• From: burnley, england
  • Registered: 2010-01-18
  • Posts: 4

Topic: i'm struggling

hi there people, i've been learning for about 2 months now and up till about a week ago i was making some good progress. but just this week i just feel like i've taken a good few steps backward!!!!! its weird, sometimes it feels like i've lost the feeling in my fingers due to the hard skin, then other times i think i've gone back to holding the guitar wrong again ( thumb facing towards the neck) now i'm starting to think the strings might be to stiff cause when i play my electric they feel so much easier on my fingers and i can feel what i'm doing again...... but mainly i think its in my head. up till now i have had nothing but joy but it is getting really really frustrating, which i was warned by my sister that i had to push through. i have a lesson on wed so i will ask my teacher who also runs the shop about strings.

oh yeah ( sorry about the length of this post) since i got my accoustic which i love dearly i find it really hard to play with a pick so i have just started using my fingers i think it all started going wrong about then, but........ i reckon if there is a world record for the amount of times of losing your pick inside the guitar and how long it takes for getting the little devil out again i have the record for sure ha ha ha ha man i am frustrated today.

keir

toshbosh's Website

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  • Don't call me Sir
  • Offline
  • From: Mentone, Ca
  • Registered: 2009-01-10
  • Posts: 1,367

Re: i'm struggling

Hi Tosh!! Welcome to the forums.

If you know when things went wrong, go back to what was working. Things don't all of the sudden go bad, unless you had a lapse of time not playing. At 2 months in you will have lots of struggles. Everything new presents a challenge, but that's how you get better. Look at what you have learned in 2 months. Think of what you'll be able to do in another 2 months.  Try to remedy your issues. You know how to hold your guitar, you've been doing it for 2 months. If your strings are suspect, change to a lighter gauge and have your giutar set up. Your fingers will get numb while calluses are building. This doesn't last very long tho. Whatgever you've been learning, make sure you know it VERY well before moving ahead. It is important to have a good base to build on. Just keep at it and you'll get through it.






Keep Rockin!!!!!!!!!

Keep Rockin!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Registered: 2007-04-03
  • Posts: 3,489

Re: i'm struggling

Hi Toshbosh,

For what its worth from this Old Doll. I had for years trouble with picks. I just never seemed to get it right somehow.
I now use a very light pick. but ! This guy in seconds thought me how to hold one properly. It was all so easy after years of struggle. You will learn loads from his channel. try him out.

Id suggest lighter strings could help.

http://www.youtube.com/user/JustinSandercoeSongs

Good luck and dont give up.

Old Doll.

Why Blend in with the Crowd ? When you were made to stand out !
  • From: Tooele Ut
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 4,049

Re: i'm struggling

I play every day, but some days just aren't the same.  If you've been playing a lot every day, try taking a little break.  This works for me.  And good luck.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.
  • From: Almancil, Algarve, Portugal
  • Registered: 2006-09-02
  • Posts: 6,204

Re: i'm struggling

Hi Keir.

Learning to play the guitar, like any instrument, tends to be a series of hurdles, but persevere and I am sure the effort will be well worth it. At two months you are still at the start of the learning curve and you will sometimes seem to take a backward step. Often this is through expecting too much of yourself, Rome was not built in a day and you cannot learn to play the guitar in just a few weeks. Sometimes it helps to take a backward step and again go over what you have learnt, and I am sure that in week or two you will be back on track and wonder what all the fuss was about.

Old Doll may well be right with the strings on your acoustic. Electric guitars tend to be fitted with 8 or 9 gauge and if your acoustic has 11's or 12's on there will be quite a difference, however I would not recommend anything lighter than 10's for an acoustic.

Roger

"Do, or do not; there is no try"

Roger Guppy's Website

  • From: North Carolina
  • Registered: 2008-03-29
  • Posts: 953

Re: i'm struggling

I know most will say this is wrong, but I recently had to take about a 3 week break in my playing due to a death in my family, several days ago I picked my guitar back up, and for some odd reason, I seem to play so much better, even my timing has improved, I can't explain it, but it's true. I think 2 months in you just gotta keep playing through and tough it out, but I do think "as Bensonp said" a break can help sometimes, just my two cents worth.

Cam

Keep a fire burning in your eyes
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
  • From: Tooele Ut
  • Registered: 2006-03-04
  • Posts: 4,049

Re: i'm struggling

It's not wrong cam.  If I break for a day or two, I come back to it and usually actually play better.  I make less mistakes.  That song that was troubling, suddenly becomes clear. It surprises me when that happens, but it does.

You can see all my video covers on [url]http://www.youtube.com/bensonp1000[/url]
I have finally found happiness in my life.  Guitars, singing, beer and camping.  And they all intertwine wonderfully.
  • From: NY
  • Registered: 2009-08-26
  • Posts: 4,320

Re: i'm struggling

Welcome to the forum!  It does take a while to get used to the callouses on your fingertips, and since you picked up the acoustic they're probably getting tougher than they were with just the electric... playing with two very different guitars that early on can cause some other issues too I would expect.  I'm thinking maybe it's not since you started using fingers instead of the pick, but maybe since you got the acoustic!  A steel string acoustic IS going to be harder on your fingers than an electric.  Often you need to push down on the frets harder to not get dead strings, and the strum is different as well (making strings ring out vs. getting the pickups to hear the string ring)!  Maybe just pick one for now until you feel more comfortable.  Then pick the other back up.  Working with two different guitars that are two completely different playing styles this early in the game would have messed me up for sure!

Of course, that' just my two cents based on the guitars sitting around this house... your guitars could be different and that might not be it at all.  GOOD LUCK and stick with it... one way or another and sooner or later, if you keep on, you'll get it!

Art and beauty are in the eyes of the beholder.
What constitutes excellent music is in the ears of the listener.

mekidsmom's Website

  • From: burnley, england
  • Registered: 2010-01-18
  • Posts: 4

Re: i'm struggling

thanks for the replies, roger i apologise you're right i wont do it again...ha ha promise.

just to give you a litle background, i bought my electric first and used that for about 5 weeks and got on with it like a house on fire but my favourite band is predictably oasis so i quickly got myself an absolutely beautiful Tanglewood which just sounds so good and when i got it the tunes i was not particularly struggling with but steady away learning just came sooooo easy on this tanglewood and everything seemed to be gelling, my chord changes got so much faster and i felt that i might just might be a bit of a natural. but i soon learned that i was getting away with murder on the electric as in that i was'nt muting strings when i should of for example when doing a C/Am/D and F but the accoustic just exaggerated the incompetence ha ha ha, so it became harder than my first 5 weeks led me to believe.

anyway i am just about to sit down with it for an hour or two and heed the advice which you guys have dished out to other newbs, one in particular which i was doing last night was choosing 2 chords and going between them increasing speed and accuracy slowly but surely.

i look forward to getting to know you all and one day getting alot better and if i'm lucky i might be able to help someone else in the distant future, thanks again guys see you later

toshbosh's Website

  • From: Belfast
  • Registered: 2009-03-31
  • Posts: 330

Re: i'm struggling

I have been playing the acoustic for around 35 years. I still sound like a beginner, however, when I play the electric, even if I am well able to hit the chords. It's controling the additional sustain that is the problem for me. Oh, and leaving the electric boxed in the roofspace for years on end too !

"Don't play what's there, play what's not there." Miles Davis

StranSongs's Website

  • From: Chesapeake,VA
  • Registered: 2008-11-12
  • Posts: 332

Re: i'm struggling

Gosh Tosh, welcome to Chordie.   You're prob being too agressive on your progress.  Like Cam says you'll sometimes find you got better after putting it down for a couple days.  Don't do that after a "bad" practice, though do it after you sense you did a good one.  Your brain will get wired in the off time.  Also try lighter string gage for a while.  010" might be good.  I use 011".    Lastly, try on some of your practices to just focus on pick angle and pick alternating notes to get more skills on your pick hand to give the fret hand a break from all that pressure.    Good luck and try Wonderwall when you get comfortable.  It's a good one.
Steve

AccoustikNoyz's Website

  • From: burnley, england
  • Registered: 2010-01-18
  • Posts: 4

Re: i'm struggling

when i sat down and took things back a couple of notches and stopped expecting too much, it all went alot smoother and was back to being enjoyable. i will definately try that pick hand and angle excercise. thanks

toshbosh's Website