Originally Posted by: dashe09

I'm midway thru fundamentals 2 and been on this journey for over a year bouncing around from online lessons to in person lessons etc. I realized one of the things that I struggle with is when I learn a new riff I tend to tense up a bit as I don’t want to mess up and am relieved once I’m done. I kind feel like I’m walking on a balance beam! Have any of you experienced this and how to you deal with this?

Yep, loosen up. Lighten up. Ever heard the saying 'dance like nobody's watching'? Play like nobody's listening. Sure, you do want to eventually get it right but that never happens the first time out...No matter how long you've been playing. Even when something is within your skill, it still takes time.

I always give examples from my own experience. I mean, I've been playing a really long time and I'm comfortable that with enough practice, I can get something down. A good example was just last night. I was in the mood to learn Peter Frampton's 'Baby I Love Your Way'. Not a super complex song but the verse chords are also not exactly normal. In that you're only striking the 5th string and the 2nd string on the descending riff. Not hard but not something I've done much in that coinfiguration. So, in strumming through it, it sounded pretty clangy and not spectacularly clean since you have to mute the 3rd and 4th strings in between.

On top of it, I had a pinched tendon a few weeks ago that I'm now just recovering from...my wrist and hand have been through it a bit in the last year....But does challenge my fretting notes and chords for the time being.

Moral of the story is; I just kept on strumming on through until I felt comfortable. I didn't care that it sounded like a kitchen full of tin pans at first. I was getting used to playing the riff/figure and not aiming for perfection off the bat. Just gettin' it down. I pretty much did. I'm not peforming it for anyone so I just wanted to hear it clean to my ears.

So when you're learning something new, just don't worry about it. You'll get comfortable playing it at some point.