i will give up , any suggestions?

Question

I got an acoustic guitar for my birthday last 5 months , i try and try to play but it sound terrible :'( i'm crying I really love this instrument and my dream is to be a good player , Sungha Jung make me love guitar . So .. And Tips or Suggestions ?

Answer 1

Many (most?, all?) musicians go through phases like this, for some people they'll just recur, and you need to accept it. The stereotype of the tortured artist exists for a reason.

If you're doing music for your own enjoyment, and aren't enjoying it then stop. Take a long walk, do some gardening, read or write a book. Take a day, a week, or more, off. You don't have to have to make music. Unless you do, in which case you'll come back of your own accord.

There are some silver linings to these feelings:

1. These feelings can be an indication of progress in themselves: your ears are improving, but your hands (technique) are not keeping up.
2. Sensing that you aren't playing to the level you want is necessary for there to be the drive to improve.
3. Sometimes these feelings come up just as you are on the brink of expanding into new territory. Consciously, or sub-consciously, you've caught a glimpse of new broad vista in music; and that can be daunting.

Something proactive to do, is go back to something you learned even earlier -- the first chords, or scales, or the first song you learned how to play. Start playing it again, paying attention to (a) how quickly it comes back to you (if you haven't been playing it, it'll be rusty), and (b) how much easier it seems than the new stuff you are trying to learn.

In the grand scheme of things, five months isn't all that much time into learning music, so where you are now is not at all indicative of where you'll be in the future.

Answer 2

Get a teacher. A really really good teacher. A good teacher will help you set your goals and find the means to achieve them. Don't be afraid to switch teachers or even try a couple of different teachers at the same time.

Answer 3

Learning to play guitar takes dedication and deliberate practice over a long and sustained period of time! It is a process. There is no short cut that allows you to quickly be able to play like Sungha Jung. I often liken learning to play guitar (or any instrument) as a journey.

But the process can be fun if you allow it to be. You can enjoy the journey - if you accept that the destination will continually be moved farther and farther (you will always have room for improvement).

Learning guitar can be very frustrating in the beginning (5 or 6 months is still in the beginning). You must train your brain to get your fingers to contort into strange and unnatural shapes to play chords. Your hand and finger muscles are not optimized for the amount of force you need to apply to the strings to play many chords cleanly (you will gradually build strength). Your technique must constantly be adjusted and adapted to effectively play the chords and licks you are trying to learn. And tender fingers against guitar strings can be painful (until you build calluses).

If you understand and accept that it is a slow process, and that you must devote time to the process, you can find ways to derive joy and satisfaction from the learning process itself. Set small goals that you can easily accomplish with enough intentional practice and then revel in the rewarding feeling of accomplishing each small goal.

For example, find a really easy to play arrangement of a song you like that only has 2 or 3 chords and a simple strumming pattern. You should probably start out with strumming while you learn your first song (finger picking comes later). Set a goal of learning to play that one song. Then start practicing the skills you will need to master in order to play that song - and focus on learning those skills.

You will need to learn to play the three chords. You don't have to learn to play them all in one day. Practice forming and playing the chords each practice session. It may take weeks just to learn to cleanly play the three chords by themselves. But you will see that you are making progress. Take satisfaction in the fact that last week you could not play the chords at all but this week you can actually play two of the three. You may get them all in one week but I am trying to emphasize that it can take time! But you will get a little closer to your goal (get a little better) with each practice session.

Once you can play the chords by themselves, practice transitioning between the chords. Play one then play the other. Continue to go back and forth between the two chords until it comes quickly without having to think or hesitate. Then practice the other transitions.

It might take a month of practicing the chords and transitions but eventually you will be able to play all the chords for your goal song and make all the transitions between chord in a smooth manner. Pat yourself on the back - you are making progress!

Next work on the strumming pattern. Start by just holding one chord or even muting the strings entirely just to get the strumming pattern down. You must train your strumming hand as well as your fretting hand. You might spend many practice sessions over several days just on the strumming pattern.

The good news is, all of the chords, transitions and the strumming pattern you learn, will be used again in future songs so you won't have to relearn them. Your skills build upon each other so for the next song, you might only have to learn one new chord.

By practicing the skills needed to learn one song - you are developing coordination in your strumming/picking hand and fretting hand. You are developing a sense of timing. You are learning to form and play - and transition to and from chords that you will use over and over again. So even though you are learning to play just one song, you are developing skills that will transfer to other songs and you are improving your guitar playing ability.

Once you finally are able to play the song (it might take several months) you will be able to experience the joy of success and the sense of accomplishment! You are on your way to becoming a guitarist! You have a song you can play - whenever you feel like it. You can share it with friends and family. And the chords and skills you learned during the process of learning that song, will make it much easier to learn the next song, and the next one after that will be even easier.

A teacher who can help you learn a simple arrangement of a song you like, while evaluating your technique and providing guidance on ways to improve (demonstrating proper) technique - would be very helpful if you can fit lessons into your schedule and budget. If not, take advantage of YouTube tutorials for beginning guitarists to learn basic skills and techniques and proper chord formations, etc.

If you can let go of any delusions of playing like Sungha Jung within the first two years of learning, and discover the joy in learning to play simple arrangements of simple songs and gradually build on those - then your frustration level will become much lower!

It may help make it easier to play guitar if you play with nylon strings that make it easier to play the chords while you build finger strength. If you want to play steel strings and find that many chords are difficult because you are unable to exert the needed pressure to press all the strings against the fret to play clean buzz free chords - you might benefit from my custom beginner easy play set of strings. You can learn how to build this finger friendly string set here - How to minimize the pain for a beginning guitar student with easy to play custom string set

Good luck. And most importantly - enjoy the journey!