Guitar Nerds Anonymous

hi @Alan_tbt

personally, i reckon 1 hour per week, it is important to find a teacher who knows what your objectives are, and I get a ton of homework. lessons are circa £40 ph, also lessons are only useful if you have time to practice, i'm hitting on average one hour of practice each day currently.

so for me, 1 hour lesson equates to 6 hours of practice each week, if you make your lessons fortnightly then any momentum will be driven by your desire to progress.

on-line tutorials are useful for discovering stuff and I still look up plenty of free youtube footage. however i don't find them inspirational enough for learning more for recaps. I sense that alot of new guitar owners are giving up after a few weeks. As i mentioned upthread, I really look forward to my weekly lesson, learning stuff all the time, lots of different genres, being challenged to become an accomplished guitar player.

Thank for the reply @almac68 very useful advice.
I’ve been playing for a year so I’ve got through the ‘give it up after a few months’ barrier.
I can dedicate the time you’ve allowed my concern is it may take me longer to get through the practice items due to my own skill and I wouldn’t want to turn up at the next lesson having not completed any homework.
I found previously I would turn up at my next lesson and there was no building on what I’d done, it was off in another direction. So recognise a roadmap is required.
I’ve just emailed a local teacher today with my initial thoughts so hopefully I’ll get to chat with her later this week to discuss things.

good stuff @Alan_tbt
i guess that is the difference between 'just dabbling' using the internet and ‘progression' through as you say roadmap. If your teacher is good, they will know how best to approach your learning plan. some things you may pick up quickly, other bits may just need time, patience and practice. For me two years in stop / start due to hand injury from bike collision in 2020. I now own three guitars to alternate my practice, style and mood.

Good luck and keep us posted.
Al

I bought a Squier Bullet Mustang cause they're cheap. It has a 24" scale and
12" fingerboard radius. I've never played a guitar before but it just feels SO small. The distance between frets, even at the headstock end, just feels tiny.

I can't tell if it's just because I am new to guitar but I can't physically get my fingers into the right position for some really simple chords because everything feels so cramped. It feels like I'm riding a bike that's a size too small for me. Has anyone else had this issue on a short scale guitar and gotten used to it? Or should I just return it and buy something with a standard 25.5" scale? I am still well within the return period so it's not a problem to take it back.

Can anyone give me a good common sense reason not to buy this? It seems like a steal…
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224771600348

I feel the same about short-scale guitars. I can just about cope with 24.75" but definitely prefer 25.5"

@JB when I started out my fingers felt like fat sausages, I couldn’t strike a clean note. Imagine then first chord ‘A Major’, I struggled a lot and thought jeez on a full sized fender strat. I don’t know whether switching guitars is the answer for you. I’d say stick with it, but I’m not really qualified to suggest staying with or changing.

Barre chords are horrible 30 min exercise on one finger, 6 fret positions x 6 string test x 3 reps. this finger is not happy.

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You could go into a shop and try a longer-scale guitar, but TBH I think that nut width probably has more effect on feel than scale length. Also, are you only playing chords or doing single-note exercises too? Doing single-note exercises is possibly a better way to develop feel as you learn how hard you need to fret strings (only just enough) rather than trying to mash down lots of strings together in a chord.

Dunno dude… Everyone’s different, but I clearly remember thinking that I’d never be able to play this chord shape cleanly, or this barre chord down at the lower frets.
Some of these things take time - months, years maybe - to get the knack.
Get down to a shop and try out some other guitars, but nothing beats practice

The spacing is roughly the same as playing a 25.5" with a capo on the first fret.

I played 24" for years and got used to 25.5" later. String tension was the greatest issue for me.

Thanks everyone.

I am using the Fender Play thing. I'd like to get in person lessons but can't afford atm.

Doing single note exercises as well as chords.

I figure it's probably just me, but I asked the question as its not just my fingers that feel like they have nowhere to go but my whole upper body just feels very cramped - like I say - as if I am riding a bike that's too small. But then, I've seen way bigger dudes play exactly the same guitar.

Nut width seems to be the same as basically all other Fender produced guitars, so yeah, I'm sure it's just me. I'll persevere!

Keep at it fella. Make a conscious effort to keep your fretting hand relaxed and avoid the death grip- position is way more important than how hard you squeeze on an electric.

Okay so I honestly was going to just keep with it, until I saw this Squier classic vibe 60s strat on Craigslist in new condition for $350… I’m not a Stratocaster lover but there’s something about this 60s one that I really like. I paid $220 for the Bullet Mustang so it was a no brainer. I will be returning it. And surprise surprise, I feel way more comfortable playing this one. My posture isn’t hunched over, the angle of my elbow feels natural and relaxed, my chest and shoulders feel open and I think all of those things combined are making it easier for me to move my hand up and down the neck. My fingers also don’t feel as cramped. I’m sure starting on a 24” scale is easier for some, but I think it was making my life harder than it needed to be.

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Very nice! Not helping my barely-suppressed Strat lust.

Glad 25.5" feels better. Other factors to consider are neck profile (too thick and it feels like a baseball bat, too thin and it doesn’t support your hand) and strap length. Strap length is a big one for me, having been conditioned by 90s bands to wear it far too long, it needs to be high enough that the wrist of your fretting hand isn’t bent under the neck. Massive benefits for comfort and accuracy.

Barre chords are horrible

Yeah they are when starting out - I was self-taught and it was only after a proper lesson after a few years later that I discovered I had my ring and pinky fingers the wrong way around 😆

This is obviously not a way to avoid proper barring, but have you tried the thumb over the low E approach?

That strat looks lovely!
I think for me the first 10 years of (self taught) guitar playing centred around the thought that if I had a new guitar, I'd be better!
See also polo bikes, running shoes, coffee machines

Classical guitarists hate this one simple trick!

My teacher has frowned on the thumb over low E string and wants me to perfect the index finger position.

The funk chords all stem from that barre. I will keep practising every day if necessary, low E, A, D and high E strings are down, G and B strings need work. The exercise is tough but thorough. Despite the discomfort and soreness afters, it is a labour of love.

@JB your strat looks ace, great guitar for learning mine is late 80’s and still sounds really clean.

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Classical guitarists hate this one simple trick!

Hah - who needs 3 root notes anyway?

TBH the thumb on the low E is useful for muting if nothing else, that way you can wallop the other strings without it ringing out. Also for playing D/F#.

That chord chart reminds me of another weird thing I still do. My Dmaj shape is just a Dmin with index on the 2nd fret.

I think I'm just lazy. Similarly, what's is there a reason why the hand position is switched around between A, Am and A7? My index stays on the B string for all of those.

My teacher is classically trained, has said once i have mastered good posture, correct playing for all chords and picking / strumming techniques, he will teach me every trick, every lick he knows. i figured that if i am going to invest circa £800 on lessons this year, then I want this to set me up to a very competent level to play jazz, funk, soul, reggae, rock standards.

above I shared a page from my perpetual disappointments diary, this is where i write shit down for practice, tunes i want to learn (off syllabus) and inspirational quotes.

With e.g. the Emaj barre shape, you only need pressure on the low E and the high B & E strings - you can kind of arch the index finger a bit. You don't need to press down all 6 strings.

They are kind of a pain to learn though, for sure. Another tip is not to generate all the pressure from your thumb on the back of the neck - the forearm of your strumming hand pressing on the body of the guitar should generate enough leverage that you can fret a barre chord without your thumb even touching the neck. Helps avoid cramp in your fretting hand.

I think I'm just lazy. Similarly, what's is there a reason why the hand position is switched around between A, Am and A7? My index stays on the B string for all of those.

The positions that are taught sometimes tend to be for reasons of what chords you are likely to be moving to/from, and having "anchor" fingers that help you not have to lift all your fingers off the strings between chords. For example, the Justin Sandercoe method of fretting an Amaj is to have your index finger on the G string and ring finger on the B string, so that you can leave the index finger where it is when you switch to/from Dmaj, and just slide the ring finger up/down one fret. So you only need to move your middle finger from the E string over to the D string.

Interesting that you feel better with a Strat. One thing about the Bullet Mustang (my son has one) is the 12" radius fretboard is quite different to the 9.5" you get on most Fenders. Having always played Fenders I find the flatness of 12" radius took a bit of getting used to, especially in the "cowboy chord" area. I definitely prefer a bit of curve, though whether that's because it's naturally more comfortable or because that's just what I learned on many moons ago, I don't know.