I'm DEFINITELY a beginner... :oops: Using this site and a couple of other sites i've learned the BASIC basics... (Reading tab, tuning guitar, MOST of the base [root?!] chords, etc...) I've played piano and violin for 7 years, so i'm KIND of used to finger stretching and strings.. So my older cousin who can play guitar advised me to start with arpeggios (arg... I can't even spell it...) or just.... kinda.. plucking... and gave me a couple of songs. I have a couple of questions...
1. I'm having trouble with some of the fingering.. etc: 2nd fret on E, (the.... high one?!) 5th fret on B. all at once. (That probably sounds terrible, but it's just an example to show....) EEK! :shock: My fingers are ripping apart.... I've heard of exersizes, but I don't have any... any suggestions?
2. I can't really... I don't know what the technical term is.. But it's kind of like... sliding? Theres one song that my cousin gave me... It's like.. 2nd fret on D, 4th fret on B sliding to 4th fret on D, 6th fret on B. (again, another example.) Maybe it's cause i'm EXTREMELY new.. and so I can't slide on fast enough, but you can hear the 3rd frets in between. Can we say EEEEK! together?! :x I'm not so good at this.. Heh...
3. My hands are pretty small... Im 13, so you can imagine... :) Sometimes when I play two different frets on two different strings, (at once...) my hand splits apart into two directions. Is this wrong? I mean.. My fingers literally look like this: | / / if you get it...
4. My guitar buzzes. Or wait - maybe it's me? Especially on the [low] E string... Whenever I put -not enough- pressure on the fret, it starts to buzz. But for me, it's inevitable! I can't seem to press down hard enough. Are there exersizes for this? Or... Do I just kinda have to get used to it?
Sorry for being so long and stuff.. But I mean.. My guitar playing is -more- horrible than it SHOULD be at this point... I think. ANY suggestions or alternate websites would be beneficial to.... me, my family, and anybody else who will hear me play.... [God forbid....] Thanks! :P
Everything you've described is quite common - all of us went through it or are going through it. Your musical background will help of course, but not so much with these troubles.
You will be able to get cleaner sounds and slide along the strings better as you develope callouses on your fingertips. A little finger strength will also come as you play. Also, playing the guitar asks you to put your fretting hand into positions that feel very unnatural at first. This too will improve over time.
Doesn't sound like you're having any problems that repetition won't overcome.
-- John
"Hip woman walking on a moving floor, tripping on the escalator.
There's a man in the line and she's blowin' his mind, thinking that he's already made her."
'Coming into Los Angeles' - Arlo Guthrie
Allow me to be the first to STRONGLY recommend finding a teacher who can guide you along the way and formally help you to develop. It sounds like you're curious, motivated, and musically experienced. Any teacher should be pleased to work with you.
Do something you love and you'll never work a day in your life...
Yes guitar should be enjoyable, although it can be painful on the finger tips at first. A good place to get started is the beginner lessons right here at Guitarnoise. Nothing like being able to actually play a song, to make guitar enjoyable.
Tim Madsen
Nobody cares how much you know,
until they know how much you care.
"What you keep to yourself you lose, what you give away you keep forever." -Axel Munthe
Guitar can be tough to learn. It's a bit different from violin - since the neck is wider, and you hold it at a different angle, your fingers hit the strings a different way. I had a student once who was a good violinist - I remember her commenting how much the guitar hurt her fingers. It's not you, it's the instrument, and the pains go away in time :)
1. Stretching can be tough. Instead of playing F#/E (the 2nd fret of the 1st string, the 5th fret of the 2nd string), try C/Bb (the 8th fret of the 1st string and the 11th fret of the 2nd string). The frets get closer together as you move up the neck, so it should be easier. When you can play that, move to B/A (frets 7 & 10), and ease your way down the fingerboard. That'll develop the stretch a bit at a time.
2. Yep, the term is sliding. Some method books, like Bill Bay's "Mastering Guitar" series introduce techniques like this very early on. If a student comes to me with a book like that, we skip over the techniques until they can play clean notes on every string. Slides, hammers, bends... they're really used to decorate your phrasing, and it's just one more thing to learn how to do... get the underlying notes down first.
3. Yes, it's normal. I teach a number of people with small hands, some several years younger than you. It might be your whole hand, rather than just the fingers, is in the wrong place... try planting your fingers on an awkward fingering, and hold them there. Then move your hand around: thumb farther up or down, or higher or lower on the neck... neck angled up a bit more toward the ceiling... peghead a bit closer to you or farther away. Move the hand and guitar just a little bit at a time while you watch what happens to your finger position. You'll probably find one that's less awkward (it might feel MORE awkward to you overall, if you've been getting used to holding it differently). One more thing - at 13, the guitar body may be pretty large in relation to your own. Sit right at the edge of the chair on the body side - that will let you move the guitar more freely than if you sit in the center.
4. Buzzing is normal. It's not neccesarily that you aren't pressing hard enough - your fingertips are soft when you begin as a guitarist. As the callouses build up, you'll need less pressure. Practice and patience will make it easier for you.
Hope these suggestions help.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
re: buzzing make sure your fingers are up next to the fret, not somewhere in the middle.
Mass
At your stage of playing, you might be setting yourself up for a fall if your advisor is giving you stuff thats CURRENTLY beyond your abilities.
You would be better off 1. getting a decent teacher AND / OR going through the beginners lessons on here by David Hodge. Not only will it get you playing recognisable songs (that in itself is such a boost when you are learning) but also introduce some painless theory along the way
2. Be patient - the buzzing and stuff is all part of learning, soon you'll be amazed how the buzzing goes away as your fretting becomes more accurate (for a test of finger pressure versus accuracy, play your low E string but really really try to get next to that fret, don't push too hard - no buzz right? its WHERE you push, not necessarily how hard!)
3 Allow time for calluses to form on your fingers. This is a necessity too, nurture them, do not pick them or tear them!
All the best
Matt
Just to add to the great advice already given, allow me to say: Don't give it up. If it's truly something your interested in, keep on playing. When I got my first guitar, I couldn't even tune it. My brother did that for me. I got so frustrated when trying to learn chords and how to strum, and how to change between chords smoothly, etc., etc. that I stuck the guitar in my closet and didn't touch it for the next year. Finally, I got it back out and started learning stuff from other people. Now I've been playing for about 9 years and it is truly one of my highest joys.
So, don't give up. One of these days you'll be playing a song and notice all of a sudden that the stretch isn't hard anymore, and the strings don't hurt your fingers, and there's no gross buzz (usually). Probably the one other thing I can say is: play with a other guitarists. You will learn a lot by watching and imitating.
Phillip
