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Lesson 3 and hit a wall


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Hi everyone; I am new to the site and just need to know what I can do to improve.  I have only been at this since the first of 2018; I know it takes time and persistence.  I practice every day for 30-60 min.  My problem areas are the G7 and C chords I just can't get my fingers to cooperate and get a good sound.  At this point am I just being too critical of myself?  I have read several pointers from Steve and they do help to encourage; I love his style of teaching.

Thanks all!

 

 

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22 minutes ago, Tpettygirl said:

Hi everyone; I am new to the site and just need to know what I can do to improve.  I have only been at this since the first of 2018; I know it takes time and persistence.  I practice every day for 30-60 min.  My problem areas are the G7 and C chords I just can't get my fingers to cooperate and get a good sound.  At this point am I just being too critical of myself?  I have read several pointers from Steve and they do help to encourage; I love his style of teaching.

Thanks all!

"At this point am I just being too critical of myself?"  Probably.  You've only been at this barely over a month!  Don't worry too much about the chords for the first four lessons.  Those chord shapes are there in the early lessons for you to start memorizing the shapes and start to get the chords to ring out clearly.  Concentrate  on the learning the single notes for these first lessons. You will start studying chords seriously in Session 5.

Good luck to you and welcome to Guitar Gathering.

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Hi Tpettygirl. My suggestion is to practice chord changes painfully slow. There is no need to be fast while you try to get your fingers working. Watch closely where your fingers are going. When this starts to feel comfortable close your eyes while making the chord changes. Using slow changes will help build muscle memory and in no time you'll notice that your finger placement will be dead on.

Tim.

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Thanks for the replies; I will do as suggested in both of the responses.

Much appreciated.

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Hi, Tpettygirl, and welcome to the forum and the course! It sounds like you are off to a good start. Chords can wait. You will get them. I think Steve introduced the C and G7 early as a taste of musical dessert to sustain the new student while she figures out the notes.

As you start out, I recommend these two very short collections of valuable advice:

First, Learn to Practice, by Tom Heany

The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills, by Daniel Coyle

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Thanks DianeB,

Ordered both books and thanks for the encouragement! 

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Hello Tpettygirl,

I am so glad that you have posted on this forum. I see you have been given some great advice already.

I remember getting frustrated with the chords early on myself. I have small hands and when I first started doing them my finger placement was terrible, they sounded dreadful and they hurt so much that I could only do a couple of bars at a time.

My chords did not really blossom until a lot later.

Here is what I did. I practiced the 2 chords for short bursts each day in between doing my other learning from the course. It was ages before I could get them right and they stopped hurting me. Now that I look back I understand that there were 2 processes going on. The first was that by practicing the chords I was gradually stretching out my hand and building up the muscles necessary to be able to play them. The second was that I was building up muscle memory. Its kind of like eating while you are watching a dvd. You do not need to concentrate when your hand goes up to your mouth because your brain/muscles in the arm, fingers and hand remember how to do that.

You are an athlete in training! 

I hope this helps. Keep in touch with us to let us know how you are getting on.

Mandy

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Mandy,

Thank you for the warm welcome!  And I love the analogy “athlete in training”, makes perfect sense!

Will definitely be back as my progression continues; I am so glad I came here!

Janice

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Tpettygirl I know the frustration of trying to learn the open chords.  Mandy's advice is spot on.  I particularly struggled with C and G7 at the beginning.  I just kept muting the other strings terribly.  All I can say is keep trying.  Even when you are having a terrible practice keep making the chords and switching between.  For me it seems like progress was made after nearly wanting to give up.  Like the next day was always a little better.  And soon you will see growth and this was very rewarding for me.  Play along to the tracks provided.  It makes it fun.

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Don't let the fact that you can't play them perfectly prevent you from playing the chords... the more you play them the better they will sound.

Also, I find that what works best for me is to do shorter practice sessions, for example 4x15 minutes instead of a single 1 hour session in the day. So for the chords, I would suggest to play them randomly in your practice sessions. For example, between each exercice play each chord a few times. It shouldn't even take a minute and you should see improvement quickly. The exercices that have chords over them is also a great way to practice, even if you don't know all the chords yet; just play the ones you know instead.

Another thing I do is to play a chord when I make a mistake. It prevents me from cursing and hitting my strings (I exagerate a bit...) and "refreshes" my brain for a second before attempting the exercice again. This method has kept me zen, and so far I am comfortable with 6 chords and I am almost at the halfway point of session 4.

That's what works for me anyways, everyone is different.

 

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Welcome.

To add to the chorus of advice, focus on the note exercises in these early sessions.  

Chords will come in later sessions including other forms of the G7 that you may find more useful in a musical setting.  The open C you will definitely need, but again, there are chapters ahead dedicated to working on that.

Remember the forum is here for help and encouragement, so share your successes and frustrations.

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Guitar is so great and fun. But at first, it can be frustrating and painfully slow plodding. Don't lose faith...it will come to you with practice and before long you'll be playing songs! In session 3 you are just starting to try a couple chords. That's a big new thing for your fingers to learn to do. And your fingers right now are just plain weak and untrained. So follow the course materials, practice, and give your fingers time to learn. 

Here is the best method I've ever found for learning new chords efficiently (i.e. faster), and for learning to change between them. However, it does require that you are able to get the chord to ring out. So it may just be a little too strenuous for you at this point. You can try it for a day or two and see if it helps you get those chords burned into your muscle memory. At this point in your development you'll find it next to impossible to follow the chords he is playing and don't even TRY to form those yet - your fingers are not ready! But the methodology in this video is pure gold. He's also going a LOT faster than you should or probably could at this stage in your development. Good luck! 

 

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Thank you all for the encouragement!  Still working on everything and will keep you updated on my progress.

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Just wanted to welcome you.. and many have given spot on advice. Mandy as stated , ref muscle memory is the key to many things in life and especially guitar playing. One day it will just come naturally and you will say "I have it" .. once again welcome and enjoy your journey. 

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I think, when i was in those early stages I was focused on dexterity, and finger strength. I was having an issue that things were just Buzzing a lot. I was not pressing down hard enough - my tips were hurting. I backed off for a little bit, maybe four days and came back to it. It gradually got better. Once I could form the cords individually without serious buzzing issue then I worked on transitioning from one chord to the next - moving only what i need to. 

I broke it down to two steps for all my chords. C to G7

step 1) drop the c to the F

step 2) raise the other two fingers as one unit - up one string.

I would work this both ways. C to G7 and G7 to C

I took a long time until I was ready to play a song using these two chords - I practiced all the time. When i was watching TV I would have my guitar unplugged - I was constantly going back and forth. As I sat at my computer listening to music - I had my guitar and was practicing my transitioning between them. I really takes many hours in some cases, and mine is one of those - nothing comes easy for me. ...  Next I took on the G major chord, I used the 2-3-4 fingering - - it made more sense to me ( to free up the first finger for the barre chords later on). 

I also remember lowering the metronome really low.. might have been 40bpm and leaving on the 3 so I could arrive on the 1 count. Speed comes in time - a lot of time. For now though, you need to slow things down so you can complete songs and arrive on the 1 count for the next chord.

This is my thoughts ... its late I babbled too much already ... just stick with it ... it will get better if you forge onward.

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Hello Tpettygirl,

I was just listening to this podcast. He gives some suggestions on how to get past the plateaus.

You are being too hard on yourself. I have been playing for a few years and when I am learning new chords they always start off very rough. But with time and practice they do get better.

How I practice chords is I will play the chord shape on the neck and try to get it to sound as clean as possible. I'll then put my fretting hand down on my leg and then try to make the shape with my fingers first and then place them on the neck of the guitar. I'll do this several times per sitting and eventually I am able to include the new chord shape in my playing.

Be patient, you'll get there. But don't give up.

Best of luck to you and welcome.

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Hi @Tpettygirl, Welcome to the group. You are learning a very challenging skill. Don't be too hard on yourself. You have a lot to learn. Practice and play often. Have a smile on your face when you put the guitar away for the day, and keep coming back with a positive attitude. You will be a guitar player a year from now, and you will know more than you ever expected when you started the course. It isn't free; it comes with great effort, but the rewards are great. You are your worst critic so don't let doubt stop you. The skills come slowly, and you might not feel like you are making progress. A day will come along where you try something and it just works. The hard stuff becomes easier. Don't be intimidated by new material because that is were the growth comes from. A new sound will come out someday soon, and a knowing smile will come to your face. This has been my experience and it is still happening. 

The G7 is a tough stretch, but it will come in time. 

Play like you mean it! If you aren't having fun then you are doing it wrong.

Joe Bonamassa - "Mistakes are free"

Edited by Randy120
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Nothing more I can add as its been said by all the great ones here.. Welcome and like all of us you will get better over time and some here.. okay me, have stopped and started multiple times.. Yes its new, its fun and something you will never forget . Enjoy and don't forget to buy yourself a new guitar as you progress.. you deserve it!

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6 hours ago, columbo said:

Nothing more I can add as its been said by all the great ones here.. Welcome and like all of us you will get better over time and some here.. okay me, have stopped and started multiple times.. Yes its new, its fun and something you will never forget . Enjoy and don't forget to buy yourself a new guitar as you progress.. you deserve it!

Yes lots of guitars. I started this journey with one, I now have 5 guitars and 3 ukuleles. o.Oo.Oo.O

All of them fill a different niche.

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3 hours ago, tjmeyers said:

Yes lots of guitars. I started this journey with one, I now have 5 guitars and 3 ukuleles. o.Oo.Oo.O

All of them fill a different niche.

I started with one... an inexpensive nylon string... now I have 4 electric, 3 acoustic,  2 bass, 2 ukuleles, a banjo, and a dulcimer.:D:PO.o

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Well, Tprettygirl, you've been at this for about three months, and by now you've probably mastered these first open chords, no? We've all learned that progress takes the "Three P's: Practice, Persistence, and Patience." If you're like most of us, after we get that muscle memory down, we begin working on our fretting mechanics, which means a straight wrist, our thumb placed on the back of the neck opposite the space between the first and second finger knuckles, our fingers approaching the fingerboard at a right angle, and fretting just behind the fret wire. The sign of correct fretting mechanics is that the size of the calluses on our fingertips become progressively smaller until they disappear, leaving our fingertips inured. All of this takes time, and that's why the most important P of the three is Patience. Lotsa luck, young lady.Keep on keeping on!

Edited by John Wells
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See K9 you too are hooked.. and now I just bought the darn guitar tool on sale this weekend from Steve.. seems I am always looking for those tools so now I have it. Good chatting with you .. have a great weekend . 

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