YES....Unless you are some gifted child prodigy with fingers of steel and guitar music running through your blood. (There are some)

Anyway for the rest of us it's a mostly enjoyable journey with ups and downs along the way. There will be some walls I think you have perhaps reached one them.

There's no quick fix, no real easy way. Just advice given, some will work for you and some won't.

All of the advice in the posts above are good and have worked for some.

All I will say is boringly Just PRACTISE. We all do we always will.

Best of Luck

Ark

Just a couple of thoughts.

1. Learning to play guitar without being able to accompany songs is boring. Even if it's only a simple song, you can generally learn them pretty quickly and then footer with the strumming etc. It also helps get your ear into the chord changes.

2. If you are having problems with 6 string chords - then try playing 4 string chords on D,G,B & E strings ( Just miss the two bass strings out). That will get you playing songs - particularly when you need to play "F" chords. You will need to add the two lower strings in time, but it will get you started.

3. You can start with two chord songs like Jambalaya - see -

<a href="http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetsome.org%2Fguitar%2Folga%2Fmain%2Fw%2Fwilliams_hank%2Fjambalaya.pro&songbook=source&transpose=0" target="_blank"> http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/?url= … 2Fgetsome. org%2Fguitar%2Folga%2Fmain%2Fw%2Fwilliams_hank%2Fjambalaya.p ro&songbook=source&transpose=0</a>

Then move on to three chords. There are a number of songbooks with these on Chordie.

Try The Lion Sleeps tonight

<a href="http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetsome.org%2Fguitar%2Folga%2Fmain%2Fr%2Frem%2Fthe_lion_sleeps_tonight.crd&songbook=source&transpose=0" target="_blank"> http://www.chordie.com/chord.pere/?url= … 2Fgetsome. org%2Fguitar%2Folga%2Fmain%2Fr%2Frem%2Fthe_lion_sleeps_tonig ht.crd&songbook=source&transpose=0</a>

Not as cool as Stiff Little Fingers, but they'll get you motoring.

4. And just keep going - or, as we say in Belfast, "Keep Her Lit".

I too have been playing (teaching myself from books) acustic for a little more than a month, maybe 2, although i stated by learning the bacics of chords then learning tabs. I had the same problom. Even when i was holding it exactly right. But it seemed to pass as i practiced more and more and the position became more relaxed and natural.

Dont give up!  <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_biggrin.gif" border=0 alt="Very Happy">

The difference is that the former will learn enough chords to play a few songs, and never learn anything else, while the latter will study their instrument, and therefore be able to play whatever they want.

I've always felt like practice was a pleasure, even if all I'm doing is running scales and other technical excercises.

[/quote]

Agree, it is fun finding out how much you can do with a Guitar.It is a struggle at first, I've been playing about a year and didn't make much progress at all in the first month. All the advice here is great, I practice every day and do warm ups playing and holding down strings up and down the fretboard, your left hand nails do have to be short or your right if your a left handed player. I'm currently practising fingerpicking which has improved my chord changing skills. It might be best to pick out a few 3 chord songs. The most important thing is to enjoy playing, there's no deadline on how quick you have to learn unless your in a hurry. Just try to improve gradually and don't beat yourself up if you can't get things right straight away.

Good Luck

Chris

secondly, yes it is this hard for everyone. sorry to say this but youve gotta practice.

however, i dont think you should have a minimum(and deffinitely not a maximum) practising time. if youre playing songs you like then practise shouldnt feel like a chore.

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I differentiate with people who ask about learning to play.  I ask "What do you want to do?  Do you want to play songs, or do you want to play the guitar?"

The difference is that the former will learn enough chords to play a few songs, and never learn anything else, while the latter will study their instrument, and therefore be able to play whatever they want.

I've always felt like practice was a pleasure, even if all I'm doing is running scales and other technical excercises.

secondly, yes it is this hard for everyone. sorry to say this but youve gotta practice.

however, i dont think you should have a minimum(and deffinitely not a maximum) practising time. if youre playing songs you like then practise shouldnt feel like a chore.

i know what it feels like to look through songs you like and find(to you) impossible chord after impossible chord.all i can say is find a few songs you really like and hang in there.

also, practice barre chords whenever you can even if they sound terrible. if you keep practising they will come and you will find tons more songs you can play.

hope this wasnt as painful reading as it was writing(it's late but i feel i should be doing something <img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_confused.gif" border=0 alt="Confused"> )

12345abcd3

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I agree it's a great song to learn as you can start off strumming it, which teaches you timing, chord changes and introduces you to F, then as you progress you can use it to perfect your finger style and ultimately improve the accuracy of your pick work as you play it closer to the Animals version.

Now i dont have the problem and can relax my hand and still play the chords fine.

The best advice i could give is to make sure your wrist is infront of the fret board and push pretty hard into the strings, you'll get sore fingers and it will be like this for a while but after a few months you'll start to wonder why you found this difficult!

Horse with no name isn't as easy as some claim. Although it's only two chords the feel of that song is in the strumming, which again you can't expect from day one.

Concentrate on E A D chords at first. You'll be able to do Johnny B Goode acoustic style with these.

Then look to learn G and C. These 5 chords give you access to most rock songs. In particular strumming A with a break to G then D will give you rockers like 'Get Back' and AC/DC's 'You Shook Me All Night Long'.

Stick with it, it's worth it.

short nails

get a tennis ball and push your fingers in it put it in your pocket and do it any time you can to build strengh in your hand

check at local music shops for local jams check your local nursing homes people go there to jam and the old folks just love it and some of them play also. there is almost always someone that will jam with newbiessome just want to play and some want to show off  avoid the show off they do not want to teach they want to show off (does't do much for your ego)

you will get there if you really want it

good luck

randy

Nice short nails and take your time.  Make sure you are not twisting the guitar around so you can see what you are doing!

1) Adjust the action on your guitar. Unless you are playing slide (or violin) you really want your strings pretty close to the fretboard. It will make it easier to make and hold the chords. It will also make your lead work faster.

2) Check your neck thickness. If it's too thick for comfort you might want to trade in for another axe with a thinner and narrower neck. If you have a classical guitar then I'm afraid you are pretty limited because they make them like that for a particular reason.

3) Try a lighter gauge string. If you are useing 12s try 10s. But keep in mind that this will also raise your action because the skinnier strings will have more space between them and the board.

4) lastly is long painful practice.

      - Mike