Blogs

Holly Wood

I think we all bring different physical and mental (even emotional) challenges to playing the guitar, but none of those things should stop you from trying. If it's something you really want, nothing should stop you. If anyone can help you work through those challenges, it's David. You've come to the right place!

24 Jun 2017 12:33 PM

Ro Calure

First, be proud of yourself for deciding to learn guitar. If I could go back in time, I would have started as a kid and stuck with it. Like Holly said, everyone has something that challenges them while learning this instrument . My advice is:
Stick with it , practice, work through the doubt, the sore fingers and the awkwardness of using your non dominant hand . You will be glad you did. David is a great teacher, his curriculum is well rounded and he has a lot of patience! When you look back to when you started, you'll be amazed at how far you've come!!

24 Jun 2017 06:33 PM

Rob

I didn't worry about hand size. Rather, I was more worried I would not be able to simultaneously coordinate both left and right hands working together. I was convinced that after three months I'd be selling my guitar on eBay! Turns out the brain is mightier than the worried heart. Everyone has some constraint that informs their playing, be it physical or non-physical. I find that determination allowed me to push past these temporary limitations.

25 Jun 2017 10:22 AM

Stella

First - congratulations on making one of the best decisions of your life! You're now a guitar student! Don't worry about the size of your hands, rather enjoy the process of learning something new, whether it's a chord, or making a string to ring, or a whole new piece that you heard playing on a youtube video. David will help you overcome your guitar hurdles, and will help you feel comfortable with an instrument, and with the music. Learning your way around the guitar is a process. Own up to it, and before you know it, you'll be playing your favorite piece of music at the recitals. Welcome to the CGS family!

26 Jun 2017 04:13 PM

David

What is interesting to me here is that I am reading advice from four VERY different people with different learning styles and goals in their playing. The one thing they have in common is they are all really good players.

I worry about the flexibility between my third on fourth fingers and keeping my tremolo fast. I guess everybody's got their something. To me the fun is in noticing the improved changes in my playing. I just finished a recording that took me three years to get to but if I had done it three years ago it wouldn't have been as good.

Bottom line, playing guitar is so much fun. I am going to to take it with me next week to Central America and share my music with people I don't even know yet. Nothing I'd rather do than play almost anything and I am glad to hear that others feel the same way. I agree strongly with everyone's comments! I should know -I approved this message ....

28 Jun 2017 07:43 AM

Terri Walker

What?! I'm not the only person in the entire world that (after a single lesson, mind you) thinks their hands are too small to play guitar and my instrument is the size of a baby elephant? I don't know whether to be crushed that I'm not unique or ecstatic that I'm not! :-)

It's been a lifelong dream of mine to learn how to play guitar and I think that my biggest worry is that now that the planets have aligned and I finally have the chance to take lessons, that I might not be any good at this. After David talked me off of the ledge and make me laugh at myself a bit, he reminded me that learning guitar is a process and while initially it may be a bit challenging, it's a path that others have been down and come out of it just fine.

So in spite of my newbie concerns, I'm very excited about learning to play and I intend to make the most of the opportunity. The positive words from those of you who are well into the craft are very kind and encouraging, so I'll take my tiny hands and short, sore fingers and keep plinking and plunking along until the magical door opens and I get to step over the threshold and make music just like each of you. Here's to the journey!

31 Aug 2017 10:37 PM