I'm a novice/beginner too. Just started in May - been practicing for about an hour or so every night (thought that was pretty good, until reading some of you practice 4 hrs/day!!). I usually practice until my fingers hurt, and I can't take it anymore. I've gotten some decent callouses, but still can't take much more than 2 hours at one time.
I've got some rather mind-stumping questions (at least, well, they are for me!)
You see, I've been playing for months, and I'm only now getting up to learning the notes on the fourth and fifth strings - yep, I'm up to page 25 in the "Mel Bays Modern Guitar Method - Grade 1 (Expanded Version)." I'm kinda frustrated, because I want to play chords, but they haven't introduced that yet. I bought a book on TAB/chords - but they lost me on the 10th page, chapter 2 - How to Read and Interpret the Notation Used In this Book.
Well, I've discovered a few things ... the first being, most people I listen to who play the guitar well, can't read music, and ... I have absolutely no musical talent, what-so-ever ... but my greatest epiphany is that I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with it, except to play (duh!) ... well, I mean that I don't have a specific style of music that I am dying to play - I don't salivate over certain musicians, wishing to emulate their solo, I have no idea what type of songs I want to play ... just that I want to play the guitar, and be able to sing along (maybe). Hey, I've gotten applause from singing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" with my 5 year old! (That's about my speed at the moment.) Anyhow, my mom decided to give me a guitar lesson for my birthday - paid for 1/2 hr at her local music store. I spent that time feeling incredibly inept and useless. He did give me a chart on chords, and some tips for finger exercises on stretching. Unfortunately, I've discovered that spending time on the practices he suggested has severely affected my ability to play the guitar, period. I need to stretch my fingers more, hit the strings closer to the fret, and come in straight on, rather than sideways, In short ... I suck.
I also have this incredible need to have someone tell me that I'm doing fine, and that I'm actually getting better. I agree that regular lessons might be a good thing for my playing, if not for my ego ... but I live in a rural area, work 50 hours a week, and have children. I'm not exactly financially able to commit to such a regimen of study. So, will Guitar Tricks offer me the help I need, or am I in waaay over my head? Is it possible to continue on as I have been, teaching myself with the book and DVD?
-WildFyreKT