Hello to you all… my name is Rich and I’m a struggling nooby… I’m on mod 3 and doing fine… I know about nine chords and can strike them all very clean… when I practice with a pic it’s all good and I can hit on average 40-45 chord changes a minute… but when I try a song… it all falls apart very fast and nothing sounds correct. My picking is very harsh even if I slow down. Keeping my timing seems to be the hardest part, even with a metronome.
I have really good sessions and like tonight… a very bad practice session… is this just par for the course? I’m all in to learn and get better. Looking for some encouragement I think… lol. Thanks and so glad to be a part of this awry community!!
Rich
Oh yeah, this happens to all of us, I’m pretty sure. Two days ago I started wishing I was recording a couple of my songs to show off. Yesterday, however, ewwwwwww! And today I haven’t even had time to practice and the way my day went I think I’d be afraid of breaking my guitar if I picked it up. Just keep at it. BTW I am only 4.5 months in and I’m on Module 7 Consolidation.
Lol, Lunarocket, I so appreciate your reply… I know it will come and with good days and bad. Some days I’m just amazed with my progress and sound then BAM, it’s like what just happened? Haha.
It’s a journey and I’m going to enjoy the ride… funny when I jam with friends who are great guitarists, I seem to actually do so much better.
I’ve never found anyone who doesn’t experience this. One day practice goes great, and you start thinking “hmm, maybe I’ll be able to do this!” And the next day you feel like you’ve never had the guitar in your hands before, and you’re ready to give up.
Hi Rich
Welcome
I agree… pretty sure this happens with everyone. Good days, bad days, and in-between days…
sounds like you’re doing really well! Everything will come together with practice and then (like everyone I’m sure) struggle with the next thing for a while
I also think it’s a fun journey and so worth it… enjoy the ride
Welcome Richard, nice that you join the community! Be assured, it’s obviously quite normal to have practice sessions where nothing goes right. I even have whole periods where everything I already was comfortable with doesn’t work anymore and then everything falls into place again or I even do a huge step forward.
Concerning the pick: have you tried to use one of Justins recommended very thin picks? That helps a lot. Hold the pick only as much as it’s needed not to loose it. Be relaxed and don’t cramp your hand. It’s all about practice and getting the feeling for it and you surely will. I highly recommend Justins SOS Strumming course alongside.
Chord changes from one to another compared to chord changes within a song while holding the tempo and rhythm is much more challenging but you will get there! Be patient, even if it’s hard, but it will get better with time.
Hi Richard,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun
And the trick to learning to play chords cleanly and up to speed is very simple… just play songs and later more songs and in between you do the Justinguitar lessons
Greetings,Rogier
Lots of great advice already - take it easy and - especially for songs, take it slowly first. I know, this can be quite challenging, tend to be speeding up too soon myself. Same holds true for the time keeping. Have you tried strumming/rhythm practice with muted strings already? Just keeping time with the metronome and without thinking about fretting hand is a good practice.
Also great, you have guitar playing friends you can jam with. That’s awesome, loads of fun and will help you improve!
Have fund, Rich - all the best for your guitart journey!
Hey Richard. Welcome to the community. Learning to sing and play at the same time is certainly a lot harder than just playing.
When I first started playing, others had told me it was a lot harder as well so I only played and my wife would sing the first song I learned. After she’d sung it along to my playing for probably 50 or 60 times, I started singing along in the chorus quite by accident and a light went off in my head - “Hey, this isn’t so hard after all”…
It was a simple 3 chord song, A E and D (Blowin in the wind from Justin’s beginner book).
Now what I realize is when first learning there is so much going on in your head that singing as well can make it all fall apart. For me, once I’d played that song 50+ times the playing part was starting to get more automatic, didn’t require conscious thought. That gave my brain time to then make the singing happen.
Be kind to yourself and take your time. It DOES get easier.
Hi Rich, welcome to the community. There are a lot of guitarist here who are happy to provide encouragement. Good and bad practices happen to everyone, not just noobies. It sounds like you are making good progress for mod 3.
I was wondering whether you had the problems with strumming with a song at the mod 1 level? You might try to use a simple mod 1 song again to practice strumming. Also I recommend getting a thin pick for strumming.
Give it time and you will get better.
Remember, when learning a song slow that sucker right down and just 1 or 2 strums every 4 beats at first. Once that becomes embedded then look at the strumming pattern for the song.
It does get a little easier to learn simple songs the more of them that you do, so stick with it.
Hi Rich, welcome. From your introduction I can understand that you can do nice chord changes if you are doing only that and you can strum nice if you’re doing only that. Then for me you’re not struggling, but you’re progressing very well. Just keep working on the individual skills and also on doing them combined as separate exercises. Besides not so good practice sessions and better ones that is normal you’ll reach a point where chord changes and strumming gets fairly automated and effortless.
Hello Rich. Welcome to JustinGuitar and the Community. I’m arriving late to the hello and welcome party. By now you have been playing for a few extra weeks - I hope you’ve made progress and are using those chord changes to play songs.
The Community is large, as is the website. If you need any help with a lesson specific question or with any general guitar learning question then do not hesitate to ask. There are many good folk here who will happily offer help and encouragement to those coming up behind them on Justin’s Beginner Courses. They embody and carry the pay-it-forward ethos we have nurtured for many years in our community. There are many old hands too who have years and (hopefully) a bit of wisdom they can bring as they give their support to those hitting the road blocks - which we all do.
Just ask if you need anything.
Cheers
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide, Approved Teacher & Community Moderator.
Same holds true for the time keeping. Have you tried strumming/rhythm practice with muted strings already? Just keeping time with the metronome and without thinking about fretting hand is a good practice. 