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November 2006
Posts: 217
Location: Snåsa, Norway | I've been playing for nearly 30 years, but still won't say I'm a good guitarist. For many, many years I just have played the same chords mainly with a fingerstyle pattern on alternating ascending and descending arpeggios or rolls. I've found a few favourite songs to play and all I learned from was chords from songbooks etc. The last year I've worked a bit to get further with the guitar as an instrument. I bought some books on various topics, aiming to learn the fretboard and harmony theory, rythm playing with flatpick and solo fingerpicking. All of this on top of long work days and family life! Main problem is to get time to sit and play. I try to get at least one or two sessions of 10-15 minutes every day, and then use spare time when I can. The dilemma is should i play the stuff I can do already, which is most fun, or should I practice on what haven't learned yet? I found that sticking to one piece that is challenging and breaking it down to a few bars at a time is good, but it takes a lot of time. I may spend a month or two or three on a song, so my progress is not fast. I blame partly my stiff farmer fingers and partly my musical talent (or the lack of it). For motivation I play songs I already manage well in between. Do you have any opinions about the matter. Are there many of you that feel like me, that trying to learn something new makes me concious about how little I can, and wondring if I should drop the idea of being a guitarist? |
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Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | You sound just like me. I'm always working on new stuff, trying to expand what I can play. When I've worked on fingerpicking stuff, a la Jerry Reed, I've found that there are tunes that have taken me literally a year or more to learn, learning it one bar at a time, and then another year to get it up to speed.
That would bother me, but I've read so many interviews of professional guitar players who have said that this is how they learn tunes, one bar at a time. Now their learning might go faster than mine, but I feel like I'm on the right track.
Look, whether you learn a new tune or not, in a year, you'll be a year older. Why not be a year older and have a new tune and some new skills under your belt? Go for it.... |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Depends on why you play. I gave up the dream of being great many years ago. I toyed with the idea of just giving it up, but I realized I just love to play and if I never get any better, so be it. Some days I learn new things, some days I don't. Doing it for my own pleasure is reason enough.
To quote Jeff at the end of our Tour attempt of Moondance, "Nobody got hurt, that's the important thing". |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | I wear protective padding when I play.... |
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November 2006
Posts: 3969
| There's nothing wrong with and no shame in having to learn 4 or 6 or 8 bars of a song at a time, and learning them well before going on to the next bars. Unless it's a really easy song, you almost *have* to do that, to build muscle memory and get a feel for the precise rhythm and phrasing.
This is exactly how I learn difficult pieces. I've been working on one song now for about 3 or 4 weeks, and I'm only halfway through. But I still play songs I already know for warm-up or just for fun in between learning the new stuff. |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
I wear protective padding when I play.... Good idea. "What's the chicken wire for?" |
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March 2002
Posts: 15664
Location: SoCal | You want frustration? Try learning Jerry's Breakdown. First learn the picking pattern (it's actually a banjo roll), then the fingering, then try to get it up to speed (warp factor 9.9). I've been working on it forever..... |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Sounds tough, Paul. Hence the name. I hear he's feeling much better now. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12758
Location: Boise, Idaho | I'm the same, except I didn't play for most of those 30 years. I'm obsessive about learning a song exactly, but eventually that obsession gives way to frustration and I go back to the stuff I know and fill in something close on the song I'm learning. Then I go back (sometimes after 25 years) and try to learn the rest.
I plan on learning theory and how to play electric guitar, but just noticed that the books I got last Christmas are pretty well untouched. |
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January 2004
Posts: 1225
Location: Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey | I wish I had more time to practice as well. I think that there is a real difference between practicing and just playing. I tend to do more of the latter. Since I play out, I'm always trying to learn new songs, and I tend to gravitate toward the ones with familiar chords so that I can get them down fairly quickly. I don't consider myself a good guitarist either, but I have fun with it, and that's really what it'a about, right? |
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November 2004
Posts: 4413
| We were playing Moondance???? |
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December 2004
Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Originally posted by HobbyPicker:
The dilemma is should i play the stuff I can do already, which is most fun, or should I practice on what haven't learned yet? I say do a little of both. Work on something new but remember to have some fun with something you know and like to play. :cool: |
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June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | Originally posted by Mark in Boise:
I'm the same, except I didn't play for most of those 30 years. I'm obsessive about learning a song exactly, but eventually that obsession gives way to frustration and I go back to the stuff I know and fill in something close on the song I'm learning. Then I go back (sometimes after 25 years) and try to learn the rest.
That is exactly my situation Mark. |
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February 2005
Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | Originally posted by schroeder:
We were playing Moondance???? We were. You were playing Stairway to Heaven. I think. |
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April 2006
Posts: 972
Location: PDX | HP:
Are there many of you that feel like me, that trying to learn something new makes me concious about how little I can, and wondring if I should drop the idea of being a guitarist?
I have these same thoughts -- they come in waves. Like Waskel, i came to the realization that being a great player was just a dream. So why keep going? Because it's fun! There is always a sense of accomplishment if you look for it and appreciate it for what it is. Heck, just getting through a well known song with one less mistake is a big deal for me.
I take lessons from a teacher mainly because it pushes me to play and advance -- even if i play poorly and advance slowly -- it is progress.
I'm not suggesting reveling in mediocrity, but something close. More like mining victory from the rubble of limitation.
Play on -- and have fun!
_____
gh1 |
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June 2006
Posts: 7307
Location: South of most, North of few | "Play on -- and have fun!"
I agree. This guitar thing is a lot like golf. If you try too hard at it, you will just get frustrated, but if you just have fun with it, you will get better at it. |
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November 2005
Posts: 1126
Location: Omaha, NE | IMHO, far and away the best thing you can do to improve your playing is to play with others. |
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October 2005
Posts: 5330
Location: Cicero, NY | Originally posted by The Wabbit Formerly Known As Waskel:
Originally posted by schroeder:
We were playing Moondance???? We were. You were playing Stairway to Heaven. I think.
Not that I'm bitter or anything... |
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Posts: 11840
Location: closely held secret | That explains that cool off-beat tempo I kept hearing. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Originally posted by Weaser P:
Originally posted by The Wabbit Formerly Known As Waskel:
Originally posted by schroeder:
We were playing Moondance???? We were. You were playing Stairway to Heaven. I think.
Not that I'm bitter or anything... |
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October 2005
Posts: 5330
Location: Cicero, NY | I think that might explain the off beat tempo a little more accurately.
And next time, no matter how much you whine, we are not going to include in the group introduction "...and, Jeff Whitehead, the cute one!" either. You can only carry that tooth thing so far. |
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December 2004
Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
Not that I'm bitter or anything... [/qb] ... I just caught-up with the chord changes yesterday [/QB]
What key are we in? :confused: |
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October 2005
Posts: 5330
Location: Cicero, NY | Most of us were in E.
Jeff was in 3. |
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November 2003
Posts: 11039
Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | orange too... |
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February 2005
Posts: 1132
Location: Parrish, FL | I'm starting to feel MUCH better about my (limited) abilities.
Great thead. I suspect that many of you are much better than you are letting on however. |
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November 2006
Posts: 217
Location: Snåsa, Norway | I just recorded a sample of my playing in Kristal. Got a wav file. Part of my practice regime really, believe strongly in recording and take the pain of listening to myself, and actually also the pleasure of registering improvement. Can somebody tell me how to link music files with the posts? I'm very pleased and inspired to see the response to posting my ideas on practice and why to keep on playing. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12758
Location: Boise, Idaho | Blues, I've heard a few of the guys and I was impressed by all of them. I also noticed that nobody said that about me. Sort of like, "You play very well" results in "Thank you. You have nice guitars."
We were really impressed with the OFC CD from last year and expect this year's to be even better. If you don't have one of Sergio Lara's CDs, get at least one. They are up there in the range of, "If I start practicing 30 years ago, maybe I could play like that." |
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November 2005
Posts: 4827
Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Not me! Boy, if'n it don't come easy I throw it down and stomp off to the pub until closing time or they throw me out, whichever comes first.
Or just practise and play in different situations. I played with some guys who did just sight reading for a while, to expose myself to standards. (I normally play only originals. My own and friends)
Currently I'm rehearsing with an upright bass player (goes well with the ukelele I just picked up) and we're working on light jazz and rockabilly type stuff...as well as humour.
There's always someone out there to play with,(just don't let your wife hear you say that )and bouncing off other player will help you advance. ("So that's the lick in Money For Nothing!")
(Well, darn it Mark, you DO have nice guitars! S'matter, you can't take a backhanded compliment?) |
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July 2002
Posts: 1900
| Chord changes come pretty fast, but leads and intervals come at a slower pace. I seem to reach a threshold on any particular lead or scale, then after a while it breaks and then I can play with more speed or confidence. I guess I get this mental block on my 'ear to hand to eye coordination'..but it's probably my own impatience, so I have to learn it slow before I learn it fast. Triple-picking is still more difficult for me. If I was playing the 'William Tell' Overture, or something like that...(it definitely wasn't written for the guitar..) |
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April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | I feel the Opposite..it has n`t been until recently that I want to be a Famous Musician..before I was contented with getting Rich..that did n`t work out,so ,now I`m going for Fame.... ;)
:cool:
Vic |
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August 2006
Posts: 3145
Location: Marlton, NJ | I have a couple of books I started going through - one blues book and the other is the Berklee Guitar Book volume 1. I went page by page and did every damned excersize in there and then went back and did it again. I definitely noticed some improvement.
I also started playing with my son.. once we finally agreed on a song - All Your Love - Clapton. That was pretty cool.
Other than that, I keep playing the parts of the same songs I've been playing for the last 25 years. |
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August 2006
Posts: 2804
Location: ranson,wva | i play a few parts of tush and brown eyed girl everyday,i learned them from the tabs and a chord poster..i must confess i cant read music....i stilll have a great time playing what i know tho.
i guess if you have fun and it sounds good to you thats what matters..at least thats how i look at it..jason |
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September 2006
Posts: 10777
Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | I have many books. It is hard to play and turn pages at the same time!
No really, I type or scan them onto my computer, that is easier.
But like what was said earlier... It depends on why you play...
I doubt that I will ever be an "impressive artist"... But so long as I can make pretty noises, I'm happy.
Figure that I've got another fifty years to get good. |
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July 2002
Posts: 280
Location: Waterloo, IL | The more fun it is the more I like it. If it ain't fun anymore, it's time to go home. |
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October 2005
Posts: 5330
Location: Cicero, NY | Originally posted by Steve:
Triple-picking is still more difficult for me. Just do what I do, Steve. Just get three people. |
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on patience and practice