I have returned to my 12 string acoustic after a 22yr hiatus. I learned on a 12 string and I learned basic chords by following my dad on the neck. I never have had any formal type of lessons or instructions, just playing songs with my dad. I need a little guidance on where to focus my energy to start off with. Should I just worry about chords or scales or what? I am a 52yr old semi-retired man with enough time on my hands that I can really honestly but some time into learning. Right now I am just working on my finger tips….. I forgot how much it really hurts at first. LOL
A 12 string will probably be more difficult to learn on if you’re starting over because your fingers will have softer skin and harder to play cleanly. That aside, I don’t think it’s a good idea to try learning too much at a time.
I would recommend learning a bunch of songs with basic chords and concentrate on playing them clean and all the way through, you need to get the fingers moving confidently and it takes time. Other than that, maybe learn a few easy riffs or simple melodies on single strings and maybe practise the major scale or pentatonic scales – try not to get ahead of yourself of the overall progress is likely to be slower.
Also don’t rely on free tabs and chords on the Internet unless you know they are correct, many of them are very bad and as a (more or less) beginner you won’t know if they are helping or hindering.
