I know I do. But after watching Matt B lessons on Jack Johnson, I was so impressed of watching him going up and down the fretboard that I thought I should ask the question. I am wondering if he has some dots or some kind of reference that his thumb feels in the back of the fretboard or if is just the muscle memory (or just an amazing memory in general). Being visually impaired, one improves the other senses (always an easy statement until you have to do it), I am wondering how we could benefit from Matt B talent to feel the guitar like he does.
Matt, you are an amazing player
Marc
Do you look at your fretboard when you play?
Good question Marc.
I know I had a really bad habit of staring at my left hand, it was simply a lack of confidence that I could find the fingering without looking. I still look, but have made conscious effort to play more by feel and trust that I have done enough work to know the chords and let it flow a bit. I don't feel that I stare at my hand anymore.
When I saw Matt B I was blown away by his skill in this regard. Obviously Matt doesn't have a choice in terms of looking at the fretboard, but his precision shows what 4-5 hours of practice a day for several years can do for your playing!
I know I had a really bad habit of staring at my left hand, it was simply a lack of confidence that I could find the fingering without looking. I still look, but have made conscious effort to play more by feel and trust that I have done enough work to know the chords and let it flow a bit. I don't feel that I stare at my hand anymore.
When I saw Matt B I was blown away by his skill in this regard. Obviously Matt doesn't have a choice in terms of looking at the fretboard, but his precision shows what 4-5 hours of practice a day for several years can do for your playing!
Yep, I do now and then. I wear bifocals when I play. I'm more concerned about actually hitting the strings correctly and not missing the string.http://www.totallyguitars.com/component ... ughing.png Try using your peripheral vision more and the dots on the upper part of the fretboard side. I have a Seagull Artists series that doesn't even have fret dots on the face.http://www.totallyguitars.com/component ... s/w00t.png
If you gotta look at the fretboard don't beat yourself up.http://www.totallyguitars.com/component ... /silly.png
Keep on keepin'on.
Michaelhttp://www.totallyguitars.com/components/com_k ... s/cool.png
If you gotta look at the fretboard don't beat yourself up.http://www.totallyguitars.com/component ... /silly.png
Keep on keepin'on.
Michaelhttp://www.totallyguitars.com/components/com_k ... s/cool.png
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blindshine
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Nope.....I don't look..LOL.....wish I could sometimes. But seriously, as I began playing guitar after losing my sight, I needed to come up with a plan to know where I am on the fretboard once I move out of first position. So I now use bump dots. These are small rubberized raised dots that stick to things that most blind people use to identify positions of controls and the like with tactile feedback. I have a pattern of dots along the back of the neck of my guitar that quickly tells me where I am. I don't know if other blind guitarists do the same but it works well for me. I've often thought that this method would work for anyone needing to quickly identify a fret position. I wonder if Matt B does the same.
Michael
Michael
I do look, but I have been trying over the past few months to look less. Once I know a song, I will try to play it through just going on muscle memory. If there's a tricky change, or a note that needs to be grabbed outside of the chord, I'll look for that note. Or if I'm moving around on the neck (which, admittedly, I don't do that much of!) I will look. But so does Neil, so I don't feel that bad about that!
But I've found that you really don't have to stare at your fretboard the entire time you're playing, once you know a song. Your fingers know what to do, and if you're staring it's mostly just habit at that point. Ideally, I like the idea of singing and playing in front of people (or with people), and I want to be able to look at people and interact on a visual level with them, not just stare at my guitar the entire time!
But I've found that you really don't have to stare at your fretboard the entire time you're playing, once you know a song. Your fingers know what to do, and if you're staring it's mostly just habit at that point. Ideally, I like the idea of singing and playing in front of people (or with people), and I want to be able to look at people and interact on a visual level with them, not just stare at my guitar the entire time!
suziko wrote:
But I can understand you staring at it, what with such a pretty guitar and all. What model of Taylor is it again?I want to be able to look at people and interact on a visual level with them, not just stare at my guitar the entire time!
This is something I am trying to work on as well. For songs that I have down it is not a problem. For songs I am still working on, that is another story. Neil encouraged me to look up when I play so I am really trying to get past my habit of looking down at the fretboard.