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What kinds of picks are there?

I've just started playing guitar. I play a lot every day and my fingers are blistering. Will they toughen up? How?

I have short fingers and I am having a tough time getting all my fingers to the proper fret. Do you have any suggestions?

I’m a beginner and I am teaching myself with an acoustic guitar. The music styles I ultimately want to play are punk, alternative rock, and heavy-metal....

My high school son has had an electric guitar for about 2-3 years. But, he's practically just a beginner.....

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What kinds of picks are there?

There are many different kinds of picks including the ones made of plastic (most popular), nylon, shell, stone, and steel. Some people even make it out of a coconut!

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There may be some truths that people with short fingers or small hands have a harder time to play and learn guitar. Compared to those who have larger and stronger fingers, they may need to work twice as much as others. Nevertheless, if you look around, there are a quite number of musicians with small hands who have become the master of the instrument with a perfect command. For instance, you can find them among female musicians whose physiques are not large Jewel, Dixie Chicks, Janis Ian, Phoebe Snow, Emily Remler, Carol Kaye, Bonnie Raitt, etc.

With lots of practice, patience, and persistence, difficulties with small hands or short fingers can be overcome. Here are a few pointers that may help you out a little bit:

1. If you have difficulty playing a regular-sized guitar, try 3/4 or smaller-sized guitar at first. The smaller-sized one has narrower frets and neck and should be much easier to fret. After you learn the basics and develop certain dexterity, you can then try out the regular-sized guitar.

2. Place a capo at a higher fret. The higher the fret, the less tension and narrower the distance are between frets. Although the neck becomes slightly wider, it should slightly become easier to play than at the open position.

3. Use extra light gauged guitar strings and tune all the strings a half or whole step down. This will produce much less and lighter tensions that allow you to play easier.

4. Avoid stretchy chords for now. Instead, play alternative and smaller chords that do not require your fingers to stretch. Refer to 101 Basic Guitar Chords for easier, but equally effective chord forms.

5. Practice, Practice, Practice! That's *the* only way that you'll be able to find the best way that'll work for you and that you'll be able to develop flexibility and strength needed to improve your guitar playing.

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I’m a beginner and I am teaching myself with an acoustic guitar. The music styles I ultimately want to play are punk, alternative rock, and heavy-metal. Will using acoustic guitar help or hinder me to play these styles correctly? Should I drop my acoustic and buy electric now?

No, it doesn't much matter whether you start with an acoustic or electric guitar at first. Since you don't always need an amp with an acoustic and because of its portability, many teachers even recommend a beginner to start with an acoustic. Also, with an acoustic, you'll be more likely to develop a good habit of executing notes clearly.

As you progress and get into more stylistic area, however, you'll notice that there are certain things that you can do only with an electric guitar. For example, sustaining a note in your solo or playing the distorted rhythm guitar common to heavy-metal or punk rock would be more appropriately and easily done with an electric. Since your main interest is in these types of music, you'll want to buy an electric guitar sooner or later, but even so, keep your acoustic if possible. Acoustic guitar can not only add a nice color to your playing, but also many players--even heavy-metal or alternative players--choose to compose their music on acoustic.

For now, however, just concentrate on getting the basic down, which you can do with any type of guitar--acoustic or electric.

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My high school son has had an electric guitar for about 2-3 years.  But, he's practically just a beginner, so I'd like to get him the basic guitar chords to start out. How can I get them free off the internet? I guess just real basic materials would be sufficient for now...