Playing strings cleanly

[rambo46]

Hey everyone...

I finally got a guitar - a Keith Urban Player Acoustic.  Started practicing and am getting discouraged.

I know I've only practiced for 4 days but I can't seem to hit all notes cleanly.  Most of the time if I'm not extremely careful My other fingers are muting notes or I'm Pressing two strings at the same time or I'm on the wrong string.

I have fairly long thin fingers so "fat fingers" can't be the issue.  I use to play the accordion and had not trouble.

Any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Terry B]

We've all been there...I think you already know the answer...more practice. [smiley=wink.gif]

 

[JN99]

We've all been there...I think you already know the answer...more practice. [smiley=wink.gif]

Been there???  Oh I am STILL a resident of Mutesville, USA!

 

[jmin]

Congrats on the new guitar! 4 WHOLE days and your not soloing?!! (kidding) The good news is your in for a whole bunch of "AHA's"! When you finally get right what your trying to do, it really does feel good! No secrets... just practice, practice, practice. Good luck!

 

[Ivan]

Congrats on the new guitar! 4 WHOLE days and your not soloing?!! (kidding) The good news is your in for a whole bunch of "AHA's"! When you finally get right what your trying to do, it really does feel good! No secrets... just practice, practice, practice. Good luck!

+1

Hang in there bud....the aha moments come in waves.

[smiley=thumbsup.gif]

 

[luckylarry]

Here is a good news for you. NO one plays well after 4 days no matter how long they played in the 4 days. Another good news. After a few days or weeks things start to fall in place and you will wonder why you were so concerned. Hope this helps.

 

[kiroba]

I'm started brand spanking new myself and I know exactly what you mean.( about 6weeks in) I would advise you to listen to what everyone else has said and keep at it. These guys have been there too and are only telling you the truth-practice & keep at it because it will get better. I am not where I want to be, but I am surely better than when I started. The only thing that will defeat either of us is if we quit !!!!!!! Best to you and I'm looking forward to hearing about your first ' aha ' moment

 

[rambo46]

OK guys...  thanks for the encouragement.  Actually, today was a little better.  At least I sounded like I was "playing" the guitar.

 

[Mickey Duane]

Practice and practice is the way to go. Also - pick up the PSTM course from Griff -- this course will really get your fingers working well!!

Peace

 

[Rick23]

Make a recording of what you are playing today. Listen to it once, then forget it and practice for 2 or 3 weeks. Then make another recording of the same piece of music. Listen to the first, and then immediately the second. When you hear the difference, it will amaze you. And you can continue to do that forever on this journey. Every time I get discouraged, I go back and listen to something from a while ago and realize how far I've come, and I still am no where near playing in front of people. Remember that learning to play is a long road, and its the trip thats the fun part, enjoy every step.

 

[MikeS]

Sadly, that is a right of passage.
Play a lot, practice a lot.

There's not much but time on your guitar that will solve this (assuming that you are already sitting and holding the guitar properly).

Keep the neck high, with the body on your left leg (Classical style) if that helps (and assuming that you are playing a right handed guitar)
Click here for a Picture

 

[TerryH]

I’ve only been doing this course for a couple of months, so I know exactly how you feel. But remember, you are asking your fingers to do something they’ve never done before and it takes time, but I can promise you it does get easier.
There are a few things from a fellow beginners point of view that I have found out for myself:
I don’t hold the guitar in the full classical position, but keeping the neck up makes a big difference. Another thing is that when you are learning there is a tendency to tip the guitar towards you so that you can see the strings, but this actually puts your hand in a really awkward position. So try to keep it upright.
It’s good to practice a lot, but as Griff often mentions don’t practice for more than 20-30 minutes in one session. Your concentration just goes and you end up practicing mistakes. That simple piece of advice worked wonders for me.
And play slowly!

 

[Thatman]

My goodness Rambo46 four days hey, well what you're reporting is absolutely typical you see for me when I started I sucked something shocking and often got very frustrated with lack of progress, however, I stuck at it mainly because I knew that as with anything in life if you put the effort in you get the reward. I've been bashing away now for 6 or 7 years and I'm just getting to the point where I can play short simple solos, and not always with the backing tracks because they distract me  :-[ but am I despondent, heck no, I just crack on. I want to see how far I can get. 

 

[rambo46]

I don't think I'm physically cut out for the guitar...  I can't get my fingers in the proper placement to play Anything.  And, as i've said, I don't have short fingers.  My wrist just doesn't want to comply.  SOOO, I think I'm going to resign myself to the fact this is not for me.  As I've stated I use to play the accordion - actually won first place at the Western states accordion festival many many tears ago.  Had no problem with left had - all those buttons.  But this is just frustrating.

 

[tommytubetone]

Too early to throw in the towel. If someone told you playing the guitar would be easy, they were misleading you. How many years did it take you to become proficient at the accordion? Maybe a private lesson would be in order to get you started on the right foot. Griff is a great teacher, but sometimes you need to have someone helping you out who is sitting next to you.
We all hit unexpected roadblocks. A lick that I am learning requires you to have your first finger on the 2nd fret, second string, and your third finger on the 3rd fret, 1st string. You hit both notes at the same time and then do a pull off with the third finger. I can't seem to avoid muting out the 1st string. It's going to take awhile to figure it out, but I'll get it eventually.
So the moral of the story is to not give up. Good luck!   

 

[artyman]

I can remember when I first started, couldn't get my fingers to go where they were supposed to get a decent chord, then having to change to another chord, well that seemed impossible, then a bit later on there was the question of swapping chords quickly!!!  However you do get there it just takes a bit of time and practice (beware the sore fingers! ) So from a now ancient beginner stick at it you WILL get there.

 

[Timothy W. Cook]

I don't think I'm physically cut out for the guitar...  I can't get my fingers in the proper placement to play Anything.  And, as i've said, I don't have short fingers.  My wrist just doesn't want to comply.  SOOO, I think I'm going to resign myself to the fact this is not for me.  As I've stated I use to play the accordion - actually won first place at the Western states accordion festival many many tears ago.  Had no problem with left had - all those buttons.  But this is just frustrating.

I can be frustrating.  But it is what you do with that frustration that makes a difference.  :-/

How much do you want to learn to play guitar?   

 

[david moon]

This from my fortune cookie at the Chinese restaurant tonight (really):

"Men do not fail ...they give up trying."

If you played accordion well, you probably have a lot of skills that other guitar beginners don't have, like reading music, understanding chord progressions, and placing a melody over chords, having some feel for rhythm.

So your issue is with the mechanics of playing the guitar. People with all kinds and shapes of fingers and hands have learned to do it. Give it some time- maybe a few private lessons will help you get off on the right foot (or hand).

 

[02KnowBetter]

Starting out playing acoustic guitar is harder than starting with an electric in my humble opinion. You need to develop greater finger strength, especially if the guitar you are using has the string action set high. Plus the neck shape and the size of the guitar can pose challenges. Like everyone here has been saying, keep at it. You can do it. If you have the opportunity to talk with a more experienced acoustic player or teacher ask them if they see something odd with your guitar. All guitars are not created and a little TLC and/or adjustment can make a huge difference. It may be as simple as changing to a lighter gauge of strings. 

 

[david moon]

Hey everyone...

I finally got a guitar - a Keith Urban Player Acoustic.  Started practicing and am getting discouraged.

I know I've only practiced for 4 days but I can't seem to hit all notes cleanly.  Most of the time if I'm not extremely careful My other fingers are muting notes or I'm Pressing two strings at the same time or I'm on the wrong string.

I have fairly long thin fingers so "fat fingers" can't be the issue.  I use to play the accordion and had not trouble.

Any advice is much appreciated.

I'm a big fan of Keith Urban, but I think his guitar and course infomercial overpromise quite a lot. Learn a song a day for 30 days-not.

You've been practicing for 4 days-some of us have been practicing for 40 years