Skip to content
Learning from a fri...
 
Notifications
Clear all

Learning from a friend that hasn't been playing...

7 Posts
6 Users
0 Likes
2,175 Views
(@andyd1)
Active Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 8
Topic starter  

for that long so just want to confirm a few things...

1) Most of the lessons are centered around learning chords (should be 12 different ones). Does that sound ok? Not that there isn't any other commentary involved but just want to be sure the lesson plan makes sense

2) Trying to deal with the pain and building up the callouses. He said I should power through for an hour each day regardless of pain. No breaks. Is it really that much more effective to keep at it for an hour? Seems like the sort of thing I should take a break when I feel like I need to but still put in an hour a day. Or just power through.

3) Bar chords - says it's unnecessary to learn to play most popular songs.


   
Quote
(@noteboat)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 4921
 

1) That's the way many people begin to learn

2) I disagree. Callus develops in response to repeated pressure. In the beginning, I tell students to keep practice sessions short, but do them often - several times a day if at all possible. You'll build callus faster by doing several short sessions per day than one long one - a long one will cause (hopefully minor) injuries, like bruising underneath the skin... and practicing again right away delays healing. You'll be in pain for quite a while. Keeping sessions short means you're just irritating the tissues, rather than wounding them - and your body will thicken the skin in response to the irritation.

3) Depends on the genre. For folk or country, that's generally true. For Rock or blues, no. You can fake your way through most tunes by using a different form of the chord, but you won't get exactly the same sound.

Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL


   
ReplyQuote
(@imalone)
Reputable Member
Joined: 14 years ago
Posts: 267
 

2) Trying to deal with the pain and building up the callouses. He said I should power through for an hour each day regardless of pain. No breaks. Is it really that much more effective to keep at it for an hour? Seems like the sort of thing I should take a break when I feel like I need to but still put in an hour a day. Or just power through.
Put in the time, ease back if it hurts. As someone who didn't start that long ago (will have to stop using that excuse eventually) I remember the process pretty well and I think there are two distinct stages of callus, the first is very hard skin, the second is actually thicker tougher skin. With the first stage (the first week or two) you can still get sore fingers and as Noteboat says you need to give your skin a chance to heal a bit to get to the second. That said, if you really want to keep on you could try changing to a different set of chords or some simple melody stuff to use your fingers in a different position and give them a bit of a break and one way to do that is...
3) Bar chords - says it's unnecessary to learn to play most popular songs.
Well, possibly. You can certainly use different forms of a chord. Barres are another tool. They make transposing very easy. I eventually got them by practicing whenever my fingers started to get sore from practicing other stuff. It seems impossible at first then one day you notice you're doing them cleanly and wonder what was difficult (I'll admit I still don't always hit them cleanly at speed). Actually, it's possible to get stuck playing barres, they're a very useful tool to just be able to play any simple chord, but you can end up not exploring other voicings

Edit:
Bonus, playing with someone else is a really good idea and a big advantage to what you're doing. Something I need to put more effort into.


   
ReplyQuote
(@matthiasyoung)
Eminent Member
Joined: 12 years ago
Posts: 34
 

Playing music with a friend is great, but I would recommend guitar lessons with a professional guitar teacher. I do not agree with your friend's approach to learning.


   
ReplyQuote
(@andyd1)
Active Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 8
Topic starter  

Thanks for the feedback guys. For now, I'll stick with the lessons since he is doing it for free and he seems to play well enough that I'll learn from him. It's really just going to be another 5-6 sessions and then I'm on own. I may just have more questions if something sounds like can be handled differently

Like the callouses - I'll probably take a break instead of going through the entire hour without one.


   
ReplyQuote
(@honeyboy)
Estimable Member
Joined: 12 years ago
Posts: 70
 

Personally I don't think you need a professional teacher in the beginning. Just find some songs you really like and learn them. It helps if you like to sing them too. You don't have to be a good singer, just like to sing enough to keep you playing the song. There's so many great online lessons these days that you certainly can get started yourself. I love TrueFire myself.

Of course when it comes time to get really good or learn music theory I do recommend a good teacher.

But I guess it really depends if you are a DIY yourself kind of person or not. If you really like to have your hand held then maybe it's good to have a teacher in the beginning. But those online lessons at TrueFire can really pretty much do the same thing.

Rick Honeyboy Hart

"It's about tone, taste, and technique... in that order."

http://www.bluesguitarinsider.com
http://www.rickhoneyboyhart.com


   
ReplyQuote
(@peaveyusa)
Estimable Member
Joined: 12 years ago
Posts: 75
 

Not sure I'd take lessons from a beginner but instead just learn off one another. I took a few lessons back in college then put my guitars down for a long while. Picked them back up a few years ago and the lessons larned did help but for the most part I just teach myself.

Pain will go away just keep at it. Even if it hurts keep at it. Eventually you won't feel any pain at all. But do not chew on your finger tips when callouses start to develope. Sometimes I use my wifes emory board and smooth them down. They have gotten rough enough to catch the high e string.


   
ReplyQuote