practice

[r_young112]

hey chris which would you say benefitted you more in playing, learning actual songs, or working on licks here and there, lately ive been workin on a lot of songs, malmsteen, satriani, stuff like that, and ive found its improved my playing a lot more than before when i just worked on licks i picked up in books or from lessons or online

 

[Gizzal]

If you were just looking for a response from Chris only, I apologize in advance.

What I always do is kinda take a combination approach to this type of thing. For instance, about four months back I started to learn the sweep picking technique and didn't know how to go about it. So I learned the basics from a video on the internet and practiced that till I decided to upgrade to something a bit more challenging, so I listen to music and tried asked around forums to see what would suit me best (I finally settled on the arpeggios in Necrophagist's "Fermented Offal Discharge"). After I learned this I knew I had a general idea of the technique. At this time I started to experiment with making my own licks and such so I would not only be improving my technique but also increasing my theoretical knowledge, and I would combine this with learning other songs and licks (working on the arpeggios in Outworld's "Riders" at the moment while experimenting with my own licks on the side.)

So my best advice is to learn both songs and licks while experimenting with your own ideas in the specific technique or area you are focusing to improve.

Hope that helps a bit, if not, oh well, I'm quite a n00b so I'm not the best giver of advice

 

[r_young112]

haha, any advice is good, thanks

 

[Chris_Broderick]

hey chris which would you say benefitted you more in playing, learning actual songs, or working on licks here and there, lately ive been workin on a lot of songs, malmsteen, satriani, stuff like that, and ive found its improved my playing a lot more than before when i just worked on licks i picked up in books or from lessons or online

I think to be a well rounded player you have to do all of the above. Working on a very specific technique teaches you the exact way you need to approach that technique, but when you learn a song you have to instantaneously go from technique to technique and there is a lot of work involved in that process as well.
Take care, Chris

 

[Netherworld]

I agree, quite frequently guitarists confine themselves too much to only one genre or style of music, completely oblivious to the fact that you will become a much better guitarist by learning all forms of music. Hell playing ANY instrument could potentially help you with another.

Quoting Nevermore...
"Sea of Possibilities"
Pretty much sums it up.

 

[ATGuitar_NInja]

Yea, do both, work with a metrinome in all cases and play hard. Practice makes better, not perfect. If learning other's music and licks works keep doing it. Combine it with totally different styles and ideas. Hitting a peak and staying at a peak sucks. It's always a btich to get beyond a certain barrier, but once you do it's great.

My best advice, start slow, build up coordination, push yourself until it becomes easy even starting cold with no warmup.