Welcome aboard!

Listen to these people, a very helpful group!!!

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

Practice practice practice, Ive been playing for about three years and practice about 2 hours a day - I still believe I stink but my wife thinks I sound good.

Anyway I think Hendrix once said that some day's you"ll just want to quit and throw the guitar out the window, but keep on going it will reward you..

It"s been just baby steps for me but enjoy learning new songs every few day's however easy they may seem,Also Some of the best guitar players had short fingers-Danny Gatton for one.

Welcome To the Forum Jamie! What guitar are you learning to play? A pic would be nice. All of the advise so far has been great. Practice helps greatly. Your fingers muting the string below will stop unconsciously after a while, keep playing, have fun learning.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

You may be trying to hard with your left hand-- relax and just put your fingers on the notes and get a feel for stretching your fingers without putting a death grip on the neck.

All great advice everybody and Thank you...I did buy a strap and your right I was fuss'in with it sliding off my knee. It was pretty uncomfortable with everything being new. I felt pretty dumb. This forum has helped alot and I also have a brother in law whos learning the banjo for about a year now and he went through all the same stuff and says if he gets sloppy he still does lol! I can't wait to belt out a riff on my own someday! Who knows maybe I'll get a chance to jam with you all!
Thanks again,
Jamie

Welcome to the forum Jamie

I live in Buffalo also .Welcome

Welcome aboard Jamie. Most of have experienced a lot of the same difficulties when first taking up the guitar. Myself I have fingers that are not long enough to reach around the neck like Hendrix did. After a time you will develop a style that will allow you to play in spite of these things. I have to rest my thumb on the back of the neck and as much as Id like to I can't fret that big E string with my thumb. Practice and it will all fall in place.
Have fun!

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OK, I'll hum a little bit, got it now?

Hey Jamie -- welcome to the forum! I'm also from Buffalo-area and am glad to have yet another Western New Yorker on board. The first few months are of learning to play are indeed very hard (it took me a good six months before I could evem begin to play anything remotely musical), but it really does get easier if you keep at it every day. I think a lot of the problems you're encountering will naturally begin to improve on their own; your hands have a way of figuring out what they're supposed to be doing over time. Just follow your insructor's advice, practice consistently, and try to keep adding new exercises and songs to your practice regimen to keep things fresh (you want to always be throwing new stuff into the mix to keep the brain's guitar-related neural connections growing!). Good luck!!

Hi Jamie,
New here also. Keep those fingers on those Strings and Frets. It will all come to you naturally. It's frustrating but keep on practicing friend!!
Regards,
Michael

Yeah man what a difference a day makes...I wanted to play all day but stayed away from it until it was time...I sat down and my hands felt alot better...I am concentrating on my finger movement and it has become easier...

I do have another question...I dropped my bridge down flat on my guitar as my instructor suggested...It for some reason made me notice the height of the pickups...
Seems the first two pickups are slightly angled from top to bottom and the third more...Is this correct? What I mean is facing the guitar on the stand the pickups are slightly lower on the left side and higher on the right...Is this the way their supposed to be???

You guys rock with all your help. I'm lov'in this...
J