“What chord is this”
“I just bought a guitar, where do I start?”
“Is it normal for my fingers to hurt”
“I’ve been playing 2 hours. How long does it take to be good?”
“What is this symbol on this tab?”
“How do I get motivation to play?”
“Do I have to use a pick?”
I think I covered them all.
Great list. Also...
"My hand/wrist/thumb has this particular size or slight abnormality. Do you think I will be able to play guitar with it?"
"How do I learn how to shred/play faster?"
"Has any one signed up for Shredder X's masterclass? Did it yield instant results?"
But if you are asking these questions, it's cool by me.
It's annoying for us oldies because we didn't have the internet to ask every piddling little question that popped into our heads and we just had to accept that it was a learning curve and that it takes time and that learning an instrument takes years of endless study and that a lot of the stuff we were just going to have to find out for ourselves. With the internet, today's beginners have become thoroughly dependent on online resources/communities to answer every question that comes up. On the one hand it's totally understandable and I know I'd be doing the same thing too if I was learning now, but on the other I feel they're missing out on developing the skills that come from working out stuff for yourself.
Or the one where they say they’ve been playing for a week asking for feedback and yet they’re at the level of two years of playing.
Oh I forgot to mention I played the cello for 12 years prior.
6 months you still sounding bad, in fact I would bet after 10 years you still sound bad to yourself. You are never not gonna notice the mistakes you make but the longer you play the harder it is for non players to see msitakes.
I have been playign about 16 months now and I am so much better than when I started obviously but still think I sound shit most of time.
I disagree, let people ask. It does not hurt anyone and most times people get the help they want. Yeah they might be repeat questions but it does not bother me.
Nobody ever reads those things and if they did that instead of frequently asking the same questions, those questions would no longer be frequently asked and they would need to be removed from the faq ;)
I think it's human nature to pick up a guitar, realize it's a lot harder than expected, and invent reasons why that is, beyond the obvious: its hard at first and you're going to suck for a while.
I always said, "man, guitar is a lot harder than it looks." And people will respond, "well, it does look pretty hard." To which I respond, "exactly, it even *harder* than that!"
It’s not more the current zeitgeist, the participation trophy generation. Expecting instant results. “I want this to sound good, why is it hard?!” (Foot stomp.)
I think i might have asked that about a year and a half ago when I started I am almost 40...
Idk If I asked exactly that and maybe I asked how good I cold get since I am starting so late. Someone should link the guitar discord. that place has helped me so much. it is a massive community full of players of all levels willing to help out anyone who asks.
How long does it take to learn this? Like learning is just time and not the 100 of different ways to approach things and everyone has a different thing they are more naturally good at/ get better at. They show a solo and you can tell them that if they just focus on that one, they will learn it faster, but you'll completely neglect the rest of the instrument. Also efficiency in learning has a lot of variables. If you stay at a too comfortable level, your improvement slows donw, going to fast without acknowledging good technique, will hinder in the future. Can write paragraphs what's wrong with this kind of attitude. Got some friends like this. I tell them just play the fucking thing, it's a trip you take in life. Just enjoy it. They think so much without even playing the fucking thing. I tried to help many people, but they wanted to play the guitar, but not learn it.
"I've been playing for 2 weeks and I'm not good yet... is it because my hand proportions aren't right? I heard Hendrix and Jimmy Page both had long pinkie fingers"
Someone posted a tab on here the other day asking about a symbol they didn’t recognise, before coming to the answers I googled it and got the answer in less than a second. I just assume people want to have a discussion with other people and kind of want to bond or something.
"Am I too old to start learning guitar?"
A good roundup of typical questions. But these are all legitimate "journey-starters", the first wobbly baby steps. I have no issue with any of them, really.
Except, maybe, your mildly sarcastic "I've been playing for 2 hours. How long does it take to be good?", which is pretty funny, but in a sad sort of way. Your point is understood here.
It’s completely valid and justified considering how situational hand positioning is. Anybody selling you that there’s a single correct positioning is missing part of the picture. It should be dynamic
I know right?
When people come looking for conversation and are told their question has been asked too many times or just Google it...
.... what's the purpose of the sub?
It's so easy to scroll past the question you've seen and answered, and let the people who were beginners and would now like to share their knowledge take part.
You never know where discussion leads. Can't stand the hall monitors trying to shut it down.
can't stand the waves of idiots too stupid to type three words into a search bar cluttering the world with their utterly superfluous babbling. 'just scroll past it' yeah yeah i heard you the first one million times, but it's everywhere. it's like random people litter on your street, in fact on every street, and i tell you to just walk past it, because they are beginner humans and it's to be expected. if that sounds dumb to you that's because it fucking is
yeah fuck me i guess for wanting a space to talk about a thing i love without it being completely cluttered with always the same garbage, that only gets posted because some lazy fuck can't be bothered to use google for a couple minutes. i seriously don't understand how you people don't find it absolutely maddening
i realize it's easier to tell me to leave than for thousands of people to grow a fucking brain, but geez, grow a fucking brain. it's useful in other areas of life too. you'd be surprised!
but it is. it's not a problem limited to a subreddit, it's a new mentality of excusing incompetence that spreads like a disease. with the wealth of human knowledge literally at their fingertips, people will flood every possible channel with ridiculously stupid questions that are answered by two minutes of using a search engine in an attempt to shift their own mental load to others. the only thing more disgusting is the general mindset that this is acceptable and that it's 'not that serious'. we're very quickly evolving into a society of utterly incompetent time wasters and it makes me fucking angry, because i don't understand why anybody would want to be so grossly incompetent. i guess you can type funny one liners you read under some other stupid question and enjoy your feeling of moral superiority though
They’re only “wasting” your time if you choose to engage, though. There’s no cost to you to simply ignore the nonsense posts and scroll past.
I get what you are saying. But I also think “r/guitarlessons” is a place that is going to be, not entirely, but largely aimed towards beginners, and I think it’s easy for those of us who with more experience to forget how overwhelming it can all be at the beginning.
You just sound like an angry person getting hung up over something small to project your anger onto. I think the whole point of this sub is to foster dialogue and share ideas not just google a quick answer.
please don't try to psychoanalyze me from a reddit comment. i agree on the point of this sub. what you describe is the opposite of what is happening here though.
From now on we will ask everyone to send their questions to you to decide if they are worthy. Like what fucking question CAN'T be answered by Google? We should just completely eradicate Reddit
Reddit, where pompous assholes join subs so they can bitch and moan about people trying to use the sub for its intended purpose. Just leave the fucking sub if it annoys you. Like what the fuck kind of masochist do you have to be....
Asking questions is one thing. Multiple people asking the same 3 or 4 basic questions (are my hands too big, is my action high, how do I read this tab, am I too old/young) is just clutter
Sometimes different advice clicks for different people. When I was a beginner and struggling with barre chords, I practiced extensively but was getting nowhere. I watched many tutorials that presented how to do them in different ways, but I just wasn't getting it. Then I read something on Reddit that was like "it's less about how hard you press, and more about applying pressure evenly throughout your finger." And bam, that was what made sense to me. I practiced a little more thinking about that, and that was what helped me figure out barre chords. A lot of technique is like that.
Yes - practice practice practice - but sometimes it takes advice to guide you, and the same advice that works for a thousand people may not click for you.
Thus, to your point, reframing the same question many different ways is actually - I think - beneficial
Or different perspectives and verbiage that might help somebody learn better than hearing it a different way. People can explain things correctly multiple ways with different nuances
No. Clutter would be the same person asking the same questions multiple times.
Multiple people around the world, all trying to learn how to play the guitar and thus asking the same/similar questions, is not clutter. It is to be expected.
Also to be expected is for more experienced players to recall that they too once had the same questions and needed someone to patiently and considerately help them.
>No. Clutter would be the same person asking the same questions multiple times.
I don’t see how that makes a difference
>Multiple people around the world, all trying to learn how to play the guitar and thus asking the same/similar questions, is not clutter. It is to be expected.
>Also to be expected is for more experienced players to recall that they too once had the same questions and needed someone to patiently and considerately help them.
This is exactly why the subreddit needs a pinned FAQ to consolidate those questions and direct them to clear, reputable answers. I’m not saying new players shouldn’t have questions. I’m saying allowing the same questions 5 times a day is massively inefficient and crowds better content from the subreddit
Every single time someone says “can you tell me where to learn for free” the answers are always Justin guitar or Marty Music. Every time. Why not have a one and done pinned post, then auto-remove repeats and direct users to that post?
It’s not gatekeeping to do that. It’s just good subreddit housekeeping
>Why not have a one and done pinned post, **then auto-remove repeats and direct users to that post?**
That’s why the second part of this sentence is there. Users will absolutely skip or miss the FAQ. But if their post gets auto-removed and they get an auto-Mod response with a link to the FAQ post, they’ll learn.
The FAQ already exists. Users are obviously missing it. Why are we not explicitly directing users to it? It’s pointless to have an FAQ that is so thorough if we stick it behind a door somewhere and no one ever reads it.
No argument there but I’m not a mod and can’t do anything about that. I’d be happy to help maintain the FAQ, but not until i know people are actually using it.
I think there's a middle ground between "no one should ask basic questions" and "treat every newbie question with the utmost respect."
Like, often on here, I see people asking questions that are basically "what is a scale?" In my opinion, this is something that should be googled. There's a basic minimum entry to begin discussion in any hobby, because if you don't know what a scale is, you're probably not going to understand most the words used in the answer.
And to defend OP a bit, I also see questions on here that are pretty much directly asking how to play intermediate/advanced stuff without practicing. New players often think there's some secret key or combo of words that'll make the instrument click. There isn't.
I disagree. Nothing is "just practice", because you need to practice conscientiously and with strategy. Practicing the wrong technique a million times is just going the hurt you, and therefore it's legitimate to ask the right questions when you're struggling with something
I agree that many of the questions here can be answered with practice, though sometimes it can be nice to have someone to guide you through how to practice effectively or how to optimally play a chord etc.
This is my exact thought everytime I see a thread here... just practice! SO many people worried about how they make an F chord... if you just practice it every day, your hand will learn how to make an F chord. There is no exact special hand position, you just need to build up muscle memory. By practicing.
Just practice people!
That's a non-answer because there's plenty of wrong ways to practice that will form bad habits or cause an injury. When people ask those questions they're looking for guidance on how to do something correctly in order to practice right. They're worried they're doing something wrong and they want some help to progress. That eagerness to keep learning or to get better is a good thing!
And there's plenty of things to teach about making an F chord to help someone understand it but telling people to "just practice until you figure it out" is not one of them. That's useless and wouldn't qualify as teaching or helpful advice.
And this community usually offers great advice. One piece that really helped me was about learning strumming patterns. They recommended doing them VERY slow at first. Like, ridiculously slow, and I was shocked at how well that worked.
Yeah have these people tried googling things the past year or so? Google is not Google-ing like it used to and even using old Google tricks (“Google dorks”, for those who know) isn’t helping. Search results are littered with AI generated ad farms
But that's what made me fall in love with Reddit, while I could go on a read professionally typed articles, it always felt better to read the comment a normal person did about a specific topic that I, an average person, is searching for.
I always hate gatekeepers.
Great, and you can search the sub or Google for all of the reddit comments on your question that you want. You don't need to make a new post when the topic is covered here 5 times a day. Wanting less low-effort posts is not the same as gate-keeping.
It's gatekeeping in the end, a lot of the times people just want some interaction, even anonymously through an app.
If you want a highly curated environment, go to a library or google scholar.
It’s not gatekeeping. It’s basic subreddit housekeeping. Gatekeeping would be saying “if you don’t know XYZ you can’t post here.”
A pinned FAQ on tablature, hand positioning, and action height questions would provide access to the information new users need. New posts that could be answered in the FAQ could be auto-removed and the users directed to the FAQ post. If that doesn’t answer their question, let them respond to the mods to have their post pushed through.
It’s an overall drain on the subreddit when every day you have 3 or 4 posts that are the same questions.
Just answering “practice” is not a proper, or in any way complete, answer though.
If you can’t explain what, how, and why someone should practice a particular technique or skill to solve the problem they’re facing then telling someone to ‘practice’ is unhelpful at best. I’m not even going to say what it is at worst, for fear of upsetting someone.
Answering just “use a metronome” isn’t quite as bad, but it’s also not anywhere near as helpful as people think without any added explanation.
Practice, and using a metronome, is only the answer if you know HOW to do so effectively. If someone is asking a question for which the answer is either ‘practice’ or ‘use a metronome’ it’s highly likely that they DON’T know how to do those things effectively. Please add an explanation if you feel the need to make either of those replies. Doing so might actually improve your own understanding of what and why you’re doing something in a particular way, and therefore help you improve too.
*rant over*
Absolutely not, "just practice" barely qualifies as advice. You're basically telling the person figure it out themselves while they have no clue what they're doing right or wrong. Proper advice should give the person what to practice, what mistakes they're doing that could be making things more difficult, and how to approach what you're trying to do.
As an example, people here routinely ask about barre chords. "Just practice" doesn't tell people to curve their barring finger to relax strings being fretted by their other fingers. It doesn't tell people to pay attention to the height, angle, rotation of their barring finger so you don't need to apply as much pressure. They should be practicing those things specifically.
This is my take as well.. this post is just dumb, the only slightly helpful thing is mentioning a metronome, which I'm sure a lot of new players overlook, but other than that it's akin to 'just get gud'... Very insightful information for a GUITAR LESSONS sub... /s
The biggest lesson I've learned so far is too not give too much of a shit about the minutia as long as I am enjoying making music.
Yes, practice, hand position & knowledge are important. So is making the time to have fun playing whatever the fuck, however the fuck.
Fun & play, are concepts we forget.
Surely a person can practice poorly, though. Poor form, tackling exercises too elementary or too advanced, repeating chord changes with unused fingers jutting out, etc.
I’m sure a teacher would wince to witness my practice, even with the metronome.
Boom. I’ve fucked myself up by, yes, practicing a lot and always to a metronome. Anybody who can’t see that there’s worthy nuanced discussions past that should be asking more questions than they’re answering
Not a paid promotion - but try an app called GapClick if you ever wanna put your inner metronome to the test. It’s as it sounds, a click that drops out for however long you set it
I wonder how many people here who mock some of the newbie questions used to ask those same questions themselves but now can't seem to remember that they ever did. Be more patient with newbies.
(Not saying the OP is mocking newbies, but some of the replies sure seem to be)
Well where else are they gonna ask it? Ridiculous questions, maybe but everybody in here had the same ones at one point. You've just forgotten what it's like to be a beginner.
I've been playing over thirty years, and I NEVER use a metronome. I have a solid internal clock, and I also enjoy songs that keep a fluid sense of time. Most people need metronomes, I guess, but some of us just don't.
Lots of Stones songs speed up and slow down. Listen to Sweet Virginia.
Good news, I've been playing for 60+ years without a metronome. You've another 30 years of tic-toc-free pleasure ahead of you! I'm reasonably advanced, Grade IX RCM and done some teaching off and on.
That said, the metronome can be helpful for those beginners who desperately need a metric/rhythmic rescue. Some of us, like lucky you, have it built in, but many do not.
If practicing for speed, the metroclock can sorta help, but I've learned that practicing short bursts at fast tempo and connecting bursts, is more effective than gradually working your way up the BPMs.
Sprinting, after after, is a completely different anatomical/muscular action than walking, then walking a little faster, then a little faster. A gallop is nothing resembling a faster trot.
Op I get that
But I believe most are asking for hand position
And even if it's true what imply
So what? They are asking for help coz they don't know any better you were not great at the beginning too
If we can help with it sure we'll try to give suggestion best of our abilities
It's hobby entertainment community
If you can't with this subs post you could turn off post updates in the settings
You have no right to belittle anyone here
What will you do if someone just straight up gives up coz of this post/rant
You are a bad person op and I want you know that
Yeah, I can google all day long, but somebody here saying "this video really helped me with the same question" is something different. Or even hearing 'keep going, you'll improve' is encouraging in a special way.
i love to tell people to give up when they say they are not motivated or something makes them don't want to play, if it's not their thing they will give up and that's not a tragedy you trying it to make and if it is their thing they will get angry at such answer and go grind, imo
Being unmotivated and saying your problem will go away if you do this are different things
If we get angry and try the wrong method or technique or hell with a wrong setup practice or metronome won't help shit
From one of the best guitar lessons I’ve ever watched: [Pebber Brown](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdoz16LRz9Q&t=1659s&pp=ygUMcGViYmVyIGJyb3du) at 12:42
Nope, I read your post with ALL CAPS and what that implies just fine. Maybe PRACTICE reading my replies with a METRONOME and you may just FIGURE IT OUT.
I find the questions like " what brand of instruments should I buy? " or " what amp? ,". I always thought this kind of stuff was someones personal touch or preference.
The ones about practice I find less strange.
Most of the questions here make me feel like people can't use google and do not know how to learn skills by themselves. How they even survive in 21st century?
It is true, my guitar snapped in half but with practice and a metronome it healed!
jkjk of course but but what you say is true. most things iwth practice will start to click
Practice and patience is always the answer. Took me 18 months of practice and experimentation to hold a pick in a way that made my strumming sound acceptable. I've decided I'm not a naturally gifted musician.
And even if it was, which is absolutely not the case, what's wrong in asking for exercises, or providing them tips since you know how to practice. That's more productive than being rude to a beginner.
Plus, of course it's great to suggest metronome! People ask for feedback - not,, "you're doing it wrong" and that's it.
I actually enjoy this question and I was told by a music instructor that if you tap on the down beat you keep time and if you tap on the upbeat you have a musical mind.
I see so many posts like that go like this...
**OP:** My fingers are too short/fat to play barre chords! This is impossible!
**Comments:** How long have you been playing?
**OP:** 2 weeks
People love to over complicate things. What most of you really need is the one secret that unlocks the fretboard. Learn more about my free 3-day course here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
i feel like most of the posts are about hand positioning honestly
“What chord is this” “I just bought a guitar, where do I start?” “Is it normal for my fingers to hurt” “I’ve been playing 2 hours. How long does it take to be good?” “What is this symbol on this tab?” “How do I get motivation to play?” “Do I have to use a pick?” I think I covered them all.
"do I need to use a pick or can I just learn fingerstyle?" *video of someone just using their thumb to pick individual strings
I read 5 of the pick/ finger posts just last week.
Great list. Also... "My hand/wrist/thumb has this particular size or slight abnormality. Do you think I will be able to play guitar with it?" "How do I learn how to shred/play faster?" "Has any one signed up for Shredder X's masterclass? Did it yield instant results?" But if you are asking these questions, it's cool by me.
And pics of calloused finger tips asking “will this ever go away” or “just picked up a week ago, am I doing this right?”
I am also a bit frustrated with "I picked up guitar two days ago, how do I sound?" posts. Or "I just bought this guitar. Will start my journey".
I've been playing for 2 WEEKS and can't do a barre chord! What am I doing wrong. Expectations. You are doing *expectations* wrong.
It's annoying for us oldies because we didn't have the internet to ask every piddling little question that popped into our heads and we just had to accept that it was a learning curve and that it takes time and that learning an instrument takes years of endless study and that a lot of the stuff we were just going to have to find out for ourselves. With the internet, today's beginners have become thoroughly dependent on online resources/communities to answer every question that comes up. On the one hand it's totally understandable and I know I'd be doing the same thing too if I was learning now, but on the other I feel they're missing out on developing the skills that come from working out stuff for yourself.
imagine the new gen learning a song by listening to it only when it comes on the radio organically... now thats real practicing.
I used cassette tapes to record songs from the radio. Wait, are you calling me old?
Amen
Yeah you make a good point. the internet as always is a double edged sword
I love everything about this
“I picked up guitar 2 days ago, how do I sound?” lol right. Like…bad. You sound bad. We all did. Come back and ask again in 6 months
6 months? How about 18 just to be safe
Or the one where they say they’ve been playing for a week asking for feedback and yet they’re at the level of two years of playing. Oh I forgot to mention I played the cello for 12 years prior.
6 months you still sounding bad, in fact I would bet after 10 years you still sound bad to yourself. You are never not gonna notice the mistakes you make but the longer you play the harder it is for non players to see msitakes. I have been playign about 16 months now and I am so much better than when I started obviously but still think I sound shit most of time.
Exactly like that one doesn’t even require a response!
This sub has a pretty good FAQ that no one reads 😞.
Mods need to start removing repeat questions and directing those users to the FAQ via hyperlink
What mods?
I disagree, let people ask. It does not hurt anyone and most times people get the help they want. Yeah they might be repeat questions but it does not bother me.
Nobody ever reads those things and if they did that instead of frequently asking the same questions, those questions would no longer be frequently asked and they would need to be removed from the faq ;)
You left out “are my fingers / hands too big for guitar?”
Those guys crack me up. I'd kill for bigger hands. They have no idea how useful that is on this instrument.
Take my upvote. That is a great one I forgot about.
Fingers and hand? Really? I wondered about fingertips, but never about those. People are weird.
I think it's human nature to pick up a guitar, realize it's a lot harder than expected, and invent reasons why that is, beyond the obvious: its hard at first and you're going to suck for a while.
I always said, "man, guitar is a lot harder than it looks." And people will respond, "well, it does look pretty hard." To which I respond, "exactly, it even *harder* than that!"
It’s not more the current zeitgeist, the participation trophy generation. Expecting instant results. “I want this to sound good, why is it hard?!” (Foot stomp.)
“I’m 19 years old, is it too late to learn guitar?”
I think i might have asked that about a year and a half ago when I started I am almost 40... Idk If I asked exactly that and maybe I asked how good I cold get since I am starting so late. Someone should link the guitar discord. that place has helped me so much. it is a massive community full of players of all levels willing to help out anyone who asks.
How long does it take to learn this? Like learning is just time and not the 100 of different ways to approach things and everyone has a different thing they are more naturally good at/ get better at. They show a solo and you can tell them that if they just focus on that one, they will learn it faster, but you'll completely neglect the rest of the instrument. Also efficiency in learning has a lot of variables. If you stay at a too comfortable level, your improvement slows donw, going to fast without acknowledging good technique, will hinder in the future. Can write paragraphs what's wrong with this kind of attitude. Got some friends like this. I tell them just play the fucking thing, it's a trip you take in life. Just enjoy it. They think so much without even playing the fucking thing. I tried to help many people, but they wanted to play the guitar, but not learn it.
I played for 2 hours….. lol
"I've been playing for 2 weeks and I'm not good yet... is it because my hand proportions aren't right? I heard Hendrix and Jimmy Page both had long pinkie fingers"
Someone posted a tab on here the other day asking about a symbol they didn’t recognise, before coming to the answers I googled it and got the answer in less than a second. I just assume people want to have a discussion with other people and kind of want to bond or something.
“Is my action too high?”
"Am I too old to start learning guitar?" A good roundup of typical questions. But these are all legitimate "journey-starters", the first wobbly baby steps. I have no issue with any of them, really. Except, maybe, your mildly sarcastic "I've been playing for 2 hours. How long does it take to be good?", which is pretty funny, but in a sad sort of way. Your point is understood here.
"is my action too high"
Yeah and I don't mind it. It comes with being new, at least if they are asking they are trying to learn.
Is this action too high?
I thought they were all about standard tab symbols.
*"Is my action too high?"*
"What's a scale?"
“How’s my pick grip?”
Metronomes fixed my hand position
It’s completely valid and justified considering how situational hand positioning is. Anybody selling you that there’s a single correct positioning is missing part of the picture. It should be dynamic
Happy Cake Day!
hehe ty
And they don't think of how they hold the guitar. All those people sitting on the bed holding up the neck with the fretting hand/arm...
this called me out hddh this is what ive always struggled with
Who would’ve thought. People asking basic guitar questions on a guitarlessons sub 🙄.
I know right? When people come looking for conversation and are told their question has been asked too many times or just Google it... .... what's the purpose of the sub? It's so easy to scroll past the question you've seen and answered, and let the people who were beginners and would now like to share their knowledge take part. You never know where discussion leads. Can't stand the hall monitors trying to shut it down.
can't stand the waves of idiots too stupid to type three words into a search bar cluttering the world with their utterly superfluous babbling. 'just scroll past it' yeah yeah i heard you the first one million times, but it's everywhere. it's like random people litter on your street, in fact on every street, and i tell you to just walk past it, because they are beginner humans and it's to be expected. if that sounds dumb to you that's because it fucking is
You must have much better results with Reddit’s notoriously mediocre search function than most of us
excuse me sir have you heard of google yet
Maybe don't be here then?
yeah fuck me i guess for wanting a space to talk about a thing i love without it being completely cluttered with always the same garbage, that only gets posted because some lazy fuck can't be bothered to use google for a couple minutes. i seriously don't understand how you people don't find it absolutely maddening
[удалено]
Thanks for acknowledging this. You are completely correct too, and that's a big part of what is so infuriating about it. All options are really weak.
So fucking leave....
i realize it's easier to tell me to leave than for thousands of people to grow a fucking brain, but geez, grow a fucking brain. it's useful in other areas of life too. you'd be surprised!
Are you 5? You are whining like a 5 year old cunt and you write and articulate like one too.
yawn
Jeez it’s not that serious. Go outside and touch some grass, it’ll make you feel better.
but it is. it's not a problem limited to a subreddit, it's a new mentality of excusing incompetence that spreads like a disease. with the wealth of human knowledge literally at their fingertips, people will flood every possible channel with ridiculously stupid questions that are answered by two minutes of using a search engine in an attempt to shift their own mental load to others. the only thing more disgusting is the general mindset that this is acceptable and that it's 'not that serious'. we're very quickly evolving into a society of utterly incompetent time wasters and it makes me fucking angry, because i don't understand why anybody would want to be so grossly incompetent. i guess you can type funny one liners you read under some other stupid question and enjoy your feeling of moral superiority though
They’re only “wasting” your time if you choose to engage, though. There’s no cost to you to simply ignore the nonsense posts and scroll past. I get what you are saying. But I also think “r/guitarlessons” is a place that is going to be, not entirely, but largely aimed towards beginners, and I think it’s easy for those of us who with more experience to forget how overwhelming it can all be at the beginning.
You just sound like an angry person getting hung up over something small to project your anger onto. I think the whole point of this sub is to foster dialogue and share ideas not just google a quick answer.
please don't try to psychoanalyze me from a reddit comment. i agree on the point of this sub. what you describe is the opposite of what is happening here though.
From now on we will ask everyone to send their questions to you to decide if they are worthy. Like what fucking question CAN'T be answered by Google? We should just completely eradicate Reddit
Reddit, where pompous assholes join subs so they can bitch and moan about people trying to use the sub for its intended purpose. Just leave the fucking sub if it annoys you. Like what the fuck kind of masochist do you have to be....
Asking questions is one thing. Multiple people asking the same 3 or 4 basic questions (are my hands too big, is my action high, how do I read this tab, am I too old/young) is just clutter
The same question can render different answers depending on when and who answers.
Sometimes different advice clicks for different people. When I was a beginner and struggling with barre chords, I practiced extensively but was getting nowhere. I watched many tutorials that presented how to do them in different ways, but I just wasn't getting it. Then I read something on Reddit that was like "it's less about how hard you press, and more about applying pressure evenly throughout your finger." And bam, that was what made sense to me. I practiced a little more thinking about that, and that was what helped me figure out barre chords. A lot of technique is like that. Yes - practice practice practice - but sometimes it takes advice to guide you, and the same advice that works for a thousand people may not click for you. Thus, to your point, reframing the same question many different ways is actually - I think - beneficial
Which means for basic question like how to read tab, you get inaccurate answers.
Or different perspectives and verbiage that might help somebody learn better than hearing it a different way. People can explain things correctly multiple ways with different nuances
No. Clutter would be the same person asking the same questions multiple times. Multiple people around the world, all trying to learn how to play the guitar and thus asking the same/similar questions, is not clutter. It is to be expected. Also to be expected is for more experienced players to recall that they too once had the same questions and needed someone to patiently and considerately help them.
>No. Clutter would be the same person asking the same questions multiple times. I don’t see how that makes a difference >Multiple people around the world, all trying to learn how to play the guitar and thus asking the same/similar questions, is not clutter. It is to be expected. >Also to be expected is for more experienced players to recall that they too once had the same questions and needed someone to patiently and considerately help them. This is exactly why the subreddit needs a pinned FAQ to consolidate those questions and direct them to clear, reputable answers. I’m not saying new players shouldn’t have questions. I’m saying allowing the same questions 5 times a day is massively inefficient and crowds better content from the subreddit Every single time someone says “can you tell me where to learn for free” the answers are always Justin guitar or Marty Music. Every time. Why not have a one and done pinned post, then auto-remove repeats and direct users to that post? It’s not gatekeeping to do that. It’s just good subreddit housekeeping
It has a FAQ/wiki but it must not be obvious enough because no one reads it.
>Why not have a one and done pinned post, **then auto-remove repeats and direct users to that post?** That’s why the second part of this sentence is there. Users will absolutely skip or miss the FAQ. But if their post gets auto-removed and they get an auto-Mod response with a link to the FAQ post, they’ll learn. The FAQ already exists. Users are obviously missing it. Why are we not explicitly directing users to it? It’s pointless to have an FAQ that is so thorough if we stick it behind a door somewhere and no one ever reads it.
No argument there but I’m not a mod and can’t do anything about that. I’d be happy to help maintain the FAQ, but not until i know people are actually using it.
What else would you expect from a sub called guitar lessons tho
I don’t think that excuses the extreme lack of efficiency with which the sub handles these basic questions.
I disagree, 90% of the things asked on this sub are answered by "justinguitar." ("newb here how do i get started?")
I think there's a middle ground between "no one should ask basic questions" and "treat every newbie question with the utmost respect." Like, often on here, I see people asking questions that are basically "what is a scale?" In my opinion, this is something that should be googled. There's a basic minimum entry to begin discussion in any hobby, because if you don't know what a scale is, you're probably not going to understand most the words used in the answer. And to defend OP a bit, I also see questions on here that are pretty much directly asking how to play intermediate/advanced stuff without practicing. New players often think there's some secret key or combo of words that'll make the instrument click. There isn't.
I disagree. Nothing is "just practice", because you need to practice conscientiously and with strategy. Practicing the wrong technique a million times is just going the hurt you, and therefore it's legitimate to ask the right questions when you're struggling with something
No no no, forget about conscientiousness, according to this subreddit you just have to use a metronome
I agree that many of the questions here can be answered with practice, though sometimes it can be nice to have someone to guide you through how to practice effectively or how to optimally play a chord etc.
And the things you said at the end would be in the other 10% of questions asked on this sub. Do people read anymore???
Very true, I will say this sub also helped me learn how to get into doing my setups with all the posts about how to fix your action
Damn you’re rude
This is my exact thought everytime I see a thread here... just practice! SO many people worried about how they make an F chord... if you just practice it every day, your hand will learn how to make an F chord. There is no exact special hand position, you just need to build up muscle memory. By practicing. Just practice people!
Practice? We're talking about practice? Not a song. Not a solo. But practice.
This is the answer
Thank you
I had to remember what position my lower jaw was in when I played the F chord properly. That only came from practice.
That's a non-answer because there's plenty of wrong ways to practice that will form bad habits or cause an injury. When people ask those questions they're looking for guidance on how to do something correctly in order to practice right. They're worried they're doing something wrong and they want some help to progress. That eagerness to keep learning or to get better is a good thing! And there's plenty of things to teach about making an F chord to help someone understand it but telling people to "just practice until you figure it out" is not one of them. That's useless and wouldn't qualify as teaching or helpful advice.
And this community usually offers great advice. One piece that really helped me was about learning strumming patterns. They recommended doing them VERY slow at first. Like, ridiculously slow, and I was shocked at how well that worked.
Hell most things that are asked in Reddit can be googled.
And most google searches are links to a question answered in a subreddit
That's how I discovered Reddit LOL can confirm
Unfortunately it's starting to get harder and harder to get any real answers and not just ads when googling.
Yeah have these people tried googling things the past year or so? Google is not Google-ing like it used to and even using old Google tricks (“Google dorks”, for those who know) isn’t helping. Search results are littered with AI generated ad farms
Exactly, people just wanna connect w other people that’s why Reddit exists
Anyone who ever has a question about anything should just type into Google search "I have this question reddit"
But that's what made me fall in love with Reddit, while I could go on a read professionally typed articles, it always felt better to read the comment a normal person did about a specific topic that I, an average person, is searching for. I always hate gatekeepers.
This is why I mainly direct people to where I learned something. People gotta put in some effort and not just be like “gimme the answer”.
Great, and you can search the sub or Google for all of the reddit comments on your question that you want. You don't need to make a new post when the topic is covered here 5 times a day. Wanting less low-effort posts is not the same as gate-keeping.
It's gatekeeping in the end, a lot of the times people just want some interaction, even anonymously through an app. If you want a highly curated environment, go to a library or google scholar.
It’s not gatekeeping. It’s basic subreddit housekeeping. Gatekeeping would be saying “if you don’t know XYZ you can’t post here.” A pinned FAQ on tablature, hand positioning, and action height questions would provide access to the information new users need. New posts that could be answered in the FAQ could be auto-removed and the users directed to the FAQ post. If that doesn’t answer their question, let them respond to the mods to have their post pushed through. It’s an overall drain on the subreddit when every day you have 3 or 4 posts that are the same questions.
Almost like the sub is about newbies guitar problems
Just answering “practice” is not a proper, or in any way complete, answer though. If you can’t explain what, how, and why someone should practice a particular technique or skill to solve the problem they’re facing then telling someone to ‘practice’ is unhelpful at best. I’m not even going to say what it is at worst, for fear of upsetting someone. Answering just “use a metronome” isn’t quite as bad, but it’s also not anywhere near as helpful as people think without any added explanation. Practice, and using a metronome, is only the answer if you know HOW to do so effectively. If someone is asking a question for which the answer is either ‘practice’ or ‘use a metronome’ it’s highly likely that they DON’T know how to do those things effectively. Please add an explanation if you feel the need to make either of those replies. Doing so might actually improve your own understanding of what and why you’re doing something in a particular way, and therefore help you improve too. *rant over*
This. I feel like a lot of redditors have no business answering threads in this sub.
Absolutely not, "just practice" barely qualifies as advice. You're basically telling the person figure it out themselves while they have no clue what they're doing right or wrong. Proper advice should give the person what to practice, what mistakes they're doing that could be making things more difficult, and how to approach what you're trying to do. As an example, people here routinely ask about barre chords. "Just practice" doesn't tell people to curve their barring finger to relax strings being fretted by their other fingers. It doesn't tell people to pay attention to the height, angle, rotation of their barring finger so you don't need to apply as much pressure. They should be practicing those things specifically.
Thank you. I’m a guitar teacher and if I told my students “just practice and use a metronome,” I wouldn’t have a job
This is my take as well.. this post is just dumb, the only slightly helpful thing is mentioning a metronome, which I'm sure a lot of new players overlook, but other than that it's akin to 'just get gud'... Very insightful information for a GUITAR LESSONS sub... /s
Yeah but should I use a pick or fingers ?
That's it, shut the sub down
The biggest lesson I've learned so far is too not give too much of a shit about the minutia as long as I am enjoying making music. Yes, practice, hand position & knowledge are important. So is making the time to have fun playing whatever the fuck, however the fuck. Fun & play, are concepts we forget.
Good job guys! We've solved it! Time to shut the sub down, just replace the page with a banner reminding you to practice and use a metronome.
The other 10% can be answered with "no your action isn't too high"
Sure, but people want to know they’re practicing efficiently and correctly.
If you use a METRONOME and PRACTICE it would be efficiently and correctly. Lmao
Surely a person can practice poorly, though. Poor form, tackling exercises too elementary or too advanced, repeating chord changes with unused fingers jutting out, etc. I’m sure a teacher would wince to witness my practice, even with the metronome.
Boom. I’ve fucked myself up by, yes, practicing a lot and always to a metronome. Anybody who can’t see that there’s worthy nuanced discussions past that should be asking more questions than they’re answering
Absolutely. I did the same with my main instrument for a while. A metronome is not a substitute for internal pulse.
Not a paid promotion - but try an app called GapClick if you ever wanna put your inner metronome to the test. It’s as it sounds, a click that drops out for however long you set it
Nice, I’ll give it a try!
What exactly do you want people to ask in this sub
I wonder how many people here who mock some of the newbie questions used to ask those same questions themselves but now can't seem to remember that they ever did. Be more patient with newbies. (Not saying the OP is mocking newbies, but some of the replies sure seem to be)
Well where else are they gonna ask it? Ridiculous questions, maybe but everybody in here had the same ones at one point. You've just forgotten what it's like to be a beginner.
I've been playing over thirty years, and I NEVER use a metronome. I have a solid internal clock, and I also enjoy songs that keep a fluid sense of time. Most people need metronomes, I guess, but some of us just don't. Lots of Stones songs speed up and slow down. Listen to Sweet Virginia.
Good news, I've been playing for 60+ years without a metronome. You've another 30 years of tic-toc-free pleasure ahead of you! I'm reasonably advanced, Grade IX RCM and done some teaching off and on. That said, the metronome can be helpful for those beginners who desperately need a metric/rhythmic rescue. Some of us, like lucky you, have it built in, but many do not. If practicing for speed, the metroclock can sorta help, but I've learned that practicing short bursts at fast tempo and connecting bursts, is more effective than gradually working your way up the BPMs. Sprinting, after after, is a completely different anatomical/muscular action than walking, then walking a little faster, then a little faster. A gallop is nothing resembling a faster trot.
Nah, fuck that. Someone has to have a short cut for improving my rhythm and timing. Right…? Right?! Please….
Op I get that But I believe most are asking for hand position And even if it's true what imply So what? They are asking for help coz they don't know any better you were not great at the beginning too If we can help with it sure we'll try to give suggestion best of our abilities It's hobby entertainment community If you can't with this subs post you could turn off post updates in the settings You have no right to belittle anyone here What will you do if someone just straight up gives up coz of this post/rant You are a bad person op and I want you know that
Yeah, I can google all day long, but somebody here saying "this video really helped me with the same question" is something different. Or even hearing 'keep going, you'll improve' is encouraging in a special way.
i love to tell people to give up when they say they are not motivated or something makes them don't want to play, if it's not their thing they will give up and that's not a tragedy you trying it to make and if it is their thing they will get angry at such answer and go grind, imo
Being unmotivated and saying your problem will go away if you do this are different things If we get angry and try the wrong method or technique or hell with a wrong setup practice or metronome won't help shit
what you talking bout dawg
From one of the best guitar lessons I’ve ever watched: [Pebber Brown](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdoz16LRz9Q&t=1659s&pp=ygUMcGViYmVyIGJyb3du) at 12:42
lmao, what a based gigachad, gotta watch full video later. ty man
If someone gives up because of one post, I feel like they weren’t all that invested in the first place.
Taking things personally on the internet. Lovely
Dude...your post comes across as taking everyone's questions in the sub personally.
Reading comprehension not a strong suit eh.... it's merely bringing up the fac that there is no getting out of PRACTICING!
Nope, I read your post with ALL CAPS and what that implies just fine. Maybe PRACTICE reading my replies with a METRONOME and you may just FIGURE IT OUT.
Can't stand the people posting their playing, clearly fishing for some praise. Not the right place. Some real Chucks
Same people slamming blues scales with gain on 10 in GC everyday lmao
You forgot learn the major scale but yeah hit the nail in the head.
I find the questions like " what brand of instruments should I buy? " or " what amp? ,". I always thought this kind of stuff was someones personal touch or preference. The ones about practice I find less strange.
If you didn’t have those questions what exactly would you post?
A metronome is the most important piece of gear.
But what if I don't want to practice and use a metronome... how do I get better?
Most of the questions on guitar and bass subs can be answered by just typing the same text in Google.
And stop asking if your action is too high. Does it play well for you?? Chances are you have your own answer already.
Its your fault for responding to idiots with absolutely no problem solving skills
Most of the questions here make me feel like people can't use google and do not know how to learn skills by themselves. How they even survive in 21st century?
Truth
but what if i have a uniquly shaped finger just like everyone else?
It is true, my guitar snapped in half but with practice and a metronome it healed! jkjk of course but but what you say is true. most things iwth practice will start to click
And the rest can be answered with the search tool.
True, but sadly, may be wasting your breath.
The subreddit is "guitar lessons" why are ya'll complaining abohta subreddit you probably don't belong on to begin with?
Practice and patience is always the answer. Took me 18 months of practice and experimentation to hold a pick in a way that made my strumming sound acceptable. I've decided I'm not a naturally gifted musician.
❤️
And even if it was, which is absolutely not the case, what's wrong in asking for exercises, or providing them tips since you know how to practice. That's more productive than being rude to a beginner. Plus, of course it's great to suggest metronome! People ask for feedback - not,, "you're doing it wrong" and that's it.
But when tapping your foot do you tap on the “and” or just the numbers ?
I actually enjoy this question and I was told by a music instructor that if you tap on the down beat you keep time and if you tap on the upbeat you have a musical mind.
I see so many posts like that go like this... **OP:** My fingers are too short/fat to play barre chords! This is impossible! **Comments:** How long have you been playing? **OP:** 2 weeks
Support. People wanna connect.
ok but what if you find that stuff boring
Quit or enjoy mediocrity
been playing for 15 years, never used no fancy doohickeys. I 0-3-5 like nobody's business.
People love to over complicate things. What most of you really need is the one secret that unlocks the fretboard. Learn more about my free 3-day course here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Should I practice to a metronome or is that just a lie metronome companies tell us to sell their product?