However, it's mainly when I am playing something new that I have to look. I have it memorized, but I haven't quite put it deep enough in my brain to just "go." It really depends on how much time I have had with the song, lick, etc.

It's a long process for any player, so take comfort in knowing your not alone :D

You'll get there.

Thanks maltmn!
That tip on how to relax is one of the best tips that I have EVER seen
in my 30 years of guitar!
Ive always known that you have to play relaxed, but I have never seen
anyone with an actual drill to embed it in their playing.
I tried to send you a message, but I wasn't able to.

Thanks again!!

Originally Posted by: maltmnHey this is actually a really cool topic :)

Playing guitar fast and smooth requires two skills to develop: your fingers' 'muscle memory', and your brain's processing speed! It's actually quite important to train BOTH of those, but rarely do you hear mention of the brain. The focus is almost always on your finger's strength, speed, agility, calluses...etc.

I will show you exactly how to BLAST your way through any learning curve, using a few very simple techniques that train both of your two skills separately, and then together at the same time.

Relaxing your fingers:

First of all, it's important to understand that playing fast for long periods of time does NOT come from finger strength, speed of motion, or anything like that. It comes from how fast you RELAX your fingers after playing each note. Therefore, in this first exercise, you will train your fingers to play RELAXED! Here's what you do:

Take a long string of notes that you've already memorized (a scale pattern for example, or a song that keeps your fingers moving). Instead of playing this piece by pressing down on the strings, what you should do is just gently rest your finger on the string, WITHOUT pressing down to touch the wood! So instead of getting a sound, it should be a muted note.

Play with that muted-note technique slowly at first, then gradually build speed. You can continue to pick the notes that should be played, even though there will be no sound. It's as if you're playing invisible notes! :D

There should be very little tension in your hand, wrist, fingers, and body. You need to stay relaxed while you're doing this. It's CRITICALLY IMPORTANT! I won't go into details here because it's not the focus of this post. Just picture what would happen if you were doing anything while being tense. If you were driving you might slam on the brakes and hurt someone, if you're talking you might scream... just keep yourself at a very relaxed state, and do NOT try to go as fast as you can. That will mess up the whole process.

Play in that muted-note technique for about 10 minutes. You should already feel the effects. The next time you play guitar normally, it will be a little bit easier for you to play faster, longer, and without as much tension. Continue to practice in this way for several weeks.

Brain Processing:

Advancing players will eventually notice that they are able to play very fast in a small section of the guitar neck, say repeating pattern of 5 notes. However, as they try to blaze up and down scale patterns in various directions up and down the guitar neck, it becomes difficult to keep up the speed, and very easily they will get lost and forget where they are. This is normal.

Your brain is actually working VERY hard to visualize all the scale patterns that you've practiced for so long, and then trying to connect the scale patterns together, and then telling your fingers to do all this stuff... As you start to focus on building speed, your brain can no longer think about visualizing the patterns, and thus you will slow down. It's like a computer bogging down because there are too many processes running at once.

The solution to this problem is actually quite fun! It won't take very long, and you can also work on building speed while pushing your brain to think faster:

Basically, instead of playing a scale across 6 strings, you're going to play it across 2 strings but all the way up the fretboard and back down.

Pick any two strings on your guitar neck to work with. Play the first 6 notes of any scale that you know (that should use up the two strings you picked, 3 notes on each string). Move up one or two frets. Play the next 6 notes in that scale, using the SAME pattern.

It should look something like this:

A string: --------3-5-7-------5-7-9--------7-9-10----------9-10-12---
E string: --3-5-7-------5-7-8-------7-8-10--------8-10-12------------

Naturally this requires knowledge of how to play a scale up a single string. It shouldn't be too hard to pick out the notes by ear, and then tab them out on a piece of paper.

You should pick a repeating pattern, and go up and then back down these two strings just like above. Change patterns every couple of repetitions.

Just force your brain to think faster and faster by constantly shifting the position of your hand, and changing the starting position of the scale.

As you start to process these notes faster, you can add another string! This time you can play across 3 strings... and then 4 strings... and soon 6 strings will be no problem, and you can just hop around anywhere across any section of the neck anywhere else fluttering notes up and down the block. :)

I suppose it's difficult to explain this through words. I can possibly create a video if that will help more.

Great topic as soon I arrived home I will practice relaxing and processing method.

I want to post again in this topic and share my current progress. As a daily routine I practice some chord changes, scales. Currently I´m in the rock course and believe me the tips in this topic and overall GT website is amazing.

My progress in the last couple of months is great, I feel more confident to learn every day and keep me motivated. Learning to play guitar was on my bucket list in life...now I living my dream come true.