Frustration and blisters

[Looburst]

Yes, at the very beginning, no matter what you do, there will be a point where you need to stop for a day. Mainly due to your fingers not having the callouses built up yet. I can't remember how long it took me to get the fingers where they needed to be but I thought they would never get there. This is one of the first of many levels you must achieve and master before moving on to the next.

Most people are in too big of a hurry these days and won't stick with it.
Just remember, greatness or striving for it, is never going to be easy.
What I know how to do today was a long journey and is still going on.
Frustration is part of it as well as self discipline. Be hard on yourself and never
admit defeat, that's how you get where you want to go.

[Guitars+gems]

You've been given a lot of good advice here, and since you're taking your guitar in for a set up, I'm sure that will help you. I just want to caution you against playing with actual, fluid-filled blisters. It will take longer for your fingertips to heal and form hardened skin if you continue to play with blisters that are filled with clear fluid or blood. You could even give yourself a nice infection. Those gorilla skin finger tip thingies that Glenn recommended look like a good idea. Or you could practice right hand techniques like strum patterns or Travis picking without fretting any strings, while giving your fingertips a chance to heal. If the sound bothers you just place the flats of your 4 left fingers over the strings somewhere on the neck to quiet them and strum away.

Stay with the guitar. These kind of frustrations are common in the beginning, but you'll soon get past them.

[Looburst]

Great advice, Denice, using that opportunity to practice the right hand stuff. Wish someone would've steered me in that direction, way back when.

[TConnelly]

I'm going to go against the grain here a bit. Yes you should absolutely take your guitar in for a set up. And get yourself some extra light strings 10/47s. But I think you need to get yourself some accurate measurements first. How can you know how to get where you want to go if you don't know where you are? First go to harbor freight and get a 6" steel ruler that measures in 64ths $1.97. This will allow you to measure your action at the 12th fret. As a general starting point you want 5/64ths on the low E and 4/64ths on the high E. Now get yourself a capo. this one from Dunlop for $4.99 works fine. Or make one with a pencil and a couple rubber bands. This will allow you to capo at the first fret and then press down at the 12th and measure your neck relief. Make yourself a feeler gauge out of a couple 1/4" wide strips of printer paper. Your average printer paper is a about .004" So doubled up that's .008". As a general starting point you want about .006" at the 7th fret. So if one slip will slide back & forth with no resistance but two will not then your neck relief is fine. Now fret a string behind the second fret with your left hand and reach over with your right and push down on the string above the first fret. There should just and I do mean just be some slight discernable movement there. Any more than that and the nut slots are too high. Now you can go in to get a setup and know exactly where you are and where you want to be. To suggest you go in and play your guitar for the tech is absurd. you're brand new you don't have a style yet. It's not going to tell the tech anything useful.

Now it's also important to understand that all this getting a setup and all is not going to be the silver bullet that you might be hoping it will. It won't make all your fretting and chording problems suddenly disappear. So don't be disappointed or discouraged when it doesn't. But what it will do is allow you to stop dwelling on it. And wondering if it would be easier if your equipment wasn't fighting you so much. And this will allow you to just get on with the business of learning guitar. The importance of this can't be overstated.

Cheers......................Todd

[Steel and wood]

Play through the pain whilst taking care of those blisters so that they eventually become callouses is my only real advice. (And maybe lower the action on your guitar in the meantime).

Good luck!

[sroh]

As others have said, hang in there. We all go through it when we start. I don't thing anyone else here has mentioned it, but this helped me the first month or so when I started playing.


https://www.amazon.com/Rock-Tips-Liq...ords=rock+tips

[sroh]

Oh, and I whole-heartily recommend justinguitar's beginner course. I've spent time with Guitar Tricks and TrueFire also, but justinguitar is fantastic for the beginner/novice.

Good luck!

[teleamp]

Get your guitar set up with low action and switch to extra lights , slow down, don't push yourself so hard and hang in there... being able to play is worth the price of admission.

[M Hayden]

One more thing: you don't have a nickel allergy, do you? Strings that contain nickel can cause contact dermatitis for some players who are sensitive to it.

Can test by making a loop of a wound string and wearing it on your wrist for a day or so.....

[Bsqrd]

Another beginner here. I stuck with the manufacturers elixir strings on my Taylor 114 for awhile. My teacher wanted me to switch to Martin silk and steel but nearest music store is 2.5 hrs away. By the time I got them, I had been practicing a onto or so. Even so I noticed how much easier it was to get those cords to sound right. Wish I had gone to those Silk and steel sooner. Another thing I did was to limit my practicing time to much shorter periods. This will sound stupid but I practiced in front of the TV. Every commercial, I would chord etc. So every 10 min I would get 3-4 min of practice and over the evening would get quite a bit of practice without really hurting my finge tips. Good luck.
BB

[Steel and wood]

Originally Posted by Bsqrd

Another beginner here. I stuck with the manufacturers elixir strings on my Taylor 114 for awhile. My teacher wanted me to switch to Martin silk and steel but nearest music store is 2.5 hrs away. By the time I got them, I had been practicing a onto or so. Even so I noticed how much easier it was to get those cords to sound right. Wish I had gone to those Silk and steel sooner. Another thing I did was to limit my practicing time to much shorter periods. This will sound stupid but I practiced in front of the TV. Every commercial, I would chord etc. So every 10 min I would get 3-4 min of practice and over the evening would get quite a bit of practice without really hurting my finge tips. Good luck.
BB

Not stupid at all. (I spent most of my early time practicing in front of the TV, and I'm guessing that a lot of guitarists did the same).

[fivesense]

Originally Posted by hanbalfrek

I'd like to offer my experience for comparison, as I just bought my guitar on Monday, 1/16, and have only been playing for 3 nights.

There's no point or advice in my post, just what I'm doing and going through.

Currently, my fingertips are consistently tingling at this moment.
Not pain, but reminding me that its there.

I'm doing the justinguitar.com progression, since many people has said that was a good beginner track.

I learned the D Chord Monday, A Tuesday, and E last night.

My playing time is 20-30 minutes, but I take a few 5 minute breaks in between browsing this and other sites, and watching youtube videos on beginner guitar tips and mistakes to avoid.

I tend to take a break when I can't press down enough to maintain a clean note, or when I notice the string indent in my skin is too deep.

Also, after my own post about action height, I do plan on bringing it in to see about lowering it.

Anyway, I'd be interested in keeping track of your progress as a frame of reference, if you're up for it.

I'm definitely up for sharing my progress (I hope there is some!). I'll PM you.

Thank you for all the helpful tips and suggestions. I really appreciate the diagnoses, especially how consistent they are. This tells me I'm far from alone and that perseverance wins the day.

Update- I did go into the music store today and the luthier checked the set up. He said everything looked good but agreed that dropping string gauge was a good idea. I was this close but then I'd reconsidered something nagging me for a few days. I asked the luthier to watch me play (he's also a guitarist; electric, acoustic, and classical) to see if he could pick something up in my mechanics. Of course, first try with no thinking, I nailed a beautiful D chord. It did feel like a mini-break-through, which I celebrated. I don't think there's anything wrong with the stock strings.

I did however pick up a Classical guitar- the Breedlove Pursuit Acoustic Electric nylon. I had the luthier put on Savarez Red card guitar strings (the existing strings sounded a little flat and lifeless, and looked a bit aged too). Tuned her up and I'm really excited to practice on this crossover for awhile, which I think will prepare me for the move back to steel string whenever I want. For now, considering how much I've always liked Classical sound, I will look forward to practicing even more.

And as was mentioned above, patience is more important than aptitude or effort for me at this stage. I will heed the excellent advice from you all, and I will really work on my patience. Thanks for the continuing encouragement.

[fivesense]

Originally Posted by zhunter

Learning to play and playing guitar is as much about temperament as it is talent. Frustrated and angry after three days? My magic 8 ball says cannot predict now.

hunter

I stand appropriately in check. This is so true and I take it to heart.

[island texan]

To add support to the light guage strings: keep in mind you are nowhere near ready to worry about tone and projection. Consider one of the 'Silk and Steel' brands of strings in the lightest gauge you can find. Also, if you're trying to self-teach with YouTube and/or books and DVDs, consider a lesson or two with a focus on your technique. That could be a little money well-spent getting you on your way with somebody literally holding your hand. Hang in there.

[Lesbark Wagmore]

Hi fivesense. I'm a beginner too. (13 months in)

Here's a quote from Caren Armstrong, my current favorite instructor on GuitarTricks.

"Play this sucker a thousand times. A thousand times. I say to my students, 'Go home and play it a thousand times,' and they say, 'ha, ha, ha,' and I say, 'No, go play it a thousand times.'"

(Just not all in one sitting.)