NEW TO THIS SITE!!!

RBUNTING · #1 May 12th, 2005

Hello! My name is Becky and I am new to this site!! Help is needed!! I have had a guitar for over 2 years now and up until a month ago I could only play Jingle Bells!!! However, my husband bought me another acoustic guitar for our wedding anniversary and I decided to make it my aim in life to learn to play. Whilst I have got single note playing down to a T (at least on the first 4 strings) I am finding it increasingly difficult to play chords!! I don't know whether my fingers are not long enough but I cannot do it!!! My fingers end up touching the open strings and making a terrible din!!! I can play the really easy chords but end up with sore fingers and a sore head with frustration!!!

Should I just take up knitting instead?!!! How long realistically should I practice each day and how long will it take before I am able to be proficient?!!!

Thank you and sorry to rabbit on and on!

allthumbs · #2 May 12th, 2005

Thats a tough one to answer without more info. Do you have calluses yet? How well do you know where the bar chords are played,ie B chord 7th fret and other places. If you know basic chords more or less than buying Kirks' book plain Talk may be the way to go. There is no law that says you have to play full bar chords and Kirks' book shows you how. You also might want to consider fingerstyle rather than pick. If your comfortable with single notes, this is also an option. There are tons of tabs for finger style on the net. You need to make sure your guitar is set up right for you. If your fingers are hitting adjacent strings, the strings may be set too high or the neck needs to be adjusted. The lower the strings, the easier it is to press down. Try tucking your left elbow as close to the side of your body as you can and angle the guitar towards the wall in front of you to maybe 45 degrees. This makes it easier for your wrist to bend. Move your fretting hand further around the neck reaching towards the 6th string to increase your range. Go here to look for easier ways to finger chords.
http://www.looknohands.com/chordhous.../index_rb.html
chord house ::: guitar room (advanced) -- online guitar chords and scales
An hour a day is fine if your fingers can take it. Once you start getting somewhere and the pain goes away you will find you play more than that just for fun.
Angus Young from ACDC has small hands and he plays very well. He doesn't play full chords and doesn't seem to miss them. His hands are so small that when he does vibrato he has to shake his whole body to make it work because his hands are not strong enough. Down load PowerTab and or guitar pro to look for tabs that will work for you
http://www.power-tab.net/
Power Tab .net

http://www.guitar-pro.com/eng/Home.php

This is a good place to find accustic tabs for power tab. You may be able to find tunes that fit your level of playing there

http://www.acousticpower.com/
AcousticPower.com -- free acoustic tablatures in PowerTab format (free tabs)

Thats all I can think of at the moment. Hang in there and have fun with it.

allthumbs · #3 May 12th, 2005

another thought or two. Are you hitting the open D string when your playing a D chord at the 2nd fret? If so. is your thumb at the middle of the neck or even closer to the bottom edge of the neck? Are your fingers straight up from the strings, there should be as little angle as possible to ensure your not hitting other strings. If you can't play a D chord there cleanly, then chances are your strings are to high. Hope all this helps.

bluesguy · #4 May 12th, 2005

Everyone goes through what you are going through when they first learn how to play.

Which is good news. And well there really isn't any bad news unless you give up.

In my case, I have had a guitar for over 10 years now. I was able to learn how to play a song or two within six months. I was terrible. Also it took me forever to learn a new song.

About 15 months ago I found a great guitar teacher. Now I am capable enough to be able to play about 1/2 hours worth of music, well enough that I will play in front of someone besides my family. Also it now takes days to learn new songs my guitar teacher gives me to work on.

I would like to practice every day, but it doesn't always happen. I usually spend about 5 minutes warming up, 5 to 15 minutes on scales (depends on the scales how long it takes), and 10-15 minutes on new songs. Then if I have time I work on my repertoire. That can take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes.

Keep it up. It will get better. Hope this helps.

Spyder F16 · #5 May 13th, 2005

It' helps to try to have your fingers as perpendicular to the fretboard as possible.

Seeing youre a female, you may have to chop your fingernails alot shorter to do this if you have yours grown out. Long Fingernails dont generally go well with fretting notes.

Darkhodge · #6 August 25th, 2005

Chords just take time and practice in my opinion.

I think the reason you can't reach some of the frets is just because your fingers haven't become flexible yet.

I remember when I started playing I found the power chord really difficult to do. It's so easy now but if you ask anyone who doesnt play the guitar to finger a power chord (telling them how), they'll find it very difficult too.

Anyway just keep trying and soon it'll become easier.

Hodge