Originally Posted by: rich.messner

I have found that when I relax my fingers and my movements, I can play more fluently, then utilizing forced movements.[/quote][p]That's a great observation that applies to all guitar learning & playing. You want as little tension & strain in your body. You want to be completely relaxed in order to have the most natural & efficient motion possible. Too much pressure or tension actually hinders your ability to get to the next motion on time! I have a brief lesson that might help clarify this issue.

https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=13958&s_id=1141

Originally Posted by: rich.messnerCan anyone weigh in on how to perform and practice without tightening up?

The trick here is to start by constantly reminding yourself to stay loose. If you feel your arm, hands or fingers getting tense, then make a conscious effort to relax them immediately. The only way you can make this an automatic process is, of course, repetition! The quicker & more often you are aware of the problem (tension) and make yourself correct it immediately when it happens (relax!), the quicker you will gradually make it a subconscious, second nature physical reaction. So, it is essentially a psychological issue as you mention!

[quote=rich.messner]As they say in baseball, you think long, you think wrong.

This can be applied to guitar as well! But it's not a matter of thinking too long. It's a matter of being prepared to think in big enough units.

Any physical activity that requires quick motion & precision timing (playing guitar or hiting a fast pitch!) requires a very small reaction time.

This is why repetitious practice is so important.

The goal of repetitious practice is to train yourself to think in small economical units that contain a large amount of instuctions. The specific process is to automate small motions or actions into larger & larger groups. The goal is to increase the range of your focus.

When you first start playing you have to focus on every little aspect & motion. Press your fingers here, move it a little, keep holding it, am I doing it right, strum with the pick, hit the right strings, are those the right strings, did i miss the string, why does it sound wrong.

And so on. :)

Gradually as you repeat these motions each becomes a little more automated, or second nature. Your fingers, nervous system & brain become used to those motions. They become accustomed to making those motions when your mind says, "Strum C chord" or some motion or action you've learned & practiced. Your mental focus is all contained in those 3 words & if you've practiced enough, then your hands & nervous system take care of the rest.

So much physical motion & activity is contained in those 3 little word. That's essentially the process that all musicians go through in order to be able to play music in real time. There's no time to think of every little motion necessary to do a complex task. There's only time to think, "C chord", or "Verse", or "Blues lick in C". And count on your hours, days & years of repetitious practice to take care of the details.

That's how musicians can play entire songs or concerts seemingly effortlessly.

Hope this helps!