Help! I'm Getting Discouraged..., I feel like I'm not making progress |
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Sep 17 2008, 12:58 AM
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I am in need of some change in my practicing that will make me a better guitar player. It is not that I can't find time to practice, but if even if I pushed myself and practiced ten hours a day I wouldn't be getting anywhere. It is not just what I'm practicing, but how I practice. Random licks aren't helping my playing any. What is something real that I can do to get better??? I don't need to be shredding 800 bpm by next week, but I want tangible progress. I've been practicing like this for months now and I have to say it's getting me pretty down on the whole guitar thing. I just need something to get me out of this rut.
-------------------- I spelled my username wrong...I didn't even think that was possible!
Look at the topic for my guitar... Finished Guitar Build Gear: Homemade strat (You still need to look at its topic!) Squier strat (probably going to get rid of it and get another guitar instead) :) Line 6 spider amp (not actually used for anything, just acts as a speaker) Digitech Gnx2 (kind of old, but cheap, and sounds amazing!) |
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Sep 17 2008, 01:12 AM
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Play songs man. Learn as many as you can. That's the key. I can never enjoy listening myself playing licks and scales only. It's only good for technical side but the music is not about that. When I play a song that's the real thing. When I say a song, I mean full nice song from some favorite band. Could be on acoustic guitar as well. Also try to compose something and that's where you can include what you have learned so far. Practicing random licks will take you nowhere.
-------------------- Check out my <a href="https://www.guitarmasterclass.net/instructor/Emir-Hot" target="_blank">Instructor profile</a>
www.emirhot.com www.myspace.com/emirhotguitar www.myspace.com/sevdahmetal |
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Sep 17 2008, 01:14 AM
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One thing i can say for sure is that your not alone in that situation. Been there myself many times, especially in the first years.
I dont know how you approach your practice, but have you tried to set yourself a goal? Like, decide on a song you really want to learn and just focus on that song and try to learn all the nuances it might have. And once you have nailed it, you might find yourself having learned alot more than just a song. This usually worked for me when i felt stuck. -------------------- Guitars: Schecter Stiletto Classic, Jackson SLSMG, Ibanez RG-380 Japan, Gibson Les Paul Studio
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Sep 17 2008, 01:22 AM
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QUOTE (Emir Hot @ Sep 16 2008, 08:12 PM)  Play songs man. Learn as many as you can. That's the key. I can never enjoy listening myself playing licks and scales only. It's only good for technical side but the music is not about that. When I play a song that's the real thing. When I say a song, I mean full nice song from some favorite band. Could be on acoustic guitar as well. Also try to compose something and that's where you can include what you have learned so far. Practicing random licks will take you nowhere. Yeah, I'm trying to learn songs too. Been working on smoke on the water, not just the main riff but the solo too. I might work on gn'r, slash is one of my favorite players. QUOTE (Ramiro Delforte @ Sep 16 2008, 08:10 PM) Have you tried a schedule to organize your praciticing time? Like...if you have 2 hours a day you can make a list: Sweeping 15 min Alternate 15 min Tapping 15 min Legato 15 min Theory 20 min Aplication of theory (could be a composition or an improvisation) 20 min Getting down by ear some themes or songs you like 20 min That's a good start. I think in that way you can improve your level and it's easy to evaluate it. I hope you find this useful.  That sounds like a great idea, I think an organized schedule would keep me much more focused. Thanks for the advice. -------------------- I spelled my username wrong...I didn't even think that was possible!
Look at the topic for my guitar... Finished Guitar Build Gear: Homemade strat (You still need to look at its topic!) Squier strat (probably going to get rid of it and get another guitar instead) :) Line 6 spider amp (not actually used for anything, just acts as a speaker) Digitech Gnx2 (kind of old, but cheap, and sounds amazing!) |
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Sep 17 2008, 02:11 AM
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Don't worry it happens to all of us, sometimes you don't see the goal, and even don't know how to come to it. The key is to know what you're gonna practice, and do it systematically, every day by a little. Don't need to rush it, just take your time, and I suggest getting a notebook and writing down everything you practice, also writing down a bpm next to the practice. This will help you organize your sessions a bit.
Also doing small tasks and wide area of things (songs, chords, alternate, economy, sweeps, tapping, legato, bends, vibrato, rhythm etc) will help you to make your sessions more interesting, and motivating. If you do same stuff over long periods of time, you will quickly fall into a routine and get bored. -------------------- - Ivan's Video Chat Lesson Notes HERE
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Sep 17 2008, 08:19 AM
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QUOTE (Emir Hot @ Sep 17 2008, 02:12 AM) Play songs man. Learn as many as you can. That's the key. I can never enjoy listening myself playing licks and scales only. It's only good for technical side but the music is not about that. When I play a song that's the real thing. When I say a song, I mean full nice song from some favorite band. Could be on acoustic guitar as well. Also try to compose something and that's where you can include what you have learned so far. Practicing random licks will take you nowhere. Playing songs by your favorite bands is really fun to do... I do this alot since the reason i started playing guitar was that i wanted to learn to play song from my favorite band. If you for exemple are having trouble with a solo in a song you can try to train on the technuiqe for a while and then go back and try againg.... I find this very motivating when playing and it feels really good when i am able to play the song in normal tempo. Hope you find your way again -------------------- My Gear
Ibanez RG Jackson js30 warrior jackson rr24 Line 6 Spider III amp Line 6 pod xt live Washburn acoustic Youtube Account My bands Myspace  |
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Sep 17 2008, 02:20 PM
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I think you should make yourself a reasonable goal, you should think of some technique you want to become better at (pick a lesson here at gmc that you wish to master , or even a famous song) and than go for it! Just make sure you set the goal not too high! After you do that you should focus your practicing on that particular goal (lessons, exercises etc)..You will definitely reach it very fast and than you will be pleased! Also one more thing , sometimes when we practice we don't see/notice the results of it clearly..But they are present, like in better tone control, muting technique (you play more cleanly), generally more competent/comfortable feeling when holding the instrument and many other things that can be not so obvious to ourselves...
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Sep 18 2008, 08:46 PM
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QUOTE (Trond Vold @ Sep 16 2008, 08:14 PM) One thing i can say for sure is that your not alone in that situation. Been there myself many times, especially in the first years. I dont know how you approach your practice, but have you tried to set yourself a goal? Like, decide on a song you really want to learn and just focus on that song and try to learn all the nuances it might have. And once you have nailed it, you might find yourself having learned alot more than just a song. This usually worked for me when i felt stuck. That's really great advice. Thanks for everybody's help! I practiced new things yesterday, and it felt great...tapping feels so good now. Now I need to get off this forum and start practicing again! -------------------- I spelled my username wrong...I didn't even think that was possible!
Look at the topic for my guitar... Finished Guitar Build Gear: Homemade strat (You still need to look at its topic!) Squier strat (probably going to get rid of it and get another guitar instead) :) Line 6 spider amp (not actually used for anything, just acts as a speaker) Digitech Gnx2 (kind of old, but cheap, and sounds amazing!) |
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