Frustration, Beginner -> Intermediate
Rooks
Oct 2 2008, 05:12 PM
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Hey GMC

I've been playing for around 3½ -4 months I rate myself as a beginner, I know the pentatonic scale (with blues extension) I can do o.k hammer ons and pulloffs
I can make a bend and a subtle vibrato.. I know some chords .. I've been practicing to music, while watching TV..

And well.. thats it .. I keep buzzing often, hit the wrong string with the pick and accidential mutes ..

I practice at least 1 hour every day.. often more .. Still I'm not going anywhere and I stumble through some lessons but don't find it any rewarding .. The beginner lessons I can do with ease but as soon as I near intermediate it crashes.

At school we are playing "Sleeping my day away" and I volunteered for rythm guitar .. I've practiced this couple of days a week for 3 weeks and I still suck bottom.. Today I was in the corner "playing along" on my guitar without amp while a better guy took over. sad.gif

How do I break that invisible barrier to being able to play anything besides a silly scale and a simple pentatonic lick?

Several people I play with have played for a few years and I feel like a joke ..

I love playing guitar, I'm keen on practicing everyday. But when it gets trivial and your not going anywhere, it's not fun to practice, and your friends make you look like an idiot ..

I must say, yeah and I said it. I seriously consider putting down the guitar and stop fooling myself.

greatly discouraged
Rooks

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jer
Oct 2 2008, 05:19 PM
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This will sound cliche but its true.

Good things come to those who wait.

Seriously, playing a musical instrument is not an easy task. This isn't Guitar Hero. This is GUITAR! So realize that 3-4 months is a drop in the bucket. Pat yourself on the back for what you DO know. The guys in D.A.D. didn't decide to take up music and pen that tune in the first 120 days.

It does take time.

Can you elaborate on what part of the song is kicking your rear? Maybe we can point to some practicing opportunities that will directly relate to what you are wanting to play.

Do you play along with the song at home?

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OrganisedConfusi...
Oct 2 2008, 05:21 PM
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Im constantly frustrated. But one thing to realise. You shouldnt feel like a joke round your friends. Use the fact that they are better to progress quicker. Jam with them often and ask them questions. You will soon reach their standard and guide your own future on guitar. You only find your zone on guitar after a number of years.

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Matt23
Oct 2 2008, 05:24 PM
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Yeh being good at the guitar doesnt come instantly. And about feeling foolish around your friends and people who are better than you, maybe you could get into the state of mind i was in at a point some time ago, where being worse than your friends makes you practice a lot more. Now i am better than my friends.

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Oxac
Oct 2 2008, 05:29 PM
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You have to stop practising while watching TV. There's a very common statement which is FALSE. Practise makes perfect. DANG! Look at ace freehley...

Practising perfectly makes perfect. Explained, it's the amount of FOCUSED practising time, one where you find a mistake and work very slowly to perfect your playing, speeding up while always keeping the perfection.

No one's gonna care if you can play 10 notes per second or 25 notes per second. People is going to care if you sound good or if you sound bad.

For instance. Look at stevie ray vaughan and look at ace freehly. Most of the time, they play at approx the same speed. SRV can shred it away pretty much if he wants to but he doesn't.

Who sounds the best? SRV or Ace? (when it comes to guitar playing only).

Eric Johnson or Herman Li ? the latter plays fast the first plays perfect...

You do the math. My advice, play really REALLY focused. Play without a tempo at first, make sure that you know all the notes perfectly. Now pick a tempo at which you can play it perfectly, this may be like 65 BPM or something. That's fine. Then move up slowly untill you can play it at desired speed, perfectly.

If you do this 30 minutes a day and the watch TV the rest of the day. You're going to get better than if you watch TV and play guitar for a whole day...

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OrganisedConfusi...
Oct 2 2008, 05:29 PM
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Or go for the oc method and hypnotise your friends to think you are a god and give massive applause upon playing every note

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Vinod Saranga
Oct 2 2008, 05:30 PM
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Most people are stuck at begginner level or intermediate level and don't get progressed for years.


This is because they never do new things and improve their playing ability (technically wise).They are just doing same things in their limits and never push that limit.

Think back to the first day you picked up the guitar.You learn how to hold it,how to pick how to hold barr chords,etc etc very fast.But after few months you feel that you are in same position for a long time.This is what most people feel.

Keep in your mind You have to push your limits.Keep the Begginer's mind everyday.If you want to get more advanced then you want to change what you are doing.Learn new things keep practising. smile.gif

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Rooks
Oct 2 2008, 05:30 PM
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Jer
I'm not fast enough to play along with the song thats just stressing me out

When playing the chords I can't stop buzzing and that's really annoying...

I too know that I'm not a virtuoso overnight ,, Just the extreme lack of any visible progress really bugs me..
I see a teacher 25 mins a week.. I don't get anywhere because it's so little time really ..

In here the "intermediate" lessons are *'"&/¤ swear words #%¤ hard.. Theres always some part or 2 that I can't get right or precise no matter the repetitions..

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GuitarsANDtattoo...
Oct 2 2008, 05:30 PM
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Well, you've only been at it for 3-4 months, right there, you're new and that's that. It takes a lot of time to get familiar and skilled with the instrument of your choice. Perhaps you're moving too fast or not practicing entirely effectively?

Why not try to consider your fellow guitar playing friends as resources to help you learn more? You don't need to be afraid of asking for help (I think I pester Gabriel Leopardi enough), plus, if they give you a hard time, keep at practicing and then blow em' away with some ridiculous solo or something like that in the future.

Maybe you're not sure of your style yet? I'm still digging around for lessons on GMC that would serve to contribute to my own personal style (which appears to sit oddly around rock/blues/shred). I have an idea now, due to my practicing, but I'm still digging a bit.

Other than that...I don't know. Don't give up though, maybe take a day off, then come back and go for it again. I find it hard with the habits I've acquired through GMC to even stop at all, so it works, just gotta find your niche.

Oh yeah, and use the practice schedule like a fiend so can track your progress and every step you take! It can be very encouraging to see that what you thought you achieved in a week, you actually did in a couple days. I'm still reworking mine to fit my changing guitar needs. But yeah, use it!!!

Hope this was helpful in some way or another.


Fellow GMC devotee
-Cavan

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Fran
Oct 2 2008, 05:31 PM
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QUOTE (Rooks @ Oct 2 2008, 06:12 PM) *
Several people I play with have played for a few years and I feel like a joke ..


That's the answer right there Rooks. You shouldn't compare to people that have been playing for years when yoy've been playing just a few months! Learn from them. You are lucky you can play with them, ask questions, see how they do it, and enjoy!

As for motivation: how about recording a simple riff and then improvise over it with the pentatonic boxes you already know? Or get some backings and jam over them.

Also, look for GMC lessons which 1)Are doable for your level and 2)Sound really good to you.

Good luck, and don't even think of quitting! wink.gif

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Rooks
Oct 2 2008, 05:36 PM
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seems like everytime I have more than 1 string involved I just get fat fingers even when playing slow ..

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jer
Oct 2 2008, 05:42 PM
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Let's look at the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdDrDa9PGJg

The first 33 sec. (up til the vocals)

Which part are you trying to play? The rhythm or lead part?


I found this, dunno how accurate it is.

QUOTE
[0:00]
Intro:

E|----------|
B|----------|
G|----3-----|
D|----3-----| a couple of times, and then:
A|----1-----|
E|----------|


[0:06]
Intro Guitar 1:
E|-----------------|
B|-----------------|
G|--3-------8------|
D|--1---4---6------|
A|--1---4---6------|
E|------2----------|

Intro Guitar 2:
E|--------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------|
A|---------8------8-----8------4-----6------|
E|---4/6----4/6---4/6----4/6---4/6--------| x2

E|--------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|
D|-----------8--------------------------|
A|-----8-------------8-----9-9\8\6----|
E|-4/6---4/6---4/6----4/6-------------|

E|----------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------|
A|------8-----8-----8------4-4/6-8/6---|
E|--4/6---4/6---4/6---4/6-------------|

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Oxac
Oct 2 2008, 05:43 PM
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Then play really slow! Or EXTREMELY Slow!

Pick a chord. Then place your fingers. Hit one string at a time, if something doesn't sound right, try to find out why. Correct it. Now remove the hand and do the same thing all over again untill you sound good at the first attempt. Now speed it up, slowly. When you can play the chord pretty fast you should do the exact same procedure with another chord. Then practise shifting between them. This is the way to learn man... If it doesn't sound great something is wrong. If it's not your amp and not your guitar it's most likely you. You can buy a new amp, you can buy a new guitar and you can WORK on your playing. If you count hours spent, working on your playing will be the most expensive. But a good amp and a good guitar is worthless (for playing purposes, you can of course resell... but that's not the point) if you're not playing good.

So just GET TO IT! Stop reading here. Go pick up your guitar, find out 3 chords and PRACTISE PERFECTLY!

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Vinod Saranga
Oct 2 2008, 05:46 PM
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QUOTE (Rooks @ Oct 2 2008, 10:06 PM) *
seems like everytime I have more than 1 string involved I just get fat fingers even when playing slow ..

Hey Rooks,

It's normal to have muted strings for a 3-4 months begginner.


Here is a practical metohd to overcome it.

Hold the chord you feel uncomfortable and play it string by string and identify where is your problem.Fine tune your fingers and correct it as possible as you can.Then hold it tight (don't loose your fingers) for a few minutes while you strum it for 10-20 times.

This will give you a good muscle memory and you will play clean soon. smile.gif

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Rooks
Oct 2 2008, 05:58 PM
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Well thank for the tips guys

I'll just get to practicing some more and see how we do smile.gif

You guys always make me feel better..

<3 GMC

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mattacuk
Oct 2 2008, 05:59 PM
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On reading your post the first thing that comes to mind is that you have only been playing a few months yet you expect to be able to play as good as your friends who have been practicing a long time.

For my first year i only practiced exercises over and over and over again, for hours on end - without expecting much from my guitar. I feel this did me the world of good, and it gave me a good solid grounding to learn intermediate lessons from.

If you want to get good, you need to have focused pracice sessions, learn how to use a metronome, practice exercises and etudes nice and slow. Understand you need to work hard to reach you goal, but that dosent mean it cant be FUN!

So find some fun lessons, break them down, practice them slowly and enjoy yourself!


Good luck smile.gif

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Rooks
Oct 2 2008, 06:58 PM
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I just found out my Vox Amplug (small minibatterypowered amp) have play along aux input .. really nice with D.a.d input and playing along rythm..

actually really nice.. solved my d.a.d problem

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Fsgdjv
Oct 2 2008, 06:59 PM
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I'm actually of the opposite opinion as Mattacuk. I don't think he's wrong, he has indeed some great tips, but I just have another way of seeing it. Enjoy yourself! Learn some fun songs or something, that will get you better and you'll enjoy it. I felt good when I nailed the nirvana song "All Apologies" for the first time, plus I had fun. Super amazing technique will follow later when you feel the need to get that.

Sure, metronomes are always good, but I don't think anyone should focus on ulta speed untill they have gotten the basics down like bends (in pich) and (decent) vibrato. But sure, some metronomes excercises are good to understand timings and how to divide a beat, but I wouldn't take it any further than that for a while.

This is just my opinion, and I have no desires to be an amazing shredder, if you have that, then my suggestions probably won't fit you, but I still think everyone should play around and have fun with guitar, and not hurry that much after 4 months. I know I was pretty much the same as you after that time, but the problem solved itself after some time, so try to just enjoy the ride.

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opeth.db
Oct 2 2008, 07:04 PM
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Dude! You been playing for 4 months. If your at the same plae 3 years from now then I would re-evalute it but your just a pup my friend. smile.gif

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skennington
Oct 2 2008, 07:10 PM
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QUOTE (mattacuk @ Oct 2 2008, 12:59 PM) *
For my first year i only practiced exercises over and over and over again, for hours on end - without expecting much from my guitar. I feel this did me the world of good, and it gave me a good solid grounding to learn intermediate lessons from.


Wise words here! Don't expect too much man, and please, don't ever think of quitting! Practice as often as you can but don't make it a chor, you have to keep it fun and you will see yourself progress nicely. smile.gif

Try not to compare youself as we all progress differently. I bet you can find a technique or some aspect of your playing that you feel good about. Work on the ones that you don't and when you feel discouraged, go back to what you know for a little while.

It's a lifelong commitment so just have fun!

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