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I tried picking up a guitar this past week, and was overwhelmed. Just playing a basic chord was a struggle. How do you get your figure to press down just right

I tried picking up a guitar this past week, and was overwhelmed. Just playing a basic chord was a struggle. How do you get your figure to press down just right on the string and not interfere with another. Amazed by people who can play effortlessly. The post encouraged me to try again. 15 min a day sounds like a reasonable practicing goal.

philbarr 9y ago
> How do you get your figure to press down just right on the string and not interfere with another Place your thumb on the back of the neck in the middle, and have your fingers curl round to press down on the strings using just the tips of your fingers. See how that hurts more? Well, once your fingers have developed callouses, and then healed over, you're well on your way to guitaring superstardom :) This hurts alot more with acoustic guitars than it does with electric, but it can help a lot when you first start out to buy a lighter guage string.
navbaker 9y ago
Find someone (or a YouTube video) that can teach you three or four basic chords that sound good together. Nothing too complex, maybe look up C, G, A minor, and E minor. Play them very slowly at first, not worrying about any kind of melody. It won't take very long before you can differentiate between the strings and hold a basic rhythm. Believe me, everyone starts out feeling like you did!
ashark 9y ago
You can play a ton of songs with like 5-6 open chords. Find a song you don't hate that just uses G, C, and D majors, and drill the hell out of it until it's easy to transition between those. Way more fun to practice with a real song. You may pick up A-minor or something on the bridge of that song, which is nice. Pick up open A and E majors and E minor on top of that base and you can play rhythm on like 50+% of all guitar-heavy popular music ever written without going any farther. Then start working on barre and (relatedly) power chords and you'll get that number up to 90%. Wait to do that because barre chords require different hand muscles than open chords, so you'll hit trouble again when you start on them and no sense in tackling all that difficulty at the same time. Take heart: once you get over the initial how-the-hell-can-my-fingers-even-do-that hump, learning enough guitar that it's pleasant to listen to is quick. You can hit that mark with casual practice inside 3 months, easily. By contrast, I spent years playing Alto Sax and got way (way) better at it than I ever was at guitar, but that was never pleasant to listen to solo—most instruments you've got to be really really good at them before they're tolerable solo, but guitar's about as far the other direction as you can get.
- haskal 9y ago
  My experience with barre chords is that I thought I could never get them right, but I kept trying them with very tiny variations, until one day I just got them. Never thought that I could play them correctly till the day before I got them right.
  - vkou 9y ago
    My realization with barre chords came from asking my instructor about how to play a barre A major chord. Seeing his finger bent slightly upwards at the last knuckle was the missing ingredient.
- david-cako 9y ago
  I started learning a few years ago, and instantly gravitated towards barre chords. The "consistent policy" of barre chords made a lot of sense to me, and still does. It was mostly due to the rhythm technique of most of the guitarists I like (John Frusciante, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Jimi Hendrix, etc) being very embellished. Much easier to do when the shapes are always the same.
abhirag 9y ago
May I suggest concentrating on playing scales first, your fingers have to get used to putting enough pressure on the strings that the notes are not muted and you can slowly build that strength by playing individual notes first :) Also the perspective that helps me learn an instrument is that it's like you are developing a friendship with your instrument. One day you will be so comfortable that playing an instrument would feel like talking to a friend but making a friend takes time :) You have to have some awkward conversations first, feel like this is going nowhere and someday it won't feel awkward anymore and you would pick up your instrument and it would understand you like a friend does :) I used to play a guitar and now often spend my time playing the mandolin so this perspective has definitely helped me, maybe it would be of some help to you too :)
sp821543 9y ago
Here's a tip for learning hard-to-reach chords: Hold the guitar like a classical guitarist. You'll have just a little bit more leverage to give your hand/wrist/muscles a chance to get used to the new position.
beat 9y ago
It's just a bunch of tiny little details. It's like riding a bicycle, or typing. Once you figure it out, it's easy and effortless. Keep trying! What I find harder for beginning guitarists than fretting, is moving from one chord to another. Once you can finger a couple of musically related chords (pairs I recommend learning - G and C, G and D, D and A, A and E), learn to move back and forth between the chords without stopping. Don't "correct" yourself. Keep your strumming rhythm going, uninterrupted, even if you miss a chord! It is better to play the wrong note at the right time, than play the right note at the wrong time. Always. The true sound of a beginning guitarist is the sound of a song stopping for two seconds while they fumble to the "right" chord, because they played something wrong. Don't do that. I recommend playing along to records, because records won't stop just because you did. They'll teach you to keep going.
bluGill 9y ago
I've been playing mandolin for 12 years. I still like to look down and watch my fingers move in awe that it is possible for them to move that way that fast. It doesn't seem real that my fingers can move that fast even while they are doing it. 15 minutes a day is a good goal when you start. When you first start that is all the longer you can stand listening to a bad rendition of trivial tunes. When you get better you can stand listening to yourself play longer and longer, and your practice time can increase. Don't push too fast.
gmarx 9y ago
I started playing a few years ago, not serious, mostly in support of singing. When I began I thought the A Major chord was witchcraft. How could my three gigantic fingers fit there? I don't know but somehow trying a lot made it work and now it's pretty easy. Muscle memory I guess?
- criddell 9y ago
  Barre chords are the magic that I can't comprehend. I see people barre those three strings and I can't figure out how to do that and play the chord cleanly.
  - elektronaut 9y ago
    There's not really any magic to it. Just keep doing it, and after a while it'll start to sound right. And eventually the pain mostly goes away.
  - gmarx 9y ago
    I can barre some chords but barring in the A major pattern is rough. Then my guitarist said "no one does it that way" and he showed me you press the three strings with your third finger while kind of hyperextending the joint...but my finger doesn't work that way!
ayberk 9y ago
One thing that helped me greatly with the frustration was recording my practice sessions once every week and compare them. You'd be surprised how much you progress without realizing it.
vkou 9y ago
> I tried picking up a guitar this past week, and was overwhelmed. Just playing a basic chord was a struggle. How do you get your figure to press down just right on the string and not interfere with another. I've spent ~2 months trying to learn guitar a few years ago, and I'm 2-3 months into my second attempt. This is going to be incredibly unhelpful... But the answer is more practice. Practice playing chords, practice switching between two chords slowly, quickly, etc. After ~5-10 hours of practice over a few weeks, beginner chord shapes will magically get much easier. Your fingers will also toughen up and callus, which will make it easier to press strings down without interfering with other ones. The second time I picked up guitar, I made a goal of getting calluses as quickly and painfully as possible. Playing without them is an exercise akin to pulling teeth.
elektronaut 9y ago
Keep at it. Absolutely everyone started where you are now. 15 minutes is more than enough to start seeing improvement from day to day. Being relaxed and having a light touch is key to playing effortlessly. Beginners tend to press down way too hard. But don't worry too much about that for now, it'll develop automatically. If you're having trouble angling the fingers right, try moving your thumb around instead.
flavio81 9y ago
> How do you get your figure to press down just right on the string and not interfere with another. The main secret is: Press just behind the fret. This will give the cleanest sound with the less amount of pressure. Also, you need good ergonomics. Your wrist should never feel ackward; it should be as straight and relaxed as possible. This often needs wearing the guitar with a strap, and with the guitar hanging high (as most bass players do), rather than low as in most music videos (because it looks so cool to have the guitar hanging low...)
- francisofascii 9y ago
  Thanks for those quick tips.

philbarr 9y ago

> How do you get your figure to press down just right on the string and not interfere with another Place your thumb on the back of the neck in the middle, and have your fingers curl round to press down on the strings using just the tips of your fingers. See how that hurts more? Well, once your fingers have developed callouses, and then healed over, you're well on your way to guitaring superstardom :) This hurts alot more with acoustic guitars than it does with electric, but it can help a lot when you first start out to buy a lighter guage string.

navbaker 9y ago

Find someone (or a YouTube video) that can teach you three or four basic chords that sound good together. Nothing too complex, maybe look up C, G, A minor, and E minor. Play them very slowly at first, not worrying about any kind of melody. It won't take very long before you can differentiate between the strings and hold a basic rhythm. Believe me, everyone starts out feeling like you did!

ashark 9y ago

You can play a ton of songs with like 5-6 open chords. Find a song you don't hate that just uses G, C, and D majors, and drill the hell out of it until it's easy to transition between those. Way more fun to practice with a real song. You may pick up A-minor or something on the bridge of that song, which is nice. Pick up open A and E majors and E minor on top of that base and you can play rhythm on like 50+% of all guitar-heavy popular music ever written without going any farther. Then start working on barre and (relatedly) power chords and you'll get that number up to 90%. Wait to do that because barre chords require different hand muscles than open chords, so you'll hit trouble again when you start on them and no sense in tackling all that difficulty at the same time. Take heart: once you get over the initial how-the-hell-can-my-fingers-even-do-that hump, learning enough guitar that it's pleasant to listen to is quick. You can hit that mark with casual practice inside 3 months, easily. By contrast, I spent years playing Alto Sax and got way (way) better at it than I ever was at guitar, but that was never pleasant to listen to solo—most instruments you've got to be really really good at them before they're tolerable solo, but guitar's about as far the other direction as you can get.

haskal 9y ago
My experience with barre chords is that I thought I could never get them right, but I kept trying them with very tiny variations, until one day I just got them. Never thought that I could play them correctly till the day before I got them right.
- vkou 9y ago
  My realization with barre chords came from asking my instructor about how to play a barre A major chord. Seeing his finger bent slightly upwards at the last knuckle was the missing ingredient.
david-cako 9y ago
I started learning a few years ago, and instantly gravitated towards barre chords. The "consistent policy" of barre chords made a lot of sense to me, and still does. It was mostly due to the rhythm technique of most of the guitarists I like (John Frusciante, Omar Rodriguez Lopez, Jimi Hendrix, etc) being very embellished. Much easier to do when the shapes are always the same.

abhirag 9y ago

May I suggest concentrating on playing scales first, your fingers have to get used to putting enough pressure on the strings that the notes are not muted and you can slowly build that strength by playing individual notes first :) Also the perspective that helps me learn an instrument is that it's like you are developing a friendship with your instrument. One day you will be so comfortable that playing an instrument would feel like talking to a friend but making a friend takes time :) You have to have some awkward conversations first, feel like this is going nowhere and someday it won't feel awkward anymore and you would pick up your instrument and it would understand you like a friend does :) I used to play a guitar and now often spend my time playing the mandolin so this perspective has definitely helped me, maybe it would be of some help to you too :)

sp821543 9y ago

Here's a tip for learning hard-to-reach chords: Hold the guitar like a classical guitarist. You'll have just a little bit more leverage to give your hand/wrist/muscles a chance to get used to the new position.

beat 9y ago

It's just a bunch of tiny little details. It's like riding a bicycle, or typing. Once you figure it out, it's easy and effortless. Keep trying! What I find harder for beginning guitarists than fretting, is moving from one chord to another. Once you can finger a couple of musically related chords (pairs I recommend learning - G and C, G and D, D and A, A and E), learn to move back and forth between the chords without stopping. Don't "correct" yourself. Keep your strumming rhythm going, uninterrupted, even if you miss a chord! It is better to play the wrong note at the right time, than play the right note at the wrong time. Always. The true sound of a beginning guitarist is the sound of a song stopping for two seconds while they fumble to the "right" chord, because they played something wrong. Don't do that. I recommend playing along to records, because records won't stop just because you did. They'll teach you to keep going.

bluGill 9y ago

I've been playing mandolin for 12 years. I still like to look down and watch my fingers move in awe that it is possible for them to move that way that fast. It doesn't seem real that my fingers can move that fast even while they are doing it. 15 minutes a day is a good goal when you start. When you first start that is all the longer you can stand listening to a bad rendition of trivial tunes. When you get better you can stand listening to yourself play longer and longer, and your practice time can increase. Don't push too fast.

gmarx 9y ago

I started playing a few years ago, not serious, mostly in support of singing. When I began I thought the A Major chord was witchcraft. How could my three gigantic fingers fit there? I don't know but somehow trying a lot made it work and now it's pretty easy. Muscle memory I guess?

criddell 9y ago
Barre chords are the magic that I can't comprehend. I see people barre those three strings and I can't figure out how to do that and play the chord cleanly.
- elektronaut 9y ago
  There's not really any magic to it. Just keep doing it, and after a while it'll start to sound right. And eventually the pain mostly goes away.
- gmarx 9y ago
  I can barre some chords but barring in the A major pattern is rough. Then my guitarist said "no one does it that way" and he showed me you press the three strings with your third finger while kind of hyperextending the joint...but my finger doesn't work that way!

ayberk 9y ago

One thing that helped me greatly with the frustration was recording my practice sessions once every week and compare them. You'd be surprised how much you progress without realizing it.

vkou 9y ago

> I tried picking up a guitar this past week, and was overwhelmed. Just playing a basic chord was a struggle. How do you get your figure to press down just right on the string and not interfere with another. I've spent ~2 months trying to learn guitar a few years ago, and I'm 2-3 months into my second attempt. This is going to be incredibly unhelpful... But the answer is more practice. Practice playing chords, practice switching between two chords slowly, quickly, etc. After ~5-10 hours of practice over a few weeks, beginner chord shapes will magically get much easier. Your fingers will also toughen up and callus, which will make it easier to press strings down without interfering with other ones. The second time I picked up guitar, I made a goal of getting calluses as quickly and painfully as possible. Playing without them is an exercise akin to pulling teeth.

elektronaut 9y ago

Keep at it. Absolutely everyone started where you are now. 15 minutes is more than enough to start seeing improvement from day to day. Being relaxed and having a light touch is key to playing effortlessly. Beginners tend to press down way too hard. But don't worry too much about that for now, it'll develop automatically. If you're having trouble angling the fingers right, try moving your thumb around instead.

flavio81 9y ago

> How do you get your figure to press down just right on the string and not interfere with another. The main secret is: Press just behind the fret. This will give the cleanest sound with the less amount of pressure. Also, you need good ergonomics. Your wrist should never feel ackward; it should be as straight and relaxed as possible. This often needs wearing the guitar with a strap, and with the guitar hanging high (as most bass players do), rather than low as in most music videos (because it looks so cool to have the guitar hanging low...)

francisofascii 9y ago
Thanks for those quick tips.