Now teach me how to cram my fingers in one spot to play an A chord

i'm currently learning guitar, and i'm baffled at how much i think "hey, i'll get better with time" rather than "i suck i should quit"

My biggest problem is chord progressions. I still have to look at the fretboard while changing chords.

My biggest problem is the transitioning between chords and having to look at the fret board when changing chords

Take it from someone who has basically been intermediate for the last 15 20 years: start off with the right posture, pick holding and fretting hand techniques. If someone tells you you're thinking too much, you're not. I made the mistake of believing that. Best to not form any bad habits if you can avoid it

I've been playing guitar for over 50 years. I can't believe how long it took me to realize how important a good set up is! Now I have 30 guitars. When I get a new one, or when one feels too difficult, I take it to a great luthier for a full set up. It makes all the difference in the world! Set ups are the best tip I can give a new player! And keep in mind that after over 50 years of playing, I still watch videos like tis to refresh my memory on basic techniques. It never hurts to go back to basics!

I've always told new players that once they learn the basic chords, don't necessarily worry about learning songs, just sit around strumming those chords to get comfortable with them. Do this ALL the time, when you have 5 minutes, when you're watching tv, etc. If you aren't annoying people who live with you, you should be playing more.

On a side not I had a drummer years ago who taught himself to play guitar. Nothing wrong with that, but the dude learned bar chords first. For like 2+ years he had no clue how to play any open chords, and never cared to learn. He knows now and plays/sings 5 days a week as his "job" (he also has a large trust fund).

I decided to learn guitar about 6 weeks ago. Bought a $100 guitar off Amazon. Was having to squeeze the strings so hard. Did some research and my action was so high. Filed down the saddle to get the action right. It’s like a totally new guitar. It’s still hard but I made huge improvements instantly

The pick grip correction is a game changer! Thank you!

Tips from a beginner, like yourselves, only a "Lefty" so I have to "reverse everything" the vids are telling you in order to figure it out, but hear me out...this has transformed the way I approach learning, and made picking up the guitar a joy, to just play, and not "learn" like some topic in school we never really liked anyway...

Tip #!! GET THE RIGHT GUITAR!!! "I don't want to spend the money on a thing im not sure I will get into"...I know, I said it myself...I sank 150 ish on a "beginner electric set", and I love it...good guitar, fun to play....but I went to a local guitar store and picked up a random guitar...the difference was night and day!! I walked out that store with that acoustic, a brand new bass, an amp, and cases for both because I was instantly SOLD!!! get a guitar that actually sings to you...if, by chance you don't stick with it later on...you can always sell your investment, because that's what it is...most guitars hold value really well...

which leads me to Tip# 2!! Learn your neck by just making the instrument sing...pick notes...make mistakes...learn to move from string to string and fret to fret "freely!!" (I can't stress that part enough, don't look for stuff to learn and overwhelm yourself from the beginning...just relax with the strings, and find your voice in them)...freely, with no expectation...this will free your hands and mind up later to learn those chords and shapes much easier...

Tip# 3...learn WHY a chord is a chord, WHY it takes the shape it takes....don't worry about those "shapes", memorizing anything...hear it, feel it, and you will know it...still have to look at strings and finger placements, but getting to them and forming them because I know WHY each note should be in the chord has allowed me to just focus on the note placement, and forget the "finger placements" which sound like the same thing, but feels totally different, trust me


Tip# 4...turn that thing over...that's right...turn it over...play it upside down!!! ive been playing for just over a month now, and I can pick up ANY guitar, play it in ANY configuration (right handed, left handed, upside down, backwards, doesn't matter) because I focused on the SOUND instead of the "technique"...your instrument, will teach you how to sing with it if you listen to it ;)

Tip# 5...start LLLlllooowww and slow...set a groove...jam...have fun and fall in love with the freedom of stringed instrumentation...you will find yourself enjoying it more, sounding better in clarity of notes and rhythm...build up the tempo at your own pace...it's your song after all...go sing it ;)

I am in my 3rd week of starting acoustic guitar lessons. So much of this video has addressed some bad habits I was starting to develop. Between my instructor and you, I feel that I am moving in the right direction. I particularly liked your suggestions about releasing tension! BTW, I also bought an Orangewood Rey, based on your video that my instructor sent me even before starting lessons. It fits me well, and thank you for everything! Keep these videos coming, please!

A lot of these videos seem like click bait but this was actually really helpful and worth the time to watch all the way through. Thank you sir, and keep up the good work. Noobs like me thrive with mentors like you!

Whenever I dont hold my pick like a toothbrush, it either keeps rotating falling out of my hand

I just started to learn and your tips about the finger arc help me to understand why I could not find a way to press one cord without touching the other. I knew I needed to press with the tip but could not find how to, I was just playing around with my hand, bending my wrist more and more with no result. Moving my palm closer to the fretboad was ground breaking !

My hands are effing smoll. I'd need a 3/4 guitar but my grandfather doesn't have any. So right now I'm stuck in awkward-position-due-to-big-guitar hell

I solved my pick issues by using a small piece of double-sided transparent tape on both sides of my 1mm pick.  This helped with loosening my grip and prevents pick rotation.  Replace after a few days when the tape starts to get gunky.

Worth mentioning, avoiding too much tension is a life-long pursuit for us guitarists. I've been playing 30 years now (where the hell does that time go?) and every now and then I need to check myself on that, particularly when learning more difficult and/or unfamiliar tunes. All of my guitar-playing friends will tell you the same thing. Improving your technique is a journey, not a destination!

My local guitar tech charges a ton more, like $225 for a setup, but he checks the wiring and evens out the frets on top of everything else, dunno if it’s worth it, but even expensive guitars out of the factory often need some fret leveling.

This is probably your best technique video yet, Tony. Some great tips here. I used to tell my students to imagine that there's a bug on your picking hand and you're trying to shake it off. I would also tell them to make your strumming motion look like a parenthesis curve by rotating your wrist. I also had some older students with arthritis in their hands, which made barre chords nearly impossible. The top four string F shape worked great for that. I call it the "Mel Bay F".😅

I went to make a comment on one of his videos 4 years later and I had already commented.
It was a beginner video.
I played off and on for 4 years so inconsistently that I ended back up on the same beginner video...
and saw that I commented almost exactly what I was about to comment...It was really a sad moment, but eye opening