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getting good on guitar as fast as possible - need advice please!
For the last couple years I started trying to learn guitar and find it really frustrating. Keyboards were much easier for me cause I learned when I was young. But I feel the learning at this age (64) is very slow going and I'm not progressing as I'd like. I play every day but mostly picking out songs I already know and love. I tried doing scales using a metronome and honestly feel impatient with that approach. At this point, if I could know what would genuinely allow for the greatest progress, I would gladly do it in a disciplined fashion but so far have not hit on a good play method that makes me know I'm progressing. Am so curious to find out what you all think helps the most? Doing scale drills, learning songs you love, improvising to backing tracks? What worked best for you all?
thanks for any thoughts on this,
Greg K.
Comments
I had a similar feeling for six or seven years, then Rocksmith was released. It completely transformed my guitar playing (hopefully for the better
), so highly recommended.
hmm...... I practice scales every time I play. Mostly just the modes, the three notes per string scales. I think that for some, probably not me, picking songs they like and learning them is what keeps them motivated to continue to play. I do that occasionally, but.......I love to write my own music/songs. I get far more enjoyment out of playing my own riffs, and coming up with new ones.
All that to say, I don't know what will help you progress the fastest, but..........I think it is only helpful, and makes sense to do/play guitar with what is fun and and enjoyable to you. Otherwise, it won't be engaging, and you are probably more likely to do it???/ Half ass? At least, that's how I am. I gotta love it, or I won't do it well, or fast.
Just M.O.
Don't play scales!
Play your heroes' songs. Much more rewarding. I'm a very good bass player, but I became a decent guitarist by learning all the songs on REM's "Reckoning." Then I figured out "Tangerine," by Led Zeppelin. (Easy to play but sounds tricky.)
And it is absolutely not cheating — especially at the age of 64 – to look up the tabs or watch a video tutorial on YouTube.
I actually recommend googling something along the lines of "easy to play guitar songs."
all great suggestions!!! thanks everyone. Feeling inspired. I've been trying to learn Little Wing for 2 years (because I love it so much) and would love to play Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) one day. But I'm still unable to get anywhere near the feeling of those songs in my playing. I'll stick on small phrases for weeks and never quite nail them. And I get discouraged when I see young kids be SO great in their teens and sometimes early teens. Guess I need to just keep on doing mostly what I'm doing . My aim is to write my own songs with guitar and I may try and start doing that more now. Coming up with my own riffs even though my technique is severely lacking. Love hearing about y'all experience with this!
I actually have that program and never got into it! Couldn't find enough songs that I loved. Must try again!
Not that I'm much of a guitarist...or even a musician, but what I've found speeds my progress up the most is playing with backing tracks...or better yet, play with others, especially if there's another guitarist who's better than you.
Play along with recordings and maybe get a looper of some sort. It can really help. I'm amazed at the amount of useful tutorials on YouTube as well, though some are just done by people who like to wank and show off (not helpful).
I recommend guitarmasterclass.net you have to pay a subscription but I've learned most of what I know from the lessons on there and it has a great community too. I've been playing 8 years and now I have a band i play gigs all year round and festivals all summer long and most of what I know is from that website. Also find other musicians to play with if you can as they will both push and inspire you :-)
I second that. Rocksmith ( not rockband or guitar hero).Rocksmith uses your own personal guitar. it is a great way to learn guitar.
I have the opposite, I need a pianosmith game, so I can get better at piano. lol
Also, play songs and styles you love. playing scales just burns you out. learn the songs you love. Most songs you hear on the radio live within the same scales and note ranges. stick with it because once you learn a few, you will notice other songs are very similar. the. eventually you will just listen to the song, and know what chords and notes to play.
Try to make sure you are holding your guitar in the "correct" position. For years I, like a lot of others, played with my guitar really low slung. Awhile back I started playing with my guitar in the "correct" position and playing got a lot easier. It has to do with the angle of your wrist on your fretting hand; you want it straighter, not bent.
As far as what you wish to accomplish, I would suggest mastering all those basic, open-position chords. Then you get a capo and you are set for some basic songwriting.
Sorry if this advice was too basic. But that wrist thing made a world of difference for me.
This this this......rock smith is a great of learning while you actually playing songs....I was already a player when I got it, and used it to learn the techniques for bass playing
Rockband 3 with the keyboard is pretty good for this.
thanks again all! some great advice here! I've got Rocksmith cranked up. Is Steam a good place to find songs? works great on my Mac so far.
Steam is what i used for Rocksmith stuff
One of the best methods for learning the neck and building dexterity in your fingers which you will need for any style you play and especially if you want to play "Little wing or Voodoo Chile. Key is to start out slow and build speed gradually. In 30 days you will notice a difference. Also make sure you using alternate picking when playing scales to metronome.
I see zero Beatles songs and at least one of the hendrix songs is the Stevie Ray Vaughn version. And only 5 songs each for Radiohead and REM and only 3 songs for Dylan! Slightly disappointed by this but I'm sure a ton goes into making them Rocksmith ready.
O wow, so it is your opinion that scales are important! Thanks!
This is the most important thing to learn for lead playing. It will keep your interest while learning because you can transpose it easily and feel good about just jamming along to your favorite songs without worrying about climbing all over the fretboard. The main idea behind me suggesting it is because it's great for developing your own personal 'feel' and expression while playing.
It is the minor pentatonic scale. Here it is shown in A, and, simply put, that means it works in A minor and C major. You can move it up and down the fretboard as you please. As long as you know the key of the song, you're golden. It works with the root note in any minor key, and for any major scale, just go down three notes to the corresponding relative minor (for example, a song in G major will use the E minor pentatonic scale, a song in G# major will use the F minor pentatonic scale, and so on).
Sorry to be so windy if this is something you knew already, but I can't stress enough how important it is for learning to play lead without getting easily discouraged.
thanks! Well, I know these scales pretty well already so I probably just need to spend time jamming! I'm starting to look into using backing tracks, maybe with a drum app on an iPad or something... Or maybe there are website that offer backing tracks. Thanks for the reminder!
This is a great app for simply creating backing tracks.
Tin Pan Rhythm by Tin Pan
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/tin-pan-rhythm/id963594351?mt=8
Looks great! Will check it out for sure! thanks...
It kind of depends on what your personal goals are and how much time you have to spend. What are you hoping to accomplish on guitar? What do you want to be able to play?
I can spend 2-3 hours per day. Want to get good enough at lead to improvise and invent riffs and songs. I want to be as good as Hendrix (in my own way
) I want to eventually only play the songs I write but while I'm learning I was to play songs I love like Little Wing and Paranoid Android and Gymnopedies etc... (hundreds on this list)
@gkillmaster, the only thing you really need is passing the good learning path course. And I'm not sure that you can find something better than such kinds of sets:
https://truefire.com/learning-paths
General rules for learning improvised music styles of any kind:
Always play in time, unless you're just working out a fingering. Metronomes, drum machines, backing tracks are great to practice with, but it's also good to practice keeping time all by yourself, with no outside help. Playing in time naked helps you build forward motion and groove into your improvisations.
Don't practice mistakes. Try to always play everything perfectly, with excellent tone, time, and feel. It's better to learn one lick to perfection than it is to half-ass a whole bunch of licks. It's better to learn one song perfectly than it is to kind of almost know a dozen songs. Focus on perfecting one thing in each practice session.
Focus more on learning songs than licks and techniques. Have a large repertoire of many songs. Try to perfect as many of them as you can. If you have 2-3 hours a day then you do have time to practice technique, which includes chord progressions and arpeggios as well as scales. These are just as important as scales. (Arguably more important in some styles of music, such as jazz.) But learning and practicing songs should take up the majority of the practice session.
It's okay to compose solos and practice them, even in an improvised style of music. It's good to have things to fall back on when your inspiration runs dry.
Ear training is key to becoming a competent improviser. You need to hear every note in your mind before you play it, and be able to play anything you can sing. The fastest way to get this ability, and to supercharge your overall musical growth, is to learn other people's songs and solos by ear. Don't rely on transcriptions and chord charts. Work that stuff out all by yourself using only your ear. The first couple of songs will be like torture to get, but then after that it gets easier very quickly. The hard part is having the self-discipline to actually do it all by ear. This practice is what separates the men from the boys, and the good musicians from the wankers.
Not specifically guitar related, but the psychologist Anders Ericsson has done work for decades on "expertise", and some of his major claims are:
There's a decent short summary of Ericsson's stuff here:
http://spdrdng.com/posts/summary-peak-secrets-new-science-expertise-anders-ericsson-robert-pool
I don't think it's mentioned there, but one of the things Ericsson has written about is that although performance consistently gets better with practice, the trend is for the rate of improvement to decrease, which often leads to the feeling you've plateaued somewhat. So I wouldn't be too discouraged if you feel you aren't improving as much as perhaps you were initially.
Good luck!
I've found that learning stuff by Muddy Waters and Howlin Wolf (both with Herbert Sumlin on guitar), Buddy Guy, and Albert King really helped me better understand where Hendrix was coming from. Before he became "Jimi Hendrix", he laid his foundation on those cats.
Rocksmith is not the fastest way to get good. In fact, it will hold you back. You will improve by playing it -- without a doubt. But learning stuff by ear will supercharge your progress relative to learning by eye. Rocksmith does not encourage learning by ear, because that would put them out of business. They are actually doing would-be musicians a disservice by presenting a style of learning that is inferior to the traditional method. There are no shortcuts. You have to develop an ear to be a real musician. If you're serious, bypass the toys and do it the most effective way.
Learn fluid strumming by ripping the low E off and re-tuning to open G ala Keith Richards ...find the sus4 and sus2 shapes and have fun.
When using 6 strings, only let the high E sound out when it adds value. Pull up on it gently with the pinky, use it as an anchor for wrist movement.
Strum primarily with wrist movement pivoting from the elbow, your arm should not be moving from the shoulder for the vast majority of songs.
You have 6 strings, but only use only 3 or 4 at a time (by muting)
Find chords that require very little vertical movement when moving between them, unless they are of the droning variety that require the big vertical movements. I feel it's all about efficiency and finesse with guitar.
Eliminating the 3rd and letting the bassline determine major/minor.