Thanks guys.

You are of course correct – practice, practice, practice and some more practice… 🙂

I did notice one thing. When I was a teenager I fell into the trap of having the palm of my hand on the back of the neck. It should be my thumb.
I do have large hands and at the time I probably thought they were too big and thus took a shortcut (or what I thought was a shortcut) and played that way for too long.

Having my thumb on the back is not comfortable but from what I’ve read it should become normal and will be correct and comfortable. It will also help a lot with finger position.

I’m going through Justin Guuitar’s website (slowly) and finding it really good. I’ll get the book soon too.

Thanks for all the help so far from everyone – it’s really appreciated.

Other guitarists, be it learner or experienced, please feel free to jump on here, I love seeing your guitars, hearing your riffs and general guitar stuffs.

Cheers

😀

At rocketdog, very similar layout to my prs (which I love)

When I was a teenager I fell into the trap of having the palm of my hand on the back of the neck. It should be my thumb.
I do have large hands and at the time I probably thought they were too big and thus took a shortcut (or what I thought was a shortcut) and played that way for too long.
Having my thumb on the back is not comfortable but from what I’ve read it should become normal and will be correct and comfortable. It will also help a lot with finger position.

I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Yes its better to have your thumb on the back of the neck for barre chords but equally if you are bending notes or for vibrato its better to have your thumb on the top of the neck for leverage. Also wrapping your thumb over the neck to play barre chords is acceptable especially if you are playing fingerstyle as it frees up the other fingers to play the melody.

Stick with Justin’s course if you’re getting in to it – pretty much everything people have mentioned comes up in it at the appropriate point.

Here’s one I knocked up earlier:

This is how it started:

I did succumb to a Firebird graphic eventually.

Practice, practice, practice 🙂

yes, well spotted regarding the thumb, that is correct, it’s how you kind of pinch the guitar, it’s not static though, but you sound like you’re getting on well, so I guess you’ll suss that too. 🙂

stick up a youtube video, lets see your progress! we can maybe give you some tips!

Can I hijack thread and ask for advice please? My 14 year old son wants an electric guitar for Xmas. He’s pretty musical on grade 8 cornet and taking guitar as his 2nd instrument at school.
I’ve seen starter packages from squire etc but would I be better buying good 2nd hand?
I’ve seen a Dean Soltero on eBay, has anyone had any experience of these?
Any advice greatly appreciated

I’ve seen starter packages from squire etc but would I be better buying good 2nd hand?

If your budget will stretch, I’d avoid the ‘starter pack’ guitars – they tend to be bottom of the line models (Bullet ?? for Squier) with a pretty crappy amp.

Once you get off the bottom rung, the Squier guitars seem pretty good, likewise Yamaha Pacifica (112V or above, ideally), or possibly Epiphone, but keep a close eye on quality.

Fender Mustang amplifiers seem pretty good, and have headphone sockets 😉

The problem with 2nd hand is knowing whether what you’re buying is a ‘good’ guitar, and being able to tell that it has been looked after and is in playable condition (or at least can be adjusted to bring it to that state).

My £0.02, anyway…

As above, if you know (or know someone who knows) what to look for then there are some absolute bargains to be had!

For me it was spend the best part of £250 on a new guitar or go with 2nd hand. I wen’t 2nd hand because I wasn’t sure if I would keep it up so didn’t want to waste my money. Plus, if I stick to it and actually learn to play the thing then I get to look forward to buying a new guitar in the future! 🙂

Good work, stick with it!

I’ve recently got back into playing regularly after neglecting it for too long. I’m rubbish but I don’t play because I’m good, I play because I enjoy it.

Here’s one of mine, my Epiphone LP Standard Plus Top.
[url=https://flic.kr/p/NsjGxo]Les Paul[/url] by durhambiker, on Flickr

That is rather nice!

I am very rubbish. But I am enjoying it a lot.

on a side note – does anyone know where is best to get a volume pot?

My son’s bass is playing up, tried contact cleaner but no joy. The pot says on the back of it “ALPHA 15A25K”
RS Components?

Thanks

Any guitar shop. They’re normally 250k or 500k for volume.

http://www.stringsdirect.co.uk/parts-c4/potentiometers-c109

Tink we should all get one of these

Certainly applies to me

A final word on the position of the fretting hand:

Thanks again everyone 🙂

Of course I meant 250K not 25K doh!

I suspect the kids may get me that T-Shirt too lol

Here’s a couple of mine, 1972 Eko Ranger 6 and a Yamaha FG-300A, the Ranger is a heavy beast, built unlike anything modern that I’ve played. I bought each one 2nd hand with only one owner prior to me and in really good condition, both different and yet equally lovely to play.

Let’s see your axes…

[url=https://flic.kr/p/PkJQa9]Guitar[/url] by mikeycycle, on Flickr

Eko ranger was my first guitar. Inherited from my dad in 1990. Action was horrific and the neck was so warped you had to tune it down to C or risk snapping the neck 😆

Thanks for the advice folks. I’ve taken a punt on a used Vintage V100 paradise based on the Les Paul. I’ve watched and read so many reviews my head is spinning. I didn’t find a bad review so hopefully it will keep my son happy. The search is on for an amp now !!

I have learned 4 chords.
E
A
D
G
I am still not very good but am enjoying trying to play a guitar

That is all.

🙂

1 minute changes next 😉

Am is the same as shape as E so you can play that too. Add a C or Cadd9 to your repetoir and you’ll be able to play lots of folk songs. Which G have you learned? I find the following variant sounds happier and you only need three fingers:

E major on third fret (which makes a G note)
A muted by the major
D open
G open
B ring on third fret (which makes a D note)
E pinky on the third fret (which makes a G)

If you play it with the index on the second fret like many guitarists do you add a C which makes it dull to my ears.

Which G have you learned?

There’s more than one…

haha! I am a regular G like this:

1 minute changes next

Yup, I am going to be bullying the family’s ears this weekend mwuahahahaa!

As above if you can play E you can do Em trivially and Am too. If I may suggest follow the Justin order and do the 1 min and forcing the changes, more important than more chords in my extremly humble opinion. Also FWIW as per Equator the G with the extra ring finger is worth learning

Good luck, as an aside the thread encouraged to to practice a bit more. It really is little and often which brings progress ime

Once you’re comfortable with those, and added a few more. Learn the chords in a key next.

Edukator – Reformed Troll
Am is the same as shape as E so you can play that too. Add a C or Cadd9 to your repetoir and you’ll be able to play lots of folk songs. Which G have you learned? I find the following variant sounds happier and you only need three fingers:

E major on third fret (which makes a G note)
A muted by the major
D open
G open
B ring on third fret (which makes a D note)
E pinky on the third fret (which makes a G)

If you play it with the index on the second fret like many guitarists do you add a C which makes it dull to my ears.

Not really seen that before, basically an extended power chord that way. just all 1s & 5s so missing the 3rd, so its ambiguous, it’s not actually major or minor.

Guess the difference between that and the barred version is that the 3rd in the barred version is played as a 10th, so brighter because its an octave up. So see your point.

Well this what it sounds like:
[video]https://youtu.be/hferz6Ps5aM[/video]

The sequence C G Am G F G repeat, Zed

I thought of the easiest song I could play in C (as seosamh has posted the chords) and rattle it off for this thread. I added a quick bit of a Planxty song at the end to show the OP how you can use D Caad9 and G (variant) to make quick changes from G to C – and it sounds happier in my opinion. Sweet Home Alabama revolves around D power chord, Caad9 and G too. I’ll have to record that – basic strumming and the lead version.

I used the Mexican Strat as it’s pretty much the same as the OP’s Pacifica

Cadd9 is a lovely chord! Great band planxty too. Dunno that song though!