Newbie Questions

Not claiming to be any sort of expert here, but generally when you’ve got string buzz,it’s because the strings aren’t being pressed down hard enough. I had the same issue when I first started. Luckily, a few more short weeks of practice will solve that problem. It’s all a matter of building the strength in your fingers to keep the strings consistently depressed. Keep up practicing, and see if the buzz remains after a couple more weeks. Not sure about your wrist. Again, if I’m mistaken, I’m sure someone will set us both straight, but I don’t think the position of your wrist is the problem. Or at least not they main problem.
Anyone will tell you better posture makes for better playing, but I always seem to end up hunched over my guitar like a witch over a kettle, particularly when I’m ekeing out a solo. I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to have better posture. It would definitely help more than hurt.
You might also try practicing while standing up at some point. If you ever plan on playing with other people, it would be good to be as versatile as possible, playing position included.
Hope this helps! Good luck in college, bro!

If the strings are buzzing try putting your fingers closer to frets because you won’t have to use as much force while pressing down. I think sitting on a chair is better because when you sit on the bed you make a litle dent and you are not sitting that straight. Hopefully that helps you. If it didn’t help you you can always upload a video of yourself playing and show us what the problem is and then I’m certain that we will be able to help you.

Hey Calahan, and welcome to the wonderful and zaney world of the guitar! Some great tips here already about getting fuller sounds from the notes in chords with your fret hand. I’ll also add: look at where your thumb is on the neck (is it on the back of the neck, or closer to the top of the neck, or even rolled over top of the neck resting near/on the low E)? While you’ll see many seasoned guitarists play difficult chords with their thumb in all sorts of positions, I think when starting out it helps to play chords with the thumb more on the back of the neck. This gives you a better leverage point for your fingers, until you build up the muscle strength in your fingers and hands you might never have used prior to playing the guitar. It can also help with general dexterity of your fingers, too.
As for posture, it does have an impact on your playing, your breathing and your overall body relaxation or tense-ness. With a guitar sitting on your right leg (if you’re right-handed), sometimes you find yourself leaning over the guitar or slouching simply to be able to better see the fretboard. One tip I can give is to move the guitar to your left leg, kind of like classical guitar players do. You’ll need a shoebox or something similar to rest your left foot on, to raise the guitar and let it better sit between your legs, flowing onto your left leg. But, this has the benefit of angling the neck up more, and easier to see. It can also help with fretting fingers and even wrist fatigue.
Granted, I still play with the guitar on my right leg after all these years. But when practicing difficult techniques, I sometimes find that moving the guitar over to my left leg makes it a little easier to play (maybe it’s just a mental game, but I’ll take all the help I can get).
Cheers!

Chris> Good tips. I’m having a problem with the guitar sliding on my right leg. I finally put that non-slip stuff on my leg. I’ll try your suggestions and see if that helps!

I know this topic is old and I’m sorry if I’m breaking forum rules, but this has been on my mind for a while:
I’m right-handed. 0 degrees will mean straight ahead. 90 degrees will mean directly to my left.
When I’m sitting with my guitar — always on my right leg, I find that the headstock points around 45 degrees, give or take a few. When I stand, it’s somewhere between closer to 90 degrees, but never at 90 degrees.
Is either posture a problem? Should I be striving for 90 degrees?

If I understood you correctly, 0 degrees would be like holding a rifle and 90 degrees would be having your guitar completely set against your belly and the neck would be to your left. If that’s the case I don’t think anyone ever has the guitar at full 90 degrees because it feels weird, it’s approximately between 75-85 but no one is calculating that, people just grab the guitar and hold it the way they are most comfortable with. But your neck should be around 45 degrees from the ground (if the ground is 0). Try messing around with your guitar strap and see what suits you the best.

Thanks! I’ll do that