God, I suck sooo much at guitar that...

[bleedingskeptic]

i've been playing guitar for about a year and a half now, and at first i didn't understand how you could have a guitar and not be able to even hold a power chord. then i saw you only practice 30 minutes a week!? i'll never forget the first day i got my guitar, i sat down and played it for something like five hours, and my practicing habits havent let up all that much. time loses all meaning when i'm playing my guitar.

i used to not play with a pick, because i'm left handed, playing a right handed guitar. my right hand just wouldn't strum, so i used my thumb...until my friend held me down and punched me til i promised to play with a pick. i then picked up a pick and started very slowly doing downstrokes on an open string to a metronome (on a low setting of course). after ten minutes i added the upstrokes and began alternating. then as i began to hold a pulse with my picking i sped it up gradually. by the end of the night i could shred FAST AS HELL!!!

then i had to get my fingers up to speed with my picking so i started over, playing scales to the metronome all over the fucking neck. soon i could play melodies with a descent deal of speed and control.

that's what you gotta do, but i'm sure your guitar teacher already told you that (and if not, get the hell out of there!!). it actually doesn't take long, its just repetitive. i'm not a virtuoso or anything, but i know my way around the guitar enough where i can enjoy it, and all it takes is repitition. doesn't sound like fun, but the payoff is well worth it.

 

[moonchild]

yeah the hardest thing about playing guitar is the first few months, cos when you see peeps who have been playing a while they make it look sooo easy, you think yeah sure i can string a few chords together, but it doesnt quite work like that, then you get frustrated that you cant make any nice sounds and so you lose the motivation to try, and then you tend to go weeks or months without picking it up, however if you put the effort in, and go through some boring finger exercises everyday, you'll soon get a feel for it, you'll build up strength in your hands and they will become more flexible and responsive, then you can work on your picking, throw in a bit of theory and then you'll see it start to pay off...

 

[bleed for me]

when starting out you have to practice 30 mins a day minimum, if you can't then don't pursue guitar...

its' hard to start to learn guitar and listen to metal because metal guitars are pretty amazing...listening to them can make you lose all hope in yourself

 

[Opth_001]

all I have to add is, if you can find a friend that plays you should play with him have him/her comeover and just jam out when ever you can at least 4 times a week. I've been playing for like 4 or 5 years and I still can't play anybody's song all the way through, I know… it sad :sad: . But I still love my guitar and play it when ever I can.

If you can find tabs some place you should try them too, even though they don't teach you how to read music, they can help you want to pick up your guitar. Keep trying Kush I believe in you

 

[Spotted Owl]

Originally posted by Opth_001
I've been playing for like 4 or 5 years and I still can't play anybody's song all the way through, I know… it sad :sad: . But I still love my guitar and play it when ever I can.

hmm...i have the same problem i have been playing for about 3 years, and im doing pretty decent so far, but i still can't play any song without making AT LEAST 1 mistake

im not in any band atm, so i just play loads of different songs and dont practise each one untill i play it perfectly (like u would with a band) , i only play the coolest bits


must......have........discipline..... >

 

[Gums]

The best way to improve is just to keep practicing all the boring stuff, like scales and drills to improve both hands
You're guitar teacher should've showed you drills long ago
Don't worry about playing songs yet..

 

[Opth_001]

Originally posted by Spotted Owl


hmm...i have the same problem i have been playing for about 3 years, and im doing pretty decent so far, but i still can't play any song without making AT LEAST 1 mistake

im not in any band atm, so i just play loads of different songs and dont practise each one untill i play it perfectly (like u would with a band) , i only play the coolest bits


must......have........discipline..... >

Yeah that's what I do. The only song that I can play all the way threw is one that me and my friend made up. I'd put it on here but I don't have it on mp3, and it takes 2 guitars to play it and I'm currently the only member in my band.

 

[Katatonic]

i took up guitar about a year ago, playing acoustic. i didnt have a teacher, and i didnt want one.... it was just something i wanted to do. i find that i can sit down for hours and play what i want to play, and i enjoy it a lot more than if i had a teacher (btw, i would probably be a lot better than i am if i had one...)

 

[YourFuneral]

Originally posted by Opth_001
I'm currently the only member in my band.

Heh heh! Same here!

I've been playing guitar for about 10 years but I never had a teacher. It's kinda funny, when I first started playing guitar, I didn't even know the proper way to tune the guitar, I just tuned it in some wierd way (I think it was E, B, F#, C#, G#, D# or something like that... Kinda like Drop D tuning except for it being that way with ALL strings, lol!)... Basically, you could play any E5 like chord with one finger... The first song I learned in this way was Iron Man, heh heh... (Good first song to learn, btw) Anyways, my point is (did I have a point?), even though it was the wrong tuning, it built up my fingers enough (not to mention, I could have fun with the guitar!) that when I learned the proper way to tune the guitar, it really wasn't that difficult a change. The first song I learned once I learned to tune the guitar proper was One/Metallica plus solos... (It only took 3 months or so to realize the proper way to tune) Food for thought, perhaps???

 

[RETIREDTrapped]

I learnt classical guitar for about five years, but it got to the point where i could out-play the guy... I wasn't the greatest at theory... but In my 12+ years of playing, i have NEVER required theory other than to know modes/scales/arpedidgeridoos.... etc.

I was taking lessons up till about a year ago, i was wasting my money, he was a nice guy and a good player, but i could out-play the hell out of him, and we were basically trading riffs and licks of each other instead of learning...!!

Gah. I'll take up lessons one day again... there is NEVER 'nothing' more to learn.

 

[Kushantaiidan]

I have had a particularily bad day today, and when I read all these posts I broke into tears.

How am I sposed to motivate myself to play guitar if I can't even motivate myself to get a job, even though I have been looking for 6 months, and owe $1000 to my mum and my girlfriend?

I'm considering selling my guitars to pay my girlfriend back.

But I'm not gonna start sooking to you guys here, I already do that enough, and people are sick of hearing it. I think I'll chuck it all in.

 

[RETIREDTrapped]

Get over it dude.

I have HALF the confidence you do.... I owe my (drunk) father over $15,000.... yes FIFTEEN GRAND... and i don't have a job.

Hell, and i don't even have a girlfriend.

Fuck you for feeling sorry for yourself when you have things so great.

 

[Kushantaiidan]

I don't know if what I've got could be called a girlfriend, more an Everquest playing person with attached asshole parents that won't leave me alone.


so are you saying that you aren't alowed to feel the sliughtest bit sorry for yourself or sad at all, because there is someone else in a worse situation than you?

Fuck that ideal man.

 

[Sullen Jester]

Originally posted by Kushantaiidan
I don't know if what I've got could be called a girlfriend, more an Everquest playing person with attached asshole parents that won't leave me alone.


so are you saying that you aren't alowed to feel the sliughtest bit sorry for yourself or sad at all, because there is someone else in a worse situation than you?

Fuck that ideal man.

Yay.. I'm happy.. I live in a world where people are lucky to eat maggots once a week.. and I don't..

Despite having mental and physical injuries dealt out constantly I am perfectly happy..

Aren't you?

 

[RETIREDTrapped]

I did not say that.

You need to realise that you are not even close to the bottom. You are no-where near the end of the bottle dude...

Example 1:

Chuck Schuldiner... Even with all his illness... he faught like all hell to live, for his dreams, and fought for his life. Even when he was sick, he STILL had time for other people, such as myself.

There is no point at where there is no hope. I have BEEN at the end of the bottle man, i have reached the bottom, and i have fought all the way... i've got a long way to go, but at least i'm trying.

 

[Kushantaiidan]

my head hurts

 

[Sullen Jester]

Originally posted by Trapped
I did not say that.

You need to realise that you are not even close to the bottom. You are no-where near the end of the bottle dude...

Example 1:

Chuck Schuldiner... Even with all his illness... he faught like all hell to live, for his dreams, and fought for his life. Even when he was sick, he STILL had time for other people, such as myself.

There is no point at where there is no hope. I have BEEN at the end of the bottle man, i have reached the bottom, and i have fought all the way... i've got a long way to go, but at least i'm trying.

Well good for you. You're a little battler, then.

This is the bottom for me. Everyone hates me. Everyone uses me. Everyone I've loved, everyone I do love, hates and uses me.

I don't think anyone here realises that I too can feel.

Everyone here just compounds my problem.

When I'm depressed, you know how my dad tries to help?
By making me feel guilty into telling him whats wrong.

HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT HELP?!

Everyone I know that are "nice" people tell me the same things: "There are people worse off than you" "You should be happy that you actually have a home, because some people don't".

How will that make me happy?

Okay, I share a house with a bunch of self-centered, prejudiced, discriminate arseholes who don't give a fuck about anyone but themselves. They're always fighting (mostly with me) and I'm meant to be happy that my family doesn't act as a whole and supports each other just to live.

My dad gets his money, and we fight like fucktards.

I'm so happy.

 

[Kushantaiidan]

I'm not at the bottum, so things will only get worse. but enough ABOUT THAT, HERE IS A HAPPY FROG.

He IS a happy frog.


in otherwords, I can't be fucked about arguing how demotivated and depressed I am... good night.

 

[Sullen Jester]

Man.. I'm not trying to say "You're theory is wrong, I cannot be happy" or "Shut up I'm worse off than you".

I'm just trying to say that we all feel. We all have different tolerances.

Instead of saying "shaddup yo, blalba has x wrong but he has still accomplished y much so quit yer bitchin'" try to understand.

 

[RETIREDTrapped]

There you go again feeling sorry for yourself.

I'm not even going to try and tell you otherwise. Go and feel sorry for yourself, but don't go and be all in my face about it.