{"id":1051,"date":"2014-08-09T03:00:45","date_gmt":"2014-08-09T10:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/classicalguitarshed.foureyes.com\/?p=1051"},"modified":"2024-11-06T23:52:07","modified_gmt":"2024-11-07T07:52:07","slug":"mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Top Classical Guitar Technique Mistakes"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>The Usual Suspects: Common Guitar Mistakes<\/h2>\n<p>Throughout my teaching, I have noticed time and again some common mistakes that many beginning players make.<\/p>\n<p>These mistakes are especially common with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/learn-classical-guitar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">self-taught players<\/a>. \u00a0The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/basics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fundamentals<\/a> of good classical guitar technique aren&#8217;t always instinctive.<\/p>\n<p class=\"centerc\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qs4Oo3R3GVQ?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;autohide=1\" width=\"700\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">5 Common Guitar Mistakes<\/h2>\n<h3>1. Poor alignment:<\/h3>\n<p>Extreme angles in any joint will likely lead to problems later, and create excess tension.<\/p>\n<p>Ideally, every joint between the shoulder and fingertip finds a neutral position at its mid-range.<\/p>\n<p>To make it simple, try to keep your wrists straight or with the big knuckle slightly lower than the wrist.<\/p>\n<p>Ideally, you use a good <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/how-to-hold-a-guitar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sitting position<\/a>, and stay aware of your positioning and form.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Bracing:<\/h3>\n<p>Bracing is touching the top of the guitar with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">right hand pinky<\/a> or ring and pinky.<\/p>\n<p>Bracing one or more fingers restricts the motion of the others, and also creates considerable tension.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to play well, and progress more advanced music, you\u2019ll eventually need to \u201cfloat\u201d.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Bicycling:<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cBicycling\u201d is hooking the strings with the right hand fingers and pulling up, snagging the strings (extremely common).<\/p>\n<p>This creates a thin tone and excess tension, and is also a cause of Bouncing (below).<\/p>\n<p>Bicycling often results from the palm and wrist staying too close to the strings and guitar.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">You can tell whether you\u2019re bicycling if you use your left hand to touch the middle knuckle of the right hand while preparing to play a note.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">When you play through the string, the middle knuckle ideally moves directly into the palm, instead of away from the palm.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">If you feel the middle knuckle push on your left hand fingers at all, you\u2019re bicycling.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Splayed fingers:<\/h3>\n<p>Right hand fingers are widely separated from each other. Again, avoid extremes.<\/p>\n<p>Excess distance between the fingers creates tension. It also makes it very difficult to close your hand, with the fingers coming all the way into the palm.<\/p>\n<p>As an analogy, try running with your legs very separated. \u00a0Not so effective.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Bouncing:<\/h3>\n<p>Bouncing is the habit of lifting the right hand away from the strings upon playing a note.<\/p>\n<p>This takes your hand out of optimal position, and increases the likelihood of missed notes.<\/p>\n<p>Constantly having to reposition creates a low-grade stress, and generally increases tension.<\/p>\n<p>This usually goes hand in hand with \u201cbicycling\u201d, above.<\/p>\n<p>There are more common mistakes than just these, but ensuring that you\u2019re clear of these will be a huge step in the <a title=\"Start Here\" href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/classical-guitar-technique-right-hand\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">right direction<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>In case you were Wondering&#8230;<\/h2>\n<p>In this video, I was using the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stringsbymail.com\/gitano-classical-guitar-support-1170.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gitano Guitar Support<\/a> (not an affiliate link). \u00a0It\u2019s a guitar support that puts the guitar in a great position for playing. \u00a0It attaches with suction cups. \u00a0I am a big fan, but it is not entirely perfect. \u00a0It has let me down in performance by popping off (a harrowing experience, I assure you!).<\/p>\n<p>But for most people, and for everyday practice, it\u2019s a great solution, and a big help. \u00a0You can find more on sitting and holding the guitar, as well as several other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/how-to-hold-a-guitar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">guitar support reviews here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Usual Suspects: Common Guitar Mistakes Throughout my teaching, I have noticed time and again some common mistakes that many beginning players make. These mistakes are especially common with self-taught players. \u00a0The fundamentals of good classical guitar technique aren&#8217;t always instinctive. 5 Common Guitar Mistakes 1. Poor alignment: Extreme angles in any joint will likely lead to problems later, and &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6716,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,260,434],"tags":[366,364,58,362,359,368],"class_list":["post-1051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technique","category-learn","category-main-content-parent","tag-basics","tag-beginners","tag-bodily-use","tag-left-hand-technique","tag-right-hand-technique","tag-technique-concepts"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Top Classical Guitar Mistakes: What NOT to Do<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"To play classical guitar well, it helps to know what NOT to do. Avoid these 5 common classical guitar mistakes now and learn more easily.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Top Classical Guitar Technique Mistakes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To play classical guitar well, it helps to know what NOT to do. Avoid these 5 common classical guitar mistakes now and learn more easily.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Classical Guitar Shed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClassicalGuitarShed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-09T10:00:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-07T07:52:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/slipping-640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"320\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CLguitarshed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@CLguitarshed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5 Top Classical Guitar Mistakes: What NOT to Do","description":"To play classical guitar well, it helps to know what NOT to do. Avoid these 5 common classical guitar mistakes now and learn more easily.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"5 Top Classical Guitar Technique Mistakes","og_description":"To play classical guitar well, it helps to know what NOT to do. Avoid these 5 common classical guitar mistakes now and learn more easily.","og_url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/","og_site_name":"Classical Guitar Shed","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClassicalGuitarShed\/","article_published_time":"2014-08-09T10:00:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-11-07T07:52:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":320,"url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/slipping-640.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Allen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CLguitarshed","twitter_site":"@CLguitarshed","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allen","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/"},"author":{"name":"Allen","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/85d09303adb38d43cdedd2033f6b016e"},"headline":"5 Top Classical Guitar Technique Mistakes","datePublished":"2014-08-09T10:00:45+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-07T07:52:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/"},"wordCount":520,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/slipping-640.jpg","keywords":["basics","beginners","bodily use","left hand technique","right hand technique","technique concepts"],"articleSection":["Guitar Technique","Learn","Main Content Parent"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/","name":"5 Top Classical Guitar Mistakes: What NOT to Do","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/slipping-640.jpg","datePublished":"2014-08-09T10:00:45+00:00","dateModified":"2024-11-07T07:52:07+00:00","description":"To play classical guitar well, it helps to know what NOT to do. Avoid these 5 common classical guitar mistakes now and learn more easily.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/slipping-640.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/slipping-640.jpg","width":640,"height":320,"caption":"common classical guitar mistakes"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/mistakes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"5 Top Classical Guitar Technique Mistakes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/","name":"Classical Guitar Shed","description":"Learn Classical Guitar Online with No Guesswork","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#organization"},"alternateName":"ClassicalGuitarShed","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#organization","name":"Classical Guitar Shed","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/CGS-logo-black-400.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/CGS-logo-black-400.png","width":400,"height":192,"caption":"Classical Guitar Shed"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClassicalGuitarShed\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CLguitarshed","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/classicalguitarshed\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/classicalguitarshed\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/ClassicalGuitarShed"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/85d09303adb38d43cdedd2033f6b016e","name":"Allen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd2cda6ac2676c1fa6a476f9338cd2d0c15e585829ea7de118320c6c9a977400?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd2cda6ac2676c1fa6a476f9338cd2d0c15e585829ea7de118320c6c9a977400?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Allen"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com","https:\/\/x.com\/CLguitarshed"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208813,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051\/revisions\/208813"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}