Learning the guitar - it's an arduous process...

[Xanthe]

Ok, I know there have been more specific threads about problems encountered when learning to play, but I thought that those of us in the early stages of learning could do with a thread where we can moan about all the things that the rest of you can do so easily without feeling stupid and celebrate our achievements...if anyone wants to throw in any tips and advice, it would be appreciated!

I'll start off...I can't do bar chords yet, and on account of having stupidly stubby fingers, all the other versions of the F chord seem to be physically impossible! I know practice makes perfect and all that, but I just had to vent my frustration...

[kel :)]

yeah, my fingers are too small......its so annoying!! my beautiful guitar is left sittin there more often than id like because of my fingers!

[Beevers_uk]

Hi!!

I think its best to start of with a accoustic cause i find it harder to play then a Electric, with the frets being bigger and wider it means you ave to put more pressuere on the string, and so doin thi sit srengthens up your fingers!! i have a grip master i think its called!! you use it to train your fingers up!! I found this very useful when starin out and i still do!! All i can really say is stick with it, you will get used to it soon!! i dunno if this helped but any way!

Thanks.

[WhatAmIDarling?]

Originally Posted by kel :)

yeah, my fingers are too small......its so annoying!! my beautiful guitar is left sittin there more often than id like because of my fingers!

I have REALLY small fingers/hands and I can play bar chords (I just learned them a couple of weeks ago) so don't give up! The only way to get them to come in clear is to play them again and again and again and again until you have deep dents in your fingers. Painful, yes--but it's the only way.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by WhatAmIDarling?

I have REALLY small fingers/hands and I can play bar chords (I just learned them a couple of weeks ago) so don't give up!

Wow! Well done, I am very impressed, and very encouraged - I should probably stop using my genetic weirdness as an excuse! How long did it take you to get an ok-sounding bar chord? And how long have you been playing?

[WhatAmIDarling?]

It actually only took like two days to get a clear-sounding bar chord, but longer to get a clear-sounding bar chord and then ANOTHER clear-sounding bar chord.

I dunno really, I just sat there playing it and shaking out my hand every now and then until I got it. Those things are hard though.

Oh--and once you get it, make sure you try to get it three or foru more times after that just so you make sure it wasn't just luck.

I started in January but I've been playing the violin for nine years so my fingers were already pretty strong.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by WhatAmIDarling?

It actually only took like two days to get a clear-sounding bar chord, but longer to get a clear-sounding bar chord and then ANOTHER clear-sounding bar chord.

It's always the chord changes that are tough - I'll learn to play a chord perfectly (well...), it's just weaving it seamlessly into a song without any awkward pauses while my fingers fumble around frantically that's hard! I started learning at the beginning of the year too, but I guess my lack of finger-strength works against me a little! Oh well, I'll get there evetually...

[WhatAmIDarling?]

Since practice make perfect but it's hard to find time or energy to practice everday here's a tip that works for me with both guitar and violin: leave the instrument out.

Your more likely to pick it up and play it if you walk into a room and see it sitting there, begging you to pick it up....

It doesn't matter if it's for like five seconds once every three hours you happen to walk into whichever room its lying out it, it still helps ALOT.

[corkboyinexile]

I started playing a little over a year ago now and Im now having trouble with putting my guitar away!! Its worth it just keep practicing eventually it will all fall in to place even if you have small fingers cause I have tiny hands and after a while most chords will become easy.

[*Killian*]

i never thought id be able to do barre chords, but its just practice practice practice, eventually your fingers learn to bend that way much more easily

[BIG TIM]

Hey Guys,
I have big sausage fingers which makes bar codes ok to play but i have difficultly playing an A chord. so i guess I am at the other extreme.
But i will tell you this, all it took was some one to say to me you wont ever be too good because your big clumsy fingers will get in the way. and i didnt put my guitar down.


It only took me a month to play better then that guy.

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by BIG TIM

But i will tell you this, all it took was some one to say to me you wont ever be too good because your big clumsy fingers will get in the way. and i didnt put my guitar down.


It only took me a month to play better then that guy.

Hehe, good work BIG TIM. Maybe if a few more people were insulting my playing I'd get along faster!
Thanks for all your tips guys, I always have the guitar (not mine, sadly, I'm borrowing it from a very nice friend!) lying around my room and I certainly spend less time studying than I should - either I'm playing it or anyone else who comes into my room is having a strum, it's such a great distraction... *sigh*

[Niko]

Originally Posted by Xanthe

Maybe if a few more people were insulting my playing I'd get along faster!

Xanthe, seriously, I heard these noises coming from your room while you were home the other week, and I had no idea that you were trying to learn to play guitar. We were sitting around downstairs having panicked little conflabs about whether someone should brave entering your room to see if you were in pain or something.

Any good?

[maccas81]

as for the chord changes, that really does just take time, effort and a not insignificant amount of initial pain...but it is totally worth it in the end whn it comes right...and it will when your least expecting it, so keep praticing and no whinging!! As for the F chord....instead of playing it by barring the bottom 2 stirngs, just fret the B string at the first fret instead til u build up some strength in your fingers.....the resulting chord will be a variation of Fmaj7 but will sound just as good as a standard F chord (if not better) in some cases, and itll help you from getting too discouraged as well!

As for Big Tims's A chord problem, you know you can play a standard non barre A chord by fretting the strings with just your index finger...although ths requires some flexibility to avoid damping the bottom string unintentionally...try and and see how ya go!

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by Niko

Xanthe, seriously, I heard these noises coming from your room while you were home the other week, and I had no idea that you were trying to learn to play guitar. We were sitting around downstairs having panicked little conflabs about whether someone should brave entering your room to see if you were in pain or something.

Any good?

Ah, feel the love in the room! Actually, now that you mention it...Fm# is suddenly coming a lot easier...Hey, this works!

[kel :)]

yay cool!! i love encouragement!! come fri ill have all the time in the world so ill make a real go of it!! the only thing im grateful of is that callasus(cant spell)is not a prob for me as my poor fingers are already covered cause i work with wire the whole time.....damn art *shakes fist*

[PenguinBoy]

it's almost impossible to not learn. guitar must be the easiest instrument to practise(especially when i should be doing something else). i just got so obsessed with trying to play stuff, when i finally mastered a basted of a song, i went to the next, just cos i so badly wanted to be able to play it. I still can't make a beautiful barre chord, they sound ok, but to be honest i always prefer an open chord. and for bmaj chords are the worst! eventually things just click. i quite taking shortcuts,
XX3331 is a personal favourite of mine lol. eventually this stuff just clicks. an absolute God of guitaring is Olav Torvund, he's a nowegan dude, who's got a site on playing guitar, it's just got everything on it! lessons, recomended books, midi, a beauty chord book(different fingerings etc), and it gave me loads of fuel for my creativity.
After playing for a few years u tend to think that it's all u can do, the better stuff is for the talented, but even now i suprise myself with new stuff. What's really wierd is the first time i impressed someone else. i just said "pardon?"

Torvund's chords
Torvund's Guitar home page

That was MEGA helpful for me. dno if it'll be the same for anyone else. Allot of it is developed skill, allot of it is knowing what ur own problems are and knowing ur guitar.

[AreYouMeToo]

One thing I remember helping was to have two or three songs that you are trying to learn at the same time.

If you like Dave Matthews for example. Sit down with the music for .... say Dodo and Baby. Dodo is hard on the back of your forarm and makes you hold a good bar chord type stretch for a lot of the song and it's good practice but it can cramp you up. Baby makes you have to land your pinkee in the right place alot but doesn't strectch the same muscles as Dodo.

So, by sitting down with two or three choices at a time, when you get frustrated with one and cramping, switch to the other song(s).

It's my opinion, but I think one result is that you wind up playing longer per session and that's really the key. Just play more.

I hope that helps.

Peace

[Xanthe]

Originally Posted by PenguinBoy

an absolute God of guitaring is Olav Torvund, he's a nowegan dude, who's got a site on playing guitar, it's just got everything on it!

Wow! That site could seriously cause me to fail my degree...

You guys give such good advice! AreYouMeToo, that's so true - I've been trying to learn a song with lots of fiddly chord changes so I switched to playing one with loads of power chords instead, and it took me a while to get the hang of sliding along the fret board...weird thing was that when I went back to the first song after about half an hour, the chord changes came a lot easier!
Ooh, and I'm really happy at the moment because today I learned to play one of my favourite songs, 'Further' by Long-View - the chords are really simple, I couldn't believe it was so easy to pick up!

[Thomas9]

I think its best to start of with a accoustic cause i find it harder to play then a Electric, with the frets being bigger and wider it means you ave to put more pressuere on the string, and so doing this strengthens up your fingers!!

Yes, acoustic guitars are harder to play than electric guitars, and that's because the strings are harder to manipulate, but that's not because of the size of the frets -- it's because of the tension in the string; they're less loose. (An electric guitar need not have smaller frets).

As for strengthening the fingers... there's very little strength required to hold down a thick string against a fret. What some people perceive as insufficent strength is simply that it's too painful too hold down the string fully. Take a shot of morphine and all of a sudden you're Chuck Berry! Strength is not an issue for people playing guitar. Think about it: How many people can hang from a chin-bar? Your fingers are acting against your entire weight.

But, that said... stamina is a different thing all together. How many people here can stand on their tippy-toes? Well in Thai Boxing, the fighters are constantly standing on the balls of their feet. After your first class of this, you'll have sore calves for about a week. To the point: With barre-chords, you build stamina in the muscles of your left forearm so that they don't fatigue before you've finished the song. Try playing "Volcano" using E barre-chords -- my wrist does be in bits afterwards!

I've been playing guitar now for going on 9 years and I'm still not excellent at barre-chords on a heavily strung acoustic guitar. Solution? Get lighter strings. Go to the guitar shop and ask for "light gauge strings". They're not quite as loud, nor do they have as deep a tone, but they're much much easier to manipulate. Give me an electric and all barre-chords are effortless!

You might ask, "Why don't they string guitars with lighter strings so that everyone can play them comfortably?". The answer is that you strive to put heavier and heavier and heavier strings on your guitar until it starts to hinder your playing. Everyone likes big, deep, loud tone... but then again everyone wants to be able to jump around the fretboard like a fairy... you need a trade-off between the two. If you have below-average ability to hold a barre-chord (be it physical or your technique) then you'll probably notice it when playing other people's guitars.

[Xanthe]

Yay! I did it! Played my first not-exactly-perfect-but-still-pretty-damn-good-considering barre chord! And all you lovely Eskimos' advice and encouragement was integral in achieving that sweet B minor!

[maccas81]

yay! well done you...and remember things can only get easier from here on in! dont be discouraged...youll have good days and bad but someday itll all click!!

[shane_b]

i had the same problem with small fingers, you get in eventually, one tip i worked out was study the position your hand is in while you do the chord make sure it's comfortable and sounding clear, then kinda look at how your hand is, even over the back of the neck, then when chord changing re-do this, but add emphasis, may look stupid, but gets you into a routine of moving into a chord, cos i used to just try moving my fingers more than my whole hand, still can't move into barre chords at all tho it's well hard

[Ranting Thespian]

From a guitar pro, here's a tip for you new guys. Take your pick, hold it out . . . and drop it. Use your fingers, it will be a skill that you will thank yourself for not touching the pick right away. With fingers, you have much more control on many things. You can play so quietly with your fingers rather than a plastic pick, so you can play quietly when others don't want to hear. Also, it helps you take the step into fingerpicking easier. Once you get use to fingers, you will never want to go back.

[PenguinBoy]

hmmm, pick of fingers... i think it's more a matter of preference, sounds different, different people like different stuff, i don't think you can say that fingering is better than pick, if that was the case nobody would use them at all, it's just completely preference. Dang, on the other hand, i just remembered those blisters i got first time i played my friend's cheese cutter guitar (for hours on end ). Also, my friends dad used to be the bassist/banjo man for "string driven thing" (my claim to fame). Seeing him playing stuff is just phenominal and he plays witha pick lying in his hand and it is anything but a draw back. I personally play wit ma fingers, probably because any pics i have become lost too quickly.

[WhatAmIDarling?]

Right when I first started playing my brother held out his guitar pick and said, "THIS, will get you no where."

But I dunno. I personally like finger picking (it sounds so much prettier!), but (as PenguinBoy said)I'm sure there are people out there who prefer usuing a pick.

[Xanthe]

My guitar teacher's been encouraging me to persevere with the pick, even though they keep slipping out of my hand and getting lost inside the guitar... It does sound more loud and assertive with a pick (apparently I play too quietly, which in my mind can only be a good thing at this stage) but I kinda like the softer strumming sound - plus combining plucking and strumming seems nigh on impossible with a plectrum. So, in conclusion - using a pick is hard, but I'll keep on practicing it every once in a while!

[evanj]

the only problem i have on playing the guitar is that i am still learning how to finger pick and that i have no clue how to use a pick...or should i say i am no good at playing with a pick. the guitar playing is like a family tradition...most of my cousin's play the guitar and my dad plays too. the one thing i love to tell people is that my dad's band opened up for the doors before they became a musical icon. that is one thing i pride myself over. and that my mum met jim morrison too