[randomaire]

I like the way the site is and all and the basic chord training at the first of it, but then everything from there goes into all fingerstyle... yes I know you form a chord then finger notes on the chord... got it. The point is, not much on basic fingering, basic chording, descriptions of chords, learning the songs takes huge amounts of time, because you have to listen to the midi's over and over and try to get the timing and style to mix just right.. or even sound good enough to be something decent and not making the dogs run from the room. What I'm trying to say basically I think is that there is such a huge gap for me from what the true beginner lessons were to the fingerstyle lessons.. why go from a chord lessons straight into learning a finger style lesson. Maybe its just me, maybe if I was a little more versed in finger style, then this would be a great site for me, but like anything else I guess you take what you can use and throw out the rest or log it somewhere for future reference. (Now I'm gonna wait for the flames) I mean don't get me wrong props to the songs and the info, but not beginner enough for me apparently cause I find myself more frustrated trying to learn a song on the site than I would picking a random tab online somewhere else and working through it, why? I don't really know.

[randomaire]

Definitly like the finger exercises though, from Tekker.

Finger Exercise Patterns

Great warmups. And really good at building speed and finger-fret placement.

[allthumbs]

Sorry you are having such a hard time with the lessons. Have you tried just playing the chords over the lessons instead of the finger picking? I know there are sites out there more orientated for playing chords, but they are just as complex as the lessons here. Their complexity just lies in a different direction.
Sounds to me like you need to really get your basics down. The lessons here are all based around chords. Many are written around very basic open chords with a few added notes.
Don't judge yourself by others progress. I have a learning disability that makes me fight for every advance I get so I can relate to your frustration.
If you do leave us, I hope you keep the bookmark and come back when you feel more comfortable. Playing is all about enjoying yourself, find what brings the fun back into your practice. No flames here. The door is always open.

[randomaire]

Lost sheep syndrome, lost in a wealth of knowledge, do I pick up mary had a little lamb the pop up picture book, or do I pick up war and peace. I guess I'm just a bit confused on how to actually progress is all. And whats that dewey decimal system all about? Is that shelf 12 in the E section or shelf 3 in the C section.

[allthumbs]

Originally Posted by randomaire

Lost sheep syndrome, lost in a wealth of knowledge, do I pick up mary had a little lamb the pop up picture book, or do I pick up war and peace. I guess I'm just a bit confused on how to actually progress is all. And whats that dewey decimal system all about? Is that shelf 12 in the E section or shelf 3 in the C section.

Don't ask me. I am still mourning for book sections by topic.
Try the Capo Lane lesson to get your fingers used to going where you want them to. House of the Rising Sun is an easier one than most. Look through the lessons for tunes with simple chords in them. Chances are, like I said before, they will be the ones that stick pretty close to the chord shapes you know. Good luck.

[randomaire]

Yeah that one does seem a tad easier cause I do know chords fairly decent and have gotten a lot better with my switching speed, but whew the individual picking of notes, yeah not so much there lol... ouch 5 hours my fingers hurt... maybe i just need a break. Just got a tad frustrated there don't mean to rant.

[allthumbs]

5 hours is a long time to be playing if your not having fun. Mix it up. Play the chords, play chord fragments to fill out the bars, explore what notes fit and what don't.
I don't think there is a player here who hasn't gotten frustrated many, many times regardless of skill level. Hang in there. We all go through it.

[737blues]

Like AT has said randomaire, don't give up yet. Fact is the regulars on this forum cover a very broad spectrum of abilities, from professionals down to bedroom plunkers. There is no magic 'this is how you do it in one painless lesson' but I think you will find that if you have some specific questions, folks here will do their best to help you out. Good luck.

[randomaire]

Ok so I guess the question would be... Say you know the chords. You're trying to learn the finger picking for Kirk's songs. I can nail the chords with the right timing, but when trying to pick the notes I suffer pretty bad, using the whole t.i.m.p thing... I mean is it just a point of building up speed or is there something I'm missing, cause I just can't get it to sound right enough, not trying to be as good as kirk I know, just enough to at least make it distinguishable as the song, instead of pick a note, second later, pick another note.... is it just time and practice? Its like I'm at a point where I know I can pick up most anything fairly quickly, but I'm not able to do this to well. I can look at tabs and within an hour have a halfway decent sound.. mind you its chords and strum patterns, but whew the finger picking is kicking my butt! Anything that could lessen that whooping would be helpful. I don't know whats wrong actually, I'm just painfully slow at picking the individual notes.

[papadog65]

For what it's worth, randomaire, it's pretty slow going for me, too. Over the last few years I've gotten fairly comfortable with a number of chords, and I enjoy playing different progressions. But it sometimes takes me weeks to get a tune down from tabs that have a lot of notes to pick.

I tend to get each chord down first while keeping an eye on where the picked notes have to fall around the chord shape, then work out fingerings and changes that I can do. I've been learning to finger pick for about a year or so, and it seems to be getting easier, but learning a note-heavy tab piece still is a struggle.

Just keep trying. It feels so good when you finally get one down!

[dougp23]

Papadog has it right: "It feels so good when you finally get one down!"

Randomaire, don't feel like you're not progressing! If you can play all the chords, and switch between them cleanly and quickly like you said, you can play a ton of songs! I am still learning basic chords. It just takes a lot of time, practice, and immense patience! But it is a lot of fun along the way, especially "when you finally get one down!"

[Teddy Madison]

I think I understand where you are coming from. I was comfortable in playing chords and then wanted more and the next step was finger style, there is a big gap there by nature, the two are night and day for your pick hand. I have been forcing myself to just walk the fret board and practice finger pick patterns, (boooooring) but it has been very helpful. Keep at it, starting fingerstyle is frustrating as all h*ll, I still s*ck but there is just enough progress to keep me going.

Wayne

[Fretsource]

Randomaire, I agree it can be quite a jump going from strumming chords to holding and picking out individual notes with fingerstyle. And that's one reason why I wrote a lesson on pattern picking or fingerstyle acompaniment. At its simplest, you are still holding a chord, as you do with strumming, but you focus just on your picking hand and play a repeating pattern with fingers. Once you've got the pattern established, you just keep it going, throughout the song, changing chords where necessary. You can apply the patterns as an accompaniment to many songs and you don't need to follow tab to do it - just chord sheets (or memory). It soon becomes as easy and automatic as strumming and it trains the fingers of your picking hand, so that when you'r ready to attempt solo fingertyle pieces, with their ever-changing combinations of strings and notes with both hands, you'll be much better equipped to do it.
If you've already tried the fingerstyle accompaniment lesson and didn't find it helpful, feel free to point out its shortcomings - and I might be able to improve it.
But if you haven't tried it yet - have a look here.

[737blues]

Going from simple strumming to good finger-style playing is not just a matter of playing familiar chords, one note at a time. Most players spend months, even years developing a good picking style and that's practising lots, every day.

[Cliff]

I never did any finger picking before I found this site. But one of Kirk's lessons was "Here Comes the Sun" (I don't know if it's still on here or not) and I'm a huge Beatles fan so I just had to learn it. It took me weeks but I enjoyed the progress I was making every day and eventually I got it. I've done the same with some of his other lessons and each time, it takes me a little bit less time. I guess it's all in how it effects you--> frustration because it takes so long or excitement at the progress you're making each day. Now when I play "Here Comes the Sun" I feel like a professional jamming with the spirit of George Harrison.