52, Hopefully 3rd time's a charm

Hi, my name is Josh and I've tried to learn the guitar on two previous occasions and gave up for decades at a time. Back when I was about 19 I picked up an electric guitar at Toys R Us that had a built-in amplifier. A toy one would say, but it was fun to try to learn and I just tried to make musical sounds. I got a beginner book and got stumped both by the pain of beginning to fret and the fact that I couldn't figure out how to make my fingers do the things in the book. So, I gave up. Probably only put a couple weeks into seriously trying.

Skip to my thirties and I tried again. I stayed with it for about 9 months and I could play the basic scale. Again, got stumped by chords so I went to a couple lessons where the kid who was my teacher said to just keep practicing, which I'd been doing for a month. With no real help I just gave up since I was making no progress.

With the proliferation of youtube I was inspired again and I really dived in. Knowing that the books really don't help me much I've ignored them in favor of joining this website (after comparing reviews on dozens of recommendations). I've added strength training for my hand, flexibility exercises I've found online, and try to vary things up with music theory and ear training.

I've never been very musical. I've failed at drums, piano, and harmonica in addition to guitar. So, I'm trying to create a structured training regimen that will keep my interest. I practice for 15 minutes 3 times per day and work on learning theory and trying to train my ear in relative pitch. This post is my attempt to keep actively involved in working on it. I'm happy to say that after 1 week I seem to be developing a little more control using the spider exercise to fret with 4 fingers on the neck from 1st to 6th string. I'm fat so trying to work around my belly with a dreadnaught guitar is challenging. I'm still looking for that proper posture that works with my body and guitar.

My only criticism of all programs, including this one, is there's no method for assessing progress that seems sufficient to me. I've seen all the hand angles, thumb positioning, and arched finger videos I could take in, but I still don't have a good sense of what is "good enough" to move on to the next video. I guess it's in the mind of the player, but that's a little too subjective for me. As well, I need to figure out how much variation will keep my interest above my frustration level. Do I wait to try to do some riffs until my finger placement is better or do I try some riffs while I'm working on that so I can say, "Oh, that's fun. I'll stick with this."? I sort of wish there was a personal thumbs up/down method to track how interested one is so the site can determine, "we don't want to lose this player so suggest this topic to keep engagement up and they'll stick with the exercises long enough that they should see some improvement" or "they've been stuck on this topic for a long time, maybe we need to suggest some alternate ways of trying to improve".

Anyway, this is my semi-diary note to commit myself to staying with this. I've done it for 9 months previously so I feel confident in my ability to stick with it for at least that long since I have more stuff that I know and can explore. I'm dreading chords, though. I really hope involvement in this site will help me get past that historic hurdle.

Originally Posted by: joshuagodinez1117

I've never been very musical. I've failed at drums, piano, and harmonica in addition to guitar.

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Keep this in mind; if you've failed 9 out of 10 times, you've succeded. Think about that for a minute.

Originally Posted by: joshuagodinez1117

I practice for 15 minutes 3 times per day and work on learning theory and trying to train my ear in relative pitch.

[/quote]

Good plan to break up sessions in to smaller chunks. Your finger tips will thank you for that.

Originally Posted by: joshuagodinez1117

I'm fat so trying to work around my belly with a dreadnaught guitar is challenging. I'm still looking for that proper posture that works with my body and guitar.

Here's a tip from one fatty to another; get a strap if you haven't already. You don't have to try to manage the guitar and fretting/strumming too. To be honest, I find a slight (slight) slouch to be the ideal for me in terms of posture. Not what is recommended as proper but it tilts the guitar in a way that is more accessable.

[quote=joshuagodinez1117]

My only criticism of all programs, including this one, is there's no method for assessing progress that seems sufficient to me...but I still don't have a good sense of what is "good enough" to move on to the next video.

And you won't ever find that. This is primarily due to the fact that you are self assessing and that means that you'll never fairly judge yourself. It's also due to the fact that there is no scale by which all guitar players are measured. It's not like the high jump or a track meet where you have measurements.

My job is analytical by nature. You'd think data would be objective but in the end, the existence of data is only in support of a supposition. There's an art to data analysis but it's due to the need of data to tell the story of whetever it is that you're digging all those numbers for. That 'story' or thing I need data to support likely already has value and it's a matter of how much value. What I can't tell before doing my data dig is how valuable.

How does that apply here; the 'story' is the ability to execute some skill on the guitar but you don't need data to know that you're playing something well (or well enough). Sure, if there were a scale to measure by, it would be easier to methodically mark progress. The problem is we are our only judge.

If anything, you may (eventually) want to record yourself playing something you learned to see if you play it as well upon playback as you do when you're playing it. It can cause cringes but playback strips away some of your subjectivity. It can be a bit painful and I don't suggest doing that too soon as it can be demoralizing when you're just starting to get your guitar sea legs.

Key here is to not worry that you've prefected a skill. Just that you are somewhat comfortable. Then move on. Don't forget that new skill. As a matter of fact, some of your practice should be dedicated to review of skills you've learned just to keep them up to speed.

[quote=joshuagodinez1117]

I'm dreading chords, though. I really hope involvement in this site will help me get past that historic hurdle.

To demystify chords; the majority of chords you'll play in most modern music are these major open chords E, A, G, C and D. These are often referred to as 'cowboy chords'. You'll notice that Guitar Tricks leads with those. You can play an enormous amount of music with just those chords. Eventually you'll move on to barre chords, which is a simple concept but takes a little patience with your hands.

The thing is, with the cowboy chords and barre chords, you can play nearly any modern rock song. I mean, that is not literally true but that takes out an enormous chunk.

Sure, there are million chords and the longer you play, the broader your vocabulary becomes. However, just to be able to play, it's those basics that will get you pretty far.

Though you will eventually learn chord structures and what the difference is between an Amaj and A7 chord and the theory behind that, do not get tied up in that at the outset. Don't everthink it. You'll have plenty of time to overthink!! Just get the chords down and be comfortable with playing them. You'll find many songs in the Guitar Tricks catalogue that you can play with the cowboy chords and barre chords.

All that said....

It sounds like you might have been a victim of overthinking anyway. I can't say that for sure but from your post, that's what I read in to. I figure just rellx and go along for the ride that the Guitar Tricks structure gives you and all that stuff will come with time. All you have to do is practice.

Good luck!!!

Thank you for your words of encouragement.