Just started

A little back ground info since it's my first post

-17 years old been wanting to play guitar since I was little, recently worked the guts and fear up to start playing today
-Not interested in playing/joining a band, carreer in playing, or playing infront of people.
-I just wanna learn guitar and play a few covers along with some of my own.

Alright here's were I get lost, I just picked up my dad's guitar today (not sure what it is but it says "dean" in cursive on the head) and I started reading some tut's on this site. I have never played an insurmate in my life and I have the basic idea of Frets.

I'm having a helll of a time learning the right frets to hold behind. I constantly have to keep counting from the top along with the cordes(I count from the top down).

Also when I hold down a string to make a sound I hold the pick right and stroke down. No matter how light or hard I stroke it still makes this scrapping sound which is louder than the note it's self!

I'v been playing for about 3 hours now and of course my arms and fingers hurt and I found a few nice sounds I liked but are there any real begginer songs or parts to learn so it's easier to tell if you are gettting better or not? I'm sitting here striking the cords over and over not really sure if they are right and I can't tell the difference in the .mp3 the tut provides. I under stand that something like this takes YEARS of time and practice to eventually get well.

Just hang in there. I'm sure every one here went through the same thing, I know I did. It's good that you are looking around this site, because there are alot of things to help you out with.

Go to a tab site ( http://www.guitaretab.com ) find a song that you like, hopefully it's nothing crazy to start with. Then if you have any questions about what the chord shape is, then go here : http://www.looknohands.com/chordhouse/

Guitars can be real bitches sometimes. Or rather its the player, but still I blame my guitar for a lot of things I can't do. Don't over-do it at first. I remember when I had my first guitar lesson (and last, because I was scared of the guy) in fourth I played with my thumb. I must of played for a few hours one day, and I developed a huge blister on it. I quit for the time being and wouldn't pick it back up until sixth grade.
What brought me back was listening to my brother play. I recommend you try to meet other musicians, and listen to them when you get frustrated.
Getting guitar lessons is also a good idea. A teacher will keep you dedicated, and also it makes learning a lot easier for most.
Practice everyday, for a set amount of time. Don't just play 3 hours one day, then skip the next two day. To develop nerves in your hands you must practice everyday.
BLAH BLAH BLAH thats all I have to say... for now.
If your looking for easy stuff to play songs off Jewel's first album, Pieces of You, are good and a lot of people recognize them. Some of my best memories are playing Jewel songs in front of the middle school to crowds.

But start off practicing for maybe 30 minutes, to one hour. Otherwise your fingers will be killing you.

Yeah the great memories of begining to play. those were the days, YEAH RIGHT! Just keep it up and practise practise practise. About the counting the frets thing bro. IF you look ont he top part of the neck you will see dots on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, etc. just play and you will remember these positions. Also ont he fret board itself there are dots ont hese frets. About the pickign part where the pick grinds or scratches the string. just get some good posture and use the bottom side of the pick and pick straight down. posture is a very important step when just begining. Just keep it up. Learn some green day, nirvana, you can even learn some mettalica intros like fade to black, one, sanatarium, hero of the day. just start with easy bits and pieces. Hope this helps lata bro

The pick scratching may be the cause of what type of pick you use. Everyone has different preferences for picks, so find one that suits you. I like thin picks, but you might like something totally different. In my oppinion thin picks are best for beginners.

I have been playing for about 3 years now, and when i started out i was very anxious to learn quickly and progress fast, but it took time. First i learned chords, basic ones A-G then movied to minor chords. Barre chord songs are the easist to play so i suggest you start on those

Welcome aboard man...You jut became a legend when you picked up that axe...NO matter what you wanna play for, I guarantee you will love playing...and also hate it some times...

I think a good place to start is with your major scale ( Ionian mode) you will find this scale on any website relating to guitar tuition...from there you can make easy power chords using the first(root) and fifth note of each chord ( played simultaneously) with power chords you can play the rythym guitar parts for most songs...very easy ones to get started on are Smoke on the Water by Deep purple and Fly away by Lenny Kravits.

I suggest you visit http://www.guitar-pro.com and download the demo version and then collect tabs from http://www.mysongbook.com

this demo actually plays the song for you in midi and shows you waht to play...a great tool

Good Luck and have fun

I'm new here, and have been playing for about a year, but I might as well post some info to help you out... one of the main things I did when I was new is learning chords and then playing all of the corny songs I knew, this encourages you to continue on so that you don't get discouraged in trying to do picking. picking will come with time, but you should first try to get your fingers to get good at the fretboard. Keep practicing and try not to pick up bad habits. :)

luke

i was thinking... maybe the reason why your chords don't sound right when you pick them has to do something with the action of the guitar. It can be frustrating and it makes playing difficult for beginners because its very hard to get a good clear sound unless you have strong developed fingers. You tend to press harder on a guitar that has high action to get a good clear sound. I know I had a hard time playing mine when I was beginning. I kept on getting muffled sounds and dull notes- I thought I was doing something wrong even though I'm sure that I got the fingerings right. It turns out that the guitar's strings were too thick for me (11's) and the action's too high- things about the guitar that I had no idea about when i was beginning because like you, i also just picked up an old guitar and started playing it assuming that the guitar is in proper working/ playable order- properly set up and everything.