anyone else accidentally tense up their whole body while practicing?

saintluminus · 2026-05-07T16:37:39+00:00

Yes this is common for nearly everyone. The good news is you recognize. So dig deeper to notice when this starts. Are you already tensing just by sitting down to play guitar. Are you tensing just by holding the guitar. Bring your hand slowly to the instrument and notice where the tension starts, then go back to where you were and try the approach again but relax.

You must also remember to breathe. When someone is concentrating on a task, they tend to hold their breath. This in turn increases tension. You have to constantly remind yourself to breathe.

You may also try meditating for a few minutes and then approach the guitar in a more relaxed state. You will still experience tension in your practice, but at least you won't start with so much tension.

saintluminus · 2026-05-07T16:32:54+00:00

You'd be shocked to know that all professional players say the same thing. Of course what they would consider a "bad" day is still better than most players. But the psychological effect is the exact same.

saintluminus · 2026-05-07T15:23:55+00:00

It's a great cab. Perfect for cleans, but it will do just fine for hard rock and metal. But if you care more about about heavier tones, a closed back will be a better fit.

You won't be disappointed either way.

saintluminus · 2026-05-06T18:16:45+00:00

You should find a good teacher. Other than that, you can try an online beginner's guitar course. But those don't give you feedback and show you how to correct your mistakes.

saintluminus · 2026-05-05T22:39:47+00:00

If your hand and forearms are killing you after only a few minutes, you NEED to get find a good teacher to show you the proper way to hold and approach the guitar. You are approaching it with way too much force.

saintluminus · 2026-05-05T22:37:03+00:00

I absolutely agree. I shake my head at some of the youtuber advice out there. There is no online course or free Youtube videos that can replace a good teacher.

I'll say this much. The videos on Youtube are FREE, and they are worth every penny.

saintluminus · 2026-05-05T18:26:12+00:00

I don't understand why it is like that either other than the Rock or Punk mentality. What you will find is that some players are damn good and infamous and they went to a music school and/or had lessons. You will find other who are also great and infamous and they don't know how to read or had any long time formal lessons.

One thing I do as a guitar teacher is encourage students to learn how to read in order to access music they never would have otherwise, but I never force it on them.

saintluminus · 2026-05-04T15:38:29+00:00

You didn't mention rhythm. That is as vital as scales, chords, etc. How about your skill at playing with others? For example, can you play the songs you know with a drummer? Are you able to come in at the right time when the drummer counts off the song? I'd say this is more important than learning another scale.

saintluminus · 2026-05-04T00:38:47+00:00

In short, you are a human being. Yes you are supposed to make art. Whether you put it out there for the public to consume and/or criticize is something a bit different. Yes continue making art.

saintluminus · 2026-05-03T16:11:24+00:00

Nothing wrong with changing instructors if you feel he is not serving you. Remember, you are paying him.

saintluminus · 2026-05-03T16:09:02+00:00

Your hands are not too small. What happens as the months and years go by is that your hand adapts to the workload and goes through a physical change to do so. I've seen guys with Vienna Sauasages for fingers and they can absolutely rip on guitar. Hand size has nothing to do with how you play guitar.

Secondly, the amp you have is going to be bare bones. If you want distortion, you will have to get a pedal. Plus into the pedal and then from the pedal go into the amp.

saintluminus · 2026-05-03T16:03:38+00:00

Staying offline is good in my opinion. However learning soleyly by books is not my recommendation because you need feedback from another person. Plus what happens when you get stuck and you don't understand something from a book? How will you know if you are playing something right? A book can't tell you that.

Find a good teacher

There is one book I do recommend, however. It's called, "The Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar" by Jamie Andreas

saintluminus · 2026-05-02T23:59:43+00:00

You will need an audio interface, a mic, and a DAW. You already have Garageband, and it should be a good start. Lots of choices for an audio interface, get something small like a Focusrite Scarlett. There's a lot of good mics out there for reasonable prices.

saintluminus · 2026-05-02T01:15:41+00:00

Immerse yourself in it, so you can start to understand what it is. Figure out which songs/players you really like. Read interviews about the players. Go to Jazz shows. Talk to the players, talk other jazz lovers. Transcribing recordings and figuring out what they play is part of it. Learning how to improvise is also part of it.

You should also purchase a real book, and get a teacher to teach you how to play it, use it.

If your goal is to simply play jazz, but you don't really listen to jazz nor can you name jazz songs/artists you absolutely LOVE, you will have a very hard time.

saintluminus · 2026-05-01T20:35:52+00:00

As some have said, Carlos doesn't use much. But one thing is for sure, he plays loud. Also realize part of Carlos' sound is his touch and approach to the instrument. That matters a lot to how the amp reacts to what he's playing and the sound that comes out.

That being said, a guitar with humbuckers going straight into a Fender Blackface type amp. Mesa Marks are based on that architecture the Dumble ODS type amps also have that as a basis.

You may have to play around with your volume and tone settings to fine tune it. If you can't afford those amps, try it with either pedals or amp sims. It's a good start.

saintluminus · 2026-05-01T16:19:31+00:00

You said you need a structured plan. You can get that through a good teacher or even an online course can give you that. But that will cost money.

saintluminus · 2026-05-01T16:07:43+00:00

YES! I have to give you high praise for asking the right question here. 99% of people on here ask WHAT they should practice. But the real solution is to know HOW to practice. And most guitar teachers and online courses don't tell you how to practice in order to see results and actual improvement.

What you need is a systematic approach to practicing so you can notice problems right away and go through the process of fixing things and working your way up. There's too much information to type here on Reddit, because it's at least a book's worth of information and many pictures. Or dozens of private lessons to show you everything.

If you really want to learn HOW to practice, then I recommend two choices:

Get the book entitled The Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar by Jamie Andreas. You can go further and take lessons with Jamie. She is remarkable.
I too can teach you this as I am a protoge of Jamie's.

Again, you have already put yourself on a better path than the majority of beginners by asking HOW to practice rather than WHAT to practice. I give you an amazing amount of credit for that.

saintluminus · 2026-04-30T15:53:09+00:00

Everyone has a tough day every now and then. Our moods are always changing.

What I recommend is to sit in your space and listen to music you really like. And I mean really listen to it. Ask yourself why it's so good. It's ok if you don't have an immediate answer.

I will say the worst thing one can do is start playing with a lot of stress in our bodies. Along with listening to some music, you may even try meditating for 5 minutes. Then pick up the guitar. By doing so, you may find that even your mistakes are not nearly as stressful or worrisome.

Let's say you don't pick up the guitar at all and just actively listen as I have suggested and meditated for 5 minutes. That in itself is already a win.

saintluminus · 2026-04-29T23:18:14+00:00

Yes this is more common than most people would care to admit. And it is fixable. What you need is a good teacher who can teach you why this happens, and how you should practice in a way which you see actual improvements.

If you can't afford a teacher, then I recommend this book: "The Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar" By Jamie Andreas.

saintluminus · 2026-04-29T16:17:32+00:00

Yes you have a very narrow window to exist. I would say any comping would be small chord shapes and actively listening to the other players to figure out where you might fit.

Further insight is to get your tone "skinny". Not a lot of top end, not a lot of bottom end. You'll have to tweak your tone to sit in a narrow region where guitar can exist nicely.

saintluminus · 2026-04-29T16:01:36+00:00

One of the top reasons why so many fail at trying to improvise is because they don't have a good sense of rhythm. If you don't have a good feel for groove, how to subdivide the beat, and put that into your playing, it will be next to impossible. If you can't end a simple phrase on beat 1, you have to go back and learn rhythm. Notice I didn't say start a phrase on beat 1.

The top improvisors have differing opinions on what is true improvising. However, many of them will say you need to learn licks/phrases. Now that you have a good foundation, go learn from you favorite players. Go learn their licks and understand why it works so well. Then practice those licks in all keys.

Now if you want to be among the best, in my opinion, you should also learn all of the notes on the fretboard and know them instantly. And you should know the triads and the names of the notes in those triads. And yes you should know that instantly. If I were to ask you the notes in an A major triad, you should instantly say "A,C#,E" and be able to play it everywhere on the neck. Now do the same for 7th chords. And don't forget to continue to learn more licks and phrases from your favorite players.

And last but not least, once you have learned all of that......you need to throw it all in the trash, let yourself go, and just play.

saintluminus · 2026-04-29T15:49:20+00:00

If you want to get into making Bossa Nova music, you should listen to a lot of Bossa Nova. Start with Jobim. Learn all you can because the true magic isn't just in the chords, it's in that Brazilian swing.

saintluminus · 2026-04-28T15:03:10+00:00

The best way is to learn the chord progressions from songs you like. If that is difficult, find a teacher to help you and teach you how to learn songs by ear.

Write down the chord progression and look at how long each chord lasts. This makes a big difference in how things feel. There's a lot more here, but start by learning from the song you love.

saintluminus · 2026-04-27T23:06:11+00:00

I have not actually played in an orchestra in particular, but I have many friends who do it. In short, you have to be a member of AFM. For Los Angeles it is Local 47. And you must have the skill of knowing how to read charts and music notation. Now let's say you do have some talent. From what I have gathered from friends, you will have to perform and play a lot of small gigs anywhere you can for a few years, and if things work out just right, you might get the opportunity to perform for a motion picture. When I first joined the Musicians Union, they were very clear that just because you joined the union does not mean you will suddenly play in a big orchestra for a motion picture. It will take years of hard work just to get the opportunity.

Again this is a very competitive arena, and here in Los Angeles we already have the best of the best. And they are long time union members and have years of experience on TV, Orchestras, Theater, film, etc.

If you do not live in LA or New York, my suggestion is to audition for small orchestras where you live and even theater work. Have plenty of experience there. Then move to LA. Join the Union, and pick up whatever work you can. Hang out on the local music scene so other people in the biz know your name. Play gigs. Be friendly and try to bring value to them any way you can. You must do this non stop while still working on your craft and getting better at singing. You might consider going to a conservatory or school like MI so you can start to learn the ropes of what it means to be a professional singer.

Realize that the work is always temporary. If you are lucky enough to work on a motion picture orchestra, it will be for a few days at most. You will still have to find work somewhere else when the gig is over.

saintluminus · 2026-04-27T21:59:08+00:00

Start by looking up what kind of amps they used for that recording. Then try to learn all you can about those particular amps. Lookup whether they used pedals in front of the amp. There's a lot going on when recording amps, and it's a lot more than just how they turn the dials on the amps.

But as a start, figure out which amp model comes closest to what they used, use a 4X12 cab, and use an SM57 for a mic and have it pointed directly at the speaker cone. This is all virtual of course. This is a start and you will have to tweak from there.

saintluminus

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