4 HUGE Mistakes Self-Taught Guitarists Make

Summary

Mike explains why practicing for more hours does not necessarily lead to faster progress: the key is to make practice more effective, not simply longer. He shares four common mistakes that can slow guitarists down:

• Using an awkward sitting position: Sitting with the guitar on the right leg can tense the picking shoulder, strain the fretting hand, and make stretches harder. Mike recommends trying the classical position, with the guitar on the left leg, for a more relaxed and transferable posture.
• Positioning the fretting-hand thumb poorly: Pointing the thumb toward the tuning pegs or placing it too close to the low E string can limit finger reach. Keeping it more vertical and nearer the high E string can make stretches easier.
• Getting stuck on the hardest part of a song: Don’t spend weeks mastering one difficult section before learning the rest. Bring each section up to your current skill level, move on, and learn the whole song first. Then decide whether to work further on the hardest section or choose another song.
• Restarting from the beginning after every mistake: Instead of repeatedly playing through easy sections to reach the difficult part, identify where the problem occurs and practice that section directly.

The broader takeaway is that practice is a skill: learning to practice efficiently can help you make more progress in less time. Mike mentions a 20-minute routine as a possible way to get more out of practice, but the routine itself is not included in the video.

Presenter: Mike (HowToPracticeGuitar) Guitarists referenced: Randy Rhoads, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert, Steve Vai, and Jason Becker