What should i do to practice various techniques and playing styles to improve my guitar playing?

Question

I've played guitar for about 5 years (although i haven't been that serious about it for the past 2-3 years and now am playing much more seriously after not playing for 6 months). The fingers on my left hand are pretty agile now because in the past my goal was to play really difficult things to make myself feel accomplished, but now i want to improve my playing and sound better. Recently I've been paying attention to detail more, and I'm realizing that i need to practice techniques like my strumming, alternate picking, bending notes, etc. In the past, I didn't really care about all of the fancy techniques when I learned songs, so now it's more difficult to make the music sound really good and articulate better, and I'm not very good at alternate picking (i used to ALWAYS just down pick every note and I played mostly lead songs so I'm not very good at rhythm, specifically strumming things). What should I do to improve my playing overall? I know i need to practice strumming, articulation, bending notes, bar chords, minor and 7th chords, alternate picking, finger picking, and other kinds of picking, but what should I do to improve them? is there a way to practice them, and should I learn to play classical style or something? Should I grow out the nails on my right hand?

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

If you are having a hard time with barre chords (and everyone does) there isn't a very easy trick that I know to improve barre chords other than building up strength in your index finger from hours of practice. One thing that I did is learn to play the songs were i would normally use a capo for with a barre chord instead of a capo.



For finger picking, position your palm just above the 6th E string. use your thumb to pick the bottom three strings and your index finger for the top three strings. It is okay to start with your thumb and index finger, so don't worry about your middle, ring, or pinky finger for now. it is more important to get the rhythm in your thumb for bass notes before anything else. eventually your other fingers will join in one at a time, so don't worry too much about them. Songs that helped me with finger picking:



blackbird by the beatles

tears in heaven by eric clapton

landslide by fleetwood mac

classical gas by mason williams

Answer 2

I would suggest you get lessons from a professional. They will be able to point out any flaws you have in your technique and help you improve in general. Unless you're playing at Jimi Hendrix level you will definitely benefit from a few lessons. Don't just go anywhere though. Get some recommendations and get a really good teacher.

Answer 3

It just boils down to practicing more often, and actually practicing those techniques.