Like SecondEdition says, just keep on with it. It's not a judgement of you as a player or as a person, but it is a question of training your muscles to move in certain ways, and this takes a while. Treat it as something calisthenic rather than as aesthetic--do the chord shapes a bunch of times, and don't worry about it not coming naturally. With each one, you're training yourself a bit more. You wouldn't expect to master, say, golf in a day.

NB: when I first tried some of Richard Lloyd's exercises, I felt like a clumsy, ham-fisted idiot. Some exercises, when I get back to them after a layoff, still make me feel that way, though ultimately the muscles get used to doing them again.

Hang in there!

burun wrote:I'm listening to myself practice guitar in my little Marshall headphone amp.

I am completely frustrated and on the verge of tears. I feel like there is a chunk of my brain missing.

I hate you, chord charts.

I hate you, chords.

I hate you, stupid fingers.

I even hate you, guitar.

it's ok. if you get frustrated, take a break from the work part of and play what's fun for awhile. remember you like doing it. remember?

I know I can't be brilliantly amazing at this right off the bat (like I am with everything else *cough cough cough*) but I really resent being made to feel stupid by an inanimate object.

I suppose this is how a stroke victim might feel.

Actually, this feels almost exactly like when I had to learn how to walk again, a few years ago.

not right this second, but a few moments earlier I was listening to Boces by Mercury Rev.

SecondEdition wrote:and the first five Flaming Lips albums

do yourself a favor and just skip the first three. there's much better stuff from Priest Driven Ambulance on

Utopia - Swing To The Right. Never really dug deep into it until now. I'm diggin' it.

Indian was an angel - Guided By Voices.

I forgot how rad this song is!

ergo space pig wrote:

SecondEdition wrote:and the first five Flaming Lips albums

do yourself a favor and just skip the first three. there's much better stuff from Priest Driven Ambulance on

I really like Oh My Gawd!!! and have ever since I first heard it.

however, the leap that the band made with Ambulance is undeniable.

such a great record.

oh, and currently listening to this week thus far:

Led Zeppelin III
This Year's Model

Robbie Basho - Bonn Ist Supreme, which is that live album recently remastered by Glenn Jones. It's of a 1980 performance in Germany. It's really, really good.