Any budding guitarists out there?

[joesoap]

I have been playing guitar for the best part of 20 years. I found myself on a bit of a plateau, sticking to the style I was reasonably comfortable with.
I found this forum a few years ago and I can recommend it to anyone who plays at whatever level

WholeNote - The On-Line Guitar Community - with guitar lessons OLGA guitar tab music chords scales and other goodies...

This site offers tablature for every genre of guitar play. From classical to progressive rock. From Blues to Flamenco. You can hear the sound, reduce the tempo, play the whole song in a loop or just play a couple of bars. I defy anyone not to widen their repetoire or improve their skill.

[nugunz]

Very, very cool. Thanks man.

[WhiteCrowUK]

I've tried time and again to learn the guitar without success alas.

[computer2slow]

Only thing I can do is the beginning to Smoke on the Water.

[nugunz]

All you need to learn the guitar is a sense of rhythm... like if you can count out a'ONEtwothrefourONEtwothreefourONEtwothreefour.... You have a good place to start. after that, it just takes patience. It's easy to get into. Once you do, it's just... how far can you progress.

"There's a substitute for talent. It's called practice. There's no substitute for practice."

That ones from my highschool quire teacher. haha.

[WhiteCrowUK]

I found the problem is my left hand just can't form the chords - it's awkward and painful, and didn't get any easier with practise.

[Chief]

I found the problem is my left hand just can't form the chords - it's awkward and painful, and didn't get any easier with practise.

Best stick to this then mate : JamLegend

[nugunz]

Awww, that's NO excuse man It being awkward and painful DOES go away over time, man. You just didn't give it time enough.

When you first start, your fingers are going to get absolutely shredded, but after a few weeks you build up calluses, and they just get harder and harder as you play. Also, your hand gets stronger over time, and more used to playing, so it won't cramp up as soon or as much. Alot of people have that problem, and they make the mistake of stopping as soon as it starts to hurt. That's the opposite of what you're supposed to do. When your hand starts to hurt, you keep playing... keep playing... keep playing... and eventually, the pain goes away. That's how you build up the muscles in your wrist, which is how you get faster, and your fingers get more... graceful? Accurate, is probably a better word for it though.

The awkwardness goes away with pure practice. True practice. Like, really putting time and effort into getting better. You have to train your fingers to jump through the hoops, and make the chord shapes better faster stronger. After a while, you can do it in a snap. A little longer, you can shape the chords without even thinking about your fingers.

You can't just sit down with a guitar, try for ten or twenty minutes at a time and call it practice. You gotta earn it. Everyone who ever played the guitar had to earn it, unless they were some crazy japanese child prodigy, or maybe some pretentious dousch like Malmstien. lol.

[The_Disturbed_One]

Hey hey hey, man take it easy on Yngwie. You know the guy rocks. But yeah, one of my friends, who's now a pretty awesome guitarist, started out by complaining ALL THE TIME about his fingertips hurting. Eventually he stopped complaining, and I asked him why. He showed me his fingertips. Those things are like tiny rocks, man.

[nugunz]

Yeah. A lot of guys I know who play will actually pick the tops of their calluses off, just so they'll come in stronger. It makes sense, I guess. I'd rather just play and let my fingers do their own thing. haha. I work at a lumberyard, and that's hard enough on my hands as it is.

As for YM. He's REAL good. I just think he's a little too about himself. That's just me, I guess.