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Im really pleased today, as I've just bought my first guitar. It's a Yamaha V300 and it's an acoustic guitar. It has a beautiful sound which reverberates nicely through the body giving a really satisfying deep sound. I've bought a song book to go with it that only uses 3-4 chords throughout each song and have already made decent progress on - Mr Tamborine Man (Bob Dylan), Apeman (The Kinks) and Crash (The Primitives). If anybody else has made decent progress on an instrument or want to share their experiences, this is the thread for it.

mile:
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Congratulations Ian on your purchase of your first guitar ..it sounds like a beauty ! Keep on with your lessons and don't give up !!!!
The ultimate connection is between a performer and its' audience!
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Keep on trucking.....
'The purpose of life is a life of purpose' - Athena Orchard.
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Congratulations on your first guitar, my first guitar was an acoustic Yamaha as well, it's a great brand
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Yes I'm really happy with it, funnily enough we have a keyboard which is Yamaha as well, as well as learning those songs mentioned earlier, I've been having a go at the dreaded F chord....eeek!!!
[video=youtube;ecPzu9sTKbo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecPzu9sTKbo[/video]
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Try Aminor ninth - now there's an arkward chord if ever there was one.
'The purpose of life is a life of purpose' - Athena Orchard.
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Yes, I've taken a look on a You Tube at a video for the A Minor Ninth chord. I've noticed that it involves sliding up and down the fretboard as well...hmmm..think I'll leave that one for now, lol. I have been practicing the F chord and the 3 different variations demonstrated in the above video that I posted. The one where you have to use the side of your index finger to hold all the strings onto the first bar is very tough indeed. However, it's giving the side of my index finger a very good workout and toughing it up no end. I can feel the end of my finger tips hardening the more I've been practicing the songs as well. I'm confident that with perseverance, it will become more comfortable over time to stretch the tendons in my fingers for the more difficult chords. Just got to mentally prepare myself for a long battle and add plenty of patience into the mix.
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Great! Learn your licks well. Like the old joke goes: Q "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" A "Practice". Either that or take the subway... A, B, C, D, or 1 to Columbus Circle
N, Q, R, or W to 57 St./Seventh Avenue then E to Seventh Avenue.
You can live in staunch denile and mark me as your enemy, but I'm just a voice among the throng who want a brighter destiny, and say with me, "We are the New America!" -Greg Graffin
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I took a look at a lesson on doing licks in the attached video. Sounds very effective and impressive. I like the way the teacher in this video shows you how to start off very slowly and then gradually gather speed.
[video=youtube;reJSIZ3ugsE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reJSIZ3ugsE[/video]
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Just tried doing the licks in the video above. One technique that's so difficult to master is trying to gather speed without tensing your muscles and ending up with aching shoulders. Some advice on posture is needed next.