Learning the guitar

[DervVW]

Thanks guys - yes I have been trying to practice. Ive picked it up most days my fingers are getting sore, this must be a good sign. But I still struggle to get my fingers to hold the right places to play chords.

[callmedave]

DervVW said:

Thanks guys - yes I have been trying to practice. Ive picked it up most days my fingers are getting sore, this must be a good sign. But I still struggle to get my fingers to hold the right places to play chords.

That's perfectly normal. I assume you can do a G, D, and a C chord?
Just very slowly (set a metronome)
Do G-G-G-G-C-C-D-D repeat. Your fingers will get used to memorising the positions and it really won't take long.

[suthol]

Learn
Gloria - Them
House Of The Rising Sun - The Animals

Both are very simple but have repetive and regular chord changes the will get your fingers mobile and help create muscle memory and easy strumming in a couple of basic time sigs

[theotherJamie]

callmedave said:

Do G-G-G-G-C-C-D-D repeat. Your fingers will get used to memorising the positions and it really won't take long.

Much better to do G-G-G-G-D-D-C-C then you'll be rockin' in the free world

[Steffan]

suthol said:

Learn
Gloria - Them
House Of The Rising Sun - The Animals

Both are very simple but have repetive and regular chord changes the will get your fingers mobile and help create muscle memory and easy strumming in a couple of basic time sigs

Good advice. Any of the Major/Minor/Major//Seventh changes practiced regularly is very worthwhile and repeated practice will begin to make these easier as time goes by. Try to use the full chord shapes from the start with the full Barre on chords like F and the full C Major shape etc from the start.

Much better not to have to unlearn shapes because you learn the easier shapes first. Full barre chords are particulately helpful. Once you master these playing the same shapes one fret up at at a time suddenly enables easy chord changes just be sliding the Left hand up the kneck of the guitar. Particularly on Electric guitars but also on acoustics. Good luck to you. The guitar in all it's forms is a wonderful instrument to enjoy.

[Legacywr]

I'm watching this thread, as I too have just bought a guitar.

I must say, that at the moment, it all looks so impossible!

[vournikas]

Talking of tunes that beginners should learn, IMHO Clapton's Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out is a good one. Take the chords, and play "pima" style i.e. pick fingerstyle using thumb (p) index (i) middle (m) and ring (a) fingers. It's a good workout with lots of chord shapes and styles and even includes a diminished chord as a Brucie Bonus!

As others have mentioned, House of the Rising Sun is a good 'un also.

[Legacywr]

Slade's Coz I Love You looks to be reasonably easy, but I cant find tutorial on Youtube?

[les3002]

Another +1 for Justinguitar. I started on his course as an absolute beginner 8 months ago. Nearly at the end of the course now and I've made so much progress compared to my previous attempts at learning. I think the major difference is that he structures the course really well, as a beginner it's difficult to know what areas to focus on.

I started on an electric and still play predominately electirc, don't really notice much difference in terms of difficulty going between electric and acoustic.

[westhamtim]

Easy to claim that one has missed the boat but I assume that time spent practicing rather than age is a more important factor in improving. Has anybody made any progress starting from scratch 'late' (mid 30s)?

[Legacywr]

I'm looking in on Justinguitar, and I'm able to follow the first three chords reasonably well!

But, I bought the following guitar(in haste!)... is the neck too thin? As I can make the shapes, but not clear all of the free strings?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Les-Paul-electric-guitar...

[Steffan]

Legacywr said:

I'm looking in on Justinguitar, and I'm able to follow the first three chords reasonably well!

But, I bought the following guitar(in haste!)... is the neck too thin? As I can make the shapes, but not clear all of the free strings?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Les-Paul-electric-guitar...

I think it is easier to earn on a classical or acoustic but millions of Guitarists have learnt on Electrics and many play nothing else. All down to what suits you personally. Practice, practice, practice seems to me to be the real key.

Gorden Giltrap, Bert Jansch, Dr. Martin Taylor and Bert Weedon, John Renbourrne and Davy Graham, to my personal knowledge, all started in very different ways some on classical, some steel string acoustic, some not. Practice, practice, practice was the real key to their success. I think that really is crucial.

Your guitar is a very nice instrument.

If you practice you will improve. Best of luck to you. I have never practiced like that they all did! (All of whom I admire very greatly). Which is why I admire the fingering skills, triples and doubiles and all the rest of their individual styles and skills.

Practice does in time make every player better! The actual instrument you choose will make a difference but Practice is the key!

[vournikas]

Legacywr said:

I'm looking in on Justinguitar, and I'm able to follow the first three chords reasonably well!

But, I bought the following guitar(in haste!)... is the neck too thin? As I can make the shapes, but not clear all of the free strings?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Les-Paul-electric-guitar...

I find LP necks quite chunky, so it suggests that your fretting fingers are quite short. A thinner neck makes it easier to reach around to the fretboard and nail your fingertips to the strings. If you're fluffing adjacent strings when fretting a chord, what you could try is a "classical" fretting hand technique whereby your thumb is always at 90 degrees to the neck.

TBH, it's not a bad thing to practice. Being self taught, I'm too set in my ways to persevere at it.

[Legacywr]

How are you getting on OP?

[DervVW]

Truth be told - I have been trying to get my fingers to work still. I have dropped off a little, had a few boring life tasks like painting the lounge getting in the way, but in truth I am finding it difficult to keep at it.

I guess Its just sticking at it, and it is becoming dangerously close to becoming a chore rather than a hobby.

[Steffan]

DervVW said:

Truth be told - I have been trying to get my fingers to work still. I have dropped off a little, had a few boring life tasks like painting the lounge getting in the way, but in truth I am finding it difficult to keep at it.

I guess Its just sticking at it, and it is becoming dangerously close to becoming a chore rather than a hobby.

Practice, practice, practice is the only way with musical instruments. The more you practice the better you play. It Does become easier as you progress because you can begin to hear and feel the improvement. If you give up you will never reach that point. if you do not keep at it, you may regret that later in life. But it is your time and your life. Best of Luck OP.

[Turn7]

DervVW said:

Truth be told - I have been trying to get my fingers to work still. I have dropped off a little, had a few boring life tasks like painting the lounge getting in the way, but in truth I am finding it difficult to keep at it.

I guess Its just sticking at it, and it is becoming dangerously close to becoming a chore rather than a hobby.

Get Rocksmith on yer pc and it becomes fun again...

[prand]

My local arts centre does beginners workshops which seem to be a good way to learn in a group. Might be worth checking yours out so you aren't learning just by yourself.

[Centurion07]

Johnspex said:

AlleyCat said:

If you have a PS3/PS4, PC or Xbox you might also want to consider Rocksmith, its fantastic and a great way to learn as I have. all you need is the game, and a guitar that you can plug into it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rocksmith-2014-Real-Tone-C...

I also started practising off that too.

Hiya, I've just bought Riocksmith but I can't get either of my guitars to calibrate. I don't suppose yopu've got any tips have you please?

I've got it too and can't get mine to sync either. I've tried with and without my surround system, setting everything back to factory settings etc etc & still the delay between me playing and the sound coming out of the TV makes it completely unplayable. Real shame as I could see it being a huge boost to my playing.

[Mr_S]

Just bought Rocksmith on Steam as it was 66% off, but I didn't read all the blurb and have to buy the cable now.

It's a shame you can't use Rocksmith with a normal USB audio interface, I have a Avid fast Track solo but I can't get it to work.