Stuck in a Rut

BluesboyMitch

Hi All,

Bit of Background: I have been playing guitar on and off for years. My guitar playing has plateaued as a result (understandably) I have had array of guitar teachers who have helped me but I still never managed to play a guitar all the way through. Partly because I stop when I get to a difficult section that I can't master so I can play a lot of part songs but never a full song.

I would like to get back into guitar and actually learn the guitar. I enjoy a wide range of music but I would love to learn some of the blues records I enjoy note for note as opposed to in the style of etc.

I am torn between looking for a online tutor and having lessons or buying a course online? The only thing that makes me hesitant about a course is I have purchased DVD's and subscription to Lick Library and I still struggled.

Any advice welcome

Roland

You’ve identified a problem where you stop at the difficult bits. That would be worth tackling, and it’s something which you can sort out on your own. 

Pick a song, Isolate the difficult passage, divide it into sections, work through a section at slow speed deciding on the fret positions, fingering and picking patterns, and any other techniques. Once you can play it properly, although not up to speed, work on the next section. Finally you can stitch the sections together, and work it up to speed.

Something a sax player taught me is to work out the sections in reverse order, starting at the end of the difficult bit. Psychologically this means you are heading towards a known bit, rather than launching into the unknown.

Roland

Something else you need to know about is how our brains work. We tend to consolidate what we’ve learned while we sleep. We also have “muscle memory” where our hands remember positions and movements. So you need to learn what playing a passage correctly feels like by playing it slowly, after which you can work up to speed.

So if you learn the mechanics of a section, working slowly, then sleep on it, you will generally be better at playing it the following day.

chotu495

I suffer from the same thing - only learning “parts” of songs i like, and not the whole way through.

I started the Paul Davids course earlier this year, and that certainly helped add some missing structure to what I do. I’m not saying its the answer to getting you back on track, however structured learning really helps me.

I tend to chase after stuff i like, over stuff i can play easily. “This Charming Man” is a good example. Way beyond me to begin with, but over time, it comes to you. I still fluff bits of it, but it does get easier over time.

I started trying “15 Step” by Radiohead yesterday, as it has a cool almost jazz thing going on. Ironically, having looked at the tab on Songsterr, what i’d learned from the Paul Davids thing made life easier for me. Songsterr wanted me to play a note higher up the fretboard, but i knew the note was available near to the chords shape down near the nut, and i could achieve it easily without moving my hand up the neck. I must be learning something 

What i do is :

Find the stuff that I want to play, usually on youtube (use the playback speed reduction to help if needed)

Keep a guitar in the room the I spend the most time in.

Pick up the guitar a lot and play it unplugged while watching tv.

Tough one, but if you can find a player who is as good or ideally better than you, that can really help swapping ideas about and learning from others. Should be doable via social distancing.

I need hours on the fretboard and have played a lot in the last 14 months. I’m still crap, but i’m a lot less crap than I used to be 

Good luck with it!