Guitar Update #1

I got my guitar on September 13! . . . So what's going on?

On August 25, I mentioned my excitement about picking up an early 60th birthday present in Victoria in mid-September. Well, it happened! The day finally arrived — September 13 — and I bought the Squier Affinity guitar & amp package. I’m counting my first day of practice as September 17, when I was back home.

What has happened in the first three weeks?

More frustration than fun, I suppose, but I expected that and am not concerned. I first started thinking about learning guitar back in March or April, so having the opportunity to be frustrated is its own form of exciting. I learned one thing right away: My fingers are not as flexible as I expected. I assumed I’d be able to cover two or three frets when learning basic chords. That was not the case. In addition, in all of the videos I watched over the summer, not one instructor mentioned that in the first weeks of learning how to play, you might not be able to comfortably make a C or Dm chord. (I did eventually find people talking about this lack of range or dexterity.)

Even now, when playing the C chord, I’m muting strings (having my finger(s) touch a string other than the one I’m fretting) and with the Dm, the stretch between my index finger (1) and ring finger (3) was initially extremely difficult. When I watch other people do it, it doesn’t look like much of a stretch. But it was for me, since I also wanted to avoid the pain of contorting my wrist. I’ve seen some slight improvement, though.

Muting strings with my left index finger has been a big issue. Is that because I’m new to guitar and my index finger has not been used in this way before? Is it harder to get the finger to behave because I’m older? Is there a lack of movement because after I suffered a serious dog bite in 1999 (and nearly lost the tip of the finger), I did some exercises to strength it, but stopped after it seemed good enough? All of these may be factors, but the plain fact is: the finger is the finger. I’ve been compiling videos showing some exercises for my fingers, wrists and forearm. Some of these exercises are specifically for musicians, some have no connection to playing an instrument. I took screenshots to remember the various exercises and I’m spending 5-10 minutes warming up before practicing.

Here are 10 good teachers I’ve found online (so far): YourGuitarSage, Guitar Couch, JustinGuitar, Lauren Bateman, Brett Papa, Andy Guitar, The Art of Guitar, Marty Music, Steve Stine and Sean Daniel. Most of their videos are designed for more experienced players, but they all have relevant stuff for beginners and I’ve found useful things from all of them.

Some players have posted videos showing their progress through their first year of learning. They’re quite impressive, but are they being honest with the dates and why do the majority of them have long, thin fingers? They have fingers like octopus tentacles, going in all directions! (And how are they all playing AC-DC so goddamn soon?) It’s a bit intimidating. I mean, what’s this? That ain’t natural!

Off-topic Sidebar: In my YouTube travels, I stumbled upon a phenomenal, young bassist named Ellen Alaverdyan. Her father is a musician/producer, so she’s been around various instruments all her life. She’s playing Rush flawlessly at age 9 and Jaco Pastorius at age 10 — on a fretless bass and smiling throughout! How can someone so young sound so mature, be so relaxed, and make it all look no harder than turning a door knob? It’s remarkable. (She’s also writing songs with her father.)

Anyway . . . I appreciate the encouraging words from these online teachers that everyone has gone through the same issues and everyone reports being stuck on a frustrating plateau for weeks. Everyone also insists that with consistent and efficient practice and learning things in a logical manner and going slow and not expecting to do [goal] by [date], I will get there. I’m choosing to trust them. I’m practicing five or six days a week, usually for an hour, sometimes a little more.

I’ve also been trying to have some fun. I found the simple guitar tab for the main riff of R.E.M.’s “7 Chinese Brothers” (and “Voice of Harold”):

Two strings, one finger! (Many other songs I’d like to try are out of reach — literally — and/or involve power chords, for which I do not yet have the flexibility.)

The main thing at the moment is learning how to change chords quickly and accurately. I printed out a little chart with eight basic chords — E, A, D, C, G, Em, Am, Dm (I’m ignoring F for now) — and I’m switching randomly between them, a few strums per chord. All but one of them involve three fingers, so I’m also trying to get my three fingers down simultaneously. I’m ignoring/not worrying about the muted strings; supposedly, that will resolve itself over time. It’s slow going and it often sounds like shit, but I’m better than I was three weeks ago.