Am I doing it wrong?

There's no such thing as "wrong."

Question to ask yourself is what do you envision yourself playing when it comes to playing guitar? Ultimately the answer comes out to be "music" which usually turns out to mean "songs." Whether your own or someone else's doesn't really matter. Some people can sit and listen to themselves play scales or strum chords, but usually it's a song that gets other people to listen to you.

What you've been doing so far is good and should be laying the foundation for you to play songs. So why not jump in and give it a start? Based on what you've said, you can certainly handle many of the songs on our "Easy Songs for Beginners" page

https://www.guitarnoise.com/easy/

This song, for example, might be one you can learn completely in a very short time:

https://www.guitarnoise.com/lesson/hey-there-delilah/

And also check out the wealth of material on the "Easy Song Database" right here on the Forum pages.

If nothing else, working on a complete song will show you what steps you need to take next in regard to working on rhythm, chords and leads. And don't forget, have fun. Pick songs you like, but also try to pick ones that will give you a sense that you accomplished something.

Hope this helps and hang in there.

Peace

Great, thanks David! I'll give that song a try, I really like it so it would be nice to be able to play it. I'll have to teach my fingers that Bm shape :lol: It looks like something that wouldn't be beyond me (with a lot of practicing!)

Techniques and knowlege are great when they support making music.

Your girlfriend represents the majority view that techniques and knowlege doesn't do much for the audience.
Work on complete pieces. Instrumental or song doesn't matter as much as making it complete. A simple song with simple techniques played well impresses the audience and satisfies them. Raw speed (ala Malmsteen) mostly doesn't.

Maybe your girlfriend could help you pick a song for you to work on? One that you would like to solve the challenges of and that she'd like to hear. ( 'cause she's going to hear it over and over and over if you stay together ;-)

Techniques and knowlege are great when they support making music.

Your girlfriend represents the majority view that techniques and knowlege doesn't do much for the audience.
Work on complete pieces. Instrumental or song doesn't matter as much as making it complete. A simple song with simple techniques played well impresses the audience and satisfies them. Raw speed (ala Malmsteen) mostly doesn't.

I get you. I haven't had a plan for my practice and I think that is part of the issue. I guess I wanted to have some tools in my toolbox before I tried to build anything. I think learning a song would be unbearably slow if I needed to look up each chord that I came across, remember what a chord was, and painfully arrange my fingers into position before striking it. I think that would also be unrecognizable as music. I am starting from a level that is far below bad. I aspire to be bad on my way to being something better than bad.

I've been thinking about what you and David have said, and I think I'll devote most of my time from now on to trying to play real songs. She does like 'Hey There Delilah,' I guess I'll test how much she likes it after hearing bits and pieces of it endlessly repeated :)

As a side note - what is it about Yngwie that is so off-putting? His ego exceeds his ability, but he is an accomplished player. Every time I see him perform, I end up smiling and shaking my head ruefully.

I use songs as a tool to help me learn different techniques. I think it helps you remember chords and such, it just seemed easier to remember once you start to play songs. While it may not sound all that great and be painfully slow, at least you are working towards learning something that you can play and not just an exercise.

You sound like your doing really well, except you haven't found any songs you want to play or think you can play. I bet you can play thousands of songs right now. Check out 'Bryan Adams - Everything I do', you should know it and its easy. Maybe 'American Pie' could fire your imagination. Seriously, get some material to practice before you drive yourself nuts and off the guitar! 8)

It sounds like you have a plan. I don't blame you for wanting to pour the foundation and let it set before building your house on it. I respect that. Maybe challenge yourself and finish learning "Sunshine of your love" (at least everything but the solo for now) and work on "Hey there Delilah" to get the ball rolling. In any event you will finish up something you had started and hopefully something new. It should get the girlfriend off your back for a while. :D

As a side note - what is it about Yngwie that is so off-putting? His ego exceeds his ability, but he is an accomplished player. Every time I see him perform, I end up smiling and shaking my head ruefully.

Yes, he's an accomplished player but when you start playing at those speeds the passion disappears and your work becomes a technical exercise in how many notes you can cram into a short space of time. Herman Li (Dragonforce) makes Malmsteen look pedestrian when it comes to speed, and it's all very impressive, but it's instantly forgettable music.

You've been given some good advice by the others in this thread. David's usual modesty prevented him sending you over to his Songs For Beginners series, available through the lessons pages here, and it's certainly worth downloading the GN podcast - another of his specials.

A :-)

Yes, he's an accomplished player but when you start playing at those speeds the passion disappears and your work becomes a technical exercise in how many notes you can cram into a short space of time.

Well said Alan.

There's another thought by Dan Fogelberg that applies as well - sometimes it's the notes you don't play that matter the most. Kind of the polar opposite of Malmsteen - he leaves no note unplayed ;-) . I'm working on a bunch of DF songs so this comes to mind.

Back to the picking a song idea-- pick it carefully because you'll probably be playing that song for the next 30 years as part of your repertoire. Mind you that in 30 years you'll play that song better and better but you'll still play it if you like it.
I have some songs with which I courted my (now) wife that long ago. She still likes them.

Don't be afraid to mix things up. Something technical when she's in the room and you're mad at her and want to annoy her, and some nice and pretty songs when you get over whatever little slight she did to get you mad to begin with.

I wish I had mixed things up better. Oh well.

unimogbert: That's nice, courting the soon to be missus with the guitar and all. I didn't play back then. I had to resort to bourbon. I would have asked her father for permission, but if he said yes, she would have changed her mind. :lol:

Thanks for the advice and encouragement, guys! I did work on Delilah last night, it's a fun song and David wrote a great lesson for it. I am practicing each part until I feel like I can perform it pretty well before I move on to the next few bars, so it is slow going. When I left off last night, I could play up to the chorus fairly well. I need to work on the F#m to Bm change, Bm isn't a chord that I knew and I needed some time to teach my fingers how to play it.

I think I'll pick another couple of songs to work on so I don't get burned out on the one. American Pie is a good suggestion, and I'll work some more on Sunshine. I find fingerpicking fun, I've also been poking around with Such Great Heights, the Postal Service song redone by Iron and Wine, my girlfriend likes that and it looks pretty simple - just three chords :D I had another total newbie question about fingerpicking - if you are following a picking pattern and the chord changes, do you restart the pattern, or just continue from where you were?

I really appreciate all the help!

I had another total newbie question about fingerpicking - if you are following a picking pattern and the chord changes, do you restart the pattern, or just continue from where you were?

I really appreciate all the help!
You'll find learning the Bm chord to be very, very useful. The F#m can be turned into a Gm or an Fm (a bit harder to bar at the 1st fret) when needed which will also come in handy. Before you know it you'll recognize that you're doing barre chords!

I think in general that yes the picking pattern restarts on a chord change. That assumes a simple pattern is in use of course....
(and the completely truthful answer includes the disclaimer "except when it doesn't." Do what sounds right.)

Ah, ok, thanks Unimogbert. I think it'll be easier to restart the pattern but will have to listen closely to the song to see if that's what he does. It's 2+5 3 4 1+5 2 3 2+6 1 2 3 4+6 2 3 4, so while it's not difficult to play it is longish and was sounding strange when I tried to change chords in the middle (maybe my fault) :oops:

In a related note, one of the easy songs for beginners lessons had House Of The Rising Song, which was arpeggios. David explained a few bits of what to do and why to do it. I think it might be a good read for you. I think it explained how the same "pattern" was employed on the Am chord as the D chord, despite one chord being 5 strings and the other 4. He explains why he skipped a certain string or something to that effect. Now that I discover myself missing a few nouns, I think I'll head back and read it again later tonight.

Anyhow, it sort of relates to your question I think.