Learning guitar may have been easier when I was younger.  I’m 42 now and have been struggling with it the last several  months.  I’ve learned a few things, but sadly I wouldn’t say I can play any song from beginning to end even at this point.  Given what I have learned I can provide a few tips to make it easier.  First, at least at this point in my life, I’d recommend finding a teacher that can help getting past the sticking points.

Very likely the first things you’ll learn are some chords.  There are only about a billion of them, but don’t let that seem like a daunting task.  The reality is most songs only consist of a few chords.  Learn the chords, learn to move your fingers between the chords.  What you’ll be doing won’t sound at all like music; it at least won’t sound like the music you want it to sound like.  Practice practice practice.

When strumming, think of your arm as a metronome.  It must keep moving to beat of the music.  I’ve been working on this lately myself.  Some people will have an intuitive sense for strumming.  I don’t.  There are plenty of examples on the Internet regarding strumming patterns.  Just remember they are patterns, they aren’t written in stone – and variety or not quite getting the pattern perfect isn’t going to break the song.  There are many variations on strumming patterns for the same song – so I’m finding out.  Learning rhythm takes practice.

I think I may have found the perfect song to begin learning rhythm without the difficulties of numerous chord changes.  Probably the easiest guitar song to play for a beginner is America’s “Horse with No Name”.  It is just two chords and will give you plenty of opportunity to practice your metronome arm.  Try it!

I’ll follow later with more insights as I learn them.  I’ll even be posting some videos of my sad attempts at progressing to the next level.  I will persevere and I suggest you do the same.