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Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Learning Acoustic Guitar - Warning - The Reality!
I have been playing guitar for 8 months, I practiced far too often and I think myself to be a reasonably good player. It was extremely difficult at first but know I can hardly remember what I found difficult. My talents are still limited and I struggle with some faster songs but I am still plaesed with my progress, Practice works never give up!
Here is my tips.
Sit in a room alone (without your guitar). Turn the music on (of your choice), turn off the lights. Try to follow the rhythm of the music and tap along (with your foot, your palm on your lap or tap your chair) with the music. Feel the music & the rhythm. Do this always... then get back to your guitar... the next thing you know you will strum the music naturally, by just listening to the music before you play..
Sorry if my English is hard to understand. That's what I did after frustation learning from the books and I am improving a lot now.
<font color="purple">Hey I know what you mean...I have started and then restarted due to some road blocks but the sound of a guitar just makes me melt and want to learn more and more! SO I am not determined to play! Some thing you love must and has to be worthgiving the time for it. Thats my thought! So good job on giving encouragement to others out there!
Toodles,
~BMJacobs~...Washington State </font>
I agree with all here, learning the guitar is a painfull task! Im shure you all rememeber time your fingers started to cry out in pain just before they get guitarist tips on them, but dont read any of these posts learners without realising being a musiction is one of the most rewarding talant there is as you will soon find out when you play and get cheers and bring smiles to peoples faces!
And Poli is right, soon you will never remember your mistakes becouse even if you dont know it you are always getting better.
Musicalmonkey
Right on, scawa (2006 Dec 20 Sat 14:00), bootlegger (ditto, 17:09), and many others! I too have played for 40 yr; learned as a soph in coll., Sep '66. I had a freshman roommate who was 6 mos. into the guitar, had one I could borrow (Harmony 6-string, which went for $50 in 1966, and was very good for its price class), and his having just picked up the levels I needed to learn, he was able to show me a lot of very useful stuff. And my kid sister, a HS soph, was also just learning, and we traded pointers, songs, techniques. Plus, it was the era of Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, Joan Baez, Ian & Sylvia, Simon & Garfunkel, Mamas & Papas, Beatles, Byrds, Lovin' Spoonful, etc., etc., so plenty of examples around to learn from by ear, and which fit real well into acoustic guitar.
Also, it helped that I had about 10 yrs' piano playing under the belt, so I already knew a lot about chord structures and such. And to top it off, there was a folk club on campus to go listen, jam & learn, try my hand at performing in front of a small audience (5 - 15 typically) of fellow students -- minimal pressure.
All this made for an ideal, fertile learning ground. It is indispensable to be strongly motivated to learn. Inspiration can come from listening to those in the stratosphere of virtuosity. On the piano, I think of Paderewski, Horowitz, or Rubinstein playing the Polonaise Militaire. On guitar, anything by Al Petteway, Carlos Santana or the late Jerry Garcia, Danny Gatton, Frank Zappa. Or whoever is your guitar-playing idol.
So just follow these four steps:
1. Listen in awe.
2. Think, "I'll never even get onto the same planet as that guy." Hang on to that admiration for a decent interval, maybe 10 sec., maybe 30.
3. Then toss that thought totally out of your mind, and think, "I'm gonna go get that, no matter how long it takes!"
4. Then go do it, using all the advice from previous postings in this thread.
"A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step."
I.e., it's good to have a long-term goal, however nebulous, that's well beyond your current ability, while pursuing a series of graded, easier, short-term goals. Keep one eye on the horizon with the other on your next footstep.
If you have a burning desire for the music, you'll get there!
Fred in Laurel, Md.
Just stick with it. I started about 5 years ago had lessons at night school for 3 years and was always behind with the time and got very frustrated.
But I loved the music and I felt inspired by those who could play well.
Get the best guitar you can afford. seek out the shops who want to sit you down and put the right shape and size for you.
Play every night even for 10 mins. Read the music & listen on your player or i pod.
You will get better and then think about playing with others or being a band and doing it!!
Enjoy it or forgetit!!
In fact, you are right, BUT the most important knowledge is that there are 7 major chords: A B C D E F G
Once you exercised this, you can go to the next step and try the minor Am Bm.... than the 7 A7 B7
The minor are more for melancholic songs and 7 is more bluesy, so 21 chords already. After learning and knowing these chords you can start with the rest.
Don't forget that, if you see a lot of complicated chords that a lot of songs are composed on a piano, see Coldplay, Elton John. BUT LOOK BOB DYLAN, in my eyes he is a genius, a lot of fabulous songs based on 3 -4 chords, maybe 5. What Dylan is doing with these chords is amazing
Great thread! I am also a newbie, been taking lessons for a few months, but did some night classes for a year or so. It gets frustrating sometimes, especially when some of my son's friends come over and they are only 12 or 13 and pretty good players. I am 43 and trying my best to find the time to get better at playing. I love music, and am anxious to get better. I have several guitars now, just because they all sound unique and the variety of guitars is awesome. I have a Yamaha LL6 acoustic, an '86 American Strat, and just picked up an Ovation Legend 1617. Thanks Chordie and thanks to the Chordie Forum for the help and support to follow a lifetime's dream! Now, back to practicing!
UncleSlappy
Iv been playing for a month and i can play a few songs,but i wanna get an electric this weekend.people i talk to say it is easer then accoustic?
hey cazador keep in mind that with electric you can crank up the gain on your amp and you have distortion,and with distortion you can cover up a lot of sloppiness and mistakes,with acoustic you have to be clean or you and others can hear the mistakes.
so if you want to be good at the guitar i would highly reccomend you stay with the acoustic for a while and get your fingers trained to make chords properly and get your picking and strumming down.
that was some of the best advice that i got when i started out,thought i would pass it along to you.also keep in mind that a acoustic can be taken and played anywhere,lakes,parks,etc. electric you must have electricity.the convience speaks for itself.and believe me there are a lot of very cool acoustic songs out there,metallica,etc,etc...
best of luck..
<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>satman wrote on Thu, 15 February 2007 18:26</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
hey cazador keep in mind that with electric you can crank up the gain on your amp and you have distortion,and with distortion you can cover up a lot of sloppiness and mistakes,with acoustic you have to be clean or you and others can hear the mistakes.
so if you want to be good at the guitar i would highly reccomend you stay with the acoustic for a while and get your fingers trained to make chords properly and get your picking and strumming down.
that was some of the best advice that i got when i started out,thought i would pass it along to you.also keep in mind that a acoustic can be taken and played anywhere,lakes,parks,etc. electric you must have electricity.the convience speaks for itself.and believe me there are a lot of very cool acoustic songs out there,metallica,etc,etc...
best of luck..
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I wanna keep my accoustic for all the reasons above but i love the electric.i have been playing for a month and i have all the basic cords down but im have probs with my strumming:(
<table border="0" align="center" width="90%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td class="SmallText"><b>satman wrote on Thu, 15 February 2007 18:26</b></td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
electric you must have electricity.the convience speaks for itself.and believe me there are a lot of very cool acoustic songs out there,metallica,etc,etc...
best of luck..
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Pignose amps and a few smaller amps including one made by Fender (amp can I believe)run on batteries. You can also get a converter and change the current from the your car in to ac to run an amp.
Bootleger.
Bootleger guitars.
this warnig is so true I remember My first 4 to 5 month of playing I thought I wasa getting nowhere, then all of a sudden all the peices came together and WOW!!!!!!! I started playing along with others and I could actually play along it was a great feeling. Anyhow no point in being long winded. Happy playing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tip for strumming rhythm/pattern.
Just in reply to an earlier posting from Omkomo, I find that I use the seam of my right trouser leg, as though that was the strings, in order to get the up and down rhythm to a song, any song, just one you hear on the radio you like. As the up and down motion produce a sightly different sound, like guitar strings do, you geta good feel for the rhythm at times when your guitar isn't available. One final tip, buy a guitar stand, put your guitar somewhere accessible, if you can get to it you'll pick it up more, even for a few minutes at a time, it all adds up. It was the best thing I ever bought (second to the guitar that is!)
PS Use your own trouser leg not mine or somebody elses.
just got a guitar in august last year after ten years of promising myself one, since i got it i havent put it down absolutely love it , my girlfriend is up the wall with torment but i am improving every day and im just getting to grips with the barre chords at the moment. its hard my fingers are blue most days and my wrist aches at times , but that goes with parctice ... right?
hmmm dont know Have to let you know when my own fingers stop bleeding.
I have been playing for 2-3 years, and honestly i am just relizing im starting to get pretty good. All these tips are so true, but just like everybody said, keep trying. I have been playing alot of lynyrd skynyrd lately, because alot of their music sounds great in acoustic...*simple man* Anyway, just keep trying, and make sure to have fun, because multiple times i found myself almost quiting. I guess i figured i wasnt going anywhere. Just keep trying, the rest will fall in place
Just saw this tonight .. sorry bout that, but if you havent found some good songs to play yet that are easy on the chords, You may want to try America's song Horse with no name, its just a simple Em and a D. or As when I was first starting out, I got a John Denvers greatest hits book, or get the song, Leaving on a Jet plane, Simple tune and easy to play. Hope this helps you out some !
Hi,
I am 49 and have been playing for 14 months, the past 7 with a teacher. Initially, I thought the '<b>F</b>' chord was appropriately named until I upgraded from an old Yamaha w/warped neck to a Guild GAD50E. Since, 'F' has almost been as easy as an Am. However, I am still drowning in Barre chords. Words cannot describe how frustrating this is.
As I posted separately, in my youth I broke my left wrist 2X and ring finger on fret hand-which healed quite curved to the middle finger. Finally, I have osteoarthritis in my left thumb (fret hand). I have struggled to the point of quitting altogether because I cannot seem to be able to form even the simple barre chords. Occasionally, I can make all the notes ring, but it takes an eternity to form a barre chord and afterwards my wrist, hand and thumb are aching. I practice fanatically but feel that I've gotten worse the past 7 weeks as opposed to just making no progress at all.
My teacher is an excellent classical guitarist and insists that I use classical guitar form & barre chords. I feel <b>totally retarded </b>because I cannot. Even when I try to hold the guitar in this style, I cannot control it. I have a lesson tonight. I will likely quit lessons tonight (my wife is beginning tonight, but she is a surgeon and has great hands/coordination).
At times I felt like I was really going to learn to play the guitar, but now have real doubts. I've ordered some fingerstyle books and will continue this uphill road alone when they arrive. Has anyone else ever just completely hit a brick wall when trying to play barre chords & does it ever get better (if you are as bad as I am now).
Will all teachers think I'm copping out if I tell them I just cannot play barre chords?
I'd dearly love to play even the easiest songs by America, John Denver, John Prine (Paradise) but especially the Grateful Dead.
StSteven
It does get better with practice and more practice and when your tired practice some more. After 33 years it has gotten better but I still PRACTICE.
Bootlegger.
Bootlegger guitars.
your right lots of practice. bootlegger ever heard of hondo guitars. found one from the 1970:s in great condition for under 100 dollars canadian.its a lefty.
Hondo's I believe were cheap japanese imports. When I say cheap I mean price wise. I had a "V"copy i got in a trade for a 4 channel sunn p.a. It played and sounded good. One hundred canadian is about $83.00 american (more or less) if you buy it what are you going to do with it. (hot rod or just to have another guitar).
You can buy unpainted strat type kits for $229.95 ($279.95 painted or dyed) in alder or swamp ash . If you want to upgrade tuners and add a perloid pick guard add another $25.00 then pick up a set of decent GFS pickups for around $80.00 and you have a semi custom guitar for around $400.00 american.
Excluding any labor for assembly, wiring, new pots and set up if some one like me does the work for you.
Bootlegger.
Bootlegger guitars.
thanks for the info B L . its an acoustic and sounds good. ill buy it today for my sister who is a lefty .she has a takmine now and wants to start a collection.a great birthday present for her.thanks again bootlegger for the info and have a good day... badeye.
hey i bought the hondo for 50 dollars canadian.its red sunburst and sounds really sweet.made in 1971.my sis is gonna love it.new martin lites and away we go.finally a day off think ill play guitar all day lol. have a good one badeye.
Try the E-Z Chord method song books. Play songs you like. That IS the key as stated by the first post I read. Joseph Cormier
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Acoustic → Learning Acoustic Guitar - Warning - The Reality!
