Frustrated

I've been playing pretty consistently for about 8 months and although I have progressed I still cant play songs that every instructor on this site says is easy.
I know how to form all the major chords and a few minor ones, but I cant change between them in a beat or two. I know a few scales but even after hours and hours on end I can't pick up speed without screwing up. I did the Core learning system all the way to Blues 1 level but I just dont have any accuracy or speed. I spent the hole day today trying to figure out the strumming that Lisa McCormick does in Bobby Mcgee. She plays it slow which I can do and it sounds a certain way but then she says "get loose with it" and it sounds like something totally different but I have no idea what she did. How do you get loose with it? Other than the Core Learning system, is there anything on this site acoustic that is for beginners that cant do the so called easy songs?

We've all heard it, many of us have repeated it; "practice, practice, practice." In this case, i.e., dealing with chord change difficulties, time spent with a SLOW metronome can be just the ticket. ;)

Choose 2 cords, lets say G and D. Make a G, release and make it again. Switch to D, do the same thinng. Back and forth for say 15 minutes. Then choose two other chords and do the same with them. At first take it slow make sure each string rings clear for each chord. When you can do that, how to make the chord should be burned in.

Work using the chord patterens till you start getting enough speed to keep up with chord changes. Then start changing the chord patterns to build speed with other chords.

Build confidence in yourself by not always looking at you fingers.

So I guess there isn't any easy songs except ode to joy without a voice? Ok, maybe not on this site, but can any of you remember your first few songs, the really easy ones?

bad moon rising
proud mary
heart of gold

Some of the first songs I learned on guitar.

Hey don't get that way just put the guitar down walk outside or go do something else for awhile then come back to it.Believe me I have to do this from time to time or I'd be slamming my guitar up against the wall.It clears your head you stop thinking in music notes.....lol.....an you can start again.

a98gsxr

I got to looking on the site. I found four songs I learned when I started playing.
Folsom Prison Blues
Sweet Home Alabama
China Grove
After Midnight

Give them a listen and watch your feet as you listen. Learn which ever one makes your feet move the most.

Hey man, slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. You gotta crawl before you walk, and walk before you run! Find the speed you can play, where you hit every note and can hear it clearly. HAHj500 has outstanding guidance for chords, so Ill just touch on scales.

When you find your speed..and it could be 1 note every 5 seconds if that is what it takes...and go up and down the same scale. Keep it up until you can play the whole scale, up and down, without looking at the fretboard or your fingers. I suggest a daily short routine..10-15 minutes..or longer if it remains enjoyable and you don't mind. If you screw up go back to the beggining of the scale and start it over. I would also only pick one scale to practise, and i wouldn't try to learn a new scale until I had a mastery of the first and could play it at the speed the teachers play. Why confuse yourself with multiple scales? I personally don't move on to the next lesson or scale until I can play it with no messups multiple times and I can improvise.

Playing guitar is supposed to be fun! If your frustration takes away the pleasure of playing, then your efforts are counterproductive. play for a few minutes a few times every day...longer if your feeling it.
I also found it very helpful in the long run, to tune by ear. If you have a tuner use it to verify your ear, or if you are in a hurry and need to rock ASAP! Hear what each note sounds like, hum the note as you tune. I was not blessed with perfect pitch, so i had to develop and train my ear. Tuning by ear is just more training you can do that WILL help in everything from writing songs, or to figuring out how to play a song just by listening to it. I have gotten to the point where I feel the notes as well as hear them. When I tune i almost ignore my ear now because the resonation of the two strings will sync up when in tune. You will get there too, guitar is a lifetime journey not a race.
good luck bud!!

oh yeah...duh..find a playing partner! Having a buddy to jam with will make all the differance...there is nothing in the world as amazing as writing and playing music with others. It is

I think your on the right track. I really get frustrated too. I decided Im just going to ask alot of questions. I heard it said theres no stupid question. I figure If I get the answers it will all start to eventually make sence.

It took me almost two years before I could play a single song. I sat every day and strummed chords, practiced pentatonic patterns, and learned easy little licks from songs I liked. But, for the life of me couldn't put it together.

Literally one day, it just clicked. The first song I learned all the way through was Simple Man and learned the easiest 3 chord version I could (Am, C, G). After a few weeks of this song, I learned another, and found that this second song had similar chords in it as Simple Man.

Then, I learned a third, fourth, and always found the same thing (more or less)--I've seen these chord patterns before!

As I write this today, I now have a catalog of nearly 60 songs I've learned on one year alone and I now see new songs as all relating to each other in some way.

So, my advice, find a song you really like and learn the easiest version of it you can. I always say, "work the struggle". Allow yourself to realize it can be hard, but be determined to get through one whole song. Then, do nothing more than play and enjoy that song for a while and then move onto another.

Soon enough, you'll see the same thing I did, the same damn chord progressions, patterns, etc show up in different songs all the time!

Originally Posted by: a98gsxrSo I guess there isn't any easy songs except ode to joy without a voice? Ok, maybe not on this site, but can any of you remember your first few songs, the really easy ones?

Just a thought to send your way...BTW alL of the reply's so far have been excellent in thier content... stick with "your first few songs".

Due to my age (I could be considered an Old Far*) my "first few songs" were things such as nusery rhymes most notable as "Bah Bah black sheep", "Twinkle twinkle little star" and the "ABC's".

All of these songs can be played using the same chord progression ( in the key of C) as

C-F-C

F-C-G7-C

C-F-C-G

C-F-C-G

C-F-C

F-C-G7-C

If these "tunes" are familiar they should help you tranisisiton form one chord to the next within this key ** plus the added bonus of them being within the 1st position common chords** keeping you with in your lesson approach.

If these songs are not familiar to you (I say this becuase I teach some younger students who are not familiar with these songs [degredation of the public schools a topic for future discussion]) then at least find songs that are "common" to you that seem to "sound" the same both in chord structure and melodic content -- examples of three would be "back in black"- ACDC, "black" Pearl Jam and "ramble on" led Zepplin -- all three using a E,D,A progression but in different time segments.

Good luck in your progression.

J