short story about...

[FIXXXER]

...me how i started playing gutar and how i realized that i suck doing it.

back in 1999 i heard the S&M version of nothing else matters in the radio
for the first time. i really liked the song so i took my fathers guitar and started to pluck a few strings.
i had a lot of fun doing this so it became some sort of hobby for me. in the beginning i was very determinded,
i played several hours the day and it became more and more
"the fist thing to do" for me when i had some free time.

my father showed me a few chords and a few simple scales.
he is a a self-taught guitar player so these few things were
all he could teach me.

he told me to take lessons but i always denied, stubborn as i am.

nevertheless my father bought me an electric guitar becuase
i wanted to play heavier stuff. i learned about tabs and how to
read them and everything was fine. at this time i was still very determined.
i played a lot but i never practised scales and stuff.

over time i became better in gutar playing but
i never managed to play solos or fast and PRECISE rythm picking etc.

so i just played what i was able to

since that i couldn't notice any progress in my guitar playing.
i guess i was stuck at the beginners level a long time ago...uke:

today i realized once again that i am really bad at guitar playing
and now i am trying to find the reasons why i am so bad.

i think that the lack of practise is the main
reason why i am a bad guitar player.
i just took a guitar and started playing, that's it.
other peole told me that i am very talented because i
managed to teach myself how to play an instrument.
unfortunately i believed them.

as an autodidact i have surely picked up completely wrong
picking and grip techniques over the years, techniques that may stay forever.

i also focused more and more on recording in the last few years,
so playing guitar became more like a "by the way" thing.

now i am finally thinking about to practise every day
and taking some lessons...

what do you guys think, is it too late for me!?


cheers
S.

 

[ATLA]

never late to start practicing and taking lessons.

 

[Habsburgs]

Like my old friend Adam Gontier once said.. "It's never too late".

 

[ahjteam]

I have a drummer background and picked up a guitar for the first time when I was 22, went to guitar lessons for like 2-3 months so that the teacher could point out my main mistakes and teach me the basics. I still suck ass, but atleast I have made some definitive progress from back then, so I would say it's not too late Also playing Guitar Hero on expert helped in left-right hand co-operation, left hand finger co-ordination and rhythm training a lot, atleast for me.

 

[Uladyne]

Why do you consider yourself a "Bad" guitar player? Is it merely because you may not be exactly where you want to be playing wise at the moment? That is like a weightlifter saying "I am weak because I want to bench press 300lbs but I can only bench 200." There is always room for improvement. The guy who can bench 300lbs may be striving for 400.

I used to think I was a shitty guitar player because I can't improvise, I don't know music theory and can't play a solo to save my life, but then I realized I can write some tasty fucking riffs and I can play them tight as motherfuck. Therefore I'm not a shitty guitar player, I'm just a shitty lead guitarist.

 

[amarshism]

How old are you?

 

[Airborne]

I suggest finding a good teacher.

You will be amazed how fast you can push your playing progress this way.

 

[Airborne]

never late to start practicing and taking lessons.

+1

 

[FIXXXER]

@recemgsol,Habsburgs
thanks guys!

@ahjteam
the guitar hero thing is interesting
i am left handed, will a normal GH guitar work for me!?

@Uladyne
i think that i am a bad guitar player because i
can't play simple things complete and correctly.
it's not that i whish that i could play like X or Z.

@amarshism
i am 26

@Airborne
sound very encouraging, thanks!
is there a way to spot a good teacher!?

cheers
S.

 

[TravisW]

I've been playing for 20 years, and took a grand total of about a half dozen lessons (in 1992). That being said, there are a lot of other resources that I went to. I wound up learning a lot of things wrong, technique-wise. I also wound up doing some things pretty well. The biggest thing was the sheer amount of practice and playing time that I put in, as well as the recommendation from my guitar teacher that I always record my playing and listen back.

This winter, I decided that I needed to rework my left-hand technique and alternate picking, and it has come along remarkably well, despite the fact that I can't log long hours of practice like I could 10 years ago. It's the consistency that matters. If you want to do it, and can commit yourself to practicing what you learn in the lessons, there's no reason that you can't progress to the level you want to be playing at.

 

[Jevil]

Life taught me that working hard does not worth because the more you try teher always will be another guy better than you! So why try?
Just kidding, it was an advice from Homer to Bart.

Soultrash, never is too late.

With a teacher you'll learn faster but is more boring. Playing in a band is more fun and you really learn a lot from the others.

But the most important thing... practice.

I never attended to lessons, and books are so boring that I give up in the first lesson, but I learnt a lot playing in bands.

I started in 1990...I've been practising 20 years and I still got so much to learn... 20 years and I haven't learnt a fucking scale yet! Everything I play by ear!

 

[motomoto]

For me, the best practice is playing in a band.
Cover bands are the greatest.
You learn songs=having fun
You play songs=having fun
You listen how ''pros'' do it=you try to be as good

You will eventually play tighter and clearer because you'll have a particular reference to a song.

As for guitar teachers, the best i've tried so far(as for actual teaching), showed me scales and patterns and gave me real examples of were these are used.
Scales that Friedman uses
Scales that Satriani uses
Licks and patterns in Metallica songs etc etc etc.

I found it more fun this way than just trying to memorize stuff which i didn't know how to use .
Now i'm trying instructional books and cd's, but still, the band thing was way more fun and helpfull

 

[FIXXXER]

I've been playing for 20 years, and took a grand total of about a half dozen lessons (in 1992). That being said, there are a lot of other resources that I went to. I wound up learning a lot of things wrong, technique-wise. I also wound up doing some things pretty well. The biggest thing was the sheer amount of practice and playing time that I put in, as well as the recommendation from my guitar teacher that I always record my playing and listen back.

This winter, I decided that I needed to rework my left-hand technique and alternate picking, and it has come along remarkably well, despite the fact that I can't log long hours of practice like I could 10 years ago. It's the consistency that matters. If you want to do it, and can commit yourself to practicing what you learn in the lessons, there's no reason that you can't progress to the level you want to be playing at.

i guess my problem is that i don't know exactly "how to practise",
sounds stupid i know. i'd like to play fast notes clear and right in the timing for example. so basically i need to start slow and repeat, then faster, repeat, more faster, repeat and so on, right!?

cheers
S.

 

[FIXXXER]

Life taught me that working hard does not worth because the more you try teher always will be another guy better than you! So why try?
Just kidding, it was an advice from Homer to Bart.

Soultrash, never is too late.

With a teacher you'll learn faster but is more boring. Playing in a band is more fun and you really learn a lot from the others.

But the most important thing... practice.

I never attended to lessons, and books are so boring that I give up in the first lesson, but I learnt a lot playing in bands.

I started in 1990...I've been practising 20 years and I still got so much to learn... 20 years and I haven't learnt a fucking scale yet! Everything I play by ear!

i had a band when i started playing guitar but it became boring because the other guys didn't take it serious enogh. after that i met a few people i wanted to start a band with but it was the same attitude that didn't make it happen. so i decitet to do everything by myself. that brought me more and more into recording but my guitar playing suffered. guess i just didn't meet the right people so far

cheers
S.

 

[FIXXXER]

As for guitar teachers, the best i've tried so far(as for actual teaching), showed me scales and patterns and gave me real examples of were these are used.
Scales that Friedman uses
Scales that Satriani uses
Licks and patterns in Metallica songs etc etc etc.

that's exactly what i don't want to learn.
unfortunately most teacherd seem to do it that way.
i think i just need someone who shows me my mistakes and corrects them.
then i can ist down and practise without the feeling that i am doing it wrong.

cheers
S.

 

[TravisW]

i guess my problem is that i don't know exactly "how to practise",
sounds stupid i know. i'd like to play fast notes clear and right in the timing for example. so basically i need to start slow and repeat, then faster, repeat, more faster, repeat and so on, right!?

cheers
S.

That's terribly common, and I think that's a big part of the reason that it seemed to take a long time for me, although when I think back the majority of my increases in technical ability happened in the course of about 3 years.

My advice amounts to prioritizing things. You want to play fast, clear, and in time. I'd order that as follows:

1. Learn to play in time.
2. Learn to play clearly, in time.
3. Learn to play fast, clearly, in time.

You can learn pretty much anything by doing this. The metronome is your best friend or worst enemy. Setting up a drum loop is a way to do the same thing but much less annoying. Recording yourself and listening back is key.

Now, any reasonable teacher is going to try and get some knowledge worked in there along with the technique, and should be able to point out any inconsistencies.

 

[Airborne]

I think the technique and speed is the least important thing a player should have.

IMO you should find a teacher who can teach you about:
- ear training (often overlooked)
- Chrods, Scales, Arpeggios (how they are constructed and how you implement this knowledge into your playing. And how they are related).
- Improvising
- Music Theory
- Phrasing (Vibrato, Bends,…)
- Note choice
- Songwriting
- Rhythm playing
- Technique (Picking, Legato, Tapping, String skipping, Sweeping)
- Etc……

Many of my own students know about scale fingerings, patterns etc. but they don’t know how to actually use them in their playing. (How they can use this information for song writing and improvisation).

Playing in a band was never helpful to me. Most of the guys I played with (as a beginner) where players who didn’t know what they played. (They played strictly what GuitarPro Tabs told them to do. No one had a clue about the cords and scales the played).

Learning songs is great, but make sure that you know the theory/general concepts behind the song. (Which chords are used, which scales, arpeggios, rhythms, meters, etc…).

I hope that helped a bit.

 

[FIXXXER]

thanks guys!
i just looked for a teacher in my town.
there are a few but the choice is not that good.
now i'll try to get a couple of free lesson so i can how the teachers work.

about speed. i don't want to play fast arpeggios and stuff, just riffs that are a little bit faster than 100 or 140 BPM.
i wrote a song in 200 BPM some time ago and tried to record it. no way. maybe i should train my arms again.
last sumer i did some cheap weight lifting at home...i think i played better and faster in that time just because i was in a better physical condition.

cheers
S.

 

[Plankis]

about speed. i don't want to play fast arpeggios and stuff, just riffs that are a little bit faster than 100 or 140 BPM.
i wrote a song in 200 BPM some time ago and tried to record it. no way. maybe i should train my arms again.

Well, get yourself a good tab program, like Powertab editor or Guitar pro and tab out the riffs that you find are too hard. Lower the bpm until you can play it clearly. Add 1-5 bpm when you feel you've mastered it on that tempo. Proceed until you reach the original tempo.

Thats what I do when I need to nail something above my level.

 

[JayB]

Everyone sucks at everything until they practice. I fully believe you can become a lot better at anything if you practice enough.