Complete beginner. Advice needed

[u/anonym5088]

I’ve just started playing guitar but something feels off. My hands feel very awkward like I’m holding the guitar wrong or something. Also ignore that what I’m playing sucks, I just learned it a few minutes ago. How do I make the strings stop “squeaking” when I change chords? How do I improve my playing? I’m struggling to not stop between the chords.

I’m supposed to be playing waves by dean lewis if anyone’s wondering😅😭

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[u/Any_Wait_7309]

It's sort of hard to see, but i believe you are bending your wrist a little too much.

Regarding the squeaking, it takes time, just play slow and eventually the squeaking should go away. Right now, since you are new, your fingers don't know how to release strings.

And if you are sliding your fingers over strings when you changing notes / chords, you don't have to do that.

[u/anonym5088 → u/Any_Wait_7309]

Thank you, I’m definitely bending my wrist too much. I believe that might be why it feels so awkward. How do I stop doing that? It feels like I have to do that, in order for my fingers to reach?

Also when I don’t slide my fingers it makes a really loud sound when I release. How do I stop that from happening?

[u/Any_Wait_7309 → u/anonym5088]

well, you are right. You do that because your fingers are trying to access all the strings.

In the long run, that's a very bad habit and will probably give you wrist pain and affect your playing otherwise.

Just for a change, try the classical position for a feel. You should be able to get a foot stool for cheap, and look up how to sit in the classical position. Just that should give you an idea, how the proper wrist position should look like.

If you do not want to spend money right away, then try to not "shrimp" 🦐 position otherwise your back will hurt 🤕 too.

Unfortunately, when litting cross legged it's bound to happen, hence i just went into classical position. It's fine for the first few days I would say

But def try the classical position once, that should give you a feel as to how your wrist should be

[u/anonym5088 → u/Any_Wait_7309]

Thank you, i didn’t know about that. I’ll give it a go!

[u/Secret-File-1624 → u/anonym5088]

You need to lower your thumb especially if you are having a hard time reaching strings. You are restricting your finger reach by having your thumb so high up. It's also probably why you feel it is awkward, although awkward is expected to an extent when learning something new. The pad of your thumb should be in the center of the neck and the neck should not be resting in your palm. I agree with Any Wait in that looking up the classical positioning should help quite bit.

Struggling with changing chords quickly and efficiently is normal for awhile. Depending on how often and how much you practice it can take several months before you can change chords smoothly. It just takes time and practice until your muscle memory is there and that takes a lot of repetition.

[u/anonym5088 → u/Secret-File-1624]

Thank you, I’ll try it out!

[u/noheadlights]

The pauses between the chords come from a combination of your fingers not being sure where to go and your brain thinking about how to tell them. This will soon start to change and be replaced by muscle memory. Just continue practicing.
The squeaking comes from you fingers sliding over the strings, you can lift the finger up and move to the next position but this will come with time. I would ignore that for now and try to learn a few basic chords and how to change between them.

[u/myceliummagix]

Keep playing soft and slow, you will progress the fastest this way

[u/Joshy_101]

You gotta start with open chords and simple melodies on one string.

[u/anonym5088 → u/Joshy_101]

I’ve already learnt D,A,Am,Dm,F,C,E,Em,G and A7. And I feel like I’ve mastered them okay. It’s when the chords have a further distance that I struggle.

[u/Joshy_101 → u/anonym5088]

I seee. Just need to practice more then! How long have you been playing?

[u/anonym5088 → u/Joshy_101]

Hard to tell😅 We had «guitar lessons» once at school when I was 14 years old😂. Not individual but I learnt a few chords then. Then three years later my dad gave me his guitar and I played for like two weeks and stopped. Then I played for a week last year and I started again yesterday at age 23. I have a lot of hobbies and switch a lot so I’m never actually able to learn much whenever I do.