Guitar Newbie

[Belmit]

Originally Posted by Admiral Huddy

I'd love to be able to play "Message in a bottle" by the Police.. class track

My hand's too small to stretch across the four frets required to play the riff. Changing between chords will become automatic after much practice though, and then you'll wonder why you were never able to do it before.

[Admiral Huddy]

Originally Posted by Belmit

My hand's too small to stretch across the four frets required to play the riff. Changing between chords will become automatic after much practice though, and then you'll wonder why you were never able to do it before.

you really think so.. I just can't see it at the moment. Even the notes i do produce don't sound that great.

Some of you guys will have to give me a few pointers next month

Edit - What's a riff?

[William]

Originally Posted by Admiral Huddy

Edit - What's a riff?

I think it is somthing that is just said in popular music like "This song has a great beat"

[Belmit]

A riff is just a combination of notes that sound good and often make up the 'hooks' for a lot of songs. Famous riffs include the one from The Beatles' Daytripper - the opening set of notes that continue throughout the song. I've just realised though that you were talking about Message In A Bottle, and not Every Breath You Take, which is what I was thinking of. Both have very recognisable riffs but EBYT is notoriously hard - it involves stretching the hand across four different frets on different strings.

I'm sure the BBQ will be a perfect venue to get some tips in.

[Garp]

Originally Posted by Admiral Huddy

mm my fingers certainly hurt.. haha

I bet.. took probably 3 months to stop mine hurting during usual practices, and several months until they stopped hurting after longer sessions, and I play an acoustic which is even harder to press the strings on than an electric.

I've been practising every day, so i'm used to those chords now. I just don't know how i'm ever going to get the fingers moving around quickly to the next chord.

Good.. "practice makes permanent" so make sure you're practicing the chords properly (i.e. not like me who's permanently taught himself some crap fingering, a real question of "don't do what I do, do what I say"). Speed definately comes with time, you just have to stick with it as frustrating as it can be. Try to avoid looking at the fretboard any more than is absolutely necessary (i.e. if you get lost), so that you learn to place your fingers in chord shapes without looking.

I'd love to be able to play "Message in a bottle" by the Police.. class track and probably "Fields of Gold" by Sting. I love those tracks.

Message in a bottle doesn't look too challenging a picking pattern or chord progression. Fields of gold looks reasonably easy too

Just avoid "Every breath you take"! I'll show you at the BBQ meet what an insane stretch he's pulling off!

[Admiral Huddy]

Garp and BelMit - I shall look forward to seeing you both at the BBQ
Thanks

[Dr. Z]

The key word for me that took my guitar playing forward was ANTICIPATION. What you are playing now is pretty much irrelevant - you are doing it and your fingers are there - what comes next is what is critical!

I once played an arrangement of a Tocatta - that really rammed home just how critical anticipation is!!

[Admiral Huddy]

ok, I've learnt some new chords today including C, G, Em, Em7 and Am and we' have our first track to learn.. Hey Jude, which is one of my fav Beatles track.

That G is a bit of a stretch on the fingers

[Garp]

Originally Posted by Admiral Huddy

ok, I've learnt some new chords today including C, G, Em, Em7 and Am and we' have our first track to learn.. Hey Jude, which is one of my fav Beatles track.

That G is a bit of a stretch on the fingers

*plans some much more fiendish finger stretching chords for Huddy to learn at the BBQ meet*

G's very easy on a finger stretch perspective, but don't worry if its hard at first, your fingers will soon be a lot more flexible Its noticeable that I can stretch my fingers of my left hand much more than I can those on my right.

[Belmit]

I thought Hey Jude started with an F chord - I guess you've been given it in a different key or something.