Hopeless

your only doing what everyone else did dont worry your on the right road

I feel it is difficult to improve when I have a problem and do not know how to fix it/what I am doing wrong..

hey hey!
I'm a newb myself but chords get easier with practice. If you're muting strings unintentionally you may need a different angle or to stagger your fingers on the fretboard to make them fit. When you get buzzing or muffling hit each string in the chord(that's an arpeggio right?) to find the problem area.
I started guitar a few weeks ago

come-on dude, a few weeks? Guitar is going to take alot of time....if it was easy everyone would do it.

I feel it is difficult to improve when I have a problem and do not know how to fix it/what I am doing wrong..

Hey buddy. Almost two year ago I was exactly like you. Strings buzzed, my stupid fingers wouldnt move, it did NOT sound like music. But there is no magic answer. You have to slow down and work on making the chord, then make the next.. Play your chords very slowly until they sound right. I would even put my fingers where I thought they needed to go and then pick each string to find out where the buzz was coming from so I could fix my hand position.

It'll be alright. The only difference between those that can play guitar and the ones that cant are the ones that can fought through the discouragment and kept playing, cause we all been there.

Good luck to ya.

Jim

The answer lies in concentration. If you play a chord and it doesn't sound good, ask yourself what's wrong. If you're fingers are not placed properly you are just playing too fast. Take as long as you need for each chord BUT make sure the movement is 100% correct. Put all your fingers down at once and correctly, as slow as you must, even if it takes you a minute to do it accurately. Then speed it up. That's how you approach all new things in music. Take it slow, make sure you know what you're doing and you're comfortable at whatever tempo and then slowly increase it till where it should be.

I think the point is Don't give up, I've had the same concerns, I still do, but now I know from experiance that if I keep at it eventually it all comes togeather, I've been working on Melissa by the Allman Bros for over 2 months now, I don't know bout anybody else but I'm never satisfied with my guitar playing, fortunatly for me thats what keeps me going.

I think a good teacher, if you can afford one, will set you on the right track, before you get so frustrated that you quit. Guitar playing is a life-long process of self improvement. I don't know many guitarists that are satisfied with their level of playing - whether they are brand new or have been playing professionally for decades! Welcome to the club and don't give up!

It's been said already, but just to reinforce the point again;

Everyone who plays guitar goes through this, and many of us still do from time to time (i.e. when learning a new chord)

The *devilsh* word around here is practice, but it is also the best advice I can give you. The more you practice, the better you will get, providing you are willing to stick with it!

Best of luck to you

Pete

I don't know bout anybody else but I'm never satisfied with my guitar playing

None of us are satisfied with our guitar playing, that's why we keep studying

Philosophical Al :-)

No matter how good you get, there will always be things you want to do better.

If you have only been playing a couple of weeks I would say you are right on track. Playing guitar just takes a lot of practice and patience and knowing when not to be so hard on yourself. Keep going and you will get the chords eventually. Practice them everyday if you can.

Something that makes a big difference for me is posture. Don't slouch over the guitar too much and sit somewhere where you can angle the guitar properly (chairs with arms are horrible). I catch myself tilting my guitar towards me so I can see what I'm doing, which causes problems too.

As has been said, take lessons if you can. A teacher will help motivate you and help you improve faster too.

I remember sitting in the computer room a couple of weeks after I had started classes and blew (or so I thought at the time) 350.00 on my new Seagull. I was so discouraged at the time, probably would have quit except for my ego and the fact I had wanted to play guitar all my life.
It takes a lot of practice, everyday, just learn your basic chords and then pick an easy song. When you can play it and sing along it makes it all worth while.Take care

I also had every excuse possible for sounding awful: :oops:

Fingers were obviously way too big (I just couldn't seem to find room for them on the fretboard). Amazingly, the more I practised the smaller they got. :) I still don't know how that happened - but it did. I also had a go at playing mandolin (an instrument clearly designed for double jointed midget elves to play..). After the mando, the guitar felt as wide as a freeway.

Too old. I started in my 50s, so had lots of excuses as to why my fingers moved so slowly and painfully, and seemed so absurdly uncoordinated. They fly like birds now. 8)

Couldn't keep time, read music, etc..... Can now though. :wink:

There is really only one major challenge to sort out along the way to becoming musically competent, and that is finding out what motivates you to keep going through the appalling noises until the good stuff starts to flow. It's a little different for all of us, but a great forum like this is a wonderful way to get help, encouragement and support.

Good luck, and most importantly have fun. Better to have fun with two chords than to be miserable with twenty. They'll come in time. :)

Chris it's been ages! How in the heck have you been? Glad to see your still kickin! Wecome back to the fold. 8)