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August 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Southern California | Hello there, I am new here. My guitar has actually been sitting for years. I have suddenly had the desire to pull it out & play again. While I have no problems at all playing a melody line (single note at a time) I struggle with chords, which is what I want to play. My struggle is switching from chord to chord quickly, I am very slow. Does anyone have any good tips on how to get better at this? Do you think taking a class & having someone watch me & critique me & offer suggestions would benefit me? Thanks for your help. |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | Taking lessons and getting someone to observe your technique is probably a good idea, but in reality there is no substitute for plain old repetition. We were all there at one time or another. Its just the nature of learning.
Take a couple of basic chords (the "D" and the "C" for example) and practice going back and forth, slowly, 100 times. Then add in another (the "G") and do another 100 repetitions, and so on, and so on.
You will gain speed and accuracy very quickly. |
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Joined:
October 2005
Posts: 5332
Location: Bluffton, SC | Welcome to the neighborhood. The one and only way to get better is to practice. We're all looking for that magic pill but, so far, it hasn't surfaced. Now, how to best practice? With lessons, other people, tabs, etc? A healthy serving of all of the above. Just keep in mind, it's all meant to be fun so take your time, start with good habits and enjoy it. The rest will fall into place naturally.
Stick around and let us know how you progress. |
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Joined:
September 2004
Posts: 1180
Location: Vermont USA | Hi and welcome
I would suggest you find a teacher a few lessons with the right teacher can prove to be very valuable in the long run. What do you have for a guitar? Stick around these people are nuts but very helpful.
Pauly |
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Joined:
November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Go Slooooooooooow.
Use a timing that allows you to make the chord and change and then strum. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.... and speed up as you become more adept at the change. |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | A metronome can be your best friend.
A 2 3 4 / D 2 3 4 / A 2 3 4 / D 2 3 4 /
A 2 3 4 / E 2 3 4 / A 2 3 4 / E * * *
REPEAT
Oh! and welcome.
PS; don't believe most of what you get here.
Or trust the rest. |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 972
Location: PDX | For the price of a single lesson you could get a couple of great books.
"The Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar"
"The GuitarPrinciples Path: Level One- Chords & Rhythm"
Both are great books, especially for the beginning student. I have them both and use them daily in my practice.
_____
gh1 |
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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Southern California | Thanks everyone! I know that practice is the answer, I'm just wondering if there are better practice techniques that I'm not aware of. I want so badly to play a song. I'm trying to do a song right now that consists of G, C, Em, & D. I can play them well, it's just the transitioning that is tough for me. I have NEVER had proper lessons & just wonder if that might help, maybe I've developed bad habits or something like that. |
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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Southern California | oh yeah, I have the guitar handbook & a few other books, they are very helpful, but of course they can't observe, correct, & offer helpful hints........... |
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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Southern California | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
Go Slooooooooooow.
Use a timing that allows you to make the chord and change and then strum. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.... and speed up as you become more adept at the change. ohhh! that makes sense! I am going to try that! thank you so much!! |
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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Southern California | Originally posted by Paulcc1:
Hi and welcome
I would suggest you find a teacher a few lessons with the right teacher can prove to be very valuable in the long run. What do you have for a guitar? Stick around these people are nuts but very helpful.
Pauly I have an ovation celebrity. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | Funny you should mention the chords G, Em, C & D. I was going to recommend that you try and learn "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" by Bob Dylan which uses them. You should be able to do a decent strum on the chords within a week or so. Find a place where you can practice alone without being heard by others so you don't get self conscious about how crappy you sound or how many mistakes you make. I still practice that way because I still sound crappy and make lots of mistakes. :D
One note about teachers. After too many years of being self-taught, I started taking lessons at a local guitar place. The lessons were 1/2 hour and I liked the instructor. After six months though I wasn't improving as much as I thought I should and so I stopped the lessons. Then this past summer I signed up with the National Guitar Workshop for Matt Smith's course "The Complete Guitarist." By a wide margin, I learned more in that 5 day workshop than from the six months of lessons. My instructor just didn't have what it took to be a great instructor, like Matt is, even though he was a professional and very accomplished guitarist. My advice therefore is to be careful in choosing an instructor. Group workshops sometimes are better than private lessons. |
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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Southern California | Originally posted by Mitchrx:
Funny you should mention the chords G, Em, C & D. I was going to recommend that you try and learn "Don't Think Twice It's Alright" by Bob Dylan which uses them. You should be able to do a decent strum on the chords within a week or so. Find a place where you can practice alone without being heard by others so you don't get self conscious about how crappy you sound or how many mistakes you make. I still practice that way because I still sound crappy and make lots of mistakes. :D thanks! it's good to know I'm not alone! |
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Joined:
November 2005
Posts: 4833
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Originally posted by Mitchrx:
I still practice that way because I still sound crappy and make lots of mistakes. Right, unlike the rest of us who leave Tommy Emmanuel in the dust at jams..... :rolleyes: |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 1138
Location: CT | hmmm.... I can play chords fast, its the single note melody and lead lines I suck at.. Here's an idea.. A band. I'll do the rythm work, and you play lead.
Welcome to the club! A good bunch of people, but you need a thick skin sometimes.. :rolleyes: |
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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Southern California | Originally posted by brainslag:
hmmm.... I can play chords fast, its the single note melody and lead lines I suck at.. Here's an idea.. A band. I'll do the rythm work, and you play lead.
Welcome to the club! A good bunch of people, but you need a thick skin sometimes.. :rolleyes: wow, that's interesting....perhaps I was meant to play lead!! I would really like to master both though........at least somewhat decently. |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Welcome ,and that`s a Nice guitar that you`ve got.. :)
Vic
..good teacher..good tuition..good idea.. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12761
Location: Boise, Idaho | I learned to strum chords either by a book or by others showing me. It was so long ago I don't remember. I never learned the single notes. My daughter picked up a Mel Bay or Hal Leonard book that taught the notes first. She also had an instructor. Unfortunately, once she graduated from college and no longer had access to a cheap or free teacher, she hasn't played much.
If you keep working on the chord changes, first on open chords, then on barre chords, you can strum to a lot of songs. That should keep things interesting as you improve.
If you have the time and discipline to practice regularly and attend lessons, find a teacher and do it. When I tried piano lessons a few years ago, my schedule just didn't work with the teacher's and I had to drop it. |
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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 61
Location: Illinois, U.S.A. | Originally posted by fishchick72:
Hello there, I am new here. My guitar has actually been sitting for years. I have suddenly had the desire to pull it out & play again. While I have no problems at all playing a melody line (single note at a time) I struggle with chords, which is what I want to play. My struggle is switching from chord to chord quickly, I am very slow. Does anyone have any good tips on how to get better at this? Do you think taking a class & having someone watch me & critique me & offer suggestions would benefit me? Thanks for your help. I just went through this experience. Here's what I found worked for me. First I put on new strings and bought a cheap tuner. That made the neck much easier to play, and I knew whatever sound came out was MY playing, and not some quirky noise I could blame on an old guitar.
I picked a simple tune with four or five major chords. For each session, I practiced each chord one-at-a-time until each string sounded out clearly and I held the sustain for a bit. Then, slowly, I'd start playing the succession of chords, making sure each rang out properly. I'd sit watching TV playing that same tune for perhaps 45 minutes at a stretch, after my hand muscles had stregthened a bit, until the chord changes became automatic and flawless. Then I'd take a break, and start tune #2 the same way.
Having good strings, proper tuning, and regaining my finger strength were key for my re-learning what I remembered as being so easy years ago. Daily practice proved better than longer, but less frequent sessions. By the time my fingernails grew to proper picking length, I was sounding sort of OK again and gaining speed with more difficult chord grips. |
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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Southern California | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I learned to strum chords either by a book or by others showing me. It was so long ago I don't remember. I never learned the single notes. My daughter picked up a Mel Bay or Hal Leonard book that taught the notes first. She also had an instructor. Unfortunately, once she graduated from college and no longer had access to a cheap or free teacher, she hasn't played much.
If you keep working on the chord changes, first on open chords, then on barre chords, you can strum to a lot of songs. That should keep things interesting as you improve.
If you have the time and discipline to practice regularly and attend lessons, find a teacher and do it. When I tried piano lessons a few years ago, my schedule just didn't work with the teacher's and I had to drop it. Hal Leonard sounds familiar..........I think that might be the lesson books my brother had that I taught myself out of...........I only got through the first one & maybe the very beginning of the second one though. |
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Joined:
August 2007
Posts: 71
Location: Southern California | Originally posted by ADAMAS Hater aka Enfant Terrible:
Welcome ,and that`s a Nice guitar that you`ve got.. :)
Vic
..good teacher..good tuition..good idea.. Thank you!! I have always loved Ovation guitars, it was about the only one I could afford. I had an applause one, had the shallow back (which I didn't like), but was the same color. I traded it for the celebrity. |
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May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | 1)Take a course of 10 lessons.
2)Make friends with a tech at a local music shop, not guitar center
3)Once lesssons are done buy a book, like Mel Bay's How to Play Country Guitar or Blues Guitar. Go through the whole book.
4)Learn some songs from Musicnotes.com that you like.
5)Play at a coffee house.
6)Post regularly on the OFC
I recommend the following books:
1)Guitar Player Repair Guide by Dan Ealwing
2)The Guitar Book by Denier (sp)
3)Book of Strums by Sokolow (For right hand technique.)
4)Mel Bay How to Play Blues Guitar
5)Fretboard Logic |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | :cool: BUY A GUITAR STAND!! :cool: |
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Joined:
March 2002
Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | www.workshoplive.com |
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Joined:
September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I wanted to write something profound, or witty.
I have many, many, books that I never read. I have DVD's that I watched once.
I think my playing sux, but people tell me I'm good. (ie. I'm better than they are)
I've learned more stuff off of YouTube and Ultimate Guitar website than anywhere.
But the most important thing that I did learn, from a coupla DVD's, a coupla books and websites, is...
BUY A GUITAR STAND!
If it is sitting within arms reach, you will play it.
If it is it a case in a closet, you won't.
But you know that, that is why you have an old guitar...
And Welcome!
Keep Coming Back, It Works If You Work It! :p |
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Tips on playing
