I started trying out an idea today to get me looking down at the fretboard less.

I set up in front of my web camera as if for recording a playing video (a thing I'm not et ready for!) and with a good view of the screen on my desktop computer so I could use it as a 'mirror'(except that unlike a real mirror I can choose to view the image 'mirrored' or 'un-mirrored').

The arrangement definitely needs some refinement, e.g. camera position, angle, zoom level & mirror or un-mirror, but I'll try working with it for a few days at least.

An odd thing I noticed in this first practice was that with my right hand (the one I'm most comfortable with) I was head up and looking at the screen, but found I wasn't really looking at the fingers. I was sort of 'middle distancing' & half seeing / half thinking the finger position in my minds eye. That felt like 'A Good Thing'. I ought to be able to do that just as well without the camera of course, but somehow having that picture there made it easier to resist looking down.

I think that Greg's latest video with the 'Three Little Boxes' practice sets might be a good one to try out with this idea?

While waiting, waiting, waiting, for my stick to arrive, i am practicing things on guitar. Mostly learning what string and fret each note is on, and trying, eventually, to get my fingers to move more quickly, and maybe be better stretched. I have tiny hands and fingers.
I now say the name of the note i am playing, and am hoping this will help with ear training. After all, it mattes none what the string is tuned to. All strings follow the same pattern of notes and sharps and flats. Translated, all notes except b and c, and e and f, have sharps and flats between them. So the only difference, i think, when i get my stick, will be to find the correct string. My expectation is the frets will basically be the same.
After all that explanation (i sincerely hope i am not too wrong) ive always heard you should be able to play with a blindfold on.
Doing all of this also has the advantage, i hope, that i will be able to look at sheet music, and play the note. Play the song. Reading music has never been an issue for me. Using it, putting it to use has always been beyond me tho!
So, looking in a mirror, seems like the opposite of what i am doing. Doesnt mean either of our methods is wrong, altho, i am new enough that i might be. You sound pretty well lversed in everything youve written so far, so maybe i am just misunderstanding, or missing the point.

I take that a step further. I primarily think in terms of scale tones (1, 2, 3...7) rather than notes. I need the named note location of the root, but think of the rest relative to that. The interval patterns between scale tones are what I try to learn. That's how I try to see guitar too (I happen to tune my guitars in 'all 4ths' too, which is handy as a starting point for learning Stick).


Playing without looking is I'm sure the ideal. Some suggest to go 'cold turkey', close the eyes then just feel & listen but I don't consider my 'ear' good enough for that[1]. I've seen others suggest a mirror (or substitute) as a halfway house, so that's the idea I'm trying out. Different things suit different people. All are worth a try to discover what suits.


Not at all. I'm a mere enthusiastic beginner, who has been fortunate enough to find a used Stick (or 3!). I first touched a Stick in December 2021.

[1] Till just under 4 years ago I'd gone through life believing that I was tone deaf, just like my teachers (& everyone else) had told me. Then I discovered that since I've always enjoyed music that could not possibly be true & I set out on the wonderful path to discovering how to make music instead of just listen to it! I think that ear training is possibly the toughtest task I've ever set myself (probably even more so than attempting to learn to play Stick!)?

Reading by numbers sounds like tha Nashville Number System, or NNS. That seems a bit too advanced for me right now. Sounds Great! But i am trying to start with the very most basics first. I have a year to wait, and am apparently going to do this solo, except for any groups i might find, like this. There are only one or two stick-istas i have heard of in FL. So am trying to find all my flaws and shortcomings, to correct, before the Big Arrival! Can not wait to run my fingers all around my little stickette's fretboard
It is Fantastic to read the things i understand here, and a little daunting because ther is sooooo much i have No idea about . Tky for your resonse, and keep them coming!

So far as I'm aware NNS essentially uses the numbers for chords, i.e. the markup is a form of 'Style Sheets'? However I could be wrong.

I'm refering to the individual scale tone numbers. My thinking is based on ideas developed from studies in the ImproviseForReal way of looking at music. The ideas aren't Stick specific.


Same here. So far as I'm aware the nearest Stickist to where I am is probably at 4-6 (or more) hours travel time away?

However, I'm only aiming to play for my own interest & entertainment, so I'm happy to study this way.