Advice on playing the guitar

[ricky023]

When I was 12 years old I use to sale Grit Newspapers to have money to take guitar lessons. When it got winter time it was to cold and rainy to walk or ride my bicycle to deliver so i had to quit and I never got to learn. Now, I am disabled and can't work so for the last 3 years I have been trying to learn to play the guitar. I am having a Monstrous problem of learning to play especially the strumming patterns but also to smoothly change cords. I know several chords, like AMajor, Amin, C, D, EMaj, Emin, G, A2, D2 but knowing all these without changing smoothly the song is not going to song right. I was just wondering if anybody had any tips a 60 something year old might utilize to make things work better.
My practice time is 15 mins 4 to 6 times a day on most all days. Sometimes I might be down to 2 times a day according to what is going on. Thanks for any advice guys or ladies. RTR!

[SUPERCOACH]

Practice, practice, practice!

Try playing each chord in sequence.  Don't worry about making it a song or even learning a song, just focus on switching chords smoothly, over and over.  Also, slow your tempo way down until you can switch smoothly in rhythm, then gradually go a little faster and faster, so long as you are still playing smoothly.  Once you can do it correctly going slow you will gradually be able to speed up.  Go as slow as you need to in order to get it right, then gradually speed up from there.  If you start messing up, then slow it back down again.

As for strumming patterns, I really can't help you there.  I play bass and I don't use a pick.

[ricky023]

Practice, practice, practice!

Try playing each chord in sequence.  Don't worry about making it a song or even learning a song, just focus on switching chords smoothly, over and over.  Also, slow your tempo way down until you can switch smoothly in rhythm, then gradually go a little faster and faster, so long as you are still playing smoothly.  Once you can do it correctly going slow you will gradually be able to speed up.  Go as slow as you need to in order to get it right, then gradually speed up from there.  If you start messing up, then slow it back down again.

As for strumming patterns, I really can't help you there.  I play bass and I don't use a pick.

Thank you so much SC. I have been trying to learn the chords of course but I had not tried slowing to make it all smooth. I have been trying to make the speed of a song. The practice part I will make more time to do more practice. RTR!

[XBAMA]

same problem here Ricky , youtube helped me a lot ... I like the delta blue section

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orp7WHibnaU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orp7WHibnaU</a>


BUY YOU A BIC LIGHTER , I did , blue is my fav .... 

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ggcAGPGy6k" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ggcAGPGy6k</a>

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUi9-jqq_i0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUi9-jqq_i0</a>

Bill Furner aka thetiler aka ...THE BEST finger picker around all the way from San Fran ... the dude is awesome

the song "one bad dude" is about a gun fighter that kills a preacher and later has to ask the preachers wife
to save him .... here is a sample with no words just music
FTR ... that is on Bill playing alone , he sounds like two or three pickers on a lot of his songs

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVrK98Ybg8M" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVrK98Ybg8M</a>

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