After years of talking about it, i finally did it. Girlfriend picked me up a Yamaha acoustic for my birthday. Been messing around with it for a few days now. So far ive learned that people with fat chubby fingers have a hard time playing chords. Any of the guitar guys out there have any tips for me? I really need help with forming chords properly, transitioning and even my strumming. I cant seem to strum smoothly to save my life.
i started this spring playing. I went online and learned G C Em and D chords, practice strumming them. These are some pretty common chords. Then I just picked a song that I wanted to learn how to play and found a youtube video on how to play and just kept practicing. now im pretty good with those four chords. Sixstringcountry has some good preview videos on youtube, you have to pay for the full versions though
I know the chords...my fat fingers just can't seem to get into place worth a damn. Any tips? Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk
Practice, practice, practice, practice... One suggestion is to have the guitar set up by a qualified luthier. I`ve seen a lot of guitars (even fairly high end guitars)come from the factory with really high actions which makes the guitar really hard to play, especially for a beginner. Oh ya, did I mention practice?.. Here`s a free site, this guy does some great videos.
When learning anything new on the guitar its best to pick it up for no more than 10 minutes at a time, several times a day. That will help your muscle memory far better than struggling away for an hour in one sit. Little steps, but frequently and you will be amazed at how quickly it will come. When learning a chord, play the chord, relax your hand and then place the fingers to play it again. Start out doing it very slowly and then work your way up in speed. Then pick two chords and do the same thing to work on the transition. Always better to start very slow so that the technique is good and clean. Don't worry about speed until you are solid on technique. I have only been playing for about 6 years, but it has been a lot of fun learning. I am not taking lessons to learn the music theory now. It all seems a little overwhelming at first, but just take it one step at a time and do a little every single day. One piece of good advice I got was to record yourself so that you can play that back in a few weeks or months so you can hear how much progress you have made. Enjoy!
Thanks Fletch, Your right, when i pick the guitar up i can play what i practiced the day before quite easily at first, but the more i do it the more mistakes i start making. Strumming...any strumming tips? I sound like a 4 year old clanking away when i try to strum.
As with anything on the guitar, start with a speed that feels stupid slow. You should be able to find backing beat tracks on youtube. But again, start with a very slow steady pattern and then practice keeping strumming to the beat. Start with a very basic D U D U pattern and then you can start to work on more complex patterns and breaks. I cant emphasize enough how much quicker you will learn by starting everything out at a very slow pace. Speed comes AFTER mechanics and technique are good. Even after just 5 minutes, relax your hands and let your arms just hang at your sides to let the blood flow back to the hands. After a few seconds, shake your arms and then make a fist for a few seconds. Then, put in another 5 minutes. You will be amazed how the muscle memory "soaks" in during the rest periods. Just be patient, and persistent and it will come. I play things now that I thought were some kind of black magic when I first started. (and I am still very much an amateur) Its a great life-long hobby for sure. Very important! The proper way to hold an acoustic guitar is on your LEFT leg for a right handed player. I know that many big stars do not do this, but trust me, it is how the instrument was designed to be played. Do it, and you will see why. Put your left foot up on something 4 or 5 inches tall and rest the guitar on your leg and hold the body of the guitar with your right arm. The fret hand should not have to hold or support the guitar. It will help a lot with saving on fatigue in the fret hand. Always hold it the very same way so that your muscle memory can develop quicker. When I started out, I just wanted to be able to strum a few chords so I could sit around and play and sing a little. And for several years, that is what I did and had a lot of fun adding new chords and songs. Now I have at least three huge binders full of songs and a desire to play lead. I also want to be able to play jazz and blues by ear and understand the theory behind the music. So, its a life-long journey that you can use to keep your brain young forever. Learning the theory and how it relates to the fret-board is really adding a sense of satisfaction to my playing. I definitely encourage you to work at it and have fun with it. I can have a crazy day at work and then go home and pick up the guitar and erase all cares and worries. Great therapy for sure.
X2 what Fletch said look up Marty Schwartz on you tube he has some easy three cord songs and has a user friendly style. I also got Marty's cd set how to and was well worth the money and you can replay a tough spot over and over and the light will come on I also picked up some regular beginner books I found Mel bay moved to fast ( without a teacher) so I think I have Hal Lenord 1 thru 4 .i also looked at e music a two or three cd teaching set or invest in some lessons In the end you will enjoy playing
Pick a chord that naturally feels the best and play it four counts evenly then switch to your next chord and do the same thing. (em, 1,2,3,4. g, 1,2,3,4.. d, 1,2,3,4.) play so slow that the switch does not break the count. It will feel very slow at first but it helps tremendously. When you do this for a while the count will speed up and this will help with switching between the chords more fluently. Also don't worry about strum patterns yet just stick with down strum until you can fluently switch between the chords you know in four count.(each number is a downstrum).
I just started relearning the guitar a while back. That ten minutes at a time is probably great advice. I'm going to try that. Go slowly. Better to do it right even if you're slow. The speed and dexterity will come. You won't be really smooth until you build up the calluses on your fingertips.
Acoustics are the best way to learn chords. They're natural sound can tell you if you're muting a note in a chord easier. I've been playing for close to 30 yrs and it's all about practice. You'll need plenty of patience and a drive to learn to get good because for most of us it takes time. Try to use more of your finger tip when fretting a note to help from muting strings you don't want muted. Also, learn how to hold your pick properly at an angle to the string so the pick slides off the string easier and on to the next one. One of the easier ways to start is by using the more rounded back corners of the pick to strum with. Another big help for me was to learn how to play softly. Very light strumming of chords will help you gain dynamics and control of your playing. Practice practice practice...
great inspirational thread guys! Congrats on the new hobby Caleb, i remember you saying for awhile now you wanted to learn how. this thread is making me want to dust off my guitar and try again. one question to the experienced players...why is it that every time i see someone playing, there fretting hand is at the bottom of the neck towards the body of the guitar, but yet all chords are at the top of the neck??!! lol
Actually a lot of bar and power chords are used half way up the fretboard for older classic and southern rock. Steve Miller, Bad Company and Lynard Skynard use them in a lot of songs.
