acoustic-guitar (2)I would have to say there are two things I had a real problem with when I started learning to play guitar, other than not being able to sing. One was not using a pick right from the start and second I continually watched my chording hand.

Watching your chording hand is okay when you are learning to form chords but once you can form the chords and switch between chords you need to take your eyes off the chording hand and get used to finding the right chord and fret without looking.

When I was learning to play my Yamaha acoustic guitar I started with the easiest chords first. Once I was able to play my first three chords, C, G and D I started learning all the songs I liked that used those three chords.

I played and practiced those chords every day, even while I was watching TV and learned a new chords every day or two. Next I started looking for more songs I like and then started learning the chords for those songs which included bar chords like Bm and F#m.

I thought I was doing great until the first guitar jam that was outside in the dark. That’s when I found out I had been watching my chording hand too much. I could form the chords and hit them right on, as long as I was looking at the fret board.

So glad my guitar buddies don’t play many songs with bar chords because I was feeling pretty uncomfortable right about then.

Trust me, from that moment on I started practicing NOT looking at my hands while I play guitar. I have also started using a guitar pick and have improved considerably.

If you are looking for a couple of good places to learn how to play guitar I would recommend Jamorama.com and Jamplay.com

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