Hey! A little while ago I got a guitar. Basically, I can play a lot of punk rock songs since, well they are easy. I can play some other simple stuff, that uses just the basic chords, none of that confusign stuff. Anyway, I was reading on the net, all about theory and stuff. And while I could just play my favorite songs, I’d actually like to learn about it all. What’s the deal with scales? I mean, a scale is playing from one octave to another all in key right? Well, whats the big deal about it all? Also, I was looking up some blues theory stuff and it had me playing on the 6th string 3rd fret and 5th string 5th fret. K no probelm. But then it wanted me to play 6th string 3rd fret and 5th string 7th, then back to fifth. How the hell can you do this? I have adult XL (batting glove size) hands, and it is a strain. I couldn’t imagine doing this quickly.
Anyway, I was just wondering if anybody knew any easy simply explanatory sites for me to look at or any input, thanks a lot!
Here’s one of the best guitar sites on the net
Hope it helps
You can read all the written materials you want about guitar (or any other instrument, for that matter) and they will be helpful to you to a point - but the only way to get your hands to move correctly is to teach them. And that involves practice. Lots…and lots…of practice. And then even more practice. And, when you’re done practicing, more practice.
Learning barre chords, scales and modes (relationships between keys) will help to stretch your finger span, strengthen your pinky and overall grip strength, and basically train your hands to move in completely unnatural ways until the pain eventually subsides. This will also pretty much illustrate guitar theory to you (the fretboard is, after all, a finite space) - the rest is up to your ear.
But remember, even if you can only play the Ramones’ Teenage Lobotomy ya can still have a fuckin’ great time!
Over…and over…and over…and over…
Theory made simple-
Learn the modes. Once you learn the modes, which is basically a bunch of patterns, all you have to do to play in key is move the modes around.
Theory made hard-
Learn the relationships between the tonic and the rest of the notes on a scale, such as relative minor. For example, a song in the key of e minor has the same notes as a song in g major except the song resolves to e instead of g. Make sense? Probably not. Music theory is kinda wacky. If you want to learn read alot and play what you read. After a bit it will come to you. If you want to get hardcore about theory read some Jazz theory and play it.
Hand strength and other stuff. I don’t have very big hands but can make some huge stretches on the neck due to practice and stretching. Stretch your hands before playing. Think of it like it’s exercise, warm up first. There are some other exercises you can do for finger independance and strength. Email me if you want some that I feel are really good.
Also, play with a metronome. Do it all the time. It’ll be hard at first but, trust me, you’ll be happy about it later.
Slee
This riff is actually an EXTREMELY basic blues/shuffle riff that you have probably heard a billion times. Maybe more! Just practice until you have a bit more pinky strength. Then add in the 5th string 8th fret. 
(remember-when reaching for those 7th and 8th frets, you do not have to continue holding down the 5th! Also, make sure the fretting hand wrist is kept as straight as possible. Apply pressure to the strings with arm/body strength, not finger/wrist strength. That’s a recipe for tendonitus.)
PS-Modes are fun, but I recommend you learn yourself a blues scale first.