|
|
Post by beckys on Feb 14, 2011 22:59:05 GMT -5
Hello.
I am new to this forum - it is the first guitar forum I have joined. Thank you for your site, and for your desire to help people who aspire to play even half as good as you do!
My question is, I hope, relatively straightforward. I am a new guitar player. I am learning pretty much on my own and with the help of a friend of mine who has played acoustic guitar for many years. My "lessons" are not formal - it's really more of a time to share and be encouraged rather than a lesson.
I am having the most difficulty with strumming right now. I have no idea where to begin. All the songs I look at, while "easy" in the way of the number of chords required, are so much more difficult once you throw strumming in. I have no idea where to start to even begin learning about how to strum.
Do you have any advice for such a novice as myself?
I would LOVE to play even one or two of the songs that you have on your site (threeguitarchords) but I looked through a few and I'm just blown away immediately by the strumming aspect.
I have an acoustic electric Ovation Applause - just so you know what I'm working with.
Thank you in advance for any help or support you can offer.
~BeckyS
|
|
|
|
Post by Mojo on Feb 14, 2011 23:46:55 GMT -5
Hi there and thanks for joining us here  1. I had the same problem you have now, so I can certainly feel for you. It can be frustrating. 2. The way I got over that was two-fold. the first part was dealing with my right hand being in charge of the rhythm aspect of things. The second was ditching the pick to play with my fingers instead. Not too sure how relevant to you the second part is. When learning a new song where the strumming is difficult for me, instead of strumming "normally" I strum only once per beat and sing along. This helps me get the chord changes down, their relation with the sung words in the song, etc.. Usually, I make it a down stroke. Once I get a real good feel for the above, I start adding in between strums, usually alternating down and up strokes. At that stage, I am not trying to sound like the original song yet, just trying to get a feel for the groove of the song. If I have a recording of the song available, I try and play along, not with the guitar player, but with the rhythm section - bass and drums. I try to isolate the bass line as it will give me hints on how the groove is developed. Once I have that down, I stop playing and go do something else. I find that the song stays stuck in my head anyway and I let my subconscious acclimate itself with the song. I usually catch myself humming it. Whenever time allows I go back to it and make sure that I am still at the same level of comfort as I was before I left. Now when I try to play the song again, I focus on the actual strummed lines on the original recording. Because of the "prep work" that preceded this stage, that part usually comes together fast. Bottom line: I try to have fun, I listen to the original, and I take the groove apart down to its bare minimum before I build it up again to something either resembling the original or something that I am comfortable with. If you listen to my lesson on how to play Who Says by John Mayer, you will see that I have changed the groove of the song considerably. It's nothing against the original tune, which I quite enjoy, as much as it is the fact that when I play the song live, people dance to it when I play it that way, and I get a kick out of it I hope this helps! |
|
|
|
Post by 469roadking on Feb 14, 2011 23:57:35 GMT -5
Hi BeckS and welcome to the forum. Nice bunch of folks around here and all of us are learners no matter how long we've been playing. Mojo is a great teacher and much better at explaining things than I am but if I could offer any advice at all it would be to try what helps me in my endless search for better technique. What I do is separate difficult passages into two elements. The right hand and the left hand. I find the same that is true for you is true for me as well. If I'm having a hard time it's usually my right hand (picking and strumming) trying to keep up with my left hand. Strumming is fundamentally done in patterns that can if you wish become more intricate as you progress in your skills. You might try holding a single chord such as an open E so that you voice all the strings during the strum and start with just a quarter note pattern. If you tap your foot at a comfortable rate 1, 2, 3, 4, / 1, 2, 3, 4 over and over and strum the guitar down on the one, up on the two, down on the three and up on the four over and over to develop muscle memory with rhythm it will soon become very natural. Then try an eighth note pattern the same way. 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. Down on the 1, up on the and, down on the 2, up on the and, down on the 3, up on the and, down on the 4...over and over. Repetition is the key to it all. At least thats the way it works for me. If you do this without worrying about changing chords for a while and then in a couple of practice sessions change chords say every 4 beats then it might help. Hope that was understandable. Like I said, for teaching, Mojo is the man but we do what we can.  Keep up the practice and above all have fun.... |
|
|
|
Post by 469roadking on Feb 14, 2011 23:59:09 GMT -5
Oops, didn't realize the Moj was talking. Posting at the same time. |
|
|
|
Post by lesblues on Feb 15, 2011 4:51:55 GMT -5
Mojo and RoadKing are far better qualified than me to offer advice on guitar playing. Like you and probably most people who start to learn guitar I found strumming really hard too. Have a look at this guys web site: www.davejonesguitar.co.uk/lessons/level-1/07_basic-strum-patterns.phpThis particular link is to his lesson on strum patterns but if you look at his tabs section too there are free video lessons of popular songs and he often shows you a simple/easy strum pattern that can be used to play the songs. Hope that helps |
|
nashvegas
Junior Member
American Standard 3 tone
Posts: 50
|
Post by nashvegas on Feb 20, 2011 6:08:55 GMT -5
www.justinguitar.com/en/BC-000-BeginnersCourse.php Scroll down for the lessons. My instructor is a 45 year guitarist. We play a song every week. BUT, the emphasis is on smoothness and timing. Go back and re-read Roadkings comments. 1-2-3-4 with a metronome if possible. Then 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. Very structured, very rhythmic. Eric Clapton reminds us that in the beginning he put out records that didn't stay on the beat. Not cool. You will now see him foot-tapping throughout every song to stay on time.
|
|
|
|
Post by leerummey on Feb 24, 2011 12:32:39 GMT -5
you could start by just doing all down strums then add the up strums as you get more comfortable |
|
