Sunday, November 2, 2008

LRAG-BEG - L# 5

Lesson 5 Major Open Chords E - A - D

I am just going to assume that all guitarists share the same experiences the majority of the time, especially when just starting out, such as myself. So let us hope that those reading can relate, by thinking back to the first time learning their first chords when I say...

Damn, my fingers hurt! LOL

And those first three chords where no piece of cake to try and learn either! And yes, I said "try". I still do not have them down, and don't expect to just as yet. It is certainly not as easy as it looks by any means.

My main problem, which others might have had, is getting my left hand positioned correctly, so that the fingers are where they belong. So far I have found...

  1. I need to keep my fingers arced, to where they come straight at the fret. My pinky likes to hit that first string, and deaden it.
  2. I need to keep equal pressure on all the strings in a "Bar Chord". That one is a killer. Just when I think I have it, I get down to test each note, only to find I am not placing enough pressure on one of the strings with my finger. Especially with that "A Major Open Chord" I keep worrying about my first finger touching the first string, so I let up on that second string a bit to stay away from it.
  3. It is not easy to see down where my hands are at, when sitting up straight, and keeping the guitar in the correct position.
  4. I will need a nice sturdy chair to sit in for practicing
  5. I will indeed need callouses on my fingers to make this a lot easier.
I kept watching the lesson over and over again, until it finally occurred to me that I have the chords right there in the book in front of me! No wonder it was essential to learn how to read the chord charts, it keeps me from having to rewind the blasted DVD a million times. LOL

Tomorrow will strictly be one among very many "Practice days only", so unless I have some new revelation, methinks the next post might be a bit shorter.

The kids sure do like watching me with the DVD though... It is like a tennis game, seeing them watch John on TV, then turn to me quickly to see what I do, then back to John. I do get clapping, and "Yay Daddy" every once in a while when they can tell that I am doing it correctly. Gotta love the built in "fan club" at home.

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