Help... Guitar?

Question

I just started playing the guitar, i'm 14. Its really hard to get my fingers used to it, i've been thinking about quiting. Its really hard, i practise and practise but they dont seem do adjust. Any suggestions on what may help?

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Answer 1

You just have to stay with it. Your fingers will be sore on the ends from the strings and in time harden up. And in the same way they will begin to loosen so you get position them for your chords. Heck, you hang in there, nothing is easy. But, as you learn where your strings are and not have to look and your fingers start working, you be "Jamming".
What Guitar Brand you using and is it Electric or Acoustic?

Answer 2

hey i have only been playing for about 2 years and just keep on trucking..dont stop!

waht do you play? since you are a beginner i suggest electric guitar..the strings are thinner and easier to play..then transition to acoustic

it takes time and practice. i rarely practice and i kick myself in the butt everyday for not sticking to it enough..i finally started playing a week ago

try and learn basic chords and such..can you read music? i dont so i have a lil more trouble learning them and understanding the roots of the chords

hey stick with it
you may turn out to be an awesome guitar player

play everyday..if you dont know enough just press your fingers against the fret board and slide them up and down and transition to diff chords so that you can build strength and calluses

if you want email me
[e-mail]

i love talking about guitars
its fun!

Answer 3

I went through the same thing when I was fourteen, so I can honestly say that I know where you are coming from and that it's frustrating as all get-out.

I got through it, and now at the ripe old age of thirty-six I make my living as a guitar and banjo teacher so I also honestly say that if you stick with it good things can happen.

Okay, lets look at a few things you can do to get picking without pulling your hair out.

First, look at your guitar. Check the action (that's a slang term for how high the strings are over the fretboard) and check the strings gauge and condition. If the action is too high it'll be hard to fret the guitar. Heavy strings, or corroded strings, can make the guitar hard to play.

If the action looks good, tune your guitar to an open chord.

Let's try Open G tuning.

In open G tuning

* Your SIXTH string (the wound string closest to your chin) is tuned to D
* Your FIFTH string is tuned to G
* Your FOURTH string is tuned to D
* Your THIRD string is tuned to G
* Your SECOND string is tuned to B
* Your FIRST string (the plain steel string closest to the floor) is tuned to D

Note: Never just crank on your guitar tuners. Always play the open string THEN tune it up. It'll save you from changing a lot of broken strings.

I strongly recommend that you pick up a chromatic tuner. A standard guitar tuner won't help with alternate tunings- but a decent chromatic tuner can help you with open G and some of the other tunings I'm going to talk about at the tail end of this workshop. Chromatic tuners can be picked up for as little as fifteen bucks so shop around and find you like. Also look around http://www.yahoo.com for tuners you can either download or use online with a microphone attached to your computer.

If you don't have a tuner you can tune the guitar to itself by following these steps:

1. Assume that the first string is in tune.

2. Tune the second string so that when you fret the second string at the third fret you get the same note as the open first string.

3. Tune the third string so that when you fret the third string at the fourth fret you get the same note as the open second string.

4. Tune the fourth string so that when you fret the fourth string at the fifth fret you get the same note as the open third string.

5. Tune the fifth string so that when you fret the fifth string at the seventh fret you get the same note as the open fourth string.

6. Tune the sixth string so that when you fret the sixth string at the fifth fret you get the same note as the open fifth string.

Once you've tuned to Open G you can strum the strings without touching the fretboard and get something that sounds musical out of the guitar. Then you can either barre across the fifth fret with your finger to get a C chord, or lay a slide across the fifth fret.

The "trick" to sing a slide is that you don't press it down to the fretboard. Just lay the slide over the fret lightly touching the strings and increase the pressure bit by bit until you get a clean chords.

You can use anything for a slide. A guitar slide bought at your local music store, a cigarette lighter, a pocketknife, a chicken bone, a harmonica - anything will work, and it's kind of fun to see the kind of sounds you can get from different objects.

Once you get that C chord at the fifth fret you can do the same thing across the seventh fret to get a D chord.

Now you've got three chords, the guitar sounds kind of cool and you can start messing around with some songs.

Have some fun and let the next steps come along on their own.

If you like the open-tuned guitar check out what some other artists have done with the concept. YouTube has some great blues videos to check out (I would have killed to have had access to this stuff when I was your age)

Son House:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSkR0jnBbaI&mode=related&search=

Bukka White:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0jRX69mxcE

RL Burnside:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_KyckFadII

Skip James
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnTHhGaYU8c

You can also check out some of my free guitar lessons at http://howandtao.com/guitar/guitar-index.html

Good luck.

-Patrick

Answer 4

Dude! I started playing around 14 too! It IS really hard at first. Give it a day or two's rest; you have to develop calluses and the ONLY way to do that is by hurting them by practicing! They adjust, they HAVE to!

If you quit you will never play guitar again, probably. What were your reasons to play the guitar? Let these goals be your reasons to continue.

Answer 5

If everybody gave up playing because of their fingers playing then there would be no guitar players in this world dude.

Read tabs, practice, and practice, and practice and get used to it. Make your fingers stronger. If you get a cramp in your hand, do not keep playing though, stop, and then go.

But yea, keep doing it. Ask friends or relatives that know about it.

Answer 6

get guitar lessons. the teacher will give u music to practice and u will learn more things. i got guitar lessons when i first started and that was about 5 years ago. but u also got to find the right teacher. some teachers are horrible. make sure u ask around. maybe at music stores they are usually good to find guitar teachers

Answer 7

do the wax on wax off....ya cant get good w/o practice...run the scales and practice the chords....ya get out of it what you put into it...i thougfht of quitting too but i realized its a great way to score chicks...and its fun...just keep at it and it will pay off...trust me