Playing your guitar while looking down at your hands is...

Not cool.

Imagine watching a musician that performs staring at their instrument the whole time. What kind of vibe would you get from them? Probably that they’re not super confident, or that they’re not a great musician! On the other hand, a guitarist looking up and out into the audience is engaging, entertaining, and in control of their environment. They look like they’ve really got it together! :)

Apart from the bad messaging, looking down while playing can have other bad impacts:

You won't be able to sing well if your throat is being squished and constrained.
When you look at your hands, you’re more likely to pull the fretboard closer to you. This can put your wrist in the wrong position, and that will impact your entire playing.

So, it's time to stop looking like a beginner, but most important: it's time to break a bad habit that can be really damaging later on in your guitar journey! In this lesson, we'll learn how to play the guitar without starring at your fretboard the whole time. If you're following my Beginner Guitar Course, you should be feeling pretty confident with the basics, and this lesson won't be too hard. Just take the time to do the exercises I'll suggest here - they'll be a game-changer in your guitar playing.

If you're still not convinced, check out the 10 reasons why you shouldn't be looking down when playing the guitar!

10 Reasons to Keep Your Head Up

When playing guitar, it’s easier to get lost in the moment. Your brain is focused on trying to process loads of information - think about RAM! If you don't have to stare at your hands, your mental space will be more free for other things, like:

1. Connecting with the feeling of the song

2. Listening to and complementing other musicians

3. Paying full attention to particularly tricky passages

Keeping with the metaphor of your brain being a computer, let’s talk about programming. Looking away from your hands and relying less on your sense of vision serves to reprogram your brain and your fingers. In doing this, you’re:

4. Forcing your fretting hand to develop muscle memory much quicker than it would otherwise

5. Forcing your picking hand to find the correct string faster

6. Developing a mental map of your instrument, understanding where you need to be and when, and getting there easily

On that note, after some time and practice, you’ll notice that once you stop looking at either hand to make sure each finger is in its proper place:

7. The fingers will find where they need to be by utilizing your sense of touch instead of vision

8. You won’t panic as much about upcoming chord changes

9. You’ll be able to better engage with the audience and take in any “scenery” (that may be sitting in the front row)

And last but not least…

10. You’ll look cooler, which simply cannot be understated! :)

Now I'm sure you’re sold on keeping your head up! But, how exactly will you practice this new skill? Well, there are a few exercises that will really help you out. Let's take a look at them!

How to Play Guitar Without Looking

The following exercises will help you learn how to play your guitar without looking! We'll use certain chord progressions in this lesson, but feel free to do this same practice with other chords you know.

🚨 When doing these exercises, just use the chords you’re super familiar and comfortable with - never use new chords!

Don’t worry about playing this in time, either. That’s not what these exercises are about. Now, let's get started!

Playing Guitar Without Looking - Exercise 1

Let's start with a simple chord progression: G - C - D - C. Do the following:

Place your fingers on the fretboard to play the first chord. Remember - no peeking!
Feel the frets and the strings with your fingers. Ensure everything is in its proper place.
Once you’ve locked your fingers down, glance at it to check that you’ve done it correctly - don't practice mistakes!
Finally, looking away again, go from the first chord to the next chord in the progression and repeat steps 1-3.

Playing Guitar Without Looking - Exercise 2

This next exercise will help to expose any mistakes you’re making. To practice, play a song that you’re already confident with - something that comes super easily to you. Do whatever you can to keep your head up, and don't look at your hands for the duration of the song! If that means wearing a blindfold or playing in a pitch-black room, then so be it! Whatever you do, don't look at what your hands are doing.

Notice the mistakes you're making. You should work on them using Exercise 1.

🎯 Apart from correcting your mistakes, the point of this exercise is to learn to trust yourself. You can’t be afraid of making mistakes. They inevitably arise, and you should be able to focus on them and resolve them. In the long run, this will make you a much, much better guitar player. I can’t emphasize this enough.

These two exercises work very well together, so I’d suggest working on a particular chord progression with Exercise 1 and then taking it to the next level by practicing it with Exercise 2. You can play a song with Exercise 2 and then go back and practice any tricky chord changes more in-depth with Exercise 1. Both of them are super helpful, and they grow with you. As you advance as a guitar player and learn more difficult chords, you can always revisit these exercises.

Bonus Tips

Before we move on to the next lesson, here are a few more things to consider. :)

Forcing your fretting hand to develop muscle memory much quicker than it would otherwise. Yes, this will feel different than what you’re probably used to! That’s normal and expected, and it will take some getting used to. Over time, you’ll feel less anxious and more confident in your playing, but remember that time is a critical factor! But don’t worry - you’ve got plenty of time to learn and master this stuff. :)
When doing big jumps from one fret to another, you will need to look down briefly. Even the pros do this! One tip is to aim your gaze at where you’re going, not where you are. For instance, if you’re playing in the 4th fret and need to jump up to the 12th, you’ll want to look at the 12th fret, not the 4th. Your finger is already in the 4th - it doesn’t need any additional attention while it’s there!

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