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Posted by: Phil66 Nov 6 2014, 10:41 PM

you feel like this??? 1:50 is me at the moment and also at 3:00 is exactly what I say to myself

I've put the link as well as the embedded because some tablets won't play embedded videos

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DbUPjEbIvA



I'm currently feeling like this most practice sessions so any tips on how to get through it would be good.

Cheers people .

Phil

Posted by: SpaseMoonkey Nov 6 2014, 11:00 PM

Sir Higgins kicks chairs!

I just put the guitar down and go outside and toss the ball for my pup then come back in and start where I left off.

Posted by: Phil66 Nov 6 2014, 11:08 PM

Tried that mate, come back in and then I am that bloke

Posted by: bleez Nov 7 2014, 07:37 AM

yikes!
I dunno, is the dude just trying to record something he really cant play properly yet? Im not sure shouting / punching your hands makes them play better, it would be cool though
besides, if you're not passing through the towns of failure, hardship and frustration on your guitar learning journey then you're not moving forward ( pretty deep for 6:30 in the morning, huh! )

Posted by: Phil66 Nov 7 2014, 08:34 AM

Never too deep for me, awake since 3am

Posted by: bleez Nov 7 2014, 09:09 AM

LOL! That's so early its practically last night! is that a work thing or an insomnia thing
its a great time to be playing guitar though

Posted by: Phil66 Nov 7 2014, 09:21 AM

Insomnia I'm in work at 6:30 until 5pm. I don't get up and play guitar though as I don't want to disturb my wife I just lie there thinking about my current A Minor lesson I'm struggling to master
Cheers
Phil

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 7 2014, 10:37 AM

Phil I am here and I mean what I said in all our discussions about patience. In order to drag you over to the Lights Side once more, I will share this little story, from the Japanese folklore which I shared with Yash, who is also a very impatient little fellow:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=43809&view=findpost&p=697247

Hope this will make sense to you, mate

Posted by: Phil66 Nov 7 2014, 11:54 AM

Thanks Cosmin,

I know you are here for me I put this on to get various ideas and also it might help others that don't venture into the instructors area, also to keep the forum buzzing I'm not ignoring your advice mate
I am hoping it's a case of the better you get, the quicker you get better .

Cheers

Phil

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 8 2014, 04:37 PM

No worries, mate I understand the idea, but I just wanted to make sure you are conscious about the moment in time where you are actually at - the beginning, in which everything seems so close and yet so far Just enjoy the journey and don't raise the bar in an exagerrated manner for yourself. Practice hard, but don't try to compare yourself with anyone, simply because you are yourself and not someone else Deal?

Posted by: Phil66 Nov 9 2014, 09:54 AM

Deal sir
I am enjoying the journey but I don't like it when I'm stuck in a one way system and the exit routes are blocked or I manage to get through an exit only to be diverted back into the one way system. The scenery starts to get less enjoyable
Do the the hills get easier to climb as your engine gets tuned or do they get steeper to keep the difficulty the same?
Why does an hour seem like ten minutes when you're practicing?
Why, when you get over one hurdle does another appear that wasn't even there before?
One thing I must say though. Shockingly, the guitar is initially easier than the harmonica, that was so hard to get a single isolated note, constantly getting two notes, and the breathing to get your sharps and flats and keep in time was so hard, I gave up after a month
Cheers
Phil

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 10 2014, 08:03 AM

I say something is as difficult as you make it seem If you constantly think - THIS IS SO DIFFICULT! I want to do it faster! Others are already doing it - why am I slower? You are only making things difficult for yourself - we all do this to ourselves at one point or maybe more often, but hey, if everything would be that easy, you would get bored pretty quickly I think

Our society is based on instant gratification - life isn't Simply put - this is not a competition and it shouldn't feel that way. Remember, good Sir - your attitude towards the things you practice is the actual game changer

Posted by: Phil66 Nov 10 2014, 11:11 AM

I know Cosmin but it's hard to change your mindset sometimes I seem to be able to get things OK pretty quickly but the last 10% of accuracy seems to take a disproportionate amount of time. Its the same in engineering, the rough cuts are quick and roughly resemble the finished piece but the fine, accurate cuts are slower. The thing is I always manage to get the last few microns right in engineering but the guitar is a different ball game and I do find myself saying "I haven't got what it takes". I can strum a few chords around the camp fire and sometimes I think that's my limit
I think a big part of it is having had guitars for years and noodling with no direction but somehow expecting to improve, if that makes sense to you.
I guess that's where a lot of my impatience comes from, the annoyance at the realisation of wasting all those years and making a futile attempt to catch up.
I hope I've made sense there
Cheers
Phil

Posted by: bleez Nov 10 2014, 09:23 PM

I can actually relate to a lot of what you said and have been / am in the same boat. I think its even more easy to get disheartened when you have been playing for a long time ( without ever getting to the 'next level' ) where you are used to playing things and learning things quickly because they are probably within your zone. I get disheartened because of a lack of progress however as Cosmin pointed out to me there is a danger whereby you are simply not progressing as fast as you think you should be progressing. but how fast you think you should progress and how fast in reality progression occurs for the average dude are two different things. I asked myself a few questions and came up with this........ It takes as long as it takes! I used to hate that I couldnt play fast alternate picking but how long was I actually practising it? how long am I spending with a guitar in my hand? Turns out it wasnt nearly enough!
That last 10% of accuracy is the hard part though, the previous 90% is probably not beyond your current level so you will nail that quicker.... that's my experience anyway.
I've been working on this one lesson for a frickin year now! Im still about 5 BPM off the pace! some folks may have given up that lesson by now but Ive not and I will be playing that lesson at full speed.......... but they wont!

Its difficult breaking out of a mindset but you just gotta accept a few things. In my case I needed to accept that I didnt do all this shit when I was 20 like I shoulda done. I cant go back in time to change that so its accepted and I just need to do it now, no point in beating myself up over something I cant affect. Its not genetics that makes a good guitarist.
Its just like bodybuilding ( natural not chemically assisted ) look at the amount of training you need to put in to increase your deads by 20KG ( not to mention the nutrition side of it ). I think guitar is just the same, you need to adopt the training mentality you would for the gym. Its all about reps and how many you do.

that's my thoughts anyways

Posted by: Phil66 Nov 10 2014, 09:38 PM

Thanks Bleez,

It's nice to know I'm not the only one. I don't get much time to practice, hour and a half a day max, but I do my best. It's just really disheartening when you think you've got it, you put it on REC and the issues that were there have gone but something that wasn't there before has appeared.

I know all about bodybuilding my friend I trained for years until my injury (as explained to Cosmin here http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/guitar_forum/index.php?s=&showtopic=52754&view=findpost&p=698906 ). I know it's about the reps but also intensity. I don't know if you've heard of ultra high intensity training but you can get as much from a single rep as a set of 3x10. You push for 30 seconds, then lower for 30 seconds. The wait should be enough that the last couple of inches of lowering are nearly impossible. All this time you are squeezing the target muscle as well as doing the movement. It takes a lot of practice to tune into your body like this. The problem with guitar is that I can't see how to make the practice time more effective.

I'm out of action for a while, I have a herniated cervical vertebrae, it rears its ugly head once in a while and can disappear in a day or take weeks. I can just about drive and did a few hours at work today with a support collar on but I've just try to handle my guitar and the right arm going over the body is severely aggravating it so I have to take time out

Thanks for your helpful words Bleez, much appreciated.

Cheers

Phil

Posted by: bleez Nov 11 2014, 07:41 AM

I used to be a huge fan of drop set training one of the few guys in my gym who were tbh! I tended to favour the smith machine for drops on the bench press because some of the guys spotting were much like the dudes you described sounds like a mega sore one you took.
Ive not really found a way of applying the more advanced training methods to guitar playing, its an interesting thought however, imagine drop sets or Wendler's 5/3/1 system on the guitar! that would be kinda awesome
I know what you mean about the REC takes, Its not uncommon. I tend to run a REC take past Cosmin before posting and nearly always he will point out stuff that needs fixing.
My thoughts for what they are worth would be - practice around your injury and dont put too much pressure on yourself to progress within a certain timeframe.

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 11 2014, 08:49 AM

Thank you for your kind words, Scott! You and I have been working together for a long time now and hell man, progress is always occuring, plus you have gotten past that 'Why am I not faster yet?' phase - it's feeling a lot better and results are always occuring, out of what I know, but at your personal pace, which you are slowly understanding and learning how to work with

Phil - it's the same thing here I will kindly remind you to stop doing this to yourself, man - why keep at it, when it hurts?



Spoken like a true master!! Hats off to you, Scott, that's the attitude!

Posted by: bleez Nov 11 2014, 01:57 PM

Thanks Boss your zen like ways must be rubbing off on me!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Nov 12 2014, 08:29 AM

If they would only rubb off on me all of the time I found myself losing temper over some stupid taxi drivers yesterday and I was pretty mad at myself for losing my cool in front of such a bunch of idiots.

Kidding aside, I think that your attitude towards everything in life, is what really makes the difference You are on the good path, Scott! Keep walking!

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 21 2015, 01:51 PM

Just read through this one again and found it quite inspiring.
Thank you gentlemen
I've been really struggling with a couple of level two lessons with movable chords. They've been really getting me down, so much so I think that's why I took such a long diversion into setting up a microphone recording system. I needed to accomplish something. Anyway I hope this will kick me in the backside and get me back on track.
Cheers folks

Posted by: bleez Dec 22 2015, 05:16 PM

I could do with reading through it again myself. The last few weeks have been crap for me in terms of guitar motivation and inspiration. It sucks for sure

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 22 2015, 10:01 PM

Same for me mate, we know we'll get through it but it's a struggle at times and it's always when you are in a lesson that you are struggling with and can't improve no matter how slow you take it, well it is for me anyway, you feel like you're regressing rather than progressing.

Horrible feeling because you want to get back into it but can't for some reason. I picked up my guitar 5 times tonight and put it down after a few minutes.

Posted by: bleez Dec 24 2015, 09:01 AM

yeah, it seems to happen now and then Ive had a great couple of years where my practice has been really excellent so I probably shouldn't complain .... but I will this last month has been 'why am I even bothering' type of thing. Ive got a couple of lessons which I cant believe Ive not nailed yet. On the flip side, my weight training has been good, it seems I cant make progress on two things at the same time!

Posted by: Phil66 Dec 24 2015, 09:26 AM

I know exactly what you mean mate, the "why am I bothering" scenario does tend to crop up sometimes but give it time and your original desire will return, the seed was planted long ago, the tree will want to start growing again soon
Nice to hear your weight training is going well though, I really really miss it but I can't even bench 100lbs since my injury some years ago which is tragic when you consider I was benching 300+ for 10 and squatting 500 for 8 back then.
Give it time mate, it will come back.
Cheers