I have been playing for 2.5 years, I practice about an hour a day and love the guitar. I originally picked one up as all I wanted to do was play along to songs. My journey to this point has included constant weekly lessons from three different guys. I have learned all the usual stuff, open chords, barre chords, major scales, minor scales pentatonics etc etc. I am still trying to link pentatonic patterns together, memorise the fretboard, learn soloing techniques, speed and accuracy amongst many other things.
I am coming up to 50 years old and while I still love the guitar and practice everyday I am wondering which direction to take. Do i practice scales, linking them together with drills and licks or should I just say the hell with it and learn songs that I love and put a smile on my face when I learn them?
I am at another crossroads and if I don't sort it out I may get bored and that's the last thing I want to do. So what would you all recommend? This can't be unusual.
Thanks
Chris
Comments
For me, I read your post and what you say is all about technique practice and then say maybe learning songs for the hell of it. I think the whole purpose of all that technique is to be able to play tunes either solo, or in a band, so your instinct may well be right.
When my sons were learning instruments through school, they learnt whole pieces of music with difficulty carefully graded according to their current ability. They only learnt a new technique when the music required it.
My suggestion would be to get either a play along book, or perhaps a Trinity Rock and Pop grade book and start to learn whole songs. You can do this alongside your technique practice and then maybe experiment with changing the solos as it suits you.
Even if your aim is to write your own stuff, I think it pays to play other people's first to see how they put the songs together.
“Theory is something that is written down after the music has been made so we can explain it to others”– Levi Clay
Find other people to play them with. You will learn how to listen and play with others, find things in the songs you didn’t know were there, and your playing will improve.
find a song you like that is suitable for beginner to intermediate and get some tabs for it .
have a look at , rhythm /riff parts plus solos intros etc .
work on different parts for 10 or 20 minutes .
most riffs will have some standard type approaches . Power chords , double stops either of these alternating with single bass notes , picked arpeggios etc .
solos or intros will most likely have a selection of standard techniques ranging From slides, hammer ons pull offs ,bends ,vibrato , harmonics and some sort of scale run .
so a song may give you a wide variety of techniques to work on , while working towards a
tangible piece of work when it is finished .
once you have figured out how the whole song goes together and can play it ,it will spur you on to
try another there is nothing more empowering than succeeding at something to encourage you to tackle something new.
if you come up against something challenging. A certain riff,part of a solo , a particular technique
Have a look at it slowly and try to see where the difficulty is , there is usually a specific place that you can trip up . Once you can see the part that is the trouble, isolate it into as small a part as possible and then focus on getting it to work, seeking help on here or other forums or YouTube etc if need be .
choose yourself something not too difficult to start , do a search for easy songs to learn in your specific genre of interest and see which ones you think might be suitable . You can then work up to more advanced stuff as you succeed .
Exercises can be valuable and you can work in a few minutes a day for alt/tremolo picking
finger independence ,legato stamina (trills ) etc But you may find sections of a song you are working on suitable for this. Good luck
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
I've been doing something along those Iines recently that's worked for me. Something similar but appropriate to your playing style and background might work for you, too. As a complete change from everything, I've found myself running through old classical guitar pieces - sight reading as I go. I can lose myself in that for a couple of hours and feel great afterwards. I'm not "learning" the pieces (yet) and I'm not working on tricky passages, more just playing through the pieces, dipping in and out, to just enjoy the process - and it's working. I just enjoy doing it. Guilt free time wasting, TBH!
Pick a few things you like and just start playing them without worrying about where that's leading you.
Good luck.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
The point is learn what you actually like, real world music (all guitar parts and maybe not guitar if you like the sound). If you hit a part you cannot play technically make up a technical exercise to work on it (don't just practise 'blind' technique with the only goal being technique itself); make it all have a purpose and head towards where you want to be.
If you take this approach you will never tire, always be moving in a (more or less) straight line to where you want to be and actually enjoy the journey. As you taste changes over your time the material you consume will align and you'll become 'you'; ultimately a function of everything you've done..
Si
But also find some exercises in voice leading with inverted chords and in sweep picking. CAGED and chord inversions are both good for your chord and fretboard theory knowledge, and sweep picking will be excellent practice for your mechanics. Even if you don't care to do a picksweep ever in real time, it is I think one of the more athletic or dexterous things one can do on a guitar and some practice will make a lot of other playing feel much easier and more fluid for you.
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
https://youtu.be/7G3zDCf8Mzc
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.