Guitar

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I recently got totally obsessed with playing the guitar. In the last 2 months, I have spent about 6 hrs a day average playing. I have progressed from knowing absolutely nothing, to being able to play quite alot, and even a few that I can play start to finish with singing.

However, I am running into a few issues with it. I don't think I am as good as I should be, and I think it may be aspergers related. I have always had coordination problems with my fingers (I write like I am 10y/o for example), and I have a real hard time multitasking the singing with the playing.

I am starting to think this is a tragic sort of interest for me. I am wondering if anyone else has these problems, and if so, do you have any advise for me?

Also, song recommendations are always welcome!

Find a selection of songs that do not have or need lyrics. Find someone to sing for you. Determine whether you have more coordination problems with chording or picking, and choose your songs accordingly. I have more trouble with chords than picking.

Choose your guitar (right or left-handed) based on which of those is your strength. Give your weakness to your dominant hand. If you are right-handed but struggle with chords, choose a left-handed guitar.

practice practice practice.

they say it takes 10.000 hours of practice in order to be 'good' at something, like Michael Jordan was 'good' at basketball.

4 hours a day, 5 days a week for ten years. your improvement won't be exponential lke it was when you first started, I'm encountering the same psychological barrier with my drawing. I've felt I couldn't improve anymore, compared to when I started drawing more seriously, so I stopped.

I should continue practicing and so should you... if that's what you want to do. If it makes you happy, don't stop.

Oh man, singing and playing at the same time was always an Achilles heel. Just could not... 2 months is a really short time! Usually, the landmark is about a year, before a person starts to notice their getting good. Perhaps 2 years.

The little finger of my left hand curls upwards around the fretboard, so theres no way I can reach some of them cords, so I just do what I can do, Tony Iommi power cords I can manage and enjoy tremendously.

As an aspie, myself and a guitarist for 10 years, I have managed to overcome those disadvantages about a year after I started playing. Just keep at it, and keep practicing(get guitar lessons if needed). I got guitar training after teaching myself for two months. It took me about a year and a half to sing and play at the same time. To be a good musician, you need determination. On top of that, nobody can play professionally in only two months of practice. Don't push yourself too hard, bro and keep at it and you'll get it down.

A musician never stops learning!

Are you doing any technical exercises, or just learning songs? If you're not doing technical exercises, it might help your coordination. I would suggest you head to a music store and look at some books on technical exercises. There are often books on technical exercises that are geared around particular styles of playing, so you might be able to find something consistent with what your doing. I would also suggest a metronome if you don't already have one. You might even be able to find an online or downloadable one. I wouldn't spend too much time on technical exercises, though. Maybe 20 minutes/day. I used to do them as a warm-up before learning pieces/songs.

One thing that helped me was to break up my practice sessions into periods where I focused on particular things. For example, a typical practice session for me might look like this (the actual items may change depending on what I needed to work on at the time):

25 minutes-technical exercises
5 minutes-break
25 minutes-scales/modes
5 minutes-break
25 minutes-chord shapes
5 minutes-break
45 minutes-work on 1st piece
10 minutes-break
45 minutes-work on 2nd piece
10 minutes-break
45 minutes-work on soloing
10 minutes-break
30 minutes-work on right-hand fingerpicking techniques
15 minutes-break

I usually did finger/hand/forearm stretching exercises during the breaks as I've had issues with tendonitis and strained ligaments in the past.

Another thing I used to use were a set of tools called Speed Weights. I don't know if they still sell them, but they're small brass weights that you wear like rings on your fingers. It's like strength-training for your hands. I used to use them for a few minutes every other day or so when doing technical exercises. They helped make my fingers more nimble, thus improving coordination.

Unfortunately, I couldn't sing if my life depended on it. The only advice I can offer is to either get the sheet music or write out the arrangement you want to play and practice it until it become second-nature. That way your hands can go on auto-pilot while you sing. At one-point I had learned to play the guitar part for "Dust in the Wind" so well that I could play it while carrying on a conversation with someone.

I hope that helps.

Oh and don't forget to get a metronome as well. They should be at every music store. Once you are well practiced with exorcises, be sure to work on your timing.

hello,

chaotik_lord, nambo - I find chording much easier for me because my fingers tend to go all over the place when I try to use them independently. I can play a few scales. What is the difference between a left or right hand guitar? could I just reverse the strings on a right-handed guitar to make it left-handed?

Jared_Guinther, jamesongerbil, Atreides - I did realize that I probably sounded a little impatient having only been at it for 2 months. One of my other aspie worries is that this is another intense interest I have and I will be moving on in a few months. I want to keep at it though. I have found that playing is an very relaxing activity, and would be a really nice hobby to keep for the rest of my life. I will try to be patient and stick to it.

DarrylZero, Jared Guinther - I have only learned how to play songs. I think it is a really good idea for me to go seek out some help (training/ technical excercises/ metronome). I am getting on a plane tomorrow and my life is going to be "up in the air" for a while, but when everything settles, I think it would be nice to get more organized with it as a hobby rather than this intense obsession I spend all day doing. Practice, training, and a schedule seem like the right way to go.

Also, I have always wanted to play the Banjo. Does anyone have any experience with it or opinions about it?

Thanks for the advise guys!

Sure you could! Jimmie Hendrix did just that with his Strats, and that is partially what gave him his unique sound. Of course it was his playing more so than that, and the fact that he considered his amp as part of the instrument, and not just a gizmo to make his guitar louder.

Some things you should know if you try this though.

Guitars are built specifically to be right or left handed. If you look closely at the nut and the bridge, they are designed to keep the strings, which are of different thicknesses, more or less the same distance from the frets. Look at the slots the strings fit into on the nut (the plastic piece just above the first fret). The low E slot is wider than the high E slot. If you simply restring the guitar upside down (left handed), the low E will be sitting on top of the slot designed for the high E (narrower) string.

Simply restringing a righty as lefty messes up the distances between the strings and the frets, almost always causing some of the strings to buzz against the frets, and making it harder to finger others. In general, it's usually better to just buy a left handed guitar if you are left handed, unless you have some manual skills and are willing to mess around with either installing a left handed nut and bridge onto a right handed guitar, or fashioning your own.

If you've got a bit of extra cash, you might want to pick up some used guitars for cheap and experiment with the parts. Why not? There are no rules man.

As far as whether you are "good enough" to keep this up, my question is "What's 'good enough?'"

Who defines that? What really matters is whether you love it. If you do, keep it up.

When and if it starts to feel more like a chore, put it down.

"If it's not fun, why do it?" ~ Ben and Jerry

Don't worry- you've only been playing a short time. It takes time for your muscles to commit chord shapes and scales to memory. Just keep doing what you're doing, and your coordination will improve. The same thing goes for singing. To be honest though, I still can't do the singing and playing. I can't even talk and play or do much else.. A good way that I have read about practicing this, though, is to hum notes that are the same as the ones you are playing, eventually you may be able to play more complex stuff while singing

@Apoapsis, There is nothing wrong with having an intense obsession, for that is why I've been practicing my arse off for the past 10 years and why I have honed other skills.

apoapsis:

There was something else I wanted to mention that I didn't in my earlier reply. Be careful about how much time you spend practicing each day. When I first started I was like you, practicing several hours a day. Until I strained the ligaments in my left forearm. For about 3 weeks I could barely close my left hand (forget holding anything) and it was about 5 weeks before I was able to play guitar again.

If you do want to do longer practice sessions, please make sure you're taking breaks and aren't playing the same thing for the entire time; put some variety in it. I've practiced as much as 5-6 hours/day, but I always took breaks and made sure a practiced a variety of things, like I posted previously.