New here

Hell everyone my name is Adam, obviously lol. Im as new at guitar as you can get. I am going to need A LOT of help, I have been watching the lessons over and over and its still tough. I hope to one day be able to play some Van halen? maybe some alice and chains? Does anyone think that this is possible? I don't know im having a hard time, I want to learn how to play so badly.

Welcome Adam!

Everything is possible, with enough practice! Just play your guitar every day and you will find the Alice in Chains and Van Halen riffs becoming less and less impossible to play, and then one day you will find yourself wondering what was so hard about them :) .

Hmmm. Good advice, Ben.

I'm new here too; although not new to guitar playing. In fact, becoming part of Guitartricks.com is a season of life that I'm revisiting, one I hope will become more natural. You see, I put the guitar down years ago, and now she and I have become strangers again. I even find it hard to hold any of my 3 acoustic guitars with any particular comfort, despite making an effort to play one of them 4 to 5 times a week.

If I were younger I'd play with greater discipline, for longer periods of time (at least an hour a day). Playing everyday was something I used to do spontaneously, but I didn't have a website like this one to urge me forward then, and my playing by ear left me familiarizing with particular chord structures and following the same basic dynamic patterns to the place where I bored myself. All the songs I wrote began to sound the same to me (on the guitar anyway).

Now, although part of me wants this badly, I find it hard to spend time playing/practicing/familiarizing myself with those plastic and/or metal strings. My fingertips get sore. My patience runs thin. But, I've joined your family (for a year anyway), hoping that during this time something will change and my old friend and me will become intimate with each other again, comfortable, kindred.

I'm a singer/songwriter and these days someone else does the instrumentation for me, but how I wish I had never put that guitar down. Just being able to put chord progressions to a song was inspiring, and I should never have allowed myself to become lethargic when I began feeling forced to create lyrics and melodies that fit into my limited instrumental boundaries.

I'm truly hoping that despite my age, I'll be able to do things right this time. I want to LEARN to play, this time, so that the chord structures compliment my melodies and allow me to fully enjoy my vocal range. I am sometimes bothered by the fact that my voice is my 'best' instrument; especially because I never took voice lessons either. However, I am currently enjoying a season of performances in an Italian cultural community setting that has been allowing me to combine my love of writing with my love of singing. All I need now is to be able to go to the individuals who arrange the music for me with a base instrumentation that they can follow, compliment, enhance or critique, so that I'm not forced to pay as much for a finished recording as I have to pay now.

Sorry to ramble on... all I meant to say was:

Nice to meet you Adam. I wish you all the pleasure a guitar can bring~ and that's no small deal... ;)

Oh... my name is Victory (in Italian).

Thanks "Guitartricks" for giving me the desire to give this another try and the tools to help make this a slam bang effort!

thanks for the advice, but i am feeling very discouraged, I think i may not be very well coordinated enough to play guitar.

...coordinated enough?

Well, most people aren't born with fingers ready to do anything as coordinated as play an amazing instrument. So, don't be discouraged. Don't give up. Giving up is the last thing you want to do.

Keep at it. It's a piece of carved wood with strings attached, that hundreds of thousands of 'un'coordinated people (throughout the course of time) have conquered. Join the ranks of the victorious. Work at it.

NOthing worth it comes easy!

:);)

...that's my two cents...

:)

Hi Adam

Hope you are still hanging in there. You sound young and when I was young i took up guitar but stupidly gave it up. Now at 6 I am in my second year of learning,I have three acoustics and have just bought my first electric guitar. The difference between now and then is that I realise that you need some patience and routine practice if you are to improve. From when I started the progress is immense but day to day sometimes it can be hard to see improvement. My advice, if you like the instrument is to stick at it, don't be impatient. Build the foundations and most of all enjoy it!
Good luck and keep us posted

Welcome.

And, I'll just say succinctly "If it were easy, everyone would play guitar" ;)

Welcome Adam. Don't stress yourself. Take your time, and just enjoy your guitar. The great thing about this site, is that there is no set time limit for learning. Don't place yourself under one. That will only result in frustration. Remember that those entertainers that you see performing have years of experience. Many of them had the same feelings that you're currently experiencing.

Learn to play, not to impress others, but because you love the guitar.