A newbie here!

serene

serene

New member
Hey guys!

im a total complete idiot when it comes to guitar. i just brought my first guitar, a Takamine D-50 NS acoustic guitar, yesterday and i have no idea how to start it out!

brought a guitar for dummies book as well to guide me but i seem to have a problem with placing my fingers vertically without touching other strings. just wondering if my hands are too small? (i have to stretch quite a bit to reach some strings). :(

currenly i can play (but not that well) A, E, Em, G chords. kinda stuck at D chord cause of my finger placing. really need help to know how to stretch my fingers! and how to put it in the right way so my fingers wont touch other strings?

and also, is it neccessary to get a certified teacher to teach me?

thanks! :cool:
 
You can always be self-taught but the learning process will be long. But you'll be able to develop your own playing style instead of learning your teacher's playing style, which I'd say is one of the advantages of being self-taught. But you'll still need a guide, which could be a good Beginners Guitar book. Yamaha outlets and Swee Lee outlets have them. :cool:
 
alright!

what would be next after guide books? and yeah, is it true that in order to play TABs (acoustic songs) all you need is to learn common chords?
 
it's always good to have a guitar teacher to guide u along..if possible, just in case u go in the wrong direction..
small hands can play guitar. i've seen girls with small hands playing guitar well.

anyway, doesn't the book teach u proper placement of fingers on chords?
D chord should be really easy..
whereas G chord is supposedly the more difficult one.

regarding ur question on TABs,
i don't think so. You need to know different variations of chords..
There's A7..Am..A#..A..etc

Then special chords such as..A/F#.. A/E..etc

Many people just follow tabs blindly and don't know what chord or notes they're pressing.
TABs are good for a start or a guideline, but ultimately, it'd be best if you actually learn the fundamentals & scales in a guitar.
 
Tabs is not only for acoustic guitar, it is basically showing which fret and which string to press, so tabs are also used for electric guitar and bass guitar. Like:

e-----
B-----
G-----
D---2-
A--2--
E-0---

Or for bass:

G-------------
D-------------
A------22222-
E-00000------

So after learning from a guide book, you should be familiar with chord diagrams and tabs, as well as techniques like strumming, picking, arpeggios, etc. After that, it is learning songs of your choice. Like you like a certain song, then you go online and find the tabs, and you learn to play the song. In the process you also learn new techniques.
 
Use youtube!

Search for relevant videos.Helps me or maybe you can look for a friend who plays guitar for quite awhile.It really helps if you have a mentor by your side.
 
i believe a large amount of us here at SOFT are self taught, me included.
i first started off with a stupid chords book, well it just showed chord diagrams, but after awhile when you have enough finger strength, your learning curve shoots up. tab notations are easy to learn and fairly easy to comprehend, and learning simple scales should help your learning of the guitar.
 
LOL! i seem to have problems with both D and G chords (i havent try the harders one yet). i guess maybe im only 2days old in guitar playing? i hope my fingers can get used to it soon with practice.

i tried C chord today, and boy, i must say my fingers cant bend properly to avoid touching other strings. :(
 
ahh. those chords gave me problems before, but well after awhile you'll get the nick of it. well c is nowhere as hard as f when i started out! haha
 
oh god. im gonna practice more tml.

so what i should do now is just "force" my fingers to the right position (finger tip on the string, avoid other strings)? is that how it is suppose to be like for a beginner?

i move/apply more pressure on the string and my whole position will get screwed.
 
yeah its normal, was struggling with the different contortions of the finger lol but it will get easier once your fingers are more limber...
 
Well for now try aiming the frets with precision.Strength develops by time without you even realising it.Playing it cleanly is much harder that trying to exert force on the strings.So try hitting the chords properly first.

Such examples would be like playing chords G to Am to E to C and repeating the whole line again.This will help with precision.
 
yeah playing cleanly is the most important, speed and strength will come naturally once you get more practice in.

But I must say patience is key in practicing, else you can get frustrated quite quickly
 
I think first comes the strength followed by the dexterity right?
being able to play faster such as apegios and tromolo's and even rasaugado's *sry if my spelling is wrong*
 
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