Hi.
Two things goes first to my playing:

1. Whenever I hit Rec button, I'm going blank keeping forgetting what's next note, making mistakes etc. Is recording only way to fight this?

2. Power chords vs my thumb.
I came to an electric guitar from the old days, playing the classic and acoustic guitars of a very bad condition. I mean, string action like a centimeter was not so high
So yes, I know I need to teach my muscles to relief my hand. And in most cases I learned to use a proper position, but for some reason, when playing power chords, I'm again pressing my thumg on the neck like crazy... after few minutes it's soring.

I will post you a simple example video of me playing the song, which cannot be played at music stores
It's double tracked, so even in this simple example you can spot differences between channels, which means I didn't played them exactly the same...



So, what should I do, to correct my left hand positioning?
In 1:24 you can see I switched to a relaxed position, but I was using only one finger to press two strings. When got to a full powerchord, I again went for this "classic" position.

This post has been edited by utak3r: Jan 30 2023, 02:09 PM

The trick is to make recording/sharing a part of your routine. This way, it won't be that 'scary thing ahead' but rather something you always do.



Thanks a lot for providing video.

The first thing that springs to mind is - have you tried practicing these chords without using thumb at all? This will force you to start relying on your stronger arm muscles instead, thereby taking pressure of that poor thumb (which can practice relaxing instead, since it does not have any function when practicing like this)

Hmm, with my current guitar it's finally possible, it's a proper guitar, I even managed to set a 1.5mm action on it on myself, without going to a luthier. So... I will give it a go, it's probably a matter of being used to do it that way. Will try!

Recording yourself constantly will bring you only advantages:

1. As Kris said, "make this a part of your routine". If the "red light" is always on, you forget it is there, and the problem goes away.
Also, think that recording alone, gives you the possibility to make how many takes you want. You don't have a limited time. If a take doesn't sound good, no one will listen to it if you do not want to.

2. Record yourself and analyze your playing. That's really important because you can't know exactly how you played until you don't watch the recording. Sometimes you can have the feeling that you played flawlessly, but when you watch your take, you can spot some issues. In this way, you can fix the problems immediately without continuing the practice in the wrong way. The answer to any problem is always in front of our eyes.

About your second problem with the power chords, Kris already gave you the best advice.
Always think that your thumb should be used as stability and not like a vise.

This post has been edited by Monica Gheorghevici: Jan 30 2023, 07:18 PM