Help learning to play

[waldreps]

I bought an acoustic guitar a while back because of the urge to learn to play. I bought a "learning to play" book and video and tried to start learning. The first thing the book starts with is learning a couple of chords. I just can't get my fingers to move into those positions. Once I get them in the correct places, they are touching other strings and messing everything up. I tried this everyday for about fifteen minutes for about two weeks. It didn't get any easier, and I can't proceed in the book because they want you to play a little tune with a couple of the chords, but there's no way I could switch between them without taking a couple of minutes to get my fingers in position. Does this always happen this way or am I doing something wrong? I want to learn to play, but it seems that at this rate, it will be years before I can even change between two chords quick enough to play a recognizable tune. Any suggestions would be much appreciated as I am very frustated.
Thanks,
Stacy

[SteveS]

Take lessons. Guitar playing and learning will be very hard on your own. A video might be OK if you have other help, but alone I can"t imagine it working out well for you.

[freestyle]

This is one of those things that you just keep trying to do, and one day it happens. Then it wont for a few, then it will for a few, and pretty soon, you are on your way.

[jc615]

Often times the main problem in learning to fret chords is proper hand position and posture. I would suggest that you find someone that can at least show you the proper posture and hand positioning to make fretting chords easier. Then exercise the fingers because you are going to be asking them to assume pretty unnatural positions and they will have to remember them as well!!

Best of luck!!

Jim

[Serenity]

People learn at different paces. The day I brought my guitar and a DVD that I bought to get started home I started wondering if I had made a huge mistake as I tried to form G and D chords. It will come.

But I agree...get a teacher to at least get you started in the right direction.

[mapletrees]

but it works wonders if you take it seriously....

Learn to read music on the guitar. Basic music reading. Not classical guitar. Not some college/university level text. Not years and years of umpteen hours per day 'olympic style training' music reading. Just a basic music reading book (with familiar melodies) and tell yourself you'll *SERIOUSLY* devote 10 or 15 minutes a day to it (with a metronome) for a couple of weeks...

get your foot tapping and purposefully clap out the rhythm of anything and everything you are about to play....most basic music reading books these days come with play-a-long CD's....use a metronome to work things up to the speed of the accompaniment CD and then play along legimately with the CD...play and plow through mistakes...just keep chugging along...


yes, yes, yes, keep plugging away at chords....of course you should keep plugging away at chords.....and yes, yes, yes, you'll eventually get the fingerings to happen...everyone does...


when you start with music reading you learn to place the fingers accurately one finger at a time....


with chords you have to in general plop down a few fingers at at time accurately....


which sounds simpler to you?




most folks forever approach the guitar in a fashion whereby they are constantly and I mean constantly trying to overcome failure....

that seems goofy....

learn to do something (something that is simple) successfully and then build upon that success....

[sully]

once again, i agree with mapletrees. learning to read music is a good idea. i've taught a few people to play, and i always start out with single-note melodies or a riff from a song they like. lessons are the way to go, i think.

seasons of wither from aerosmith is a good one to start with if you like them. Or daytripper from the beatles. there are tons of easy riffs.

i don't think chords should be in the first lesson. a good teacher will keep you from getting frustrated.

[waldreps]

Thanks for all your answers. I'll keep at it and see what happens.

[Jeff M]

Contrarian views here.
1) Do NOT take lessons. Unless you have access to a decent teacher. Does your teacher just sit you down, say "here is a "x" chord, here is the song "y". See you next week"? Or do they start you out with the very basics about HOW to play the guitar-ie proper body/arm/hand/finger positioning, how you move your hand and fingers to fret notes and strike the strings correctly, HOW you should practice (watching out for tension in your body, how to FOCUS, how to break down tunes to see what is giving you problems, how to DEAL with those problems)? The world of guitar teachers is a wasteland of poor teach "ING". If you don't have acess to a good teacher you will do much better focusing your time good instructional material, such as Mark Hansons series "The Art of COntemporary Travis Style" and "The Art of Solo FIngerstyle" (Mapletrees, I am shocked that you didn't even mention them!!)

2) Unless you are planning to become a professional studio musician I say do NOT waste your time learning to read standard music. The vast majority of acoustic steel string guitar music available today is written in tab. Once you learn a tune (we're generally not talking about a 30 page concert piece here, but 2 or 3 pages) and commit it to memory you will rarely refer to it again. I DO suggest that you learn to read the TIMING of standard notation music to get the timing correct. Easier done. There are many famous jazz/blues/rock guitarists who never learned to really read standard notation music. If you are a young buck with lots of time on your hand and the ability to not get bored with learning to read it, go ahead. Will it improve your playing? Not nearly as much as focusing on the TECHNIQUE of playing, where I sugggest you focus most of your time. It comes down to where you want to "spend" your time. Only 30 minutes or an hour a day for guitar? Play it.

Focus, focus, focus. Physically trying harder to play the guitar (fretting those chords harder, tightening up your hands and shoulders) is exactly the opposite of what you should be doing. It's about relaxing. Tight muscles fight against what you are trying to accomplish. Play S-L-O-W-L-Y. Analyze those sections you are having trouble playing-why didn't that finger get there on time? Why did it slightly miss the string? Is my elbow out to far right before I shift? How can I shift my palm position to allow easir access to that string? Lots of subtelties that can make or break your playing suddenly become apparent IF you can FOCUS on what is going on. A good teacher would be very helpfull here, but again, they are rarer than hen's teeth.

I just read a story about the classical guitarist John Williams. He is famous for his technique. He actually practices fairly little. He started to learn the guitar at the age of 4, taught by his father, a classical guitarist and teacher. For years his father allowed him to practice for only 30 minutes a day and ONLY when he was there-checking his technique-not allowing bad habits to form. Yes, he learned to read standard notation (like you and I read a book) but considering the age at which he started to learn, what he was aiming for and the presence of a dedicated teacher I think it was time easily and well spent. When asked how he got so talented, he replied "I had a very good teacher". It's about doing things CORRECTLY.

USE A METRONOME. Not at first when learning to play a song smoothly, but later when you have it ingrained and are trying to polish it up. Again, start SLOWLY. Play MUSICALLY even though you are playing SLOWLY. I suggest NOT keeping time with your foot, at least as you are starting out. Here you are trying to coordinate whats going on with your hands and now you want to throw another body part into it? At first don't worry about keeping time at all, just learn the notes and what your fingers have to do. Then start to decipher the timeing of the piece measure by measure, then later add in a metronome to keep you on time. A SLOW beating metronome. Most professional guitarists will tell you they have several songs they have been working on for years to "get up to speed". It isn't about the goal, it's about the PROCESS.

I recommend you don't get to hung up on theory early on. Even later, delve into only it when it interests you. I recommend "The Skeptical Guitarist" series-very well written, not overwhelming, the author has a sense of humor.


Find some good DVD's/Videos that teach you songs you want ot learn. Again, the vast majority of these will just throw a song at you with the tab, but you can use them to get a feel for how the song can be played, the timing, and the TAB to use as a starting point.

Lastly, remember, this is supposed to be FUN!!

[Leroy Tyrebyter]

Once I get them in the correct places, they are touching other strings and messing everything up. I tried this everyday for about fifteen minutes for about two weeks.

1. You have to build muscle memory and IMO 15 minutes isn't enough.
2. Do get a teacher and things will progress faster.

-LT-

[bobkat181]

practice fingering and switching from chord to chord. it will get easier. try not to look at your hand, after you get comfortable with the chord fingerings.try the following..
Am-- C
E -- Em
G -- Cadd9

then go to a site that has alot of free tablature and look up some of your favorite songs. you'll be suprised how many use these chords..
Once you learn one song that you like, you will be hooked and then you can proceed to practice chord progression while playing a song that you can relate to and that will make it easier for you to master those chords...
Rob..

[Jeff M]

Again, contrarian view. DO look at your hands. It's about building muscle memory. By watching what your hands are doing when they are trying to learn something you can correct what they are doing and reinforce that which they SHOULD be doing. Like shooting baskets or trying to hit a baseball, your fingers are aiming at a target. AFTER you have cemented down what your hand/fingers should be doing you will find you will find you don't have to concentrate as much on your chord changes, but that is AFTER you have it down. You don't practice shooting baskets or take to the batting cage blindfolded do you?

[waynep]

I agree with Jeff . . . I look at my left hand to make sure I get it to the right strings. I believe it helps me build my muscle memory as I know when it's right and when it's wrong. Keep at it. I have been working on it since last October with a couple months off in the middle. I am just now getting where I can change to a open C chord with enough speed and acuracy to strum a song. I did my first song tonight for my bible study group. I set that goal the day I bought my guitar. It almost took me a year . .. so keep at it!