Beginner here. Chord Changes and Frustration

[ANDY THOMPSON]

Ummm (cautiously half raises hand from back of class)...

Just a word in defence of Justin Sandercoe.

His lessons are free, he has a forum for asking questions. Many, many informative, structured lessons.

The speed thing is just a light hearted way of measuring performance increase.

He also has a finger gym..chromatic hammer ons with all fingers, independantly..ouch.

DI..you are not alone..I work with my hands, was good at sports, but this..yep slow, slow slow.

Its hard to relax and stretch, I know, just keep at it.

[sachi]

Originally Posted by dlknight

Hey, I really appreciate every one of you guys. I appreciate all of your suport. This is a great forum and the members are super. Thanks to everyone for your encouragement. I am not going to give up. I will play a lot better one of these days. I was just thinking it is taking me so much longer that everyone. I know others have some advantages, longer, slimmer fingers, but I will get it.

I have no further advice except to join the chorus and say "hang in there - it will come!"

[k.crabbe]

I can't offer any advice because I can't do it either. I'm back to learning again after about 10 years off. When I quit I was almost there. My brain and fingers knew what they were supposed to do, and even did it sometimes! You'll get there. I'll get there too. I must say that I can play single chords beautifully. It's that next one that gives me trouble. Hang in there. You're not alone.

[taylorking810]

It takes alot of practice, including playing scales, one of the benefits from playing scales is that its great finger practice, with alot of practice those chords will come, its not easy but you have to dedicate yourself to alot of practice to become a decent player.

[Badfrog]

All I can say is keep plugging away. For everyone that "makes it" (and I'm talking about just being able to play decently) at playing guitar there must be 12 or more people that gave up. I was in your shoes a year ago. Not only could I not make simple chord changes, I couldn't strum with a piss and didn't know much of anything about music. Now, a year later, life is completely different and it's because I was too stubborn to quit and read everything I could get my hands on and then some.

Learning guitar is a pain, but it's worth it.

[wilboy18]

I am new in playing guitar too. 2 months to be exact. I like worship songs and now i can play 3 songs. In fact I will be leading worship in a small bible study this saturday.

My question is Am I doing it wrong coz I learn chords as I learn new songs. I am having a lot of fun though and very sore fingers!!!!

Strumming and singing at the same time is the thing that is frustrating me most.

[mr. beaumont]

Originally Posted by wilboy18

My question is Am I doing it wrong coz I learn chords as I learn new songs?

Absolutely not! You'll retain information so much better if you learn it in context.

Think about it--I could give a student 50 chords to learn, or I could give a student 10 songs that use every one of those 50 chords. One month later they check in with progress--who's doing better?

[Ruston]

As a relative newbie I feel your pain. All very good advice in the posts above. Here are some things that have helped me that may not have been mentioned already.

Finger independence strengthening and stretching exercises: I got mine from classical technique books (e.g. Pumping Nylon) and they have made a difference. I also put playing scales into this part of my 'finger exercises' practice.

Chord exercises: I also use Justin's suggestions to practice chord to chord changes paying special attention that the fingering is correct. Start with a chord, form the chord lightly touching the strings then add pressure to fret, strum the chord and then play each string individually to make sure each rings true. Move to the second chord and do the same. When I'm satisfied that I'm playing each chord clean then I slowly start increasing the speed. Perfect is the goal, not fast.
Sometimes I'll just sit while watching TV and fret the chords slowly back and forth. I may work on the same 2 or 3 chords for 30 minutes. As I add new chords I still spend part of the time on chords I know. There's no substitute for repetition, but those repetitions have to be accurate. When I start to get sloppy from fatigue I stop and come back to it later.

Hang in there, it does get better.

[dlknight]

I do have a scales book. I went this weekend and looked at some more. I don't get it. The Freetboard pics show maybe one fret with all 1's then 2's and so forth. I don't get it. I have no idea where to put my fingers. Which 1 do I use, which 2, and then it says you can move them up and down the fretboard. So I don't know how to do that either. I know I need to start learning the fretboard. Do I need to know the fretboard before I start learning scales?

[jasperguitar]

DL Knight .. ok.. I am also somewhat a newbie. I've played.. its a long story.
but .. anyway .. go on line and get a guitar neck print out of all the notes on the neck of the guitar.. Start at the beginning .. the low E, that is where I started.. open string.. first fret.. F .. second Fsharp.. One note at a time..
Very slow... enjoy the ride.. I'm not sure .. can you read music? It is helpful, for sure.. if not, take a couple of hours.. and learn to read music.. plenty of stuff on the net to print out or get a book at Barnes and Noble..

It took me at least three weeks to get the fretboard down.. And I still have those old age moments .. but I am getting better..

I have a little game I play .. I will make a simple chord.. then I will figure out what note the fingers are on.. say my finger is on the A, .. which is G string.. or string number three second fret.. I look at the string, say the name of the string out loud G,, repeat G .. repeat G ... then I count G, G sharp .. A.. my finger is on the A note ... I say that out loud .. A A A A A

I do this up and down the fretboard... the funny part is some notes seem to be easy to remember.. and some .. ??? weird..

But .. it really is fun after a few days... I've actually had times when I'm looking at a finger on a string.. trying to name the note .. and nothing happens.. blank.. so,, I ask myself "what string" .. start counting from the first fret,, naming each note.. Low E string.. F, F sh, G, G sh, A .. when I get to the note.. say the C .. I stand up and scream C... its a XXXXXX C

I"m also struggling with chords, and chord changes.. but I work at it each day.. The D major and D minor chords are tough .. so I work on them more and more .. I go slow.. I speed up .. I slow down... I will make the chord and let my fingers sit there for a long long time.. apply pressure.. let the pressure up .. apply pressure.. let up ...

Heck.. its fun.. so what if you are Clapton..

Get the Hal Leonard Book.. I think I paid $20 bucks.. Amazon.. great simple book.. shows chords, scales.. keeps everything simple.. and you can skip around.. play some power chords... notes.... scales... chords... goof ..

I'm on my guitar practice break right now.. I will play scales for one half hour.. then call it ..

Play each day.. that is what the man said .. so I do ..

[Ruston]

Originally Posted by dlknight

I do have a scales book. I went this weekend and looked at some more. I don't get it. The Freetboard pics show maybe one fret with all 1's then 2's and so forth. I don't get it. I have no idea where to put my fingers. Which 1 do I use, which 2, and then it says you can move them up and down the fretboard. So I don't know how to do that either. I know I need to start learning the fretboard. Do I need to know the fretboard before I start learning scales?

I agree, most of those diagrams make no sense to me either. Right now I'm working on the C scale in 5th position after spending a lot of time working on it in first position.

I apologize in advance if you already know some of this but just to cover all the bases this is what I've been doing to learn the fretboard:

In first position you use your four fingers: 1-index, 2-middle, 3-ring, 4-pinky on the first four frets in that order.
Start by playing low E open (no fretting) and say 'E' (yes I actually did this). Then fret the low E string with your index (first) finger on the first fret, play the note and say 'F'. Leaving your index finger on the first fret, now add your middle (second) finger on the second fret, play the note and say (F sharp). Continue until all four fingers are fretting the first four frets on low E.
When I initially started this I would also play the A string from time to time to check and make sure I wasn't interfering with it and causing a buzz. Keeping my fingertips perpendicular to the fretboard was a challenge at first and playing the string below is a good check. Also, pay attention to keeping your fingers close to the frets. This can be a challenge, especially with the pinky, when your already fretting with the other three fingers. Flexibility and 'stretch' will come with time.
Continue this process on all six strings, as slowly as needed to have each note sound clearly.

You can also practice a C scale in first position by skipping the accidentals (sharps). No need to keep all the fingers down on a string, just fret the note you are playing. I still call out the notes and play the scale both forward and backward. Other scales can be worked in as well.

You can play a lot of stuff and never leave first position. I'm not skilled enough yet to need to use the rest of the fretboard so I'll learn it when I need it.

Hope this helps.

[sfden1]

Originally Posted by porterr68

DL,

If you are not doing so already, focus, really focus, on physically relaxing your shoulders, forearms, fingers, heck every part of your body. It is shocking how physical tension will impede your ability to move around the fretboard. Then move very slowly paying careful attention to staying physically relaxed and loose.

+ 1 Of all the good advice in this thread, it's this. Tension in your hands, arms, shoulders, body will always make it more difficult, and we're very often not even aware of it. Get yourself a full length mirror and before you start you start your practice, sit in front of it with your guitar. See if you can tell where the tension is in your body and make a conscious effort to relax. Really, really pay attention to your body.

Another thing, pay attention to how much effort your putting into fretting the strings. A lot of times beginners use a death grip and fret way harder than they have to, putting a lot of tension on the fingers, hand and arm and making it harder to release and move those fingers to the next position. That's muscle memory you don't want to practice. If your guitar is set up reasonably well, you shouldn't have to fret too hard at all. Try just fingering a chord as lightly as possible and pick each note and see if you can find that spot where it rings clear, just before it gets muddy from not enough pressure. I'm betting it's with much less pressure than you thought.

One of the keys to making chord changes is to finger them in a way that requires you to move as few fingers as possible. Every chord book will show you a particular way to finger a chord, but really there's no hard and fast rule. Use whatever fingering works for you. Let's say you want to change from an A to E. Many chord charts will show the A fingering as index finger on the 4th string, middle on the 3rd, ring on the 2nd, all on the second fret, or x x i m r x. If you finger it as x x m i r x, you can just keep the index finger down, slide it on the same string to the first fret, and move your middle finger to the 5th string, 2nd fret, ring finger to the 4th string, 2nd fret. Make sense? Practice the move very slowly and easily, relax, watch your fingers to be sure they're hitting where they need to behind the fret. There's no point in practicing bad technique. You'll also need to watch to be sure you get that index finger tucked in between the other two fingers on the A chord or it will sound muffled. The whole point though is to find those fingerings that allow you as little movement as possible. The hardest fingerings are those that require you to pick up all of your fingers and completely change their positions.

Someone recommended Jamie Andreas, and I would heartily endorse that. Do yourself a real favor and get her book with video The Principles For Correct Practice For Guitar. She has a website, well worth checking out. I'd also recommend her book Chords and Rhythm

Finally, I have to say that the suggestion to play as many chord changes as possible in a minute is probably the worst advice for a beginner that I've ever seen. It's not a race, and if your not making the chord changes correctly to begin with, your just teaching your muscles how not to do it. Maybe light hearted fun from Justin's perspective, but not helpful. Doing this, you might as well not be practicing at all.

Hope that all made some sense.

Regards,

Dennis

[daza152]

Sorry I didn't read everyones posts, I just wanted to add that if you do start with playing songs first with only 3 chord changes and slow songs that might help improve on smooth accurate changes rather than just doing it quick...speed will come eventually, but for me I just prefer slow songs, like wish you were here , patience and angie...they sound amazing and can be easy to play...good place to start IMO..have "Fun"..

Daza.

[bousti999]

When I started playing, I picked out a song to learn that had simple chord changes. The first song I learned was Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine show (G D Em C). It took me nearly 3 weeks of constant frustration to finally get to where I could change chords on time without any delays.

Don't try and rush it. Your fingers are being forced into really awkward postitions that they're not used to.

If you're having issues with a particular chord change then just keep practicing that one for about 10 minutes and you should get it fine. It's all about repetition.

Also, once you get the first few chord changes down, learning new ones takes a lot less effort.

[daza152]

Originally Posted by Badfrog

All I can say is keep plugging away. For everyone that "makes it" (and I'm talking about just being able to play decently) at playing guitar there must be 12 or more people that gave up. I was in your shoes a year ago. Not only could I not make simple chord changes, I couldn't strum with a piss and didn't know much of anything about music. Now, a year later, life is completely different and it's because I was too stubborn to quit and read everything I could get my hands on and then some.

Learning guitar is a pain, but it's worth it.

Hey I remember you...Good to see a friendly face around here...It has been a full year for me on the acoustic sounding good too I think. You still playing electric?