Tips on how to improve?

Hey guys, awesome site. The tutorials are nice and helpful. But now I need some personal advice from you all. I started the guitar just about a year ago, however due to med school, my playing has been on and off... thus the lack of improvements and advances. I've started playing again, since I have just about a month and a half of free time :D and I'm really interested and learning again and this time (keeping it by playing atleast 3 - 4 times a week for 20 minutes each)

Right Hand
My strumming isn't constant - i.e - sometimes my rhythm breaks off.
My picking isn't accurate- often I have to look at my hands :(

Yea I know practice makes perfect, however do you guys have any advice, exercise etc on how to get better? Basically, I will practice, but how should I practice with that hand to improve speed, accuracy, etc. What did ya guys do during your first time?

Left Hand
Man, I'm as stick as I could get with my fingers. I seem to not be able to stretch my hands, nor properly hold the chords. When i strum it makes this buzzing sound. Also, how again do I gain speed and accuracy?
Any advice how I should practice.

I really want to learn again, it's really soothing to play the guitar especially during stressful moments at school.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks a lot.

- Leon

Hi!

1. Warm up properly
2. Relax - if you ever feel tension then stop and relax yourself.
3. Record yourself if you can - it will help to put into perspective what you are playing
4. Record your progress using a notebook
5. Practice with a metronome.

Yup thats a propper shopping list of things to do but its worth getting into those habbits. You'll really benefit from them. Hope it helps!

The buzzing when you strum could be coming from playing too close to the frets or not putting enough pressure on the fretboard with your left hand. If you do not have calisouses on your fingers yet, it may take a little while to develope strength in your fingers so that you can press hard enough to get a good sound. (Once you have calisouses you shouldn't have to press hard at all)

Practice makes permanent.

You probably have always heard to practice slowly on whatever you need to work on, and this is good advice.

The previous poster had a good list of things to pay attention to. Make sure to look for a good teacher. They can give you answers on all the little things here and there that you are unsure about, as well as a good direction to take.

Awesome, thanks! Sorry I took a while to reply, finals = pain. Is there anyway I should practice strumming? Any specific advice?

Use a metronome... These things help... A LOT! Technique, speed, your sense of rythm... It's very essential... Just try to improve your speed a little bit every day. I started stumbling over my slef playing triplets at 140 BPM (beats per minute) That was two weeks ago, I'm now playing triplets at 208 as of yesterday! Believe me they're a great help. You can get them at any music shop for 10-25 bucks. Do yourself a huge favor and buy one!