---
title: '12 Mistakes Every Beginner Guitar Player Makes'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ul0HbyljlPo'
video_id: 'Ul0HbyljlPo'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 485
---

# 12 Mistakes Every Beginner Guitar Player Makes

> Source: [12 Mistakes Every Beginner Guitar Player Makes](https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ul0HbyljlPo)

## Summary

This video outlines 12 common mistakes beginner guitar players make, covering both technical errors and practice habits that hinder progress and risk injury. The instructor provides clear fixes for each mistake, emphasizing proper hand positioning, effective practice techniques, and the importance of consistency.

### Key Points

- **Introduction to Common Mistakes** [0:00] — Over 20 years, the instructor has identified 12 mistakes beginners make that wreck progress and can cause physical harm.
- **Improper Thumb Position** [0:33] — Place thumb in the middle of the neck vertically, not sideways, to improve reach and comfort.
- **Flying Fingers** [1:06] — Keep fingers close to the fretboard to minimize movement, speed up playing, and increase accuracy.
- **Using Finger Pads Instead of Tips** [1:31] — Press with fingertips to avoid string buzz, muting, and lack of precision—essential for clear notes.
- **Not Anchoring the Picking Hand** [2:12] — Plant palm on the bridge for stability and accuracy when strumming or playing single notes.
- **Improper Pick Grip** [2:51] — Align three dots (middle of finger, thumb, and pick) for a consistent grip; keep ring and pinky fingers out of the way.
- **Stiff Wrist When Strumming** [3:22] — Use a relaxed mix of arm and wrist motion to avoid a harsh, choppy sound.
- **Inconsistent Practice Schedule** [4:01] — Practice a little every day rather than long sessions a few times a week for faster progress.
- **Playing Too Fast** [4:33] — Slow down to practice perfectly, building muscle memory without reinforcing mistakes.
- **Trying to Learn Everything at Once** [4:50] — Break material into small chunks; practice problem areas separately, then combine them.
- **Not Playing Correctly More Often Than Wrong** [6:08] — Aim to play a passage correctly four times in a row before moving on, avoiding reinforcement of errors.
- **Skipping the Metronome** [7:02] — Practicing with a metronome improves timing; use a free app to develop a steady internal rhythm.
- **Overextending the Wrist** [7:30] — Keep wrist straight or slightly arched to prevent issues like carpal tunnel—this is the most dangerous mistake.

### Conclusion

Correcting these 12 mistakes—from hand positioning to practice habits—will accelerate progress and prevent long-term injury. The most critical errors involve wrist health and practicing correctly.

## Transcript

are you frustrated with your lack of
progress even though you're putting in
countless hours of practice well over
the last 20 years I've worked with
hundreds of students and they all have
one thing in common they're making
mistakes that not only wreck their
progress but can physically hurt them in
the process so today I'm going to show
you the 12 most common mistakes
beginners make give you an easy fix so
you can bust out a beginner mode and
advance to Pro status so what's the most
dangerous mistake out of all these that
can actually cause you physical harm
well let's start with the first mistake
and I'll go over that at the end in this
first section we're going to talk about
your fretting hand a lot of beginners
will place their thumb too high or angle
it sideways which can limit your reach
and make scales and cords harder to play
So to avoid improper thumb position you
want to make sure that you bring your
thumb down to about the middle of the
neck and keep it vertical and not
sideways sometimes I may bring my thumb
up but for technical stuff keeping it
lower will give you a lot better reach
another thing I see is people tend to
bring their fingers way too high off the
fretboard which just slows you down you
want to keep your fingers close to the
strings because it minimizes the
movement and it'll just allow you to
move around a lot easier not keeping
your fingers close to the strings can
really jack up your speed and accuracy
and you just won't be able to move
around as efficiently the next one I see
see a lot is people tend to press down
with this part of the finger but if
you're not using the finger tips it can
cause you to get string buzz or mute
notes and even mute the string below it
and it's also just really hard to be
precise when you're playing technical
stuff so practice slow and watch your
hand to make sure you're using the very
tip of the finger because it'll help
your notes come out a lot more clear
keep in mind that sometimes there are
exceptions to these it's not like you
won't ever use that part your finger in
fact you will but especially if you're
working on single note Melody and Lead
type stuff you want to typically aim for
the very tip of your finger all right
now let's talk about your picking and
strumming hand now you don't necessarily
have to do this one but it really helps
me be a lot more accurate on which
strings I'm hitting so if you're playing
chords or you're playing single note
lead type stuff and you're not anchoring
your hand it's going to be hard to hit
the right strings so one simple thing I
do is just plant my palm on the bridge
and if I have it anchored down like that
it's just going to be a lot easier to be
more accurate on the strings that you're
hitting now before you go yelling at me
in the comments about this one I know
there's a lot of ways to do certain
things and this is one of those this is
just the way I do it and I think it's a
great way for beginners to start so
imagine you have three dots one in the
middle of your first finger one in the
middle of your thumb and another one in
in the middle of the pick now line those
three dots up and this is how you should
hold your pick I also like to keep these
three fingers out of the way like this
if you're holding the pick wrong it can
make it hard to be precise and I know
some people play with the button or even
the side of the pick and sometimes I do
that too but I just think this is a good
way to start for beginners so for this
next one if you keep your wrist stiff
and only Bend from your elbow when
you're strumming this can cause a real
really harsh and choppy sound so you
really want to use a little bit of your
arm and your wrist and stay super
relaxed because it'll feel and sound a
lot more smooth but if you're only using
your arm when strumming it's going to
sound super Jagged and robotic all right
now let's get into this last section and
after that I'll show you the most
dangerous mistake out of all these so
this is one of my favorite things to
talk about because it's extremely
important and a lot of people get it
wrong practice sometimes people's
practice schedules can be really
sporadic and inconsistent but you're
going to get a lot better results
practicing a little bit every day versus
practicing for like one or two hours a
couple days a week so pick a time a day
that works best for you and try to stick
to a schedule every day because if
you're not practicing consistently
you're just not going to progress as
fast this next one will help you train
muscle memory and you'll be a lot more
accurate and consistent in you're
playing if you're playing too fast
chances are you're probably practicing
bad habits so you need to slow down and
focus on having every note come out
clear and just go slow enough to where
you don't even make a mistake at all and
then repeat that over and over and the
speed will come on its own another thing
I see a lot is when someone is learning
a new song chord progression scale they
try to do the whole thing all at once
and what happens is they make the same
mistakes over and over again and they're
not able to play it correct consistently
so for example if they're learning a
scale and they keep messing up the same
part they go back and start from the
beginning again and then they mess up
that same part and then repeat but what
you're doing is you're actually
practicing the part you already know the
beginning and then even worse you're
practicing the same mistake over and
over which is actually training your
brain and telling it that that's what
your finger should be doing so you need
to take that one little part that you
keep messing up on work on that by
itself and then put it with the rest in
context I like to break things up so if
I'm learning a chord progression with
four chords for instance just repeat the
first two chords over and over and then
the next two chords and then the next
two by themselves and then put them all
together or if you're learning a scale
maybe just practice the first two or
three strings by themselves and then the
next two or three strings and then put
all those together hopefully you get the
idea but if you're you're not taking it
in small chunks you're probably
practicing the same mistakes over and
over which is going to wreck your
progress I've touched on this next one a
little bit and this one is huge you need
to make sure that you play things
correctly more times than you play them
incorrectly and what I see a lot is
someone struggling with something and
they play it wrong 10 times and then
they finally play it right one time and
then they think they got it but no you
need to make sure that you play it right
more times than you play it wrong so one
simple thing I do that's helped me a ton
is make sure that I can play it four
times in a row perfectly before I move
on so if you play it once twice three
times and then mess up on the fourth
time start over you got to make sure you
can get four in a row now this one trick
alone has helped me a ton so just make
sure you're not practicing your mistake
over and over I know a lot of you are
going to hate this one but I can't
stress how important this is simply put
your timing is not going to be good if
you're not practicing with the metronome
and if you don't know what that is it's
just a device that plays a constant
click sound to help you with your timing
just search for an app and there's a ton
of free ones out there but I know a lot
of people hate practicing with a
metronome but trust me your future self
will thank you for this later the more
that you practice with a metronome the
better your timing is going to be when
you're not playing with a metronome now
this last one I'd say is the most
dangerous mistake out of all these I've
had several really good musician friends
who have had to completely stop playing
all together because of years of
practicing with bad technique issues
like carpal tunnel and stuff like that
you want to make sure you keep your
wrist straight and only slightly arched
but don't let it come too far out like
this because overextending your wrist
like that can cause serious issues down
the road now one thing I didn't really
touch on was finger picking but if you
want to avoid the four worst finger
picking mistakes click on this video and
I'll see you soon peace