I am REALLY bad!

I am trying to play the song "Let it Roll" after learning the 5 Chord Power Pack. I have practiced and practiced the cord changes but when I try to play the song following along my fingers just won't move to the next chord fast enough even when I slow the recording down and I keep having to reset my fingers because they are not moving to the right spots fast enough. Are their some people that just can't do this?

You probably aren't as bad as you think. Take it as slow as you need to so you can make the chords. Forget tempo, just start building muscle memory. Do only 1 bar at a time.

Thanks. I am just trying to follow the Guitar Tricks lesson plan. But it looks like I may have to go through the lesson plan slower.

I'm smiling reading the subject line. I think we all have extended periods of time when we feel like we're all thumbs. I know I do. I'm currently in the middle of one. It sucks, but it too shall pass. Hang in there!

Originally Posted by: keith9346

I am trying to play the song "Let it Roll" after learning the 5 Chord Power Pack. I have practiced and practiced the cord changes but when I try to play the song following along my fingers just won't move to the next chord fast enough even when I slow the recording down and I keep having to reset my fingers because they are not moving to the right spots fast enough. Are their some people that just can't do this?

We`ve all gone through it. Some days everything just seems to flow and other days everything seems like an insufferable chore. Guitar is no different. Progress is not linear; it takes all kinds of detours and side streets along the way. Just wondering: How long have you been working on this lesson ? Some lessons take a lot longer than others. I recall one lesson in GF2 that took me literally weeks of daily practice to get through. I must have practiced the practice tune over 500 times ! Even then it wasn`t perfect but I deemed it good enough to move on.

My point is this. Anyone can do this if they have the perseverence and patience to do so. Most people who try to learn to play guitar will give up along the way. Otherwise everyone would be doing it, as the old saying goes. It`s a lifelong endevour. Enjoy the journey and know that every hour you spend playing will make you a better player, even if it doesn`t always seem that way.

Lastly, if you`re REALLY stuck on this, consider a one on one lesson to help get you over that hump.

Good luck !

keith9346 --

A couple months ago, My Lady heard me practicing a rhythm passge I was having trouble with. I usually play behind closed doors or when she's not in the house. The conversation went sorta like this...

"Is that (song title) you're playing?" she asked.

Delighted, I responded, "Yes it is. I'm surprised you recognized it."

Her, "You're better then you think you are."

Me, half-seriously "Yeah... we all are." Since then I've not been such a stickler about closed door practice.

Good luck, have fun. You're better than yesterday, not as good as tomorrow.

Jimy Hendrix, which I consider to be one of the best ever done it... a quote I found on-line:

“Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you’ll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you’re gonna be rewarded.”

That's kind of encouraging right? Even the best wanted to give up on the guitar and had moments of hate towards it. So my thought: What can I expect from myself, being a dad of 2, playing perhaps 30-60 minutes a day?

You might have way more ambition than me. Then you need to play more :)

Don't be "motivated", be "disciplined".

Just give up. I made it through the beginner course with two smashed guitars later. Still can't play a open a chord with out the tips of my fingers in total pain. Plus watching a 12 year old master a song in a couple of hours. I have almost taken a sludge hammer to my computer. And why at the end of the courses no direction. Just hear try to get frustrated over sheet music, and good luck.

I'm right there with you, Keith. I can play and sing to Cross the Line, but the next two songs have so many words, I just get distracted by trying to keep up with it all. I have a rhythm mantra I use for piano (much like counting one-and-two-and, etc.) and I played 'Begin Again' without the video at my own pace, with my eyes on the chord names, not the lyrics first. Later I was able to do this with the video at 75%, then at 100%. [br][br]Roll Like Water is a quantum leap from those two-chord songs. Three chords and more difficult changes. Yesterday I just drilled the changes, but that didn't translate to staying in sync with the slowed video today.[br][br]However, it will.

[br]My fingers last 30 minutes a day. My calluses after three months are not very hard. So, I just have to be patient. With harder calluses, my fretting will improve, so my guitarist friend assures me. [br][br]I started this course and bought my guitar mainly to improve my rhythm on the piano. My expectations have been far exceeded. I look forward to strumming a few chords to familiar songs with simpler melodies and fewer lyrics than Lisa's songs. Her sophisticated syncopated singing is nice as a backing track for our simple strumming, but I don't aspire to performing these songs.

I highly recommend using the loop function on the video and just set the loop to a very small portion of the chord progression, play it super slow. Don't expand the loop until you feel you've got a reasomable handle on the first bit.

You may be doing this already, but it's the only way I have managed to learn some of the progressions I have attempted.

Stck with it, you can do it!

Originally Posted by: alffvdh

I highly recommend using the loop function on the video and just set the loop to a very small portion of the chord progression, play it super slow. Don't expand the loop until you feel you've got a reasomable handle on the first bit.

You may be doing this already, but it's the only way I have managed to learn some of the progressions I have attempted.

Stck with it, you can do it!

Thanks, I saw the loop function, but never used it. That's a great idea.

I agree with William MG. Muscle memory has to be a huge part of those fast chord changes and that flurry of notes in a solo. Break it down into small pieces and let them build. Force yourself to walk away if your gettingg too frustrated and just know when you pick back up everything will be fresh and along with the attitude change, you'll have it mastered to a greater degree.