hi,
i just started learning a guitar in the past 3 days. referring to a *a song must learn* thread
i tried playing wonderwall- by Oasis but.. im having a hard time on it! it was listed as beginner song there..

am i not that good too play even a beginner song or.. could anyone else suggest other song that i can start with?

i even got blister on my fingers! o.O

I teach that to my 8 year old students man.
After a year or so of playing, you'll develop some nice callouses that will reduce the pain somewhat.

Wonderwall is easy, because it's using simple chords, and an easy chord progression. Also, you don't move your Pinky and third finger at all.

If you want to build up your chops, just do the Spider Crawl chromatic (put all 4 fingers on the first fret, alternate pick each of them downwards and once you're at the end, go back up again. Go through the entire fret board slowly) and work with a metronome.

thanks blaxtrix, i manage to get the song motion flow now, its not that hard actually.

but still leave a blister on my fingers.. i think my guitar string were just too thick! >_<

This post has been edited by Sadru: Feb 13 2009, 06:42 PM

well, it's has only been 3 days and you just started playing, don't you think that's pretty normal?

that's the price for playing a guitar. believe me, they'll be more blisters to come. now stop being a baby and continue practicing. more blisters=more experience.

i need my mom, ;3

Tips?? Never give up.. the starting point is always the hardest part. Good luck!

I remembered when i started playing at the burger stand stall school of music, my instructor always hit my hand with wooden ruler whenever I made a wrong chord or the wrong sound....

The best part is that, usually burger stall graduate guitarist always been told to start with C Am F G in 4/4 timing which can end up being a lot of song....

Try it... C Am F G....

Well if you like Oasis, songs like Dont Go Away, Stand By Me, Don't Look Back In Anger are kinda easy too. Wonderwall in my opinion you need to get the timing right. I mean that song for a beginner is kinda tough but possible I guess.

Might wanna train the fingers a bit before go playing songs with difficult timing strums. I just hope you know what I mean Well.. just my 20 sen. good luck!

I don't mean to be discouraging but.......

You want to learn Wonderwall after playing for 3 days?

You really should start off with the basics first and allow your fingers to gradually improve in toughness and strength. Of course, there's nothing *wrong* with attempting very challenging pieces of music (sometimes it's a good thing), but learning something that is more appropriate for your current level of playing is always a good idea.

Justin Sandercoe is a wonderful teacher with lots of free video lessons:

JustinGuitar

Also, I can say that 90% of acoustic players here don't have their guitars set up (adjustment of action, neck relief, etc.) properly, so their instruments are often much harder to play than they have to be. Sadly, many local so-called guitar techs don't have the tools and/or expertise to do this either.

I even know of teachers who purposely don't set up their students guitars to "encourage" them to buy new ones (that obviously, they are selling). That just makes me sick

This post has been edited by mmmaak: Feb 13 2009, 11:35 PM

do those teachers teach at a place that starts with the letter M?

ahahaaa....well, no, I am talking about a different school

But I won't be surprised if those teachers at the "place that starts with the letter M" (errhmmm) do so as well

As I said, most shops don't even know how to set up an acoustic guitar properly, so even if they do adjust a student's guitar, most of the time it doesn't make much of a difference or makes things worse anyway

thanks Mr.Mak for the info, i finally manage to play the wonderwall pieces. my fingers dint seems quite smooth anymore ( it get roughed up o.O )

as expected anyway, im thinking to change my guitar action. its seems to be a lot higher than i thought it were plus with the thick strings.. it seems like im pushing my fingers limit every time i played the guitar and it surely dint feel that great.

my question is, izzit possible if i lower the guitar action, to increase the playability on my own? or need some experts?

and the strings.. can i changed to more thinner strings? any suggestion?


p/s: blaxtrix tips seems to be working quite good! thanks blaxtrix

This post has been edited by Sadru: Feb 14 2009, 03:54 AM

Since you say you've only been playing for 3 days, then yes, you definitely need to seek the help of a qualified guitar tech. This is because you don't have the experience/expertise required to do a good setup, not to mention the specialist tools it involves, e.g. nut files:




If you have normal-sized hands, I would suggest using custom light gauge strings (011 e). If you have very small hands and fingers that aren't strong, you might want to start off with extra lights (010 e). Try not to use anything lighter than that as the string tension will be insufficient to properly drive an acoustic guitar top.

i guess i should seek experts, thanks again Mr.Mak ;3
still awake at this time eh? xD

how do u get blisters?

i would suggest u take lessons from someone experienced, not from youtube.
yes, u can learn how to hold certain chords etc from online etc...
but u cant learn really how to properly place ur finger, wrist angle, guitar angle, etc...those little stuff that are usually over-looked which adds up to alot in how easy or hard it is to play.

eg. most beginners have the common mis-conception that when they fret the direct tip of the finger must be pushing down on the string...rather it should be slightly under to be easier.

This post has been edited by Everdying: Feb 14 2009, 04:49 AM

slightly..? if i press slightly the sound would be funneh. D:

It really depends on who the YouTube teacher is and how professionally the videos are made. Some of these professional players that I know (especially those from the US) are excellent teachers.

Of course, it's always better to take lessons from a good, real-life teacher. The problem is, where can you find a good teacher and can the student afford one? If you know of any (good acoustic teachers) in the Klang Valley, please tell - not for me, but for my previous students that I had to stop teaching due to work-related matters.

I would definitely recommend some instructional DVDs if you can't find/afford a good teacher. I haven't had an instructor myself for the last 14 years, so yes, it is entirely possible to learn on your own if you have enough commitment and the right material.

This post has been edited by mmmaak: Feb 14 2009, 10:49 AM

Thanks mr.Mak, very informative indeed ;3

Sadru....email me if you're still interested in the capo

Find guru....and use internet ask ur guideline only...
u try this chord progression nice melody
E>Am>Dm>G>C>F>Dm>E>E
already 9 month i learn play guitar....


This post has been edited by ikram1991: Feb 15 2009, 06:53 PM