Beginning lessons

Learning to play chords can be very discouraging and hard on the fingers. Start with something simple like playing G, C, and D with a 1 2 3 4 strumming pattern. If you didn’t know, when you’re strumming it’s counted out 1 and 2 and three and four and, with the numbers being the downstroke and “and” being the upstroke. Give the tips of your fingers time to develop callous’s, the first week or two your fingers will hurt.

After you’ve learned the basic chords you can start adding a few new chords, if you do G, C, D add G7, F and D7. Mixing things up relieves boring repetition and gives you a new challenge every week.

When I’m playing tabs or some riff or whatever for my guitar lesson, I’ll often just go and play songs that I can play the chords on. Usually when I’m first trying something new I’ll play it several times, take a break, play it again, and on like that. When I’ve gotten over the initial learning phase and I’ve got it memorized I practice my lesson for a longer amount of time and then quit for the day. I’m not one of those people that sit down and play guitar for hours, if that works for you, great, whatever you like to do find your groove and stick with it.

More improvement, and New Year’s resolutions

I think this must have been the second lesson in a row that my instructor told me I am improving and that I played a song well. Either he gets tired of criticizing or I am getting better. I can play God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen without a mistake now so maybe I am.

He did remind me that my New Year’s resolution is going to be chords. I don’t like chords. G, D, Em, C and A are fine, but bar chords? You must be joking. I’ve tried playing them and I sound terrible. But of course to be a guitar player one must use chords. Sigh…

My acoustic guitar is sounding very tingy. I always thought it didn’t sound as nice as other, more expensive models, but it’s really starting to bug me now. It is one of Samick’s cheap, smaller models so it might be the guitar? I just put new strings on it so I don’t think that’s it. I’m wondering if I would put another brand of strings on it if that would make a difference.