Originally Posted by: CribloI have been practicing with a guitar book ever since I bought my guitar on saturday. It was a struggle just to tune it, and more of a struggle to pick up the really basic concepts of reading the music. I wanted to know if anyone knew a good instructional book for the fundamentals, my book is good, but it assumes you know a little, and where I am, I know nothing.

Also, my roommate brought home some cords to play a few songs, and many of the cords it felt I physically COULD NOT do, let alone do in the middle of a song. Are there any tips for holding the guitar or anything? I'm using my finger tips to try these cords, and there's always one string being pressed wrong.

That sounds perfectly normal to me- your hands are just not yet used to doing what's being asked of them. Believe it or not, that stuff will get like second nature to you- your fingers will get stronger and you'll get a finer idea of exactly how much pressure you need to apply to fret a chord or even single notes- I for instance used to choke the hell out of my guitar which isn't going to help, so I was overexerting my fretting hand and tiring it out unnecessarily. So to address the question - yes there is a correct way to hold the instrument, so I would suggest doing that; I'm sure your method book explains it, but it makes sense to not be able to change to a particular chord- most guitarists (myself included) have a very tough time getting around the notorious F chord. Keep bangin away on that thing though; you will get more comfortable.

peace