a daunting task.........

thanks arkady.just this minute printed myself off some major chord tabs to get going with.so excited and at the same time frustrated.my fingers just seem too big at the moment haha.will keep you updated on my progress!

Practice.  Every day.  No exceptions.

Then when you're sick of practice.  Practice some more.

Hello Everyone. My name is Scott.

"Hi Scott".

I am new here also, both to playing guitar and visiting this forum. It looks like a friendly place to go, so I guess I'll just jump right in.

I too just bought my first guitar, a week ago last Saturday. I know nothing about the instrument, but have always wanted to try and play. I am actually a drummer, or rather I was back in my High school days. So I have been around music allot and listen to it constantly, but have never tried to play it on a melodic instrument.

I just turned 49 (man, that's hard to type) and felt I needed something to do at night to stimulate my brain, instead of just sitting there watching TV.

I am not sure what I really expect to get out of playing, but I thought if nothing else it would be nice to at least know a few chords and maybe a little riff or two. If I could teach myself to play simple 12 bar blues songs, I'd feel like I accomplished a great bit.

So after a week, I've learned about 7 chords or so. C, D, E, G, A, Em and Am. Not much, but I feel I am making a bit of progress. I didn't know any of the chords or the string names a week ago, so it is progress nonetheless. I cannot switch between them with any proficiency, but it's getting better. (The F chord is really wearing my patience)!

My biggest problem right now, as I'm sure you've all gone through, is that I can only go for about 1/2 hour until my fingers hurt so bad I have to stop. But I can tell they're starting to get tougher just by typing on the keyboard. I'm sure it will all pass with a bit of time.

My musical tastes are mainly in classic rock (Rush, Kansas, Zeppelin, Stones, CCR, Traffic, Dire Straits, Clapton) and also in jazz and blues. For my guitar, I got an Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plus Top. I just liked the way it looked and it felt like a quality instrument for the price. I'm not prepared to fork over $5k for a Gibson just yet. I also bought a Tascam MP-GT1 guitar trainer so I could practice without waking the dead. I did by an amp, but I am waiting for it to arrive. It should be here tomorrow (Fender Hot Rod Deluxe).

Anyway, that's about where I stand right now. Look forward to hanging out here and seeking some advice from all of you experienced players.

Hey swerdman and marcustee!  Welcome and congrats on taking the big step of learning to play guitar.  I too picked it up in my 40's almost 3 years ago.  It's been the best thing I've ever done for myself.  :  It's an amazing feeling when you can play a note, chord, riff, song, whatever that you couldn't do at first.  Don't get discouraged if you seem at an impasse at some point and don't feel like you're progressing.  It happens to us all.  Just work past it and all of a sudden you'll notice an improvement in your playing again.    There's lots of great instructional books with CD's and DVD's, for all levels and styles.  I take lessons weekly (fortunate enough to be able to) and would highly recommend it if you can too.  Finding a teacher that's right for you can be frustrating sometimes, so if you don't like your teacher, move on and find another one!  Try and find other people to play with and learn from too if you can.  And just have fun! 

swerdman I just got a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe (tweed, so cool) a couple of weeks ago.  I love it!  Good luck to both of you!

Cheers
RavenLady

Don't let it sit on the stand! Pratice everyday. About five years ago I made a new years resolution to play one hour everyday. To start it off right, I bought myself a brand new Fender american standard strat. For the most part I accomplished my resolution. I remember being upset on vacation in beautiful Cancun Mexico because I was missing my hourly pratice. Nowdays I don't have quite that much time. Two children under three. After they have gone to bed I sneak off to my little room under the basement stairs and sometimes don't come back up till midnight. I always play as I watch the ball game. Inbetween innings and during the commercials. You gotta find the time

wow.thanks for that link LesPaulGuy! what a great site.

I was hoping that avatar could pass for a girl too.  :LOL

Here's another one I found when I first started that was very helpful and free. 

http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/g … ex_db.html

Has every chord imaginable.  The diagram of it, how it sounds, you can save it or even print them off. 

Cheers
RavenLady (Heather)