How has your guitar playing changed over the years?

Fifty9

scrumhalf said:

For the first 15 years of playing I would only use a pick. I'm now more inclined to play with fingers, occasionally pick + fingers.

this for me too. not sure why, whether its laziness to search out/pick up a pick but i prefer the sound and feel from finger picking much more. i blame john mayer and derek trucks.

Fifty9

scrumhalf said:

For the first 15 years of playing I would only use a pick. I'm now more inclined to play with fingers, occasionally pick + fingers.

this for me too. not sure why, whether its laziness to search out/pick up a pick but i prefer the sound and feel from finger picking much more. i blame john mayer and derek trucks.

Kilgore

I play more.
 I'm also geting better. I'm starting to think there may be some correlation between the two.

Sassafras

I forgot about playing flashy solos and concentrated more on complimenting the song.
Now, I don't play at all - which some might say compliments the song perfectly.

Rocker

I too took up bass. Still play the six strings. Learned a little music theory on a Yamaha piano. Enjoyed this so I am learning a few basic bits on the keys. Wrote a song and trying to pluck up the courage to perform it somewhere. Spending too much time faffing about on the Internet.

It is always good to keep changing. Keeps the old grey matter working.

Grocer_Jack

1978ish - mid 80s - school and Uni bands. Didn't think about gear, just played as much as possible in as many (mostly crap) bands as possible. All originals.

Mid 80s - mid 90s - more originals bands, some records, some decent gigs. No idea about gear. 

1994 - 2004 retired except for one reunion gig. Sold all gear. 

2004 - asked to join originals band as organ player with some guitar. Did singles, album, decent gigs, radio play. Eventually switched full time to guitar. Started getting interested in gear but frustrated by limited musical horizons of this band.

2007 - reformed old 80s band to have more creative input and play a wider range of stuff. Didn't work. 

2010 formed covers band to play all the stuff no-one else played (garage, Freakbeat, 60's rarities, B-sides, rockabilly. Ulterior motive was to up my game by being the only guitarist and by having to learn lots of styles. Recruited 2 ex-pros - that *really* raised my game! Everyone told us no-one wanted to hear this stuff but we did really well and made a bit of money. Did some originals work alongside. 

2016 to date: back on originals with rhythm section from last band and ex-pro singer. Lots of creativity and fun. Album in the can for 2019 release. 

Overall I think I'm a pretty pedestrian player at best, but I've learned how to sound good with the tools I have. 

DeeTee

Took up drums. Realized how bad my co-ordination and rhythm was, especially considering I always thought of myself as a "rhythm" guitarist. Brought that back with me when I started playing guitar again. I've also stopped trying to disappear into the background.

John_A

Roland said:

TheBigDipper said:

... after decades of playing covers "like the recording" I now refuse to copy a record. If I'm going to cover a song, I want it to sound like me ...

Too damn right. The best covers involve reworking the song, not recreating the original recording.

After year of playing originals, I find I’m learning a lot playing covers note for note

DeeTee

John_A said:

Roland said:

TheBigDipper said:

... after decades of playing covers "like the recording" I now refuse to copy a record. If I'm going to cover a song, I want it to sound like me ...

Too damn right. The best covers involve reworking the song, not recreating the original recording.

After year of playing originals, I find I’m learning a lot playing covers note for note

Is the best thing to learn it note for note, see how it works, what's happening and how to do it, and then put your own spin on it?

EricTheWeary

Given my intermittent history of sub standard noise making its hard to say. 

However, I've certainly become more interested in playing recognisable choons and less in trying to insert the perfect blues lick into whatever. Although if I do ever achieve that perfect lick I’ll let you all know...

John_A

DeeTee said:

John_A said:

Roland said:

TheBigDipper said:

... after decades of playing covers "like the recording" I now refuse to copy a record. If I'm going to cover a song, I want it to sound like me ...

Too damn right. The best covers involve reworking the song, not recreating the original recording.

After year of playing originals, I find I’m learning a lot playing covers note for note

Is the best thing to learn it note for note, see how it works, what's happening and how to do it, and then put your own spin on it?

  Think just learn as much as you can, absorb it all then try to do something original

JayGee

I’m a lot more relaxed about my playing and a lot more interested in how the band and the song sounds...

roberty

Used to play sort of indie on a telecaster through a fender, then when I turned 30 I panicked and got a Les Paul and a Marshall. Life is short, as they say. My friends don't really like my music these days

maw4neu

Im much much shitter . . . . when I was young I practised and gigged :-) 

Roland

DeeTee said:

Is the best thing to learn it note for note, see how it works, what's happening and how to do it, and then put your own spin on it?

Yes. It’s important to start by working out how the original artist, and other people, have played the song. Transcription is a skill well worth learning, and you often learn new playing skills too.

How much spin you can use depends on the band and the song. Something like Alright Now is so well known that the solo has to be note for note from the recording, even ‘though Kossoff played it differently. However many people get the best feel to the chords using A and D barred at the 5th fret, rather than Kossoff’s fingering.

Normally I watch live performances to understand how the artist played it, and how the rendition developed over time. It’s worth looking at other bands’ performances too. Then I rearrange to suit our instrumentation and the singer’s range. I always learn solos note for note, then decide whether to play them that way, to use the best bits, or to do something completely different.

mudslide73

I stopped working towards an imaginary audition for John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and joined a covers band. I did the originals thing before that but didn't get far.. I was a bit green and felt I needed to control absolutely everything. 

I play about 50/50 note for note/my versions but it's pretty obvious which songs need which. I suppose the bluesy jamming helped with coming up with stuff on the fly.

ICBM

DeeTee said:

Is the best thing to learn it note for note, see how it works, what's happening and how to do it, and then put your own spin on it?

For me, no. That tends to restrict how you approach it because you get set in a particular way of hearing it and it can be difficult to break out of it.

I treat it like an original that someone else in the band has written, and just work out a way of playing it from the chord progression and an idea of the instrument parts, but mostly without following them accurately. We usually go with the original song structure since that’s what the audience have in their heads and you want them to be able to anticipate changes, since that’s what they’re following in their heads when they hear it.

There are some songs where I play most of the original bassline because that’s what sounds right - usually where the original is a prominent part of the song - and some where I really have no idea how the original goes...

joetele

I've gone from open chords and barre chords, and trying to write 'accessible' songs, to more instrumental stuff, with lots of ethereal stuff and ambience in the background. Also, a lot more experimental stuff where the pedals are counted as instruments too. I used to want to play every note at once, and now I'm happy playing one note/chord and letting it reverberate. I've almost gone back to a very simple approach to really inhabit the music and create huge open spaces. I'd say in terms of actual technical aspects, I'm much tighter with rhythm and different types of strum/stroke, largely down to having played for over 25 years, but I'm more keen on ambient, instrumental stuff than lots of chords and songwriting. I still only really play the same scales I've always done, but I use them less and less as I try to open up the whole fretboard to create more unconventional melodies and phrases. 

steer

I have now added the Em chord to my repertoire. 

Veganic

I have moved from bridge to neck pickup.