learning guitar

  • Thread starter Thread starter Layla Nahar
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Layla Nahar

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I'm basically a singer, and I've been learning guitar for a little over a year, with some periods of more dedication than others. I get so frustrated over how incompetent my hands feel. Like, why is it that *no matter how* I position my first finger, there are always some strings that go flub when I play a bar chord (F maj and Bb maj - I'm trying to play King of carrot Flowers)

I've been working on the switch from Bb maj to C7 and F maj for some time now, and I feel like it just never gets better. Any suggestions as to how to practice better so that my hands will be able to do this stuff? How long should it take before I can make these changes comfortably?

Layla
 
Someone will probably complain about my saying this, but I would recommend that you take your guitar to a good repair shop, and see if it needs a setup. A properly setup guitar is easier to play, and if it is easier to play, you will play more, and have more fun doing it. An acoustic setup should only run you $40-65, and you will be much happier with it. This is not a problem with the guitar, but a perfectly normal thing. Guitars are made of wood. Wood changes.

Just a suggestion.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
How about just playing it in the key of E? If you can manage it (singing wise), transpose it to the key of G. If not that then put on a capo. Try partial bars while playing the chords. There are a lot of little tricks you can use to get away from complete bar chords.

Also start doing exercises to strenghten your hands and fingers. You'll find that building strenghth can also help with flexability and co-ordination.
 
It takes time, but more importantly it requires the correct attitude AND regular productive practise and Light is correct about the importance of a good setup.

I started learning when I was 12 and religously practiced every day for at least 1/2 an hour, as my fingers toughened I extended the practice time. Within 12 months I was playing barre chords quite comfortably and this was on a shitty cheap guitar with minimal (if any) setup.............it was also 43 yrs ago.

:cool:
 
Toonsmith said:
Also start doing exercises to strenghten your hands and fingers. You'll find that building strenghth can also help with flexability and co-ordination.
Click to expand...

You mean like getting one of those things you hold in your hand and push with your fingers, like a little gym for the hand? Any other reccomendations on what I can do to strengthen my hands?

LN
 
The first thing that came to mind was along the lines of Light's comment.

Make sure you have a playable guitar!!! That would involve a good guitar that's properly set up. Maybe you could use lighter strings so that you can get the right feel in your left hand for the barre, and then as your strength builds you can go to heavier strings. You may have plenty of strength, and just need to work on applying it in the right shape.
 
Bar chords took me ages, it could even have been 18 months before I was doing them right consistantly, and at about a year I was probably the same as you (and people said I was a fast learner too).

With regards to switching chords, it's not really the transistion from one to the other that gets programmed into your brain it's just the position. Teach your fingers where to go and they'll get there, no matter where you send them from.
 
Just play the thing every day. When your fingers get tired, stop. Come back to it later and play some more. :D
 
Finger exercises will help you develop dexterity, strength and coordination-- all three of which will help you change chords "better."

Here's a finger exercise that I play every day. I think of it as bench-pressing for the fingers.

Start on the top string. Place your index finger on the first fret. Pick the string and hammer-on your middle, ring, and pinky fingers on each fret. So your middle finger hammers the 2nd fret, ring finger hammers 3rd fret, and pinky hammers the 4th fret-- all in one smooth motion.

Next, do the same thing on each string going down the neck (still starting at the first fret) then move the whole thing up a fret (starting on the 2nd fret now) and do it again. I do this until my pinky hits the 12th fret on the bottom string.

Usually I'll do this exercise several times. You will feel the burn in your fingers kind of like when you are doing curls and you feel the burn in your biceps. You may not even be able to go all the way up the neck for a while. But this exercise will build your finger-strength/dexterity quickly. I can do it several times (and playing it very quickly) before my fingers start to burn. But I've been doing this exercise for at least 10 years. I bet you will start to see/feel results in a week or two.

Good Luck!
 
The suggestion by Light is a good one. If you go that route, consider asking for extra light strings. These are easier to chord and may make it easier to learn. Then later, at playing improves, you might move up more normal gauge strings.

Ed
 
There are lots of good suggestions here. You've definitely picked a couple of the toughest chords for beginners there! For this song in particular (and it's cool to see a fan of Neutral Milk Hotel), it'd be easier to do 1 of 3 things:

- get a capo and put it on the 1st fret. Then play the chords as if they were A, B7 and E, respectively. This is probably what the guy is doing on this song anyways.

- if you don't have a capo handy, try tuning up 1/2 step and play A, B7 and E. This will certainly make your guitar harder to play because the strings will be under more tension...plus the extra tension will knock the intonation out of whack. Basically your guitar would play and sound like crap...but it'd be the same pitch as the record with easier chords to play.

- or, just play the song 1/2 lower than it was written, with A, B7 and E. It'd probably be easier to sing this way anyways.

Good luck. And if you learn "Oh, Comely", you'll have to record it and give me a link to it ;)
 
Ed,

What are "normal gauge strings"? .10 .11 .12 .13 ?????

rpe
 
I view 10's as normal gauge. 9's are usually considered light and 8's super lite.

I have 10's on my Gibsons and Fenders and 9.5's on my PRS.

Ed
 
Ed Dixon said:
I view 10's as normal gauge. 9's are usually considered light and 8's super lite.

I have 10's on my Gibsons and Fenders and 9.5's on my PRS.

Ed
Click to expand...
That is for electric. Lights are .010, extra lights are .009, and .008 is a super light. .011 are mediums.

On an acoustic, .012 is a light set, .013 is a medium, and .010 is extra light. It takes more energy to drive the top of an acoustic than the pickups of an electric.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
True. Most electrics I see come with either 9's or 10's.

I actually have 10's on my acoustic, as I cannot grow callases on my fingers.

Ed
 
Thank your for all the great suggestions

Insaneogram, - someone said I was a fast learner, too.

Tadpui, concering "Oh Comely" - yer on! I just tried to sing it at the CD pitch. It's so not in my range - it will be good practice for my Ears to try & transpose it

I *wondered* about my guitar. I thought it was ok but I will ask some of my real-world gitar friends what they think of it. I'm considering upgrading to a decent accousitc electric as a 'present' for writing 5 new songs and being able to sing & play another 5 or 6 by the end of the summer.

Layla
 
Practice hammer-ons and pull-offs, too strengthen your hands. Get a rubber, tension relief, squeezy ball, for the times you're not playing. Also, make sure your play on your fingertips, to avoid muting the other strings.
 
Scottgman said:
Finger exercises will help you develop dexterity, strength and coordination-- all three of which will help you change chords "better."

Here's a finger exercise that I play every day. I think of it as bench-pressing for the fingers.

Start on the top string. Place your index finger on the first fret. Pick the string and hammer-on your middle, ring, and pinky fingers on each fret. So your middle finger hammers the 2nd fret, ring finger hammers 3rd fret, and pinky hammers the 4th fret-- all in one smooth motion.

Next, do the same thing on each string going down the neck (still starting at the first fret) then move the whole thing up a fret (starting on the 2nd fret now) and do it again. I do this until my pinky hits the 12th fret on the bottom string.
Click to expand...

That's a good exercise, especially for warming up. I would suggest starting at the twelfth fret instead (or as high a four-fret range as is comfortable on your acoustic) and work your way down the fretboard and back up. This allows a more gradual stretching of the muscles both in the fingers and the fingertips, as it is harder to stretch and press down as you go lower down the fretboard.

I too agree that you should make sure your guitar is set up properly. Also make sure you are barring right behind the fret itself, or even in some cases, touching its backside. The rest is just strength.
 
Many people, when learning barre chords, try way to hard to press down on all those strings with the "palm" side of the finger (if that makes sense). Try rotating your index finger slightly, so that more of the left side of your finger (the part closest to your thumb) is fretting the strings. You might find this is a little easier. You also want to make sure your thumb is behind the neck, and the closer your thumb is to your index finger, the more pressure will be relieved when trying to make those barre chords. Lastly, move that neck up closer to your face and try to straighten your wrist out.

Hope that helps.
 
Purge is right actually. Eventually I worked out that getting bar chords right had more to do with the rotation of my index finger than it's positioning or even how hard I pressed.
 
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