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First Lesson – Already Frustrated
In the very first lesson Tony shows a power cord. Index finger on third fret, ring finger on fifth fret. My fingers don’t seem to work like that. With my wrist bent and twisted my ring finger will not spread far enough to press the fifth fret.
I don’t know if it is because I have smallish hands or what.
I don’t even really know the proper way to hold the guitar or my hand and wrist. I am trying to imitate Tony’s posture but it isn’t working for me.
I was hoping that he would start with the basics of how to hold the guitar and arm and hand positions.
I took guitar lessons for a very short period of time when I was 16 but that was a LOOOOOOOOONG time ago. I’m 65 now and trying to do what I never did back then.
Can anyone point my to a place to get the basics like holding the guitar properly?
Any help would be very much appreciated.
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6 Replies
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Hey – in the ‘skills’ section look for the ’30 days to play’ and then after you complete that come back and start the daily challenge (preferable on a Monday).
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As DiscostewLA said; start with the 30 days to play, and then probably some other skill courses before hitting the Monday through Friday daily challenges. Get some basics down. When you move on to the Mon through Fri daily challenges, be aware, some of the daily challenges, which follow a routine each week focusing on one of the 5 basic skills, a different skill each day; will seem way over your head or ability. They are for all stages of playing, and they come around again. Do the best you can with the time allotted, and move on. It is not about mastering anything, but slowly building up skills over time. You will build up callouses, flexibility; learn techniques; build finger strength; grow through repetition; and will see when some lessons come around again, how you have progressed. It does work. Enjoy the process; make it fun; and keep going on, day to day. Welcome to TAC!
P.S. I was 68 when I joined TAC, heading toward 74 now. It worked to turn me into a guitar player. -
Don’t be discouraged. Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly at first.
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Thank you all for taking the time reply.
I did a YouTube search on how to hold a guitar and found some helpful videos. Still doesn’t help me get my ring finger to the 5th fret but oh well.
I think I will just move on as suggested, trust the process as Tony keeps telling me, and hope for the best.
– Mike
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As you will hear over and over again, don’t expect to be able to master each and every lesson (once you start on the daily challenges). Do whatever you can, even if it is 1% of each tutorial. That 1% will continue to build. All of the techniques are revisited and you will see yourself slowly improve. Have fun!
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Agreed, that power chord in the first lesson of the 30 days was daunting. But I felt it made the next days feel easier.
Did you download the 30 day guide? It’s 70 pages and has a bunch of useful info about holding the guitar towards the beginning along with video links. I found it helpful when trying to figure out why my back was hurting – definitely called it my guitar injury for a week or 2 :).
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