[Skyman911]

“I just don’t know what to do I want to get better but it doesn’t seem
like I am getting better. My timing is off my cord changing it sucks.”

In my opinion, you won’t get much better until you change your mental messaging. You’re at the critical point where most people give up. The best single piece of advice any of my teachers gave me was, you need to be OK sucking and still have fun. Even Tommy Emmanuel espouses this. You’re new to this. Your timing will suck, your chord changes will be slow and cluncky and so on. Really try to be OK with this and accept it. Have fun with it, laugh at it when you screw up instead of beating yourself up. THIS single piece of advice will help more than anything. It will make you want to pick up your guitar and learn with vigor instead of not wanting to pick up your guitar because you may be off on your timing, or miss a chord change etc.

I know this sounds easy put in words, it is more difficult to put into practice, especially if you’re like me, and have the need to be perfect at everything. Most activities in life have come pretty natural and easy for me. Not this dang guitar. But I keep plugging away everyday, and having an absolute blast. And I totally suck.

[Skyman911]

This topic is dear to me, as I almost quit due to some of the same issues. I had a great teacher who helped me through. He basically said I was practicing too much and not playing enough. My mindset was, “well I need to practice in order to play, right?” Not so much. I wasn’t having fun. Since I’ve gone from practicing to playing, my guitar has improved greatly, and the best part is, I’m having fun. I don’t put my instrument down because of frustration anymore. The hard part about this though is being OK playing poorly and still having fun. Being OK with the thudded chord, the missed chord, the out of time chord allows you to start having fun, and not striving for the perfect chord. TAC is a great resource, however not the only learning method out there. Find some songs you really like and just start playing. Don’t get me wrong, I still practice. However I spend 90% of my time playing, and not practicing technique or chord changes to a metronome. Playing is practice. I mean, this is why we started with guitar because we wanted to play, not just sit there with endless practice leading to frustration. The key again is learning how to accept where you are, and being ok with sucking. I hope you can find the same joy I have found. It is life changing.

[Skyman911]

Another tip that most people don’t mention or realize is, leveraging the guitar body against your body to essentially push the neck outward toward your fretting hand. I can make a full barre with my index finger using only the leverage from the guitar body pressing against my finger, and not using the thumb in any way. Now, add the thumb, and the barre chord just became easier, and you lose some of the death grip.

[Skyman911]

For me, it’s Thursday and Friday. I usually spend the most time on those days. I also do scales everyday as a warmup for my fingers, so Wednesdays are sometimes skipped.

[Skyman911]

Are both wrists sore? Where in the wrists do you feel the pain? I can’t say I’ve ever had my wrists get sore from playing. I’m curious what may be going on.

[Skyman911]

Congrats! It’s been nice having you on board. you’re very helpful to many of the new members, and you bring a lot to this forum.

[Skyman911]

If you haven’t played the guitar for 20 years, it may be in need of a setup. Adjust the neck relief, string action etc.. I would recommend not doing this yourself if you don’t have experience in adjusting truss rods, sting action, saddle height and other setup adjustments.

[Skyman911]

Personally, I think the nut makes more of a difference than the saddle. Bridge pins however can change the tone. Going from plastic bridge pins to metal bridge pins can add a little more zing for example. I had a Recording King guitar when I first started. I was convinced I needed a bone nut instead of the plastic nut currently on the guitar. I was fairly disappointed when I got it back. It did sound a little better, but not the difference I was expecting it to make. I’ve gravitated to Martin guitars as I feel they have the best combinations of tonewoods, nuts, saddles etc.. They just sound better, and seem to pair the materials for optimum tone. I was a big Taylor fan when I first started. The instruments are well made, have very good playability, but just don’t sound as “good”. I currently have four Martins. D-28, 000-18, 00-28, 0X2E. I play all of them almost daily.

[Skyman911]

@BarbaraM, just my opinion here. I don’t think the sound you are mentioning is a result of a hard or soft pick. It is too much pick material touching the strings. Try to only have 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the tip of the pick exposed when playing. The pick isn’t meant to “slap” the strings per se, and if too much of the pick is exposed, this is what will happen. It does take some getting used to, and you will probably touch the strings with your thumb or fingers in the beginning. Also, I don’t use any other pick other than a Blue Chip pick. For me, there was no turning back, and other picks just don’t measure up.

[Skyman911]

A friend of mine built a OM guitar from a Stew Mac kit. It looks and plays very nice. This could be a good way to enter the field of guitar building. The kits are pretty complete.

[Skyman911]

I think you can probably do whatever sounds good to you. However, when I do the Boom Chicka in songs, once I hit the base note, I don’t hit the base note again when strumming. Hope this helps and makes sense.

[Skyman911]

Most people as they become more skilled, tend to move on to thicker picks due to accuracy and control. I’m playing with a Blue Chip TAD 40, which is about 1mm. I’m sure you already know there are many different materials, shapes, thicknesses, etc. I’ve tried literally every type of pick, and have gravitated to the Blue Chip pick. Great tone, control, and it doesn’t spin in my fingers like other picks do, even the textured picks. The Blue Chip is smooth, however doesn’t spin and rotate like other smooth picks do. Experiment with different picks, and when playing, try to have the least amount of the tip of the pick exposed for greater control. I try to only have 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch of the tip exposed from my thumb. This alone has really helped with using a pick.

[Skyman911]

I used to say this too. So have many that have come before you. You CAN learn these chords. Like @petelanger mentioned, there are different ways to play the F chord. If you can form a C chord, you can do a modified F chord. Try the easy way first, and then keep working on the full F chord. And, I would highly encourage you to keep working on the full F chord. That chord shape is extremely versatile all up and down the neck. Move that same chord shape two frets, and you’re playing a G, two more, you’re playing an A and so forth. Be diligent. You can do this, but it takes time and baby steps. Once you start getting the feeling of barre chords, the other barre chord shapes come a bit easier. Such as the B major chord. That is a difficult shape to make for sure.

[Skyman911]

It fairly popular for people to use the strap attached to the neck as you have described, as long as the strap string is under the guitar strings and behind the nut between the tuners so it doesn’t interfere with the sound. Some guitars come with strap buttons, some do not. I’ve tried both ways, and for me, having the strap attached to the neck seemed to get in the way of my fretting hand and I also didn’t like the angle of the strap. I’ve installed strap buttons on my guitars like Pete had posted below. Do what’s comfortable for you.

[Skyman911]

Lol, sounds like you also have GAS. I think I’ve been through 15 guitars in the 5 years I’ve been playing. Currently down to 6. Just sold my Fender Strat and amp. I’ve determined I’m an acoustic guy. The electric was fun, but I just didn’t bond to it like the acoustic.

I wish we could all jam together sometime.