Arturo Castro Nogueras 

Dear Arturo

This makes sense. I obviously learned my pieces well enough to play them fluently, but not well enough to play them in a relaxed manner. So, I will have to go through them all once more to find the sections where tension builds up.

I have also noticed that a good amount of tension starts to build up in sections, where I want to play very expressively. It seems that the inner tension of a phrase is transferred to a physical tension of both hands. But perhaps this issue can be solved in the same way of being more observant.

Thank you for your support and interesting thoughts. 

Arturo Castro Nogueras Thanks.  I actually think I subconsciously noticed that it looked like I was crushing the guitar when I watched the video.  After I posted this, I did go back and watch some of the other videos (including Ariel 's) and experimented a bit with what he spoke about.

I am trying to think of an example, but there are a couple of pieces where I sometimes have intonation problems on 1 or two chords in higher positions.  I wonder whether my heavy hand also contributes to that?  When I can think of an example, I will have to experiment as to whether the intonation improves as I develop a lighter touch.

Arturo Castro Nogueras Thank you Arturo. Slowing way down to achieve item (1) on your recommendations makes a lot of sense. Also it’ll give me time to make conscientious iterations over the steps in item (2), almost exaggerating them at first to make sure I am implementing the procedures, not just imagining that I am doing so. Video of myself will keep me honest. I’m going to work in that today.

David I was wondering about something similar to what you're asking. I've been struggling a bit with barres myself. I've noticed that improving on certain techniques has a cumulative effect on how relaxed my playing can be.

For instance, when I started out, I had zero finger independence, and wondered why I couldn't reach certain spots on the fretboard. As I improved my finger independence on it, my playing improved as well and became more relaxed This might sound like a no-brainer, but I think how relaxed our playing is a consequence of improving on a combination of techniques, tweaks in posture and positions. Sometimes, it seems to me that a certain technique which specifically addresses a particular technical issue has a knock-on mutual benefit on another technical issue. For example, I've learnt that practising slurs of course, improves how we use slurs in pieces we want to play. But it also strengthens our fingers, especially the weaker pinky. Perhaps, I'm rambling, but I thought your questions were interesting and relatable to me.

Nijwm Bwiswmuthiary Thank you for sharing the observation and your thoughts on the matter. I am encouraged by the synergistic effect of working to improve diverse technical skills that you describe. I will keep that in mind as I isolate particular techniques.

Another thought comes to mind, too, that patience as an adult is not guaranteed when learning something new. I am now, finally, making sure to not spend too much time sight-reading music that is above my comfort zone. A little challenge now and then is fine, for a very limited amount of time, in order to test out the waters in search of a new pieces. However, I get tempted to do so for a longer duration than is healthy for my hands.

I am am also finally starting to develop a taste for slow, relaxed practice, focusing on working through small challenges as they appear. This pace allows me to discover the origin of difficulties and the mindset to select appropriate technical exercises. In context, the technical practice is more enjoyable and is well-motivated; the return to the music is consequently more rewarding in the long run. Along with the cumulative effect you describe, I am growing confident that this is the most efficient path towards accessing music that expressing ideas on the guitar that I want in the future. 

Ariel Elijovich Much appreciated! Thank you for sharing your knowledge.