[Brett]

Ok I got my acoustic guitar and this video, I know pretty much all the stuff about the guitar, but its hard to reduce buzzing or bad sounds on the strings when I play a chord, and I barely get to play them and sound ok. And also how long does it take for calluses to form?, it seems like these strings are on the verge of cutting my skin on my fingertips.

And I cant even imagine moving from one chord to another, all the chords I know well are E, A and D. So should i just practice getting good sounds with these and learn some more of the open string chords? Will I eventually be able to get a good sound easily ( like second nature?) it seems so hard, I've been playing for 2 days and i feel i have learned alot but its sorta hard.

Any tips or inspiration?

[Kirk Lorange]

Two days, eh? It will take a couple of weeks to get calluses of any worth, and then regular playing to keep them like that. That's regular daily playing.

I will become easier, trust me. Pushing wires down onto other wires and coordinating the other hand to get those wires a'vibratin' ia about as far away from anything 'natural' as you could come up with, but believe me, if you stick at it, it wll become the most satisfying thing you'll ever do. Those buzzes and rattles will disappear before long. Check to make sure your fingers are always as close to the fret wire as possible. That's often a source of buzzing, if you're fingering the string to far back toward the headstock, the string doesn't make solid contact with the fret wire.

Changing chords seems impossible at first, but soon becomes second nature. You'll find that it's more of a sequential movement of fingers coming off of one chord shape and moving to their new positions. It doesn't all happen in one move. Your ear, in a while, will tell you which can move first and which should stay a little longer.

And, yes, it is sorta hard, even after years and years of playing. That's the beauty of it though. It's always a challenge.

[Brett]

Yeah , i'm making some improvment, i got like 5 chords memorized, just hard making sure i dont buzz or something, and a lil hard to go from one chord to the next.

What should i do after i learn a good amount of chords, i'm clueless of what to do after that. I'm getting together with my friend this week end and he is going to teach me some stuff, maybe i'll learn some stuff.

[frankfp6]

I have been playing Guitar for a full two weeks now.

All but my fourth finger sport calluses which says that I'm probably not using it enough and resorting to the stronger third.

As a keyboard player I see buzzing equivalent to not hitting a key squarely on target. It takes a lot of practice on keyboard to hit keys accurately and I don't see why the guitar should be different. The guitar requires precise control of finger position to get clarity and you cannot be close enough to another string that it will vibrate against an unintended finger.

This is not easy. And although similar as I said to the keyboard -- the keyboard can be a little more forgiving.

The F chord with a half barre took me 13 days to get a clean tone on an Ibanez FP6 -- I traced the problem to lack of strenght to hold strings one and two down and a developed callus helped here.

Leaning the edge of the finger towards the fret also helps.

This chord is also made more difficult as it is close to the nut. You must have your finger up against the fret and press hard to do it.

I am working on a full barre but I'm not even close yet -- but if I don't once or twice each day these muscles will never develop. I'm living proof that two weeks a guitar player does not make.

Frank

[WayneXG95]

Brett..Playing Barre chords isn't much fun on a acoustic at any time but will be made more diffcult if you haven't had your guitar set up for it.
This is something any music shop should be able to do for you..they will check how you play and make ajustments. Kirk can fill you in on more details

Wayne

[Spyder F16]

Also another addition, if you feel as if you're fighting the guitar, something isnt probably totally right. I would say have the action checked out by your local music shop (or a luthier), to see if it is correct. On an acoustic, you do need to press harder than on an electric, but not hard enough where you feel you're fighting the guitar.