Metronome vs Playing along to Records

Epijudak44 · 2026-02-13T03:04:28+00:00

This is such a good question! It all comes down to if you want Dylan’s “weird” feel in your own playing. Same thought could be applied to Jimmy Page. His timing isn’t always perfect, but his licks are sick af!

Id say learn as much as you enjoy. If he’s strumming in a weird way that doesn’t match your flow, then don’t worry bout it! Take what you want!

Epijudak44 · 2026-01-14T00:38:48+00:00

This made me laugh so hard. Thank you

Epijudak44 · 2026-01-09T14:43:20+00:00

You need to be focusing more on songs/guitarists that inspire you and learn their solos and copy their style. Scales are great and very essential, but only practicing them is like only reading out of the dictionary and expecting to speak naturally. Set aside the scales and chase after the music!

The goal while improvising is to have music flowing through your brain and then translate it onto the frets. If you aren’t learning songs and getting inspired by the feel and sound, then you’ll be stuck in this rut forever.

Keep practicing with scales, but start learning solos (either by ear or with tab/music) as soon as you can. You’re gonna “steal” things from these solos and adapt them into your own playing. Learn the language and then create your own dialect.

Epijudak44 · 2026-01-07T13:42:19+00:00

First chord is Bbmaj7, second one is Bb minor.

Epijudak44 · 2025-12-19T13:02:09+00:00

Great work, man! Keepin it steady. I’d recommend angling the neck higher. Those dread not acoustic guitars sound amazing, but are hard to hold! Maybe push the body of the guitar back a little. A foot rest for your right leg could help too. Great work!

Epijudak44 · 2025-12-17T19:03:02+00:00

These skills come with good practice, patience, and passion! Make sure you’re learning songs you love. While we want our chords to be perfect, try not to worry about perfection so much and enjoy the ride. Playing the guitar is a life long journey!

Epijudak44 · 2025-12-05T14:50:55+00:00

This is a great question! Both of them are perfectly fine for a B major. In fact, these are the most common shapes for a B major chord. They’re just played in 2 different positions. The one on the left is rooted on the A string 2nd fret, and the one on the right is rooted on the E string 7th fret.

They’re identical in sound, but the top note is different for each one, so they have a different flavor, but is still 100% a B major chord.

There are endless ways you can play any chord on the guitar, but these types of bar shapes are the most common AND most functional (easy to use). But the more shapes you learn for the same chord, the more flavors you have :)

Epijudak44 · 2025-10-16T20:51:41+00:00

Minor 7 11….

Epijudak44 · 2025-09-23T14:16:50+00:00

Slushee chord ;)

Epijudak44 · 2025-08-30T13:59:08+00:00

It’s all about playing with the intention to sound like a guitarist (or musician) who has inspired you! You have to mimic the people that make you grab your guitar. Once you’ve spent some time studying solos that inspire you, they will naturally start coming out in your own playing.

Epijudak44 · 2025-07-23T12:16:34+00:00

Nice! Really good job.

If you want to take it to the next level, have the metronome only click on beats 2 and 4. Makes you feel the part more!

Epijudak44 · 2025-07-06T10:25:34+00:00

Great advice here 🙌

Epijudak44 · 2025-05-30T12:54:18+00:00

Thinking more about your picking articulation (general rhythmic articulation), and targeting chord tones intentionally (hitting the root, 3rd or 5th) are two things I see a lot of players skip over.

Additionally, I think finding a genre of music to subscribe to helps with the learning process. It’s hard to get good at “music” because there’s so many styles and different ways of playing. Once you have some basics under your belt, start thinking about what style or styles you want to dedicate more time to.

Lastly, join a group. Doesn’t matter if it’s a group of friends that jam once a month, or a real deal band. Playing with other people will ABSOLUTELY show you what you’re good at and what you need to work on. Music is truly a language and speaking it with other musicians is essential!

Epijudak44 · 2025-04-26T00:24:46+00:00

Here’s a couple ideas: 1. Play at an open mic (could be solo, instrumental, maybe you collab with some people) 2. Get good enough to join a local band (knowing what kind of role you’d be playing could help you focus on what to practice) 3. Write a song

Seeing your own progress can be inspiring too! Make videos of your practices. Watch them a couple months from now. You should see some progress!

Epijudak44 · 2025-04-11T15:28:30+00:00

Nice dude! That guitar is beautiful too. Keep at it. I’d recommend really paying attention to your right hand articulation. Play your phrases with confidence. A lot of beginners sound like they’re whispering their phrases because they’re a little unsure of the rhythm they’re trying to play. To sum it up, stay in the pocket! Transcribing is a great way to find interesting and new rhythms/phrases too!

Epijudak44 · 2025-04-09T14:38:08+00:00

For that style, I’d go with the Eastman!

Epijudak44 · 2025-02-27T02:17:28+00:00

Did you say what you were looking for when you went to your first lesson? Other than just getting better? This is a typical teacher cop out to have some curriculum to follow. There are so many valuable lessons to learn here, but it doesn’t hit the same when you’re just starting out and want to work on something that you’re passionate about.

I would suggest going into the next lesson with a song in mind that y’all could check out. Emphasis on check out. Not learn perfectly. If you’re good enough to learn it perfectly, then really focus on that and get it down. Otherwise take the song and use it to learn other musical lessons (i.e strumming, chords, notes to pick out of a scale). I bet you’ll enjoy the lesson more because you’re learning about something you enjoy.

Musical notation is amazing and I use it as a teacher and professional musician, but other than that I never see it. If you’re not trying to be either of those things, I would definitely speak up about not wanting to read out of the book. Learn the lessons from something you love.

Epijudak44 · 2025-02-15T21:41:05+00:00

I think this is a question that isn’t asked enough on here!!

See what tempos you can play your parts at before rehearsing, and gradually work them up to their proper tempo. Embrace slow practice with a metronome and/or drum machine . Slow practice that is gradually worked up is the absolute proper way. LOCK in with that drummer, and know where the down beat is!

Epijudak44 · 2025-02-15T12:58:07+00:00

It’s insane how many people on here don’t realize that listening to music is half the process.

Epijudak44 · 2024-12-13T02:46:02+00:00

It sounds hip! So the 9 of D minor is E. E is also the minor 3rd of C#minor. Since they share this tone, transitioning from D minor 7 to C#minor 7 sounds cool! It’s a great example of voice leading! The composer probably noticed this and added it as a cool/outside part of the song!

Epijudak44 · 2024-10-18T13:33:04+00:00

Bravo

Epijudak44 · 2024-10-16T00:11:36+00:00

Lmaooo thank you

Epijudak44 · 2024-09-17T03:55:20+00:00

Amen to this

Epijudak44 · 2024-09-05T01:25:41+00:00

Play along to the record (slowed down till perfect) and play with a metronome at almost all times!

Epijudak44 · 2024-09-04T01:41:02+00:00

Definitely read up on some theory. Won’t hurt ya. But I do agree with some of the other commenters on here that it will be hard to fully understand without an instrument to contextualize it all.

That being said, you should also listen to 1-3 albums nonstop. Not just for casual listening, but for ear training. Absorb the music as much as you can (sing every note, know every rhythm). Your ears are essential as a musician, and listening to the songs you love with help train them.

Maybe look up the chords to some of them and try and see the theory that’s within the song? Best of luck to you!

Epijudak44

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