[Bothrops]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and to the guitar.
I play tin whistle and I'm also learning keyboard, since 5 months ago or so.

My brother and my sister in law have been playing guitar for more than 8 years and in the last few days I asked my brother to help me in learning guitar.
I tried his classic guitar and I learnt in less than 3 days the chords C, D, E, F, G, A, B, Dm, Em, Fm and Am. My brother was surprised that I was able to play most of those chords ''perfectly'' (without muted or buzzing strings) and also changing chords pretty fast for being a complete beginner.

Now, getting to the point...
My sister in law has an acoustic guitar which wasn't being used, so she left it at my home and said that I can have it for practicing until 'undertermined time'.
I'm so happy, since it's an Ibanez, very beautiful and sounds great.
But what happens? I seem to be unable to play a single chord on this guitar. The steel strings are killing me, and despite of that, I try to keep playing, since I really want to learn, but I'm getting frustrated.
The neck is much thinner than in the classic and I can't find the way to put my fingers correctly (and I have average hand size).
I also find that I'm doing a lot of pressure to press the strings, and I KNOW that if done correctly, I shouldn't do it that hard.

I really need help and tips. I prefer the sound of the acoustic guitar than the classic guitar and I want to take advantage that I have this one at home.
How to position the fingers in order to play a chord almost effortless? I have problems even for the easiest chords like A or Em.


Thanks a lot in advance,
Martin

[knight46]

Hello Martin and welcome to the forum. I am not an expert but playing a classic guitar is easier on the fingers due to less tension on the strings and a normally wider neck. With an acoustic that has steel strings you need to build up calluses on your finger tips that will lessen the pain and seemingly make your fingers smaller. Don't give up, keep practicing and it will come in time. Enjoy the journey.

[almaink]

Just because a guitar looks pretty doesn't mean it's easy to play. If it's not "set up" properly it could be a real nightmare to play. Perhaps your bother or one of the other family members could check that out for you. It might just need some new strings and a neck adjustment. Or the bridge may need to be lowered. Once a guitar is set up, you will find it a lot easier to play.

[Bothrops]

Originally Posted by almaink

Just because a guitar looks pretty doesn't mean it's easy to play. If it's not "set up" properly it could be a real nightmare to play. Perhaps your bother or one of the other family members could check that out for you. It might just need some new strings and a neck adjustment. Or the bridge may need to be lowered. Once a guitar is set up, you will find it a lot easier to play.

My brother and my sister in law both played this guitar and made it sound ''effortless'', but they are rather good players.
They just told me that due to the thinner neck and the steel strings it's normal that it may be harder to me in the beginning, but after learning on this, if I would pick up a classical guitar would be much easier.

So, it seems that the guitar is just fine, the problem it's me.

[allthumbs]

Same happens to me when I switch from my norman to my washburn. Skinny necks take a lot more accuracy and technique. All guitars are not created equal. smiles. Some guitars suit your hands better than others. Having said that, You will find going back to fatter necks much easier. Your improved technique will transfer. Hang in there.

[mantablueraider]

yep, stay with it!

[Bothrops]

I´ve been practicing for at least an hour a day and it seems that I'm improving a bit. Now I'm able to play at least a few chords perfectly, and I'm also capable of strumming pretty good (with my fingers, because I still haven't figured out how to strum correctly using a pick).

I'm left-handed but I'm learning to play as right handed. After 10 days or so, now it feels rather natural


Thanks =)

[Tekker]

Originally Posted by Bothrops

I still haven't figured out how to strum correctly using a pick.

Hi Bothrops, welcome to the forum!

First of all, you want to make sure that you're holding the pick correctly. This will make strumming much, much easier as you will have better control over the pick's motions.

Here is a great video on how to hold the pick.
YouTube - How to Hold a Guitar Pick

Once the grip is down, the biggest thing I see with beginning guitarists is that their strumming arm tends to stop and start in a very jerky manner. Your arm should swing fluently like a pendulum, constantly moving down and up. When you are not striking the strings you arm should keep moving but you simply skip over the strings without playing them. If there is a longer pause in between strums, you can make small up/down movements so you don't have to come all the way back up and then down the strings without strumming and wasting energy (not to mention it looks ridiculous ). The important thing is to always keep the arm moving up and down to get a smooth strumming pattern.

Hope that helps.

-tkr

[johnnydoxx]

First, the other guys know more than I do, but here's some things I know (because I learned them from the other guys ).

I find that new strings make a big difference, and a lighter gauge is easier to play than a heavier (at least for me). Also there is a product called Finger-Eze that coats the strings to make it a bit easier to move around.
And the 'action' as someone alluded to set-up can help a lot too. This is how far the strings are 'away from' the neck, too far away and it gets harder to hold the chords as you approach the body of the guitar.
Thumb position is also important.
There have been many posts on these aspects, not sure how one would search for them all.

[Bothrops]

After practicing chords for 3+ months, I can play most of them almost without effort

Here it's something stupid that I recorded to show you my progress. Before 3-4 months I didn't even know what a guitar was

I played the recording using a capo in the 2nd fret and the chords are (in order): Am, Dm, G, CMaj7, FMaj7, Dm, E7, Am (and repeat).

Thanks,
Martin

[mantablueraider]

great that you know so many chords, now it's just a matter spending the rest of your life improving them. don't forget, no matter how fast you can strum a chord, most people can hear the missed notes in those chords. your doing great for only three months in and never even heard of a guitar before that! lol even though your brother and sister in law have been playing those things for 8 years! i'm not busting your chops, just suggesting you take it a little slower and channel your eagerness into the guitar, not into impressing us here on this forum.... good luck!

[solidwalnut]

Nice progress Martin.