Guitar Newbie

fox0512

Hi all

More of a vent/rant than a question...so I picked up the guitar about a month ago, about 30yrs to late!...Im knocking a few little tunes together at the mo and a week ago I stumbled across Romanza and thought to myself Oh heres a nice one shouldn't take long to grasp it... have pains in my wrist, fist, fingers, arm....these barres with stretches are tough going!!...I reckon by the time I get a hold on this tune I'll never want to hear it again :pac:

Rigsby

First of all, it is never too late to learn anything. I would advise you to check out good technique on You Tube in order to minimise any injury problems. Also search for..."hand/finger stretches for guitar" and spend a couple of minutes doing them, before and after a practice session.

Rome was not built in a day. You are suddenly asking your hands and fingers to do things out of the ordinary. It is natural that they are going to "protest". So limit your practice time to say twenty minutes at a time for now. Then take a break and go back to it. After a few days, increase the practice time by about ten to fifteen minutes for another few days, still taking regular breaks. Gradually increase the practice time, as your hands/wrists/fingers get used to this "alien" task being asked of them. Little and often is best when it comes to practicing, i.e. better to do twenty five minutes every day than three or four hours at weekends.

Hope this helps, and best of luck with it.

fox0512

Thanks for reply and good advice... I put the brakes on today instead for persisting out of frustration leading to tense fingers followed by a string of swearing. I could pick a more finger friendly tune but Im at the point of no return....A break away with a fresh head is yielding better results and the family are enjoying the break too!:pac: My 3 year old daughter asked me could I not plug the ear phones into it!!