Originally Posted by: weskoonI subscribed to full access membership to this site tonight.

I'm somewhat new to the guitar. I've got a Fender Stratocaster, but I can't even play a full song.

I really can only play certain pieces of songs, due to learning the tabs, and Making up my own little licks from the Pentatonic Scale.

I try to learn songs from my favorite artists Like, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Eric Johnson, Eagles, Lynrd Skynrd, Plus lots, more.. I just get frustrated.. for one reason..

I don't know what I need to be concentrating on. i mean yeah I can sit there and learn how to play a song if i study the tab long enough, but what Do I do now to further myself in my playing? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Hey wes,

First, I suggest you slow down! I can understand your excitement with your Strat (my first guitar was a cheap acoustic, and the action was over an inch above the fretboard! I use to have to shave the callouses with a razor- but it did wonders for my picking and chording when I was able to buy my first electric.)

Focus on your fundamentals. Are your barre chords clean? Do all the strings rings, or are there some "dead" strings. Forget barre chords, how about the open chords?

I know most guitarists are resistant to this, as I was, but learn how to read some music.

Do you know how to tune your guitar? Silly question to some, but I've found that teaching someone how to tune a guitar can be one of the most difficult things to teach. And I'm not talking about with an electronic tuner. Matter of fact, I was going to start a thread, and the topic was going to be, "What's the Most Difficult thing to teach a beginning player?"- (but I ran into your post, and saw that no one replied.) I find that most difficult, because it's hard to teach someone how to listen. An individual string may be in tune, but is your guitar in tune overall? If it sounds "off", could be you either aren't tuned up properly, or there's an intonation problem with the guitar. What can you do to fix that?

How's your picking? Your arm tight or relaxed? Wrist loose? How about your body as a whole? Tense, relaxed?

Start out with easier songs from a real beginners book. Have a metronome? Can you play Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star without missing a beat? Get a metronome, and see if you can. Here's a tab for the melody: http://www.911tabs.com/link/?3587492 Practice your picking; first with down strokes only, then with up only, then up/down.

And be honest with yourself. I know you want to crank up your amp, crank up the volume, and rock out. There's plenty of tutorials here. Look around; there's a wealth of information.

But you gotta crawl before you walk, walk before you run. I hope this helps for starters. There's plenty of members here that are willing to share. Good luck, and welcome to GT!