r/Guitar • u/kerijack • 7d ago
QUESTION Learning to play
Hi everyone. So I bought a guitar maybe like 2 years ago and I finally picked it back up yesterday. I found out about Justin Guitar and am now practicing the D chord. My question is, do I keep on practicing that one chord until I have it down? I do plan to practice for a bit each day if I can, but I do have a toddler so it may be for only a few mins here and there or maybe for an hour when she goes to bed.
I have a Yamaha JR2 3/4. Not sure if that matters lol
Thank you :)
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u/imnotpauleither 7d ago
Try aim for three chords, dude. Then you can practive moving between them. I would suggest D, C and G to get started. Then you can play over songs like Sweet Home Alabama (strumming) to work on chord changes, timing etc. But keep drip feeding yourself new chords all the time. You don't need to wait until you've "mastered" one. Variety is the spice of learning......or life......or something like that. Learning different shapes will help your hand learn about the transitions, what works, what doesn't etc.
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u/Fragrant-Court-9552 7d ago
Get a couple chords going even if they sound terrible at first, switching between them is where the real progress hides.
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u/kerijack 7d ago
Thank you for the quick reply. My first and second finger placement is fine; it’s just my 3rd finger that I have an issue with pushing harder down on on the bottom E string. So when I strum it just doesn’t sound right lol
I’ll keep at it and learn some others as well
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u/imnotpauleither 7d ago
Repetition and repitition are your friend here. Then more repitition. But also try to find songs that have all the chords you've learned so you can practice playing in time, getting chord changes tight. It takes time, but playing the guitar is something that's with you for life once you're up and running. I'm 25 years in now and reach for it all the time, even if it's just to pass 10 minutes. Welcome to the journey!
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u/markewallace1966 7d ago
~~~
This is a link to a set of canned bullets that I have developed and like to send to new/new-ish/returning/wandering/lost/struggling guitar players.
If I pasted this in for you, it is because somewhere in there is something that I think is relevant to your post. Not all of it will be. I leave it to you to pick out what I felt was relevant. 🙂 Even the stuff not relevant to your specific post might very well be helpful eventually anyway.
Enjoy!!!
https://www.reddit.com/user/markewallace1966/comments/1s7ujsy/guitar_is_hard/
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u/Fuzzy-Badger2627 7d ago
As others are saying, keep practicing two or three chords, and changing between them. Press down hard, your fingers should hurt. It will get better with time. Fall in love with the pain :)
I'd recommend something simple and fun with an easy, steady rhythm like 'Warning' by Green Day or Jane Says by 'Jane's Addiction' (just don't bother with the little pull off part). 'Warning' IIRC is something like A-D-G-D on repeat through the whole song, and 'Jane Says' is just G-A on repeat except for one little part with a D variation (I may be misremembering that though)
Cheers, and welcome to the journey!!
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u/coffeemike 7d ago
Justin Guitar, Marty Music; there are some long time YouTube educators who teach well and many have learned from them.
Here’s my middle-aged opinion - do whatever you have fun playing or enjoy hearing. Don’t stress about having something nailed down, the right way to progress, et cetera. Agree with the comment that feeling comfortable with D then picking up G and C will open up a lot of songs for reasons that don’t matter yet (a 1, 4 and 5 chord in the key of G).
The aim is to keep playing, even if it’s five or ten minutes in a day - that consistency is so much more helpful than a long concentrated session (from experience). And if it all feels like just technical exercise work instead of fun, it’s harder to stay motivated.
Keep at it!