Need a bit of Guidance

I made the mistake of trying to play the songs that I was learning perfectly before moving on to other things when I was a beginner. End result: I would play a single song for 2 months, with very little improvement between week #3 and week #8. I think that when you're a beginner, it's better to get a song OK and then practice something else. Because by practicing something different it will also help to make you better in general, and when you go back to that first song, you'll be able to play it a lot better even without having practiced it.

Some important things to do when you first start:

Learn all the major chords, and then all the minor chords.

Learn the string names

Learn the basic 12 bar blues pattern and memorize it.

I'm sure there a bunch of others, but I don't want to keep rattling off if you already know these things - What do you know?

Good advice from Taso. If you can learn a range of chords you can quickly extend your repertoire. There's nothing worse than only being able to play 2 songs and playing them over ... and over ... and over ... and over again.

One of the things to ask yourself is why did you pick up the guitar? What is it you wanted to learn? There seems little point in learning a pretty folk song if you really want to play AC/DC. If you are into rock there are a load of online tutorials to go through, so check them out.

But the biggest thing is make sure that all your learning is fun. If you set yourself a programme that is exciting you will want to practice more than you are at the moment.

D

Thanks to all.

Some important things to do when you first start:

Learn all the major chords, and then all the minor chords.

I'm not sure that is really important as a beginner you might learn the shape to make barres on an electric but if you are playing acoustic starting out do you need to know Eb chords for example.

In any easy song you won't see it. In most songbooks if it is used they give you an easy chord to play with a Capo position.

Just saying he probably will be hitting 7ths and other stuff long before needing some chords.

You need to start with some easy songs (try the Easy Songs Database on this site), and your goals right now should be around getting to play two or three uncomplicated songs all the way through.

Start simple - build on it.

Best,

A :-)

I also wanted to know whether I sould perfect things before moving on- or get them O.K and then go back and practice them sometimes. Thanks a lot. JK.

Hey James.

Variety is the spice of life. I found that practicing Horse With No Name for strumming chords and House of the Rising Sun for finger picking was a little tedious and, as mentioned in a previous reply - you could try it for a couple of months and not seem to improve much... :evil:

I started with those, but then decided to also play some other songs I liked and it actually helped. I built up speed in chord changes because I wanted to get the song sounding right, and when I went back to the earlier songs I found them easier to play. The chord changes seemed easier to master because I'd been working on other chords and moving around the fret board.

Apart from learning the basics (including scales - arghhhhh) just enjoy learning songs you really want to be able to play rather than 'lesson songs' and you'll improve while enjoying yourself.

Go to the beginners videos in Hear Here on this Forum - you'll see what we're getting up to and how we're improving (or not, as the case may be) but hey, we're having great fun (really). :roll:

Rock on.

D 8)