Real Advice needed

Hi all,

this is my first post as a new member. I have been attempting to play Acoustic guitar for around 19 yrs on and off. I never seem to progress past basic strumming and simple chords. I have a real yearning to play properly, I would love to be able to fingerpick and play blues and folk type music. I am almost resigned to the fact that some of us are not destined to be able to play. I am giving this site a go in hope that it will give me inspiration to fulfill a burning ambition. Has anyone been through this and managed to reach a proficient level, if so what techniques did you employ? I'd like to think
there is hope for me yet! :confused:

I went through about 5 years of being able to play nothing but a D chord so I kinda know where you're coming from. I think what finally got me out of my slump was first of all getting a decent guitar instead of my K-Mart $20 special with the warped neck.
Next thing was leaving my new guitar out at all times so that any time I felt the urge, I didn't have to go through the bother of taking it out of a closet or whatever, taking it out of the case, cleaning it off etc etc... It was always sitting there so anytime I got bored or was watching TV, I'd pick it up and try picking out notes. When I was living at home, it was basically sit down with your parents and watch TV or go to your room and listen to one of your 5 albums you owned and try to learn them. The secret is sticking with it and realizing that learning guitar takes months and years. A lot of guys give up after a few weeks cause they feel they aren't getting anywhere, but that's just the way it is.

Next thing was getting into a band. Even when I only knew a few chords and basically was terrible on guitar, I was auditioning for bands. Once I got into one, it forced me to learn 40 songs almost immediately. Basically, if I wanted to be in a band, I had to know a ton of songs, so the incentive was there to learn them whether I liked them or not. Once you learn a bunch of songs you start to realize that a majority of popular tunes are very similar in the way they're put together. Ie, an intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus and fade. Once you've learned the intro, verse and chorus, you pretty much know the whole song.

From there it just kinda progresses on it's own. The more you learn, the more you want to learn more and other things start interesting you like reading music, tab and learning theory etc...

You obviously have the desire to want to play.. and I have to say that that is the most important thing.. You need to want to play guitar, not for anyone else but because you want to play. The next step is CONSTANT and CONSISTENT practise. When I say constant, I don't mean you need to play every single second of every day.. I mean that if you at a beginner level and you want to get to an intermediate level, then you need to put in the work to accomplish that... not 1 hour on 24th December 2007, then 1 hour on 7th January 2008.. then 30mins on 10th January.. and so on..

You need to set aside at least 15 to 30mins every 1 or 2 days to "practise". Practising can be just going over the same stuff again to make sure you don't forget it.. or it can be learning a new song, or learning some new music theory.. or whatever.. as long as you dedicate that 30mins to learning the guitar. 30mins per day is PLENTY of practise.. So turn off the TV and pick up the guitar instead.

Lisa McCormick (one of the instructors here) has some great tutorials on Finger Picking (fingerstyle) for beginners that you might want to check out. Finger picking is just like playing what you already know (ie. basic chords) except instead of strumming, you finger pick.. so it sounds like a good step forward for you.

Here's a link to her tutorials page: http://www.guitartricks.com/instructor.php?input=311296

EDIT: Oh I just realised you're not full access member.. not sure if any of her lessons are on the freebie pages.. sorry.

For me something that sparked a lot of growth with my playing was moving from open chords to learning barre chords. That opened my eyes to a whole new world of playing guitar, with finding out how many different places and ways I could play a chord, and really learning the fretboard. My guitar teacher convinced me that a great way to learn barre chords was to learn blues. I told him that I really didn't want to play blues and I'd never really listened to it. He gave me a SRV tape to take home that week, and from then on I've loved blues. As I tried to learn the blues songs, it forced me to practice those barre chords that I never could get right, and it helped me grow a lot. Good luck, man. You can DO IT!!!

Many thanks for the responses guys and the much welcomed advice and encouragement.

Kevin, my guitars are a Takamine Electro-acoustic and an Epiphone Sheraton semi. Unfortunately, I don't think I can blame my instruments!

I would love to find someone as a practice partner as I do believe this would go a long way to improving my ability, I do not have the confidence to go down the band route but I have had a go playing and singing with someone else during an extended working trip away. It was a fantastic experience and really re-ignited my passion for guitar.

Once I have thoroughly browsed the sight and experienced what it has to offer, I will look to upgrade to full membership. In the meantime I'll keep practicing.
Best wishes & Seasons greetings to all :)

when i was learning guitar, the thing i hated most were chords.
i guess it all depend on what type of music you listen to, but man those are boring!
it wasnt until i started playting other things did i start actually liking guitar.

what james said entirely.
forme when i started trying to flip[ through a "teach yourself to play guitar book" it just wasnt enough motivation for me to keep going. it was a bunch of boring dumb little folk songs we've all heard time and time again. then when i started trying to play stuff by sugust burns red or modest mouse, then i wanted to play and kept chipping away... and still am... heheh...
its about having fun in order to accomplish what you want with something as optional as a musical instrument.

your musical tastes can also affect the amount of initial effort you have to put forth in order to satisfy your desires, but you can't go wrong with the blues/folk route. i am a player of extremely varied stylistic backgrounds, but what got me wanting to play guitar was punk and ska, all the while pushing my lead playing abilities. i got a good mix of barre chords, scales, speed riffs, and melodic experimentation. others who might come from a more genre-specific standpoint (ie, "i want to play metal guitar") might have a harder time building confidence in their abilities because they are shooting for a higher standard of playing ability. all you have to do is remember that realistic expectations are your best friend, and realize that it might be years before you can play alot of the things you want to. start small and build yourself up.