[Sticky] --> Share things you've learned about guitar

hi Corbind,

when i first started learning to play guitar, i just happened to discover this site. your quote on your "post tag" was another "message" of inspiration to keep me going in times of frustration.

life's too short to give up on things that are important to us.

suggestions: believe in what you're doing, practice slowly and gradually build speed, record yourself often to check improvements, allow your own style to develop, and give your mind, hands and soul time to develop it's own pathway to lead you to your most expressive self.

cheers,
:D

Would love to meet someone in my area who plays, be cool to jam together, makes it a lot more fun to learn when its not just you.

- If you can find a teacher that can teach you different styles of playing and you can keep up with it.......stick with them.

Which brings up –

-Don't get discouraged when you find a teacher that doesn't fit your needs (It happens ALL the time. your not the only one...BUT, that is why you should do more research on your teachers). And then again, you have to understand, a technique is a technique, and you need to know them to play songs.

All in all, keep your head up and be proud!!!

I couldnt afford a teacher right now. I wish I'd had a piano teacher years ago, bring out my potential.

i'm going to print these out and stick them above my bed.

it should give me some incentive to get out of bed in the morning.. thank you all, this was a very inspirational read....

Hi all

The opening post said start young, well i,m 50 and just bought a guitar three weeks ago, (maybe its the change, you know that male one) anyway I do like it but are my older muscles going to be able to get though the learning process? Does any one have any opinion or insights on this

Hi all

The opening post said start young, well i,m 50 and just bought a guitar three weeks ago, (maybe its the change, you know that male one) anyway I do like it but are my older muscles going to be able to get though the learning process? Does any one have any opinion or insights on this

as long as you haven't lost sight of your dreams then you are still a young person...

I'm 46, been playing 2 months, at least 2 hours every day. When I started I couldn't play a G or a C....I had to physicaly place my fingers on the proper frets with my other hand. In the last few days all the chord changes have suddenly become a lot smoother and more accurate. What a rush! Hard work does pay off.

washburned420, I laughed when I read because I had to do the SAME thing! It is really hard at first for sure. I still have to physically move my fretting fingers to catch some odd chords I read in books.

What I've learned? Time. Time playing. I'm messin' around. Honestly, I seldom practice at night like now. I just fiddle with what I know and learn while playing. But I guarantee that anyone who consistently 'muddles around' for an hour or two a night will get better. I muddle all the time and it helps. Still, structured practice is at least 4x better as far as getting 'better.'

All I can say is get your guitar and play. Even if it's when watching movies or whatever. Get those fingers some great memories.

Wow, 7 pages, so cool!

i'm 46 and i learned a few chords and the c maj scale when i was 15 on a sears silvertone 12 string (i removed 6). at 18 i used my tax return to buy a yamaha fg165s and started jamming with friends and anyone that could stand it. it went on like that for many years. i always wanted to get serious but never had the time.

in the last few years i have started making time to seriously start learning theory,scales,complicated chords, etc. i have also purchased several guitars and a small practice amp for my electric. (sorry for the history/bio)

i just wanted to express my great appreciation for all of you who run and contribute to this site. i have learned more here in recent weeks then i did in the previous 20 years. i will try to contribute when i get to a better financial situation and i encourage all of you to give what they can to this wonderful project. thank you all.

I am 57 and started last year age 56.

Tried many years ago and gave up (three or four times!! - no stamina) but this time was determined to stick at it - with a lot of encouragement from this site.

Now about one year later I have achieved more than I expected. I really was just wanting to strum a few chords and sing along - camp fire style, but I can do that now (at least with the easier chords) and am starting to look at more difficult stuff)

So age 50 is no problem, you can still achieve a great deal I am sure.

Keep in mind that techniques you found impossible three or four months ago, if you keep praticing - kind of creep up on you and before you realise it you can do those - even streching to reach certain chord shapes which you think impossible eventually the fingers adjust and you can make them.

Good luck joneto - and others...

(Nice thing about being 50 is you probably have enough money to buy what you like within reason!!)

Thank you jimscafe for that. I like to think of the snowball analogy; just as learning anything if you know something about it already you can use that knowledge to learn the next thing easier, computers are a good example of this. Whether this works the same with guitars I can only wait and see

hi Jonetoe and others,

you can learn to play your guitar as long as you're willing to put in the effort. i wasted a lot of time convincing myself i'd never be able to teach myself (couldn't afford lessons at the time.) then, i wised up and was determined not to end up taking my guitar to a pawn shop, etc.

i put the time in, and even when learning seemed like a big mountain, there was always something that would happen (a clearer tone, etc.), that kept me going. i can now, after several months of effort, play and sing along to my acoustic guitar - only because i finally learned to believe in myself. you can do it! there are 60 and 70 year olds who have taught themselves to play folkstyle guitar quite well (these are people i know). your progress begins and ends with you (whether you want to learn/play metal, rock, blues, folk, etc) - you can do it if you really try.. even if you study with a good teacher, you still have to put in the time.

believe in your abilities, pick up your guitar daily and practice. each time you practice, you are better than before whether you realize it or not. just focus on what you're doing each time. don't waste time by trying to play like someone else (just my humble opinion.) give the music already inside you the chance to eventually show itself. ignore those who "doubt" and "put down" your efforts. there is a reason you desire to play the guitar. it's up to you to open that door (whether you want to perform professionally or not.) all good and great guitarists were once where you are today. it's your guitar - play it the way you want to play it. you don't have to follow the paths/playing styles of others unless you choose to (just my humble opinion.) please remember that everyone learns differently (putting yourself down is a waste of your energy.

one day, you'll wonder what all the confusion was about (trust me.) the next step is yours. Believe :)

After playing my first steel acoustic yesterday,I learned that I need to keep the nails on my left hand real short! They continually pressed on the fingerboard as I played which made the tips of my fingers ache!

I also learned that you dont have to pay hundreds to get a good sounding guitar!