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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ 7 General Guitar Tips

Posted by: Raph Sep 10 2009, 07:29 PM

Hey guys, being bored and deep and all, I've decided to bore (or enlighten) you with 7 tips which has helped me in all sorts of guitar areas and general musicmanship. Here we go...

1. The metronome is your best friend. Name it and bond with it over exercises.
2. Stick to what your practicing until you can do more than just play it.
3. Don't be afraid to use other resources when practicing.
4. Keeping a track of your progress helps you look at areas in which to improve.
5. Like life, playing with other musicians requires co-operation and politeness. When another soloist is performing, back them up with great sounding backings. Don't be always hogging the spotlight; the other soloists didn't do that to you, so why do it to them.
6. A practice routine helps prioritise you guitar goals and aspirations.
7. (For the Swedish users especially) Swedish is, apparently, a tonal language. The same word said differently means another thing, so by playing a lick differently, it can have a different effect than if you play it another way.

Posted by: jafomatic Sep 10 2009, 07:44 PM

These are pretty cool. Do we want to add to it and keep the thread going? I've been toying with this idea for a bit:

8. A great note is played on time and shaped well, a good note has at least one of those qualities. If you cannot do both, pick at least one.

Posted by: ZakkWylde Sep 10 2009, 08:02 PM

9. Don't stick to learning and practicing all the time. To unfold your full potential you have to jam over backings, play with other people, write your own music and rock out from time to time...

Posted by: jafomatic Sep 10 2009, 08:03 PM

10. Music can be made at any skill level.

Posted by: Eat-Sleep-andJam Sep 10 2009, 09:15 PM

11. Dont be afraid to try to write songs with vocals and lyrics.

You might be suprised with your results. (Good or Bad !) laugh.gif

Posted by: Marc_Maiden Sep 10 2009, 09:38 PM

12. Give all your valuable guitar gear to Marc Maiden
happy.gif



Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Sep 10 2009, 11:57 PM

13. Buy as many gear as possible just for fun (ok ok, sorry... rolleyes.gif biggrin.gif)

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Sep 11 2009, 12:00 AM

14. Learn how to record video (with audio). Self evaluation is very important and video recording is a must know skill, for every musician these days.

Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Sep 11 2009, 12:25 AM

15. Relax a bit and get out with the girl on a drink !

Posted by: vampire18 Sep 11 2009, 06:40 AM

16. at the end of the day, speed is a means to an end, not the goal.
17.no one ever become a famous sucssesful musician just by doing covers of songs and solos. imrovising and writing music is the best thing you can do.

Posted by: Keilnoth Sep 11 2009, 08:33 AM

18. Improving speed is not about playing 1 2 3 4 all over the fretboard 10 hours a day. Play different exercises, not only AP, and improve each of them slowly and stick to rules 1 and 2 before trying to increase the speed.

19. Theory is a tool, music is the goal (Copyright © Muris wink.gif)

Posted by: sted Sep 11 2009, 09:09 AM

20. Sometimes its about knowing when not to play!

Posted by: JVM Sep 11 2009, 03:54 PM

21. Put some structure into what you do, maybe a few licks grouped together involving bending, then some octave licks, a few arpeggios then a nice ap run to finish it off!

Posted by: dark_dude Sep 11 2009, 04:02 PM

22) Practice doesn't make perfect - perfect practice makes perfect.

Posted by: jafomatic Sep 11 2009, 04:04 PM

23. Don't improvise, just compose ... really really fast.

Posted by: Sensible Jones Sep 11 2009, 04:16 PM

24. Listen to many different genres to give a completely different perspective to things!

Posted by: jafomatic Sep 11 2009, 04:18 PM

25. Don't be afraid to play without a pick once in a while, changes to the routine often spark great leaps in creativity.

Posted by: JVM Sep 11 2009, 04:24 PM

26. Practice standing, practice sitting, practice plugged in, practice unplugged!

Posted by: steve25 Sep 11 2009, 04:32 PM

QUOTE (ZakkWylde @ Sep 10 2009, 08:02 PM) *
9. Don't stick to learning and practicing all the time. To unfold your full potential you have to jam over backings, play with other people, write your own music and rock out from time to time...


Best so far, practice isn't making music

Posted by: JVM Sep 11 2009, 04:33 PM

QUOTE (steve25 @ Sep 11 2009, 11:32 AM) *
Best so far, practice isn't making music


I think it can be.

Posted by: Raph Sep 11 2009, 06:35 PM

Haha, nice ones guys. I'm gonna try and add 10 more to the growing list.

27. Listening to other instruments helps you craft new sound possiblities for your guitar playing.
28. 19 hours of practice is good, but you only have 5 hours to actually have fun with your life or guitar.
29. When songwriting, don't always try to rhyme. It's better to have a heartfelt song with no rhyme than a childish "cat, hat, bat" poem.
30. Don't be afraid to use cliches, after all, they're cliches!

Keep them coming guys!

Posted by: Eat-Sleep-andJam Sep 11 2009, 08:45 PM

31: If your stuck in a rut, try playing other guitars in a guitar store or other instruments in general. A simple change like this can often lead to a creative idea, that you may not have thought of on your original instrument .

Posted by: David Wallimann Sep 11 2009, 09:27 PM

Very inspiring thread!!!
Thanks!

Posted by: Drew604 Sep 11 2009, 10:08 PM

32. Make sure your instrument is properly set up (intonation, action, etc). If you cant do it yourself, then take it to a guitar tech.

Posted by: Raph Sep 12 2009, 08:57 AM

33. If you feel you're not improving, play the first song, chord, lick, not etc. that you first tried to play on the guitar. Chances are, it've sounded worse when your frist played that. This will help you to realize that you're always improving all the time, even if you don't notice it.
34. If you spend all your time practicing, don't! You can if you want, but you have a full life to live and the possible experiences that you can have in your life can also possible help you approach music in a different way.
35. Music is always changing, so you should to, not just in terms of style, but in discipline, attitude, commitment etc.
36. Goals are great to attain, but the best goals are those you can never really achieve, just doing it as best as you can, e.g phrasing, tone, dynamics.
37. Spend your time on the things you can't do and things you need to improve when practicing.
38. The best guitar players make "connections" with the guitar. This means that you should be able to sing a line and you should play it back on the guitar. This may seem silly, but being able to express your musical feelings direnctly upon thr guitar is one of the most rewarding aspects of playing.
39. A simple thing such as the pick you use can radically change your tone.
40. Rhythm guitar should not always just be chords. Arpeggiations, basslines, little motifs, stylistic aspescts from different genre can really make a riff or rhythm sound great!
41. Mixing a riff from one style with a solo from another is a great way to develop style, and to spice up your current style by finding parts which go together quite nicely

Posted by: CathShadow Sep 12 2009, 09:20 AM

42. Don't be affraid to feel like a beginner.

Posted by: Marcus Siepen Sep 14 2009, 05:26 PM

Very cool thread with a lot of great tips.

Posted by: Raph Sep 14 2009, 05:49 PM

43. Try to play the guitar in a different place than to where you usually play or practice.
44. Reps, not time! You get a lot more done in less time with a similiar, better result.
45. Grouping techniques helps you focus in more into a whole than working at it individually.


EDIT: Double take...literally

Posted by: Jenbu Sep 15 2009, 03:25 PM

this look like a good list to know. I think I have to bookmark it tongue.gif

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