Help for a new guy

[Chris Jacob]

This is great. I know it will be tough, but I look forward to the days when the progress comes. It already has a very little bit. It reminds me of when I learned my current job 19 years ago (paintless dent removal). I never thought I'd get it, but here I am almost two decades later. I'm very grateful for the support

[dredey]

All great advice.

[Danzo]

Learning songs ... short riffs ... strums that I enjoyed, right off, did it for me. Today, with YouTube, books and dvds, there's lot of inspiration. Select a few tunes that are beginner yet really cool (that YOU like a lot) and go for it.

Always learn something as correct and steady as possible but SLOWLY at first. As it becomes to sound good, speed it up a bit. And don't worry that your chording does not sound perfect at first. We all sounded rough at the beginning (but maybe just me). There's this thing called finger memory that kicks in the more you play. And you will tighten it all up as you go.

Pick up a few chords in the open position a week. Make up or copy strum patterns using a few of the chords you learn. Once you learn a few chords, look at going from one chord to the other with minimum motion. You will do this by nature also. Make the chord ... yours. Own it.

If you know anyone who plays decently at all, steal all you can. Better to learn a little bit exactly than a bunch sloppily. Have 3-4 things to learn so if one is not going well or is getting old that day, slip over to another selection. Save the valid lesson links discovered online in a desktop folder.

Have fun ... its worth it.

[Chris Jacob]

The one thing I'm finding out is that not all chord positions are the same finger assignment. That's a little tough to figure out. I'm really having a tricky time with F. I think it's because my fingers have dents from holding down the strings, then I re position them, but have to push pretty hard to have a clean sound

[Mr Fixit eh]

Lots of people have trouble with the F-chord - keep trying and you'll eventually get it. I found (and still do) that I have much better success with using an E-shape barre chord at the 1st fret for the F. You might try practicing with a capo on the 5th fret or so, might help you to get a clean chord.

When I was struggling for months with the F-chord, I took my guitar into a guitar tech and had him lower the action. After the action was lowered, the F-chord became much easier to produce.

I would recommend 2 types of practice:
1. Find Songs that you enjoy in the key of C with lot's of F chords in them. Play them slowly with a metronome and keep the beat whether or not you are able to produce a perfectly clean F-chord. This is developing muscle memory.
2. Spend some time trying to get a perfectly clean F chord. Play it up the neck if you need to. Pick each string slowly and individually to make sure that none of the strings are accidentally muted and that there is adequate pressure on each string. Once you get a clean sound, take all your fingers off the fretboard, then start over again. Eventually you will be able to play the F-chord to a slow count, with each chord sounding clean and nice.


Good luck,

Steve

[Greg_B]

Chris:

Here's a technique I use with my students who are new at guitar. I call it "Power Practice"

Set up a 15 minute schedule with 6 blocks 2 minutes long and one block 3 minutes long. In each of those blocks you practice one very specific task.

Here's an example:

Block 1
4 beats of a G chord then 4 beats of a C chord. Cycle back and forth without stopping or missing a beat for 2 minutes. Speed doesn't matter. Play it as slowly as you must in order to make your changes smoothly.

Block 2
Same as above but use C and D chords

Block 3
Same as above but use G and D chords

Block 4
Same as above but use C and F chords

Block 5
Same as above but use E and A chords

Block 6
Play a simple 2 or 3 chord song for 3 minutes. Example songs would be:
Tom Dooley
Nine Pound Hammer
The Sloop John B
Horse with No Name

Do this every day for 15 minutes. Change your blocks to whatever chords you're currently working on and you'll be amazed at how much gain you can get out of 15 minutes a day. For the rest of your practice period play or practice whatever interest you. But be sure to do your power practice every day for at least the first month or two and believe me, your chords will become smooth in no time.

[daza152]

I cheat for a little while just using Fmaj7 like an F but you let high e ring out and it is a very cool sounding chord but not really a good substitiute, like like post I too find the F barre chord easier but can still play both ways, keep trying I thought I'd never get it too...

[116thdream]

I have been learning to play for about 35 years, last week a friend of mine said he had been listening to someone play and said that he was quite good, he actually said "He is nearly as good as you". This made me very happy and I now suffer from the delusion that I can play guitar...
I would advise you to learn to play something you like but which has progressive chord changes in it, something like House Of The Rising Sun (this was mine and was the song that pretty much everybody started with 30 years ago) or Layla (The Unplugged version), take your time learning a little bit at a time until you can run through the whole song. Understand that, by the time you are proficient at your chosen song you might not like it as much as you once did but it will be the beginning of your repertoire. You will never lose the ability to play this 'first' song and will always be able to trot it out whenever anyone says the dreaded words "Play us a song then" so make sure it's something you at least start off liking. It doesn't matter whether it's a song everyone will recognise and relate to, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Marley, Elvis etc. or something completely obscure but once you become proficient at playing your chosen song you will start to put your own 'interpretation' on it. That's when you start to find and develop your own 'voice', your own style, and that's what it's all about.
There is however one cardinal law - 'the more you practice, the better you will become'.
I have a friend who is an accomplished, professional guitarist in a well known band. He never had any friends as a young man because he spent all his formative years in his bedroom with his guitar. I will never be able to hold a candle to his ability but he assures me there was nothing 'God given' or natural about his prowess, it was all learned. On the up-side, this sacrifice means he can now play the Blues, properly so it's either that or sell your soul to the devil!!
Good luck with the mountain you have chosen to climb, the pleasure it will bring you will exceed the effort this learning enterprise will certainly require.

Originally Posted by Chris Jacob

Hello all. I'm very new to learning to play. I've been at it for about a week now, just working on some basic skills. my question is how much time should I practice on 1 specific exercise? I don't want to try and do too much but I don't want to not do enough either

[116thdream]

Come to think of it, just sell your soul to the devil. Should be a lot less hassle...

[Chris Jacob]

Ok will try those directions. I'm enjoying it all so far. I'll add that into my practice. As far as selling my soul, I'm not good enough to get into Heaven, and hell doesn't want me. So I guess I'm stuck here

[Vintageandrare2]

As I have to learn and practice I always use YouTube because there are a lot of useful tutorials and lessons. It is really easy to me when I find some guy who could explain well and clear. Further, you have to practice a lot in case not to make general mistakes regarding the string mass

[IndianaGeo]

Here's my advice:

To get over any mental barrier (if any should exist).
Nothing about the guitar is "hard". It just takes practice and repetition. I used to think the lead guitar on Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits was hard. I can play it in my sleep now. You'd be surprised at how many songs or riffs that "sound" difficult, are anything but difficult.

Tips:

1. Play what you know today and record yourself. When/if you get discouraged in the future, you'll listen to this and see how far you've come.
2. Yes, start with open chords. A, D, G, E, Em, Am, C, maybe an Fmaj7 too. Get each one to ring clearly with simple strumming. Then play around with strumming while using a metronome. Play to the metronome.
3. After mastering the chords individually, practice changing chords one to another. Mix in some simple songs as well. Sooo many songs are based off of 3 or 4 chords. Thousands.

IG

[Chris Jacob]

Thanks all for the great advise. I'm making some progress, and having fun.

[daza152]

Originally Posted by IndianaGeo

Nothing about the guitar is "hard".
IG

I think you might find that most of it IS "hard" (the body the neck, and the strings) just the music I make is soft.

[pons]

I'm a newbie as well and really appreciate all the good info shared here.