Tips for an old guy trying to learn guitar

[Homercidal]

Which pups you looking at? Single coil? Or humbucker?

What type of music do you play, what kind of guitar?

I need a bridge humbucker. I have an older Kramer Focus EVH style into which I routed a neck pickup slot. I need to replace the bridge pickup which went into another guitar. I'll also need to decide how to wire it with coil taps, push/pull, etc.

I play mostly classic rock/metal style. EVH, Satriani, and any classic rock type thing. I'm hoping for a fairly decent range of tone and power, but that's basically what I want in this guitar. I'm planning on detuning for EVH songs.

At some point in the nearish future I want to build a guitar from mostly scratch. I'll probably try and find an inexpensive neck and maybe cut and rout my own body shape and a variety of electronic wirings. There are some interesting things you can put right into a guitar body these days.

Guitar Fetish has some low cost pickups I'm looking at. I've heard good things about them. Should be cheap enough that I can play with them without breaking the bank.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

At some point in the nearish future I want to build a guitar from mostly scratch. I'll probably try and find an inexpensive neck and maybe cut and rout my own body shape and a variety of electronic wirings. There are some interesting things you can put right into a guitar body these days.

Building a guitar interests me greatly, especially after reading about how Brian May from Queen built his guitar with his dad. I've spoken with my dad about it, but we don't live too close, so it'd be a tough project - distance wise.

In the meantime, the wife has given me permission to get a cheap Strat and make it...vintage. Basically I want to paint the body light blue, then destroy it. Then hang it horizontally above our patio door, for decoration.

That's the closest I'll get to "building" a guitar...which I now realize is quite the opposite.

 

[GrogNerd]

I need a bridge humbucker. I have an older Kramer Focus EVH style into which I routed a neck pickup slot. I need to replace the bridge pickup which went into another guitar. I'll also need to decide how to wire it with coil taps, push/pull, etc.

I play mostly classic rock/metal style. EVH, Satriani, and any classic rock type thing. I'm hoping for a fairly decent range of tone and power, but that's basically what I want in this guitar. I'm planning on detuning for EVH songs.

At some point in the nearish future I want to build a guitar from mostly scratch. I'll probably try and find an inexpensive neck and maybe cut and rout my own body shape and a variety of electronic wirings. There are some interesting things you can put right into a guitar body these days.

Guitar Fetish has some low cost pickups I'm looking at. I've heard good things about them. Should be cheap enough that I can play with them without breaking the bank.

ok, HOLY EFFIN SHIITE, there's more pup choices than I thought out there. back when I worked in MARS Guitars, you had Duncan and DiMarzio and that's about it. looks like the boutique/artisan/craft craze has hit the pickup market, along with stomp boxes

wish I could help, but I guess the market outgrew my knowledge

here's my axe. '97 California Strat. made in US with US parts, but assembled and painted in Mexico, to bypass US environmental laws.

rewired it myself. shielded it, locked down the trem with a piece of wood, so it's basically a hardtail. originally all 3 were Tex Mex pickups, I slapped JB Jr in the bridge, middle is still the original and a Lil '59 in the neck

electronics used to be custom wired, with push-pulls to split both hbs' coils, but now is all ToneShaper. LOVE IT. can do amazing things to customize the output without re-wiring. dip-switches control everything, from changing resistances in the tone knobs to switching which tone knob controls which pickup.

 

[Homercidal]

Yeah, I hadn't heard about Guitar Fetish until my friend mentioned it. I was all set to buy some DiMarzio pickups, but I think I'll try the half-price models first. How hard can it be to make a pickup??

They also have guitar necks from about $30-60 and some bodies. Like I said, I'll probably want to cut my own body at some point. Building a neck is not out of the realm of possibility for me, but it would be a lot more time consuming than I want.

My next guitar might actually be a cigar box guitar. I have pretty much everything I need to do it except the fret wire.

 

[Ridire]

Also, tell me if this is a dumb idea - I have decided not to do training exercises anymore. From now on, unless I hear from those who know better, my practice is going to consist of playing songs...or making a lot of noise that is supposed to be songs.

 

[GrogNerd]

Yeah, I hadn't heard about Guitar Fetish until my friend mentioned it. I was all set to buy some DiMarzio pickups, but I think I'll try the half-price models first. How hard can it be to make a pickup??

They also have guitar necks from about $30-60 and some bodies. Like I said, I'll probably want to cut my own body at some point. Building a neck is not out of the realm of possibility for me, but it would be a lot more time consuming than I want.

My next guitar might actually be a cigar box guitar. I have pretty much everything I need to do it except the fret wire.

I will eventually have to replace the neck on my Strat, but would mean giving up the extremely rare "California Series" stamp on the headstock

I say eventually because about 12-13 years ago, I actually ran it over with my car and now there are 2 cracks on the back of the neck around the 5th fret, one on each side of the truss rod, running about an inch & 1/2 longitudinally. hasn't affected the sound, intonation or caused any problems so far. I guess if it's still ok 12-13 years later, it might not ever become a problem.

 

[Homercidal]

Also, tell me if this is a dumb idea - I have decided not to do training exercises anymore. From now on, unless I hear from those who know better, my practice is going to consist of playing songs...or making a lot of noise that is supposed to be songs.

Well, YMMV but I still feel playing scales is really good for your fingering. Especially when combined with a click track/metronome.

But if it's keeping you from wanting to practice, then do whatever it takes to practice.

I will eventually have to replace the neck on my Strat, but would mean giving up the extremely rare "California Series" stamp on the headstock

I say eventually because about 12-13 years ago, I actually ran it over with my car and now there are 2 cracks on the back of the neck around the 5th fret, one on each side of the truss rod, running about an inch & 1/2 longitudinally. hasn't affected the sound, intonation or caused any problems so far. I guess if it's still ok 12-13 years later, it might not ever become a problem.

I doubt it will be a real problem. They make glue that can be delivered in a tiny syringe these days. You might consider finding some of that and carefully injecting it into the crack to help it stay put. But after that much time if it hasn't gotten worse it's probably ok. Just don't do neck bends with it...

 

[Ridire]

Well, YMMV but I still feel playing scales is really good for your fingering. Especially when combined with a click track/metronome.

But if it's keeping you from wanting to practice, then do whatever it takes to practice.



I doubt it will be a real problem. They make glue that can be delivered in a tiny syringe these days. You might consider finding some of that and carefully injecting it into the crack to help it stay put. But after that much time if it hasn't gotten worse it's probably ok. Just don't do neck bends with it...

I should clarify...I don't mean "no exercises". But I want to limit the amount of time I'm doing exercises and maximize the amount of time I spend trying to play.

I will probably still start by spend the first 5 minutes going through each chord that I know (which is only about 10 right now) and working on those that still have some clunkers for the majority of that.

I will then decide which song I'm going to work on, and do the chord changes without any rhythm. For example, that GNR song really only has 3 chords...D to A to G to A (and small variations of that). So, I will spend maybe 1 minute just changing from D to A and strumming once on each chord, then 1 minute just changing from G to A and strumming once on each chord, to see how many times I can do it in one minute. The rest of the time...trying to actually play the song, or some predetermined portion of the song.

 

[Ridire]

Again, stupid question, most likely but I'm trying to absorb as much advice as possible. Here are the chords I can play (some of them really not so well). Any others that I should absolutely learn if I want to jump into playing a bunch of acoustic songs? I am guessing F is going to be mentioned but I just cannot do that right now. I work on it every now and again...but it is low priority for now. Here are those I know:

A
D
E
Am
Dm
Em
C
G
B7 (because I've played around with Paint it Black and it is repeated a lot in that song)

EDIT: and as I sit here and think about songs I have been playing around with, it occurs to me that I should really work more on F, because I really want to play House of the Rising Sun, and part of my practice has been to repeat the first 3 bars, but then it goes to the F and I just stop.

 

[GrogNerd]

Again, stupid question, most likely but I'm trying to absorb as much advice as possible. Here are the chords I can play (some of them really not so well). Any others that I should absolutely learn if I want to jump into playing a bunch of acoustic songs? I am guessing F is going to be mentioned but I just cannot do that right now. I work on it every now and again...but it is low priority for now. Here are those I know:

A
D
E
Am
Dm
Em
C
G
B7 (because I've played around with Paint it Black and it is repeated a lot in that song)

EDIT: and as I sit here and think about songs I have been playing around with, it occurs to me that I should really work more on F, because I really want to play House of the Rising Sun, and part of my practice has been to repeat the first 3 bars, but then it goes to the F and I just stop.

:rockin: learn all your barre chords and you never have to worry about 7ths or minors again! :rockin:

those are a good start, but eventually you have to learn all of them

and that F chord in HotRS... that's what I was talking about before, the guitar parts in that are ARPEGGIOS, it's not strumming, it's picking out the notes of the chord one at a time. so, my cheat is to figure out a way to not have to worry about playing any particular individual note, until it's time to play that note.

doing it like this, while playing down, I would worry about the top F & the A, then the C & the bottom F turning back around going up, then the A & top F again.

 

[Ridire]

and that F chord in HotRS... that's what I was talking about before, the guitar parts in that are ARPEGGIOS, it's not strumming, it's picking out the notes of the chord one at a time. so, my cheat is to figure out a way to not have to worry about playing any particular individual note, until it's time to play that note.

doing it like this, while playing down, I would worry about the top F & the A, then the C & the bottom F turning back around going up, then the A & top F again.

EDIT: actually, I know what you're saying...but I have to be a smart ass on a regular basis or I'll die...

 

[Homercidal]

Also, realize that there usually several ways to play the SAME chord. The tone might change, but in general there are 2-3 fingerings of the same chord somewhere on the neck.

If you don't like the F you know, look up another F online and try it.

And I concur on Barre chords. A lot of people hate them, but I like them. They are kind of indispensable once you get used to them. Just don't get too used to them and forget to learn other chords.

And I think your practicing method sounds fine.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I play a lot of Beatles music, and they are big on F#, F#m, Bm, C#, etc - all bar chords. I couldn't do them at first, so I couldn't play a lot of Beatles music, but I slowly learned how to do one bar chord. It was really difficult; I just didn't have the strength for it, so I'd practice going back and forth from F#m to D, over and over until my hand pretty much cramped up. That was a great way to learn a bar chord AND to build up the strength to do it. Doing it on an electric guitar helped a little as well.

I'll tell ya though, bar chords are every "beginner" guitarists worst fear, but once you get one of them down it opens up a new realm of possibilities. Take for instance, the Beatles song, "Do you Want to Know a Secret". Lots of chord changes, sounds great, sounds tough, right? How about we look at the music: http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/b/beatles/do_you_want_to_know_a_secret_ver2_crd.htm

See the 3rd line, "Listen....." where the chord changes are E, G#m, G#, and F#m? Whoa, pretty heavy stuff there...difficult, it must be. Not too tough actually:

Strum the E, no big deal.

Okay, now how about that G#m? That's a bar on the 4th fret, while making an Em shape in the 6th fret. So, strum that.

Then, keep the same shape from that G#m chord and move your fingers up the neck one fret to bar the 3rd fret (rather than the 4th) and maintain the same shape - that's the G#. Strum it.

Then finish by moving one more fret so you bar the 2nd fret, keeping that same Em shape, and strum it.

BOOM. Your a guitar hero.

Point being, to me, that shape of a bar chord is one of the more simple bar chord shapes to make, and if you can get used to it you can play a bunch of different chords very simply. And sound like you really know what you are doing.

 

[GrogNerd]

I like this trick with bar chords...

instead of playing the I & V (top pic) with the 1st and 3rd finger (which I use, others use 2nd & 4th) and moving the whole hand to go from F# (black) to A (blue) to B (red)

I play the V & I (2nd pic) with one finger each. the F# with the 3, the A with 1, then can use the 3rd again to play the B on the next 2 strings, without moving my hand at all

actually, I picked the wrong frets to show this... you can get away with playing this without moving the hand, if you move all of it up one fret, it becomes more difficult

 

[normonster]

... , anyone out there have any tips for an old dude picking up a guitar for the first time at the age of 41?



.

Find and mark every "E" on the whole neck, using a dot of whiteout.

Then when you learn one scale/melody you'll be able to play it in any octave. Guitars playing in unison but at different octaves sounds cool and it is really cool when you can solo the whole neck of the guitar the whole time staying on perfect key.

I'd do the marks, learn E Panatonic Minor scale from fret 5 (second string down - A string), then learn all those same notes all over the whole guitar. With your "E"s marked its easy and eye opening. You can then do likewise with every other scale.

 

[Ridire]

Find and mark every "E" on the whole neck, using a dot of whiteout.

Then when you learn one scale/melody you'll be able to play it in any octave. Guitars playing in unison but at different octaves sounds cool and it is really cool when you can solo the whole neck of the guitar the whole time staying on perfect key.

I'd do the marks, learn E Panatonic Minor scale from fret 5 (second string down - A string), then learn all those same notes all over the whole guitar. With your "E"s marked its easy and eye opening. You can then do likewise with every other scale.

You mean all the Es like this, I assume:

 

[normonster]

You mean all the Es like this, I assume:

Yes. Gives you a reference on every string.

So if you play the e Panatonic minor starting with open e you have the e, g, a, b, d note sequence which you can then repeat from any marked e on the neck. Add f# before g and add c after b and you have e minor, again from any e on the neck.

 

[estricklin]

You mean all the Es like this, I assume:

Being able to play whole songs is what gets you laid, so yes, I stand by my advice of playing songs to learn chords. So playing songs may not be the best technique to learn everything on guitar, it's damn sure the best for learning chords though, you can mark it on your calender that I said so!

I'm pretty sure, and don't have a guitar in my hand to verify it, that the F Major in House of the Rising Sun is in fact, the bar chord version and not the open one. Either way to echo what the others said, you gotta start working on bar chords. Better to start now rather than later. They are extremely difficult for a beginner, and painful as well. Don't let it scare you. Make them your bitch. F Major and F#M are both in the key of G, AND they are both not actually in the key of G. Cool huh? Since G is by far the most common key for guitar players, and they are the easiest 2 bar chords to learn, I suggest starting there maybe.

I'll post the string video tonight or tomorrow, just 14 hour days in the oilfields and I'm short on time.

 

[Ridire]

Being able to play whole songs is what gets you laid, so yes, I stand by my advice of playing songs to learn chords. So playing songs may not be the best technique to learn everything on guitar, it's damn sure the best for learning chords though, you can mark it on your calender that I said so!

I'm pretty sure, and don't have a guitar in my hand to verify it, that the F Major in House of the Rising Sun is in fact, the bar chord version and not the open one. Either way to echo what the others said, you gotta start working on bar chords. Better to start now rather than later. They are extremely difficult for a beginner, and painful as well. Don't let it scare you. Make them your bitch. F Major and F#M are both in the key of G, AND they are both not actually in the key of G. Cool huh? Since G is by far the most common key for guitar players, and they are the easiest 2 bar chords to learn, I suggest starting there maybe.

I'll post the string video tonight or tomorrow, just 14 hour days in the oilfields and I'm short on time.

That would be cool.

This is what the tabs printout I have for House of the Rising Sun has for the F Chord. It's an absolute mother for me to play...especially in that song, as someone has already pointed out that it is not strumming...every string has to ring out:

 

[normonster]

Being able to play whole songs is what gets you laid....

Very true but writing your own songs is the expression of creativity that'll get you in an orgy....lol. Truth be told I've been lucky with both approaches. 😬

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

OK, so I have been trying to get my son (9 years old) into something. I wanted him to play basketball...but he seems uninterested. I've tried many other things, and was telling him, "you know what would be cool? If you learned how to play the guitar. You'll be happy you did when you get older...".

he is now taking lessons and I just bought an acoustic-electric guitar and have decided I'm going to learn along with him.

So, it's been about 4 months since you started the thread and I was wondering, how is your son doing at it? Is he still interested in playing guitar?

 

[Ridire]

So, it's been about 4 months since you started the thread and I was wondering, how is your son doing at it? Is he still interested in playing guitar?

Yes and no. I think he gets that it something he wants to know how to do. He wants to keep up with the lessons. However, getting him to practice is like pulling teeth.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

That's the tough part - I think it's tough for kids to be truly interested in music and wanting to play it. Now that I'm older and more...appreciative of music, I hear something I like on the radio or whatever and I want to learn to play it as well, thus becoming my project song for the day/week/whatever. Does a pre-teen hear anything on the radio which inspires them to learn to play it on the guitar? I don't know.

When I was young (7 years old) my mom had me play piano; my parents went out and got a baby-grand piano, beautiful in image and sound. I was told I'd learn to play it...okay, cool, so I took lessons and did my thing. I got older and less interested in it, so I hinted at quitting. Mom didn't like that, and told me if I wanted to quit I'd have to tell the teacher (she was a relatively stern teacher) that I was quitting. Mom also said, "if you quit you'll regret it once you are older."

"Guess what mom, you don't know what you are talking about. I don't want to do it, and I will noooooot regret quitting." So I got the balls to quit and I told the teacher (who was disappointed, and still scary to me) I was done, after 7 years of practice at the age of 14.

Once I got to be about 18, I began thinking about playing again. Then at ~22 years old I really got interested. A few years later, I decided I wanted to buy a piano. The wife blessed the purchase, but I got a guitar instead and here I am (happy, as well, just to have any instrument in my life).

Moral of the story: It's so important to start kids on instruments when they are young, but it's impossible to expect anyone under the age of 15 to be inspired to play much of anything with any passion. The true catch-22.

 

[Ridire]

That's the tough part - I think it's tough for kids to be truly interested in music and wanting to play it. Now that I'm older and more...appreciative of music, I hear something I like on the radio or whatever and I want to learn to play it as well, thus becoming my project song for the day/week/whatever. Does a pre-teen hear anything on the radio which inspires them to learn to play it on the guitar? I don't know.

When I was young (7 years old) my mom had me play piano; my parents went out and got a baby-grand piano, beautiful in image and sound. I was told I'd learn to play it...okay, cool, so I took lessons and did my thing. I got older and less interested in it, so I hinted at quitting. Mom didn't like that, and told me if I wanted to quit I'd have to tell the teacher (she was a relatively stern teacher) that I was quitting. Mom also said, "if you quit you'll regret it once you are older."

"Guess what mom, you don't know what you are talking about. I don't want to do it, and I will noooooot regret quitting." So I got the balls to quit and I told the teacher (who was disappointed, and still scary to me) I was done, after 7 years of practice at the age of 14.

Once I got to be about 18, I began thinking about playing again. Then at ~22 years old I really got interested. A few years later, I decided I wanted to buy a piano. The wife blessed the purchase, but I got a guitar instead and here I am (happy, as well, just to have any instrument in my life).

Moral of the story: It's so important to start kids on instruments when they are young, but it's impossible to expect anyone under the age of 15 to be inspired to play much of anything with any passion. The true catch-22.

Agreed. That is why I don't want to push him too hard. I want him to be familiar enough with the instrument that when that moment hits...the "man, would it be cool to be able to play that song" moment...he won't be starting from scratch, like me...in my 40s.

 

[estricklin]

Sorry I'm not a great youtuber but I hope it helps you a little.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfUb4V7zd2w&feature=youtu.be[/ame]

 

[Ridire]

https://youtu.be/QfUb4V7zd2w

Thanks. I'll watch it later when I'm thinking about making the change. I think the guy who set my guitar up left strings in my bag. I'll have to see what I've got...or if I have to go shopping.

EDIT: funny thing is I was just on the phone with a guy in Arkansas before I watched this...then clicked on the link and thought "he has the same accent as that dude I just spoke with".

 

[estricklin]

Thanks. I'll watch it later when I'm thinking about making the change. I think the guy who set my guitar up left strings in my bag. I'll have to see what I've got...or if I have to go shopping.

EDIT: funny thing is I was just on the phone with a guy in Arkansas before I watched this...then clicked on the link and thought "he has the same accent as that dude I just spoke with".

Haha ya couldn't hide it if I wanted to. If I ever do a banjo video I'll have to over empathize my accent like all the stupid Nashville artists, and I'll do it from my front porch, in a rockin chair. Wait...I don't have a front porch!

 

[GrogNerd]

Wait...I don't have a front porch!

sorry to hear.

how many dogs you lose when it collapsed?

 

[Hugh_Jass]

Another guy here who, because of this thread picked up the guitar again. I was using justinguitar a few years ago, then got laid off from work and kind of set it aside. Thanks Ridire for posting this, it gave me the kick in the butt to give it another go. I picked up Rocksmith 2014 for PS3, and love this game. I know it's not gonna teach me everything, but it makes practice so much more fun.

Add one more. I'm a complete novice who got frustrated and stopped playing. I haven't played in about a year, but this thread has inspired me to play again. Cheers

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Really great video on the strings there. I've changed quite a few sets of strings in the last 1.5 years, but I learned some stuff from your video - thanks for posting!

Also, I want to emphasize the part about polishing when the strings are off. I bought a CL guitar for $25 and took the strings off to polish it. While I could get the body polished up really really nicely, the section under the strings (above the pick guard) just wouldn't clean up and remained dull. I think it's a great idea to polish the whole guitar when the strings are off.

Also, same thing with conditioning the fret board. First time I did it, I couldn't believe how nice it turned out and how much gunk I got off the fretboard. That's a nice tip.

BTW, @estricklen I like your Gibson's fretboard markers.

 

[smokinop]

Enjoyed the video estricklin. Reminded me of a demonstration from a wonderful repairman & musician, Bryan Kiimsey, on how to change strings on an acoustic guitar. This is how I change both my acoustics & electrics; quick & easy with stability. Enjoy....Kevin

 

[estricklin]

Really great video on the strings there. I've changed quite a few sets of strings in the last 1.5 years, but I learned some stuff from your video - thanks for posting!

Also, I want to emphasize the part about polishing when the strings are off. I bought a CL guitar for $25 and took the strings off to polish it. While I could get the body polished up really really nicely, the section under the strings (above the pick guard) just wouldn't clean up and remained dull. I think it's a great idea to polish the whole guitar when the strings are off.

Also, same thing with conditioning the fret board. First time I did it, I couldn't believe how nice it turned out and how much gunk I got off the fretboard. That's a nice tip.

BTW, @estricklen I like your Gibson's fretboard markers.

Thanks, I actually started polishing after buying a pawn shop special that looked horrible. My Gibson gets pretty nasty from use, it ends up with beer and coffee all over it, spit and grease from eating while playing some, so taking a few seconds to clean it is a must I think.

I do love the mother of pearl in-lays too. As far as looks go I had another model in mind that looked better to me, but when it was all said and done I chose the one I thought sounded the best, was a very hard decision to make too.

Enjoyed the video estricklin. Reminded me of a demonstration from a wonderful repairman & musician, Bryan Kiimsey, on how to change strings on an acoustic guitar. This is how I change both my acoustics & electrics; quick & easy with stability. Enjoy....Kevin

You can tell that guy has changed a few sets before!

 

[SharonaZamboni]

I'm just glad to see the thread title has been fixed.

 

[Ridire]

Update: I still suck (I think that goes without saying, as it has been about 4 months since I learned what a chord was) but had a major breakthrough this week.

I have a book of "easy" songs, which progressively get harder. The suggestion in the book is to use all down-strums until you can master changing the chords. The songs at the beginning of the book are all 4 chords per bar (with a few exceptions). I was practicing those songs but thinking "man, am I bad...even when I make the changes fairly clean, I just can't seem to make the song sound anything like what it is supposed to sound". This week, I looked at the strumming patterns (which the book says not to mess with until you're more advanced). Just for grins, I went back to the first "song" I learned out of the book, which was J. Cash, I Walk the Line. I looked at the suggested strumming pattern, which was D, DU, D, DU, and I fumbled around with it (I can do the chord progression from this song, as printed in this book, in my sleep). All of a sudden, I was making the song sound somewhat like it is supposed to sound.

Now I'm all geeked up about this...again...until the next plateau causes me to get discouraged again...and repeat...

EDIT: by the way, this is the Justinguitar.com beginner song book. Justin has altered the songs to make them easier to play. I Walk the Line is (full bar of each chord) just E, A, E, A, D, A and repeat.

 

[Homercidal]

I keep wanting to practice more, but 2 days ago my finger calluses were coming off.

Sigh.

Kind of back to square one.

I got a neat little pocket amp device that I can clip to my belt and plug my guitar into. It's got a few effects and you can plug it into the computer to tweak settings if you want. you can plug headphones into it and walk around playing guitar everywhere. The distorted sound isn't the best, but it's definitely useable. Some neat sounds for the clean channel too.

I think it was a Line6 Pocket something or other.

EDIT: here it is:

http://line6.com/pocketpod/

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

I've been running all over the past week or so, and haven't played hardly at all. Tried last night, and it sounded good but I just wasn't into it. Hoping that next week I can really dig in; I'm hoping to record a bunch of songs with my dad and sister next time I see them in a couple weeks.

@Ridire that's almost unfortunate that the strumming thing came so late. It's pretty much essential to making the song sound "right" but hey, better late than never! haha. You mentioned plateau though, and I don't think anyone ever stops hitting them. I'll spend a few months learning something that's challenged me (bar chords, for instance) and then it doesn't seem like a big deal - until I take a step back and realize the accomplishment. But then I get caught up in the new challenge and I feel like I'm learning all over again. Constant evolution of learning, but that's what makes it fun - the challenge.

 

[Ridire]

I've been running all over the past week or so, and haven't played hardly at all. Tried last night, and it sounded good but I just wasn't into it. Hoping that next week I can really dig in; I'm hoping to record a bunch of songs with my dad and sister next time I see them in a couple weeks.

@Ridire that's almost unfortunate that the strumming thing came so late. It's pretty much essential to making the song sound "right" but hey, better late than never! haha. You mentioned plateau though, and I don't think anyone ever stops hitting them. I'll spend a few months learning something that's challenged me (bar chords, for instance) and then it doesn't seem like a big deal - until I take a step back and realize the accomplishment. But then I get caught up in the new challenge and I feel like I'm learning all over again. Constant evolution of learning, but that's what makes it fun - the challenge.

Yeah, if you scroll back, you will see me bitching about 2 months ago about playing the open D chord. That sounds hilarious to me right now. But what does not sound hilarious to me now (but I hope will in a few weeks) is this:

 

[Ridire]

Someone told me to forget playing a "traditional" (bar) F chord, and instead to go down to the 5th fret and play the D chord shape. But I'm thinking it will be better for me to figure out the proper way to do this. I'm going to have to play tougher bar chords than this eventually, right?

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

But what does not sound hilarious to me now (but I hope will in a few weeks) is this:

That will NOT sound hilarious to you in a few weeks - trust me. F gave me such a hard time at first, but now it's a breeze. It's just a matter of time, don't worry. I like to alternate back and forth between a familiar chord and a new chord over and over and over when I'm learning a new one - maybe you do this already. This is what I'm doing right now with Bm to get faster at it, alternating between Bm and D. Maybe something like that would help.

Another thing too...I can't remember if you mentioned this, but getting your guitar set up professionally can help it play MUCH better. I took a $100 Fender acoustic in and had it setup, and it played better than $2500 Gibsons in the same store. Trust me - it's worth the $50 for a setup if you haven't done it.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

Someone told me to forget playing a "traditional" (bar) F chord, and instead to go down to the 5th fret and play the D chord shape. But I'm thinking it will be better for me to figure out the proper way to do this. I'm going to have to play tougher bar chords than this eventually, right?

You'll want to learn the non-bar way to play this F, for sure. A lot of songs have a progression where you go F to C, which is very simple. I can't imagine barring the F at the 5th fret only to slide up and have to find a C.