Eyes Closed

Strumit

I've been playing at learning, for on and off 50 years and usually ended up frustrated and "leaving it for a while" only to pick it up and trying again.  For the first time, yesterday, I shut my eyes!  My shoulders relaxed and I found that I was hitting the notes without looking to see that my fingers were in the correct place.  For the first time, in years, I put the guitar down, after playing, and didn't have a pain in the neck!  Ahhhhhhh!......... and breathe! 

maharg101

That's great, glad you've found something that works. All that practice paid off if you can play without looking at the neck. 

Posture is very important. Whatever feels relaxed to you is the correct approach.

viz

Playing in front of a mirror is pretty insightful too

fastonebaz

viz said:

Playing in front of a mirror is pretty insightful too

I end up playing everything backwards when I do that. 

Strumit

viz said:

Playing in front of a mirror is pretty insightful too

Mirrors?  I avoid them these days! Thank you for the advice though!  All is appreciated.

viz

fastonebaz said:

viz said:

Playing in front of a mirror is pretty insightful too

I end up playing everything backwards when I do that. 

https://youtube.com/shorts/C2C4ccId-W8?feature=shared

Onpar

I need to try playing with my eyes closed or in the dark. I'm guilty of fretboard staring when playing live.

Dominic

I do most of my playing /practice after dinner and late into the evening.
I end up playing a lot with my eyes closed ........it's not intentional , I usually wake up when the guitar hits the floor or when my arm has moved and some loud screech come out of the amp that has fallen silent !

viz

Posted this a couple of times before; we were encouraged to improvise without looking down at the instrument, so this is totally spontaneous, and I found myself reacting in the moment to the sound I was producing. Very revealing but also very liberating! Sound quality shite though, obvs. 

https://youtu.be/nA1CInnvyvg?feature=shared

DiscoStu

I often shut my eyes when I'm learning something, partly cos I'm probably singing at the same time and 'feeling' the vibe but mostly cos it teaches me muscle memory. If you want to push yourself further then lie flat on the floor whilst playing so your body is prone and you can't look down. It's amazing how quickly you will know where to put your hands

hollywoodrox

I’ve often done the eyes shut thing when learning a tricky lick 

axisus

viz said:

Playing in front of a mirror is pretty insightful too

I'd say that 90% of the time I play in front of my video camera with the feed going into the laptop placed in front of me. Makes me realise that I look a bit nerdy playing guitar. You are either cool or you ain't!

axisus

viz said:

Posted this a couple of times before; we were encouraged to improvise without looking down at the instrument, so this is totally spontaneous, and I found myself reacting in the moment to the sound I was producing. Very revealing but also very liberating! Sound quality shite though, obvs. 

https://youtu.be/nA1CInnvyvg?feature=shared

Good stuff but then you are one of the better technical players of the forum. 

Bike in the house - not married???

viz

It’s the wife’s bike. 

Not really. She’s incredibly patient!

Strumit

DiscoStu said:

 If you want to push yourself further then lie flat on the floor whilst playing so your body is prone and you can't look down. It's amazing how quickly you will know where to put your hands

I learned that very early in life!!!