Play slow, learn fast x

Look to super furry animals for a lil upside down guitar inspiration?

Also omar Rodriguez Lopez *

when in doubt, tab it out!

It takes time.

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Don't forget to warm up every time, don't go too crazy with chords, scale and arpeggios but do practice them often. And if you can, just put on some music and try to follow along, you'll learn real fast.

What specific brand and model of a guitar did you get? A poorly-made guitar can be a real buzz-kill, dissuading you from wanting to go further in learning how to play.

Keep your fingernails trimmed. Try to make sure each finger is only touching the string it's meant to hold. Callouses will eventually form and playing will get easier. Dexterity will improve over time.

Also... on YouTube, look up Paul Gilbert's Intense Rock vol 1 & 2. Do everything he tells you to. I found those after I had already been playing for 10 yrs or so and wish I had just started there.

Keep at it and best of luck!🤘

Keep your thumb in the middle of the neck and drop your wrist a bit.

Stick at it. Learn to play all the open chords well first before you even attempt barre chords. Get through the pain barrier and train your muscle memory. It will come.

BTW, I learned to play on a cheap acoustic. It was he'll and I sounded utterly shite for a while but I found when I could finally afford an electric, it was, in comparison, a breeze to play.

Tabs are perfectly fine in all levels of guitar playing. Those that say you need to learn multiple scales, modes and the whole fretboard immediately are forgetting they themselves couldn't do any of that shit to begin with either.

Find songs you like and learn them. Practice open chords a lot, it really bolsters learning fret and finger placement.

Other than that, just have fun with it dude.

One of the biggest tricks my guitar teacher showed me many moons ago was to practice the chord shapes while ensuring there is space between the the bottom of the neck of the guitar and the bottom of your thumb (where the thumb meets the palm of your hand). Enough space for you so fit a pencil through. Do this with your thumb flat on the middle of the neck. If you guitar has a line on the back of the neck then follow that. Also ensure that the top of your fingers are placed on the strings while in this shape. Over the course of a couple weeks if you practice often youl build up a lot of muscle in your hands and fingers. Warning: your hands are gunna hurt and get tired fast. The chords will still not sound great either. But entually once your finger and hand strength increases and your muscle memory kicks in youl be killing it in no time. Best of luck!

Practice, practice, practice. Hendrix didn't become a god overnight

It just takes time and practice. It seems impossible for a while until all of a sudden you’re doing it. That’s just how learning guitar goes. The more you practice the more dexterity and accuracy you build with your fingers. My recommendation is to learn how to play a G chord and a D chord. Strum G 4 times on beat and switch to a D to strum 4 times. Keep going back and forth until you can reliably not miss a beat during the transition. Then do it with two other chords and then two others. You’ll learn the shapes, build dexterity, and muscle memory. It’ll be way off beat and sound like crap at first. Keep it up and within a week or two you’ll be good to go.

Get in person lessons, even if it's just a couple months. It can take years to re-learn basic techniques once you've taught yourself incorrectly. You can read posts for hours or have somebody diagnose and correct your issues in minutes.

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there's nothing wrong with tabs, because you're gonna have to strengthen up your hands for a while before you can casually play most things. it's a good idea to learn theory from the piano, in my experience with learners.

early guitar players generally have a hard time with the strength and dexterity that are required from your fretting hand. you can't shortcut that. you have to just play a lot. it is by far the hardest part of picking up the instrument for many folks regardless of age/size/knowledge. eventually you are gonna want to be able to put any finger on any fret, so that you can do what you want. there's nothing wrong with non-musically Playing Notes to build up awareness and stamina.

it's not clear from your post whether you should be playing a right or left handed guitar.. nobody can really help you fix that issue if you have made a mistake haha..

source: am a 22 year player who started with tabs alongside taking piano lessons, also privately taught both young and old beginners for several years

My advice is to learn simple melodies and riffs (on a single string) before chords in order to strengthen your fingers e.g. Seven Nation Army, Smoke On The Water. It's also more fun in the beginning and helps you feel like your progressing. After a couple of weeks of that, then try a song like Good Riddance or Wonderwall with chords that keep at least two of your fingers in stationary positions.

Try a small length guitar with 8s or 9s tuned to G.

Recently realized I've been playing for 20 years and I'm still shit

your fingers should not be flat on the fretboard, adjust your wrist position on your fretting hand slightly forward and your fingers will naturally have more dexterity, keep it up it takes time. start with an Em, work up to more complicated chords.

I know it does, I’m really underestimating how hard it is to play, unlike piano you just press down and it sounds how u would expect it to sound

I got my guitar from Amazon so I know it’s shit and not well made, would u mind if I sent u a picture of it from different angles so you could look at it?

I tried playing a d chord I think it was both ways and I was able to play it first time with my right hand on the fretboard but with my left hand on the fretboard I struggle to play without muting other strings

Why has this been marked "NSFW", though?

Will try that!

I got this one

https://www.amazon.co.uk/RockJam-Electric-Guitar-Superkit-Strings/dp/B01M66OZ0V?pd_rd_w=087hJ&content-id=amzn1.sym.7e1aba63-f32a-4d3d-8a78-f7fbbae425e1&pf_rd_p=7e1aba63-f32a-4d3d-8a78-f7fbbae425e1&pf_rd_r=W300TNBTKR2FN9RY7FJ6&pd_rd_wg=cEdCB&pd_rd_r=9f76ea65-71e2-4a3e-a4a4-2d8dbb616fbd&pd_rd_i=B01M66OZ0V&psc=1&ref_=pd_basp_bia_rpt_ba_s_2_sc

Yeah I have short nails so that’s not the problem and I will check him out thank you!

Right okay, most of the time I have it above it so my thumb kinda hooks it if that makes sense

Yeah I’ve been told by people who have used shitty made instruments that well made ones are easier to play, so idk if I should just get a better one and leave my current one

It takes time and practice.

I recommend working on your chords while also learning some songs that are heavy on the power chords. Also, slow them down and use a metronome to start. Some good ‘easier’ songs to learn:

The Ramones- Blitzkrieg Bop Black Sabbath- Iron Man Deep Purple- Smoke On Water Nirvana- Heart Shaped Box Metallica- One

Focus on the rhythm section, leave the lead/ solo sections for later.

Also- work with a guitar teacher, you will be blown away by how much value a good teacher can bring.

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That’s true, I’m just shutting on tabs cuz the goal with learning is to be able to improvise and play by ear

Thank you so much I’ll try this out next time im practicing!!

Thank you I’ll check him out!

I'm a lefty too, and holding a right-handed guitar just felt wrong. I figured, my hands are both doing stuff and I've never held a guitar before so it shouldn't matter, but as soon as I picked up a left-handed guitar my brain just went "ohhhhh, that's better". I know some people who play the "wrong" way around but I can't do it...

Also it does take time for your hand to strengthen and you'll stop accidentally muting strings etc as you improve. You'll probably get way better advice from other people than from me, so I'll just say take it slow and play it right before you try to play it fast :)

Depends on how much you're willing to stick at it. I believe learning to play on a crap instrument first made me a better guitarist in the long run and, when I finally "upgraded" I suddenly felt like a guitar god in the making.

IMO you should only invest your hard earned cash in an expensive guitar if you're 100% certain you're not going to quit after a while.

New Strings Fingers Weak

I remember when I first learned morst chords I played sounded like shit. I would say focus on easy chords, E, A, D and their minors are all relatively easy chords to play without too much hand cramp action. As you play make sure your not fat fingerering / muting other strings and you will get better with time, slowly add harder chords.

Then one day you will find a song you want to play that is bar chords and it all starts over again.

justinguitar.com

One of the best free online courses for beginners. Guitar, like any instrument, takes time.Try not to beat yourself up, keep at it, never quit.

I've only been playing for a couple of years and still suck, but I have fun with it and that's all that matters.

My no1 tip would be to have your guitar on display and easily accessible. Daily practice of 10 - 20mins each day is better than 2 hour sessions once or twice per week, and having it on view will make you want to pick it up.

Make sure you're using the very tips of your fingers, not the flat part. It's going to hurt, but callouses will form faster than you think.

Yeah that’s a good rule to go by, I didn’t wanna go all out for my first guitar just incase I didn’t like it and I definitely wouldn’t say I don’t like playing but very annoying when it doesn’t sound perfect first time haha

Have you considered getting a lefty guitar?

It might feel more natural for you.

As a beginner yiu should not have your thumb all the way wrapped around the neck ala Jimi Hendrix. Keep it back in the center of the neck.

Yeah I have his app I’ve only used it once but I’ll need to start using it more! Yeah I have both my keyboard and guitar right beside my bed so I can just pick them up

Try a left handed guitar? I’m also a cross hand dominant person out there in the world so sometimes you need to experiment with both hands to see what clicks for your brain

So, I advised getting a few lessons; you also need to get that guitar set-up. Almost every new guitar can use a set-up, the extremely cheap ones can be nearly unplayable. All guitars suffer from imperfect, but generally manageable intonation, but at this end of the price range it's likely that you won't be able to compromise tuning suitably to accommodate more than one or two chords.

That is something a couple years away buddy. Learn the basics, then the rest will come later.

When I started to play my fingers hurt really bad and I wasn't able to keep them pointing straight down as you're supposed to. I smashed my fingers when I was younger so it was worse for me than most ppl. I used those rubber finger guards they use for sewing until I got used to it and it helped. I also have switched to a cheap guitar with nylons strings. I wish I had started that way, so much easier to play, I mean a lot easier! Good luck, just take it slow with some basic chords, don't try and learn it all at once.

It’s most likely your wrist position that’s not giving your fingers a good angle to hit individual strings without muting any others. You just have to experiment a little and get used to some discomfort

Be patient and practice.

I didn’t know I had an alt account

I’m a lefty that bought a right handed guitar. I’ve been playing for decades and now if I pick up a left handed guitar. I can’t even play the simplest thing.

Guitar is easy but it takes time for your hands to get used to it. Guitar is also the hardest thing I have ever learned and I will never be as good as I’d like…been planning since I was 13 and still suck.

New strings fingers wrecked? 🤔

My drum teacher taught me a technique that applies to all instruments:

Use a metronome. Start off slow (~60-80 BPM). Play the song or the excersise. If you make more than two mistakes, lower the tempo by ten until you get it perfect. Then raise it in increments of ten, practicing until it's perfect.

Also, avoid effects when practicing, especially distortion/compression, as they can mask mistakes.

Yeah I know it’ll take years to practice I’m just saying that’s the reason why I learn the instruments I’m learning

I'm also a pianist who started taking guitar lessons four months ago. I've made great progress but I'm still shit. It just takes time and a lot of technique, at least a bit more than pressing a key (although there's a lot you can do wrong there too). I suggest either looking up videos regarding the correct technique, but nothing beats taking real lessons.

I turned the current guitar I have upside down and it felt like it was a bit better

Lol

Most guitarists strum/pick with their dominant hand and fret with their non-dominant, so that may be part of the issue that you’re experiencing.

When I was first starting, I found it a lot easier to play with a capo placed further up the fretboard, where the frets are closer together. It made some of the longer finger stretches a little easier to accomplish. I feel like it helped me build a bit of strength and confidence while I was still figuring out hand positions. This might be especially helpful if you're thinking your hands might be too small.

Yeah it's funny how hard every chord is when your first start. I remember thinking it was impossible to play a C but then I got it and I felt like I climbed a mountain. Now all the basic chords are second nature and it's easy for me to forget just how much I struggled in the beginning.

Honestly, both hands do an equally difficult job. Everyone feels uncomfortable when they first pick up a guitar, I always thought it was odd everyone didnt use "right-handed" guitars.

I've been playing acoustic guitar for like 5 years now. I imagine chord digitation would be fairly similar with electric guitar.

You have to press the strings with the very tip of your fingers. But I really mean the very tip, so that the sides of your fingers don't touch the strings you don't want to press; when this happens, it causes weird vibrations in the other strings that make your chords not sound as-clean. You also have to press the strings with enough force, otherwise there's gonna be weird micro-bounces between it and the fret that aren't gonna let it sound clear. If you struggle pressing the strings too much, maybe you need softer strings (strings that require less force when pressed to emit sound, like nylon strings compared to metal strings).

A common thing I see happening with beginners is that they can't "open" their hands enough to digitate the chords. Their hands don't seem to be as-flexible, so they trip over themselves a lot; wich is completely understandable, flexible hands are something you acquire through practice. Just try to "open more" your hands, so that you don't touch strings you don't want to touch as you play.

Start with simple chords. Nobody's gonna start with f'ing jazz chords. The first thing you can learn is (chords) Am-Em or Am-E sucesions on the first two frets; that way you're gonna acquire flexibility and your hand is gonna get used to the positions.

Also, there's is a good chance your chords don't sound as-well because the distance between the strings of your guitar is too little, your fingers are too big, both, or your strings are too big and you need thinner strings. In either of those cases, you can either keep practicing pressing the strings with the very tip of your finger, or get a guitar with a bigger neck width.

Cheers!

Join gigachad bass squad instead

Leftie that plays guitar right handed here.

I recommend doing the following things:

Learn Pixies bass lines- really simple but it will give you some special awareness of the guitar neck. Go get the bass tabs for Gouge Away, Gigantic and I Bleed and learn them off by heart so you can play them along to the song.

Then learn Oasis Wonderwall, because it’s really simple and only requires you to move a couple of fingers around while your third finger and little finger stay where they are. Just get used to throwing your other fingers around to land the chords.

Practice, go away for a bit and then practice again.

Try to play in front of a mirror or a reflection (I used to play in front of my window) because that way you can see what both hands are doing.

What’s the Frequency Kenneth? would then be my next step up. Lots of chords, a couple of quick chord changes to keep up with, fun song to play along to. Also Bm to keep you on your toes.

You will sound shit. You will suck. But you’ll get there. Just keep at it and then you won’t :)

> >Then one day you will find a song you want to play that is bar chords and it all starts over again you give up.

^^this is me

Hey there, fellow lefty who learned righty guitar. 1st off, good call, because you're gonna need to borrow a guitar at some point of your musical journey, and if you played a lefty guitar, you'd never be able to borrow.

2nd: you're just beginning. be comfortable sucking. you're gonna suck for a while. and that's ok. you'll get better slowly, and you won't always be able to measure the amount. but it will happen. the more you play, the better you get. the more time you put in at the beginning, I can tell you for a fact, you will shorten the length of time before you feel like you know what you're doing.

Keep it up and have fun. playing guitar changed my life, showed me the world, met amazing people, made my wife take interest in me, gave me an outlet to make something beautiful out of overwhelming depression.

The only bad part was I sucked at the beginning. And that's a small price to pay for a lifetime of enjoyment!

Also for certain chords you gotta lower your thumb on the back of the neck, as it helps you lift up your fingers.

I just might at this point

You're not gonna pick up a guitar and just be able to play it. It takes a long time to get the strength and agility to play a chord clearly. Keep at it.

And you might want to hold off on learning songs right now and work on finger exercises. You can find those on YouTube too.

Guitar teacher here.

-Playing righty is fine

-Remember to use the tips of your fingers most of the time

-Think about your overall posture

-Think very carefully about where your thumb is located and how much your wrist is bent

-Probably start with a method book learning to read sheet music (Mel Bay, Alfred, Hal Leonard, etc.)

-Don't start with chords. It seems to be a thing for players to try to start with them right away but they can be very technically difficult for beginners.

Most importantly, take your time and relax! You need to avoid unnecessary tension and developing bad habits which can be even more work to undo or worse, cause injury.

Happy plucking, and good luck!

Edit: sp

If you're left handed playing a right handed guitar, very few people can make that work (or vice versa). Try flipping it over and restringing it (because when you flip it, the thickest strings will be on the bottom) and see if that helps.

Only best advice I can give is to put a little superglue on you fret fingers to reduce pain and rough up the grippy part of the pick (gentle pressure making notches with a nail cutter, hammer on concrete or some such). You can also use a paperclip as a plectrum to change the angle on your strumming hand so you can change angle on the fingering hand. Right thumbnail in the slot against your right index. It lets you stroke with your picking arm at 90° to the strings.

I learned to play with it laying on my lap so my fingering was wonk from the start but mostly it was motor nerve therapy and training - I get cramps very easily.

There is a tactic of getting a 12 string and stripping the second strings off which will give you a little more room between your fingerings.

Have you tried thumb-out fingering? Have you watched Alexandra Whittingham's more vertical classical position?

Just because I haven't seen this question and to make sure: You do hold the neck of your guitar with your left hand and strum with the right?

It's the "have you tried turning it off and on again" question for guitars.

Both hands are so useless at playing guitar now that maybe it makes no difference if you use a left or right handed guitar. Interestingly enough, the most complicated things are done with the left hand, and most people do it with the left hand even tho the majority of people are right handed.

There’s nothing wrong in using tabs, although it’s better to have knowledge of standard music notation on a music sheet. Better to know both.

As for the chords, it sounds just like expected from a novice. Chords take some time to learn and more time to master. Unless your guitar is super big and/or you have very small hands, you should be fine

How old are you?

If you're still young the guitar may be too large for your hands, a 3/4 size might be better suited to you. It also may be the string height, if they're too high it takes more strength to get the strings sounding correctly, maybe see about getting it set up.

It will take weeks to get A major, G major and E major down. Then a little less time for the others. Just take your time, make sure each string sounds correctly. Then let go of the chord and go back to it. Once you have A, go to E. G is much harder.

There are two ways to cleanly fret strings. One is to to have your fingers come straight down on the finger board so the fingertips don't touch other strings. The other is to deliberately mute any neighbouring strings you don't want to sound, by letting your fingers or your wrapped around thumb or sometimes the edge of your palm touch them lightly as you pluck the strings you want to sound. Each of these techniques takes practice.

I saw a photo with a closeup of Eric Clapton's left hand one time while he was playing, and he had medium length finger nails, and it occurred to me that he must not play a lot of chords with open strings where you must fret with the tip of your finger. Instead he must play mostly using the pulp of the finger (good for bending notes) and either mutes or avoids striking other strings.

Learn the song” House or the rising sun” it has all the chords you will need to start your journey. Easy melody fast or slow arpeggio or not it’s up to you. If you don’t have talent then you must have desire.

Great advice. I am a intermediate player and he still teaches me a ton when I put the time in.

Take some lessons from a real, human guitar teacher. They can get you on the right path and get you started with good technique in a way that videos cannot. You will improve much faster and prevent yourself from developing bad habits.

Yeah, well- if you can play it, then good. I would have saved up for something a little more expensive myself. That cheap a price, the manufacturer has to cut a lot of corners in order to make them profitable at that price point. I suspect that this at least part of the problem.

I’m 19 and my hands are like average size I would say

I had that problem when I first started too. Make sure you're using the very tips of your fingers to press down the strings. Also when you get into the right position pluck all the strings individually to see if any if them are muted, and if one is try to look at your fingers and see which one of them is muting it and adjust accordingly.

And it also is just one of those things that takes time and patience. But just keep it up and after not too long you'll be switching between chords without even thinking about it.

Have u tried acoustic before? If so How strings feels? They feels different? I have trouble having to press too much on strings in my acoustic one and thinking of switching to electric. Or maybe I just need to practice more to strengthen my grip and finger muscles

Try getting lighter gauge strings and just practice holding the chords down. Do it everyday and eventually it’s just muscle memory.

Yeah I strum with my right hand

No I’ve never tried acoustic before this is my first guitar

Then you just need to get stronger.

It's impossible until it's not

So that's out of the way. It would have been a little bit funny with all the in depth tips.

Try flipping it and reverse the strings. The ole Jimmy Hendrix method worked for him. Maybe you play guitar left handed?

It is very doubtful that the guitar is too big for you. How you're holding it, where you put your thumb, etc. will matter a lot though. You should use a strap and be standing. How high you adjust the strap is personal preference. The important thing is that it's comfortable. Your thumb should be on the back of the neck on the opposite side of your fingers. Your fingers should be arched so that they push down the strings without touching nearby strings unless you're playing a barre chord. Arching your fingers is the hardest to master.

If you do it right, it's going to hurt like hell until your fingers get calloused enough.

I'm a lefty who plays right handed guitars. I thought it helped to navigate the fretboard as a lefty and I did also struggle with my picking technique for a while. I find any issues with the left hand is best approached by going really slowly at first and then speeding up, while my picking got worse when I try to start slow (I go fast to establish what I want to do, then do it slowly to clean up and progressively speed up again)

I've been playing for 40 years and the only thing I can say I've accomplished in that time is that my fingers don't hurt anymore.

55 years for me.

I've been playing for well over half my life, and still, it can be tough. Took like 8 years for me to be even good at improv, and I still can't read sheet music. I just learn everything by ear and write by feeling. It's tough to learn, it takes many years. But you'll get there.

10+ year guitar player here. If your strings mute when you try to play chords, it can be one of these reasons: Finger shape - that is pure luck, but by stretching your fingers and developing muscle strength, you can push them hard enough to have a clean sound. Wide fretboard - try electric guitars with narrower fretboards and see if that makes a difference. Ultimately, you can get yourself a guitar that is more comfortable to play and fits your hand better. String height - if you have an acoustic with no way to adjust string height and they are quite high, then unlucky. Height makes a huge difference for various play styles, but generally, it is a good idea to have them as low as possible and still have clean sound when strings vibrate and barely miss touching the frets

G seems like it would be a fair stretch for a lot of beginners. D is a good shout though. D, A, E and all their minor counterparts are the best starting point I'd think.

Holy Diver by Dio is also a great one for power chords. Helps practice sliding and strumming rhythm.

Agreed! But throw those effects on sometimes to rock out and give yourself a confidence boost. Hearing it sound really nice/cool will help keep that drive going to keep playing

Improvising and playing by ear has nothing to do with learning tabs or proper musical notation. Some of the greatest folks to ever play by ear or improvise don’t even know how to read music.

It’s not to say the rest of us can’t ever be a great improvisational musician, but a lot of it is pure gifted talent.

Give it time, play every day, solidify your fundamentals, keep your nails short, and get better one chord at a time.

Make sure to get your elbow out from your body. That usually helps with hand position.

Others recommended already but start with learning open chords and power chords. Once you got some of those down you can progress to barre chords but those are even a bit challenging to me if i haven’t touched my guitar in a while (been playing for 15 years or so). Other than that nothing wrong with using tabs - find some easy songs you like and work on just playing notes/melodies as well!

Practice practice practice. The sound will come later. Do finger drills and major and minor scales up and down the nevt of the guitar. Over and over and over. Pick a couple of songs, simple 3 - 5 chords. Write down the lyrics and chord changes. Play them over and over and over and sing them the best you can. Any old blues songs are great. There’s a thing called 16 bar blues progression. Practically every blue song and a ton of rock songs follow this pattern, 1-4-5, eg A,D,E. Make’m 7ths. Within a month or so, bust out your guitar and play and sing for someone. Btw, blues are the absolute best for learning to improvise. You can hardly find a wrong note. Learn to play and sing Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker. E,A7,B7…just strum these chords, don’t worry about the licks. In no time at all, you’ll be rocking out. Your reward is to get to share your work with someone and think of it as a gift to them. Now get to work. Consistency is everything!

I also bought a guitar off of Amazon about 5 months ago and I am left handed on everything except for writing, the opposite of you. It will hurt to play at first, and seem impossible to shape a chord. Over time you will be able to shape a chord correctly, but it takes time, patience and practice.

Edit: grammar

Tune the guitar open :)

I’m left handed and tried to learn on a right handed guitar and it was a no go. I could never play for shit until I moved to a left handed guitar, it made a big difference for me.

Build up that muscle memory. Practice switching between two chords until it feels second hand nature. The only way you'll get good is sounding shit for a while. It hurts the ears, but when you get it you'll know.

My advice? Pay more attention in English class... Woof.

The electric guitar requires more precision because the strings are closer together. As a left-handed person, I would never be able to play a right-handed guitar and I have a lot of dexterity with my right hand. For instance, I use the mouse on both hands with no difference in precision.

I would suggest getting a left-handed guitar. Maybe go to a guitar shop to try it out. Find some YouTube videos teaching how to use play the guitar.

Today I went to my local thrift store with my brother and found this little exercise ball that was 4kg. We both tried picking it up by palming it like a basketball; my brother could not do it at all. I, only my right hand, couldn’t even come close, but on my left it was almost easy! That was when I realized that my left hand is my picking hand and I’ve been playing guitar for 15 years. Without knowing, my left forearm had become probably more than twice as strong as my left. Guitar takes time! The more you play, the stronger you get, and the easier it becomes.

Pornhub is also good for this.

Power chords. Learn those and you can play 90%of all rock songs ever.

if it's mostly muting it's probably just something that'll go away with practice as you gain strength/get more used to the positioning. the size of the guitar will affect it some (i play a half size because I'm just generally a small person lol) but even then once you're used to it it won't be that much of a difference. maybe look up some exercises for it if you want to speed things up rather than just playing until it works.

and me...

martymusic has a good channel for that too. I've been playing for a few years now and that's where I started. legitimate music classes can help I'm sure but that's pricy and it's certainly not impossible to play self taught. (source: am self taught. probably not as good as i could be because of it, but i have bigger issues than guitar lessons rn lol)

It takes weeks to get the finger strength, dexterity, and positioning to make chords sound good. Practice every day.

I’m a leftie who plays right-handed, it hasn’t been a problem for me.

I wish you guys would get your own shitty super power. Poor timing is MINE

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, but I'd suggest getting/learning a proper setup on the guitar - a proper setup lowers the string height(action) of the guitar, thus making it an easier instrument to play.

I'd also suggest starting out with a light gauge of guitar strings - everyone admires 11s but barre chords are impossible when you're first starting. A higher gauge of string also leads to more hand fatigue, try a 9 or even 8.

Anyway, dude, i hope you enjoy your musical journey!

30 mins a day every day. Sing along when leaning chords. Don't ever give up. Your hands are fine, you can do it!

I teach music and I’ve seen this problem before when students attempt a barre chord, for this problem you want to make sure that the index finger is rolled a bit so that the bone of the finger is very close to the fret but not on it, with open chords I recommend a technique called anchoring, for example take a minor triad, put your index finger onto the c of the second string thus anchoring your position and then build the chord around that so when switching between chords you always have an anchor position to build from. Now obviously I recommend theory and standard notation over tabs so to get started memorize the open strings in standard notation this makes reading music for guitar much easier. Good luck!

Barre chords are actually easier. Just have to learn three chord formations and then just slide it around.

Just give up

It's not impossible, you just need to keep practicing every day, it'll take about a year before you're at a point where you can play chords cleanly.

Your finger tips will hurt for a few months until you build calluses, and it's gonna be slow for a while, but once you play your first song, you'll love it.

Bro, i write with the left and do everything else with the right too, i use a right handed guitar and its good for me, u should learn tabs to familiarize to your guitar like me, u could play like god without knowing a single cord if you want tho. (Sorry for my inglish or english whatever)

r/guitar

I would say learn 4 chords, D, A, Bmin, G

You now know how to play every song ever written

Does the last tip apply to acoustic guitar aswell? Cause oh no I’ve been learning for months incorrectly 😂

It’s just this. The first year or so is just getting the fingers to learn the forms and build up strength. You could always supplement practice with some exercises for hands (a always had one of those squeezey things and the pair of metal balls to roll around, which may or may not have helped build up finger strength and dexterity).