I wouldnt of dreamt of trying to learn a song at this stage if the lessons hadn't of told me to try, but to be quite frank im trying and its sounding like shit.

Should i be worried that i cant play even a little bit of these songs without the 2 second pauses for changing chords?

quote:

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Originally posted by garf:
Hi,
ive been learning the acoustic guitar for just over a month now using online lessons, and ive learnt 6 chords but im finding it real hard to change from one chord to another when im trying to learn a song.

I wouldnt of dreamt of trying to learn a song at this stage if the lessons hadn't of told me to try, but to be quite frank im trying and its sounding like shit.

Should i be worried that i cant play even a little bit of these songs without the 2 second pauses for changing chords?

Thankyou
Rob

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No need to worry Rob, that's perfectly normal. Be patient and play every day, and your hands will eventually 'memorize' the chords and it will be easier. Patience and desire are the most important factors when learning to play guitar.

Steinar

i appreciate your replies

Been taking lessons for two years now, and improvement has been slow but sure. For me, it takes about a year for something to really sink in and become natural.

Don't worry about two second chord changes. Pick two chords and go back and forth 50 times a day.

Don't get frustrated, it will come.

I learned by playiing songs. some were way out of my league, but I made them work for me.

chord changes will be seamless for you eventually.

Six chords in a month is pretty good going I reckon!

Big Mike Simpson has a quote by Aristotle on some of his posts which goes "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit"

In terms of guitar playing, this is so true. Remember it when your wrist aches and your fingers bleed and you cant keep up with the tune your trying to play along to. If you keep at it, you WILL get it.... John Williams and Gary Moore went through the same trauma !!!

Let me know when you release your first cd.

A mental exercise to help you realize how amazing it is that anyone can do it - form the chord shape of C, G, etc off of the fretboard, out in mid-air. THen change to a differnt chord shape. Those hand positions are, like, random! Sort of amqazing that your fingers have enough positional sense to be able to do it all. Certainly, it requires training.

The mid air exercise also makes the point that chord changes are assisted by having the fretboard there - almost any given set of two chords will have some sort of common "reference" that help guide your finger through the change. For example, C and G change primarily by moving the middle and ring fingers one string, but with a fixed relationship. C and thumbed F have a common root on the first fret of the second string. And on and on. Using those kinds of cues helps simplify the chord change task and make it so you don't have to rethink the whole hand each time.

But really, just keep at it.

Also, you can strum the guitar completely open (no fretted notes) in between one chord to the next, and this sometimes help to give you time to find the right placement for your fingers without interrupting the timing of the song while you're just learning. You be surprised that alot of songs you'll learn acutally incorporate this. Try it, but maybe do not strum all 6 open strings, just maybe 2-3 and you'll see how you can incorporate into the song.

quote:

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Originally posted by Reso_Ralph:
...Keep on and you will do it! Have fun, Ralph

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When we practice something over and over again, we store it in our brains differently to something we do as a one off. The oft-repeated action gets stored in our "small" primitive brain, as opposed to our larger cognitive one. (did you know we had two brains? The cerebrum and the cerebellum)

Things stored in the small brain become what is referred to as "second nature". It is this part of the brain that controls instinctive reactions. Many species of mammals have a poorly developed large brain and rely almost entirely on the instinctive reactions from the small brain. We are one of the few species on earth to have a well developed large brain. It allows us to rationalise etc..

Its only after lots of repetitions can we do something with our cognitive brain while the small brains carries on. Some people when playing complex songs concentrate on the music and let the singing just come out on its own from the small brain. Most of us, however, concentrate on the sining and let the music come out instinctively.

Everything is of course filtered through the limbic system for added emotion, but thats another post!

Summary:- Practice makes perfect.

Ever