Any guitar geeks here?

[cyclone24 1,814]

So been playing a few months self taught, know a good number of chords, strumming rhythm is getting better…picked up a Taylor 414CE (which sounds unreal) today…

Im struggling doing barre chords. Big hands and cant seem to get that index finger to stay down. 
 

Anybody that plays have any tricks or tips? Feels like this is my big hurdle

[supermike80 1,286]

I swear I don't know what a chord is. I hear it a lot. "That song only has three chords" and I never know what that means.

 

[cyclone24 1,814]

2 minutes ago, supermike80 said:

I swear I don't know what a chord is. I hear it a lot. "That song only has three chords" and I never know what that means.

 

Hah… Yeah you can get away with a lot just knowing the D G and A chords. It just means where you put your fingers for a particular note when you strum.

[supermike80 1,286]

Just now, cyclone24 said:

Hah… Yeah you can get away with a lot just knowing the D G and A chords. It just means where you put your fingers for a particular note when you strum.

So a chord is a note basically?

[cyclone24 1,814]

Just now, supermike80 said:

So a chord is a note basically?

Yes

[supermike80 1,286]

1 minute ago, cyclone24 said:

Yes

Well sheet on a shingle.  Learn something new everyday I guess

[vuduchile 1,941]

There are really no shortcuts for learning barre chords.  It just takes a lot of practice. 

They aren’t fun to play for most casual players 

You can sometimes use a capo to eliminate them in certain songs.   

Search capo conversion chart for guidance on that.  Good luck.  

[BunnysBastatrds 1,918]

7 hours ago, cyclone24 said:

So been playing a few months self taught, know a good number of chords, strumming rhythm is getting better…picked up a Taylor 414CE (which sounds unreal) today…

Im struggling doing barre chords. Big hands and cant seem to get that index finger to stay down. 
 

Anybody that plays have any tricks or tips? Feels like this is my big hurdle

 I quit playing because of my inability to do bar chords. Old awkward fingers and large hands. They sell guitars that have rounded fret boards to make it easier. I’m buying an Ibanez bass tomorrow. Easier if you can’t do chords. All picking without a pick. 
 

 Talk to a good local sales person. Do not buy anything from a pawn shop. Support local music stores. The fret is the key and strings.  Had three nice acoustics, but could not play a bar chord Gave the guitar up. Now I’m going bass but maybe saxophone. 

[Old School 360]

The acoustic is a fine instrument. 
An electric is easier to play, especially when you move on to barre chords. 
 

The combination of working out on and acoustic, then picking up the electric works really well. 
The price of a decent Mexican Strat has gone up about $100 in the last 6 months, but you can still find decent versions in the $500 range. 

[BunnysBastatrds 1,918]

2 hours ago, Old School said:

The acoustic is a fine instrument. 
An electric is easier to play, especially when you move on to barre chords. 
 

The combination of working out on and acoustic, then picking up the electric works really well. 
The price of a decent Mexican Strat has gone up about $100 in the last 6 months, but you can still find decent versions in the $500 range. 

 Mexican Telecasters are incredible guitars. Really easy to play. Waylon Jennings swore by them. Almost bought a green one yesterday. Check out Princes guitar. Great guitar. The Boss!!! Tom Petty!!!

 

 

I could have gotten a 67 Fender bass thirty five years ago. Mint condition with original case. Red with white. For fawking FREE. I passed and really could kill my self today. 
 

Getting a new Ibanez and a friends dads sax. We’ll see. Or hopefully hear.

[BudBro 117]

23 hours ago, cyclone24 said:

So been playing a few months self taught, know a good number of chords, strumming rhythm is getting better…picked up a Taylor 414CE (which sounds unreal) today…

Im struggling doing barre chords. Big hands and cant seem to get that index finger to stay down. 
 

Anybody that plays have any tricks or tips? Feels like this is my big hurdle

I will promote the Michael Palmisano youtube channel. 

https://www.youtube.com/c/Guitargate/videos

He has an online teaching course.  

[BiPolarBear 476]

On 3/8/2022 at 3:21 PM, supermike80 said:

So a chord is a note basically?

No. A chord is multiple notes. One of those notes is a root, which means it names the key the chord is played in. A triad is three notes, one of which is the root. It gets complicated. I think I have a guitar chord book somewhere that has 10,000 chords. A piano only has 88 keys, or notes, so you can see the complexity. 

[BiPolarBear 476]

On 3/8/2022 at 3:16 PM, cyclone24 said:

So been playing a few months self taught, know a good number of chords, strumming rhythm is getting better…picked up a Taylor 414CE (which sounds unreal) today…

Im struggling doing barre chords. Big hands and cant seem to get that index finger to stay down. 
 

Anybody that plays have any tricks or tips? Feels like this is my big hurdle

Welcome to the brotherhood. 

Don't worry about the size of your hands. Look up a picture of Bill Monroe, playing a mandolin. Way smaller neck, and huge hands. Redd Volkaert is an electric player with fat short fingers on bear paws, and he just rips on the telecaster. 

Barre chords are a challenge at first, but you get over it. An open F chord at the first fret is also a beginner's challenge, but when you know that, every time you move it up a fret, you get a new chord. 2nd fret is f#, 3rd fret is G, etc. Now lift your middle finger of the F, and you have a minor chord that you can move all over the neck. The barre chords work the same; move it, and add or subtract fingers and you get different chords. 

A Taylor is a fine instrument. Do you have a tuner? There are lots of small inexpensive tuners that clip on the headstock. I recommend keeping your instrument in a hard case. I never put my guitars on a guitar stand or hang them on a wall. Most all acoustic guitar necks are mahogany, and are soft in comparison to maple, like a Fender electric neck. I have a luthier friend who told me he had 15 guitars in his shop at the same time with busted off headstocks. They were all acoustics or Gibson electrics with mahogany necks. If you travel with it, the rule is that if you are uncomfortable with the temperature; so is your guitar. Wipe down the strings after you play with a soft cloth. A nice wet guitar polish like Dunlop 65 is good for the guitar body and back of the neck. Use a soft cloth, but not the same one you use on the strings. Don't put guitar polish on your fingerboard. I am guessing the Taylor has a rosewood fretboard. They make oil for that, but not too much and wipe it off, with yet another different soft cloth. Only do the fretboard infrequently, when its looks dull or dirty. Put too much oil on it too often and you can start popping your frets out. Pro tip: that is an expensive mistake. 

I still use a guitar pick, but wish I had spent more time playing with just my fingers. I use thick hard guitar picks. You can back off with them, and barely touch the strings, but you can also dig in and get a tone of volume and presence, that you won't get with a thin, flimsy pick. 

Please feel free to message me anytime. 

[cyclone24 1,814]

1 hour ago, BiPolarBear said:

Welcome to the brotherhood. 

Don't worry about the size of your hands. Look up a picture of Bill Monroe, playing a mandolin. Way smaller neck, and huge hands. Redd Volkaert is an electric player with fat short fingers on bear paws, and he just rips on the telecaster. 

Barre chords are a challenge at first, but you get over it. An open F chord at the first fret is also a beginner's challenge, but when you know that, every time you move it up a fret, you get a new chord. 2nd fret is f#, 3rd fret is G, etc. Now lift your middle finger of the F, and you have a minor chord that you can move all over the neck. The barre chords work the same; move it, and add or subtract fingers and you get different chords. 

A Taylor is a fine instrument. Do you have a tuner? There are lots of small inexpensive tuners that clip on the headstock. I recommend keeping your instrument in a hard case. I never put my guitars on a guitar stand or hang them on a wall. Most all acoustic guitar necks are mahogany, and are soft in comparison to maple, like a Fender electric neck. I have a luthier friend who told me he had 15 guitars in his shop at the same time with busted off headstocks. They were all acoustics or Gibson electrics with mahogany necks. If you travel with it, the rule is that if you are uncomfortable with the temperature; so is your guitar. Wipe down the strings after you play with a soft cloth. A nice wet guitar polish like Dunlop 65 is good for the guitar body and back of the neck. Use a soft cloth, but not the same one you use on the strings. Don't put guitar polish on your fingerboard. I am guessing the Taylor has a rosewood fretboard. They make oil for that, but not too much and wipe it off, with yet another different soft cloth. Only do the fretboard infrequently, when its looks dull or dirty. Put too much oil on it too often and you can start popping your frets out. Pro tip: that is an expensive mistake. 

I still use a guitar pick, but wish I had spent more time playing with just my fingers. I use thick hard guitar picks. You can back off with them, and barely touch the strings, but you can also dig in and get a tone of volume and presence, that you won't get with a thin, flimsy pick. 

Please feel free to message me anytime. 

That’s great info and I appreciate it. Yeah I’ve started just doing fingers because I didn’t like the feel of the plastic on the strings from the pick. Just didn’t like that sound.

I’ll keep working on the barre chords though. I’m sure I’ll get it I just didn’t know if there was any tips or tricks to accelerating the process a little.

[Pimpadeaux 2,266]

On 3/8/2022 at 3:20 PM, cyclone24 said:

Hah… Yeah you can get away with a lot just knowing the D G and A chords. It just means where you put your fingers for a particular note when you strum.

I've been playing long enough to develop my own style, forged through everything from classical guitar to punk. You can hear everything from classical guitarist John Williams (not the composer) to Led Zeppelin to Butth0le Surfers in my sonic garbage. 

I know chords and stuff, but my favorite way to play is opening-tuning E for lots of chord slamming. 

Just keep going!

[cyclone24 1,814]

1 hour ago, Pimpadeaux said:

I've been playing long enough to develop my own style, forged through everything from classical guitar to punk. You can hear everything from classical guitarist John Williams (not the composer) to Led Zeppelin to Butth0le Surfers in my sonic garbage. 

I know chords and stuff, but my favorite way to play is opening-tuning E for lots of chord slamming. 

Just keep going!

Efforting. By the way I had lobster and shrimp smoked tonight on the grill, played guitar for my wife, I’m still not getting laid tonight. So good luck to the rest of you in your sweat pants trying to dry hump your wife watching survivor on DVR. You’ll probably get luckier than I did. FML

[bostonlager 2,465]

I’ve never attempted to play before, but I now own a 1960s Gibson Dove that was just restrung with Martins. How hard is it to learn a few country tunes?

[frank 2,145]

Here is a good warmup exercise for beginners. 
 

 

[SUXBNME 1,335]

On 3/8/2022 at 10:16 PM, Old School said:

The acoustic is a fine instrument. 
An electric is easier to play, especially when you move on to barre chords. 
 

The combination of working out on and acoustic, then picking up the electric works really well. 
The price of a decent Mexican Strat has gone up about $100 in the last 6 months, but you can still find decent versions in the $500 range. 

I've got a jap strat.  Real nice 

[BiPolarBear 476]

On 10/15/2023 at 5:02 PM, SUXBNME said:

I've got a jap strat.  Real nice 

Those are unreal! I have an ‘86 MIJ Telecaster. Dan Smith, who was a very influential Fender executive, set up the Japanese wing of the business. He cried when he traveled to Japan and saw how fine they were. 
 

Is your strat newer or older?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SUXBNME 1,335]

4 hours ago, BiPolarBear said:

Those are unreal! I have an ‘86 MIJ Telecaster. Dan Smith, who was a very influential Fender executive, set up the Japanese wing of the business. He cried when he traveled to Japan and saw how fine they were. 
 

Is your strat newer or older?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid 80s mebbe? Not sure. I'll find out

[jerryskids 5,206]

I hack at guitar, mostly acoustic/chords, but I've played music my entire life so I understand stuff like chord progressions.

One thing I wish I did differently was for bar chords, when I started I was lazy and used my pinky instead of my ring finger, I presume because it bent easier.  But that limits your ability to hit transition notes or change up the chord with the (should be free) pinky.  I don't play as much now, and when I do I just revert to the lazy pinky method.

[paulinstl 295]

1963 Fender Strat is the only electric I still own. I sold my cherry red 1959 Gibson ES 335 several years ago, and I'm still kicking myself. It was a rare one, dot neck with a Bigsby bridge.

 

Also, second the suggestion of trying a capo.

[SUXBNME 1,335]

11 hours ago, BiPolarBear said:

Those are unreal! I have an ‘86 MIJ Telecaster. Dan Smith, who was a very influential Fender executive, set up the Japanese wing of the business. He cried when he traveled to Japan and saw how fine they were. 
 

Is your strat newer or older?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just found out by the serial number that it's a 85 or 86

 

This is my exact guitar 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/125732323021?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=125732323021&targetid=1528987490616&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9032467&poi=&campaignid=19851828444&mkgroupid=145880009014&rlsatarget=pla-1528987490616&abcId=9307249&merchantid=603800777&gclid=CjwKCAjwnOipBhBQEiwACyGLulhl0ZH1KQTiDEr1YhGHqGY_eW8NMVvH_yjpU_OdLxVsK7VvSggWDRoC5jQQAvD_BwE

[BunnysBastatrds 1,918]

On 3/8/2022 at 3:16 PM, cyclone24 said:

So been playing a few months self taught, know a good number of chords, strumming rhythm is getting better…picked up a Taylor 414CE (which sounds unreal) today…

Im struggling doing barre chords. Big hands and cant seem to get that index finger to stay down. 
 

Anybody that plays have any tricks or tips? Feels like this is my big hurdle

 I have problems with bar chord’s also. Never could understand why. I have large hands also. I almost gave up trying. Read a few books and learned there a different chords to use. There are also guitars that have a curved neck . From the top of the neck to bottom. It helps a lot. Found an old Fender acoustic that had one of those necks. Made a huge difference. Don’t give up. The guitarist for Black Sabbath, I think, had a half of an index finger. He learned chords that weren’t bared. 

[cyclone24 1,814]

11 hours ago, BunnysBastatrds said:

 I have problems with bar chord’s also. Never could understand why. I have large hands also. I almost gave up trying. Read a few books and learned there a different chords to use. There are also guitars that have a curved neck . From the top of the neck to bottom. It helps a lot. Found an old Fender acoustic that had one of those necks. Made a huge difference. Don’t give up. The guitarist for Black Sabbath, I think, had a half of an index finger. He learned chords that weren’t bared. 

Yeah, what worked for me Was going back a little bit and relearning like an A chord or especially in a Minor or E and playing with my bottom Three fingers. That helped a ton because you basically have to do that on those barre chords. Starting to hit them now.

my biggest thing is confidence in it. Played with a guy the other day that does gigs and he said if you just play it loud you play just as well as guys that are getting paid around the city to do gigs. Now my singing on the other hand? Yikes.

[BunnysBastatrds 1,918]

49 minutes ago, cyclone24 said:

Yeah, what worked for me Was going back a little bit and relearning like an A chord or especially in a Minor or E and playing with my bottom Three fingers. That helped a ton because you basically have to do that on those barre chords. Starting to hit them now.

my biggest thing is confidence in it. Played with a guy the other day that does gigs and he said if you just play it loud you play just as well as guys that are getting paid around the city to do gigs. Now my singing on the other hand? Yikes.

 I was trying to learn Sister Golden Hair and some tricky Stones songs. I couldn’t do the bar chords. Drove me mad. I could play this…

 …and this…

 Took me over a year to learn how to play them. I’m I would sit on the washing machine listening and learning. I was positive that I would. Came as close as you can to doing it right. Confident, I tried songs with bar chords. Nope. Couldn’t make them sound right. A teacher said it was the awkward shape of my index finger. I pretty much quit after that. 
 

If you want something fun and easy to play, Tom Pettys greatest hits in,tablature. Great songs. 

[BunnysBastatrds 1,918]

 

 

[BiPolarBear 476]

On 10/26/2023 at 9:35 PM, SUXBNME said:

Just found out by the serial number that it's a 85 or 86

 

This is my exact guitar 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/125732323021?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=125732323021&targetid=1528987490616&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9032467&poi=&campaignid=19851828444&mkgroupid=145880009014&rlsatarget=pla-1528987490616&abcId=9307249&merchantid=603800777&gclid=CjwKCAjwnOipBhBQEiwACyGLulhl0ZH1KQTiDEr1YhGHqGY_eW8NMVvH_yjpU_OdLxVsK7VvSggWDRoC5jQQAvD_BwE

That is a beauty! I have never had a locking tremolo. I guess a metal guy like yourself would have nothing else.