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Posted by: Daniel Realpe Dec 7 2010, 10:11 PM

To clearly define your goals on the guitar is an important thing to do. What is it exactly that you want to play?

Don't just say: I want to play the guitar....mmm, really good...I want good technique and rock out...

* Be more specific. Songs, style, guitarist you want to emulate,

I did this actually unconsciously growing up. I just set my goals on the next cool song that I was hearing at the time. Inside I just told myself: "I'll be actually playing this MYSELF in the next couple of weeks"

So I knew exactly where I was going in my instrument.

I think you can start being versatile and more diverse AFTER you've mastered at least one style or way of playing.

I just thought this advice would be helpful for you

Posted by: MonkeyDAthos Dec 7 2010, 10:37 PM

-- -Song To Learn --
Altitutes - Jason Becker
Technical Difficulties , Down to Mexico - Paul Gilbert
A Horse Called Golgotha - Baroness
Ninja - Cacophony
Voracious Souls - Death Angel
Everlong, Hey Johnny park! - Foo Fighters
Paradise City, Garden of eden G'n'r
Waves - Guthrie Govan
RainMaker, The Trooper and Run to the hills - Iron maiden
James Labrie - Drained
Satch - Always with me Always with you, Surfing with Alien and The Extremist
Glasgow Kiss - Petrucci
Marty Friedman - Dragon Mistress, Angel , weapons of ectasy.
Megadeth - Kill the king; countdown to extinction, a tout le mond, holy wars, hangar 18, this day we fight, back in the day.
everybody knows that you are insane - queens of stone age
tender surrender, answers, for the love of god, the audience is listening - Steve Vai
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Skills: Full run of legato from one point of the neck till the other, Sweep picking <..still starting...>, tapping with more of 2 fingers (right hand), Muting Strings, Alternate picking.



pretty much my mains goals by now

Ty Dan good advice

Posted by: Daniel Realpe Dec 7 2010, 10:46 PM

so you are all set for what, the next year?? yes, I think that will get your skills to the sky!

Altitutes - Jason Becker

James Labrie - Drained

down to mexico

Myself I would love to play those, just for fun!!

Posted by: MonkeyDAthos Dec 7 2010, 10:48 PM

don't know next year maybe 2 or 3!! but surely im not thinking of being able to play this next week you see ." is like a long term Goal xD

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Dec 11 2010, 11:18 PM

Interesting thing tho, I was never that much interested in playing other players songs. Not that I didn't want, but I couldn't get myself in learning them note by note. Just not that kind of player. I want to learn to make my own songs and play my own lines. I like picking bits and pieces, but whole songs, not really, not for a long time now.

Posted by: K1R Dec 11 2010, 11:51 PM

I agree with Ivan. When I want to play some song, I download tabs, look at it but I don't learn the song. I can learn a riff, a solo, but learning the full song seems too boring for me. Perhaps I'm not enough patient to do that...

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Dec 12 2010, 12:49 AM

I think my problem is with memory, and general lazyness to learn the entire song. It's not that I didn't want to learn those songs. Back when I was younger I wanted that is, but now I think I don't need to spend time on other people's songs (unless I need those songs for gigs to make money, but even that is the last resort).

Posted by: Fran Dec 12 2010, 02:28 PM

I guess I'm just the opposite!
I love playing the songs I love, many of which have been on my brain for year and even decades. I love playing it along my CDs and mp3s. And I try to take the time to learmn them from beginning to end.

Unfortunately my skill is not high enough to play some parts, specially the solos. Though truth is I'm lazy when it comes to the solos because they ar both hard to play & memorize, much more than the usual riffing.

So I'm setting myself a goal now: I have to learn some of those solos in the middle of the songs I play daily. Some Dave Murray for starters

Posted by: MonkeyDAthos Dec 12 2010, 02:33 PM

i am much like you Fran. but instead of learn the solo i like to improvised it

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Dec 16 2010, 09:25 PM

This is what I did as well (mainly because I couldn't play or couldn't remember the real solo)

Posted by: Daniel Realpe Dec 17 2010, 01:06 AM

I remember for me it was a lot of fun (still is!) to play my favorite tracks at full volume! and still hear my guitar over it a little bit. Makes you feel like you are in the band. Eventually I develop a good technique out of doing this for a long time!

Nowadays I'm much more interested in creating my own music, but that's one stage I'm grateful I went through.

Posted by: audiopaal Dec 17 2010, 09:11 AM

I want to be a good rhythm guitarist, in different pop, rock and metal styles.
No specific guitarists or styles or techniques, and I don't believe I have to be that specific either
I have practiced to be able to play and be proficient in different styles, and so far I'm doing pretty good in my opinion.

I play guitar to write my own songs, and be able to write songs in different genres, not to play like anyone else

Posted by: Daniel Realpe Dec 17 2010, 02:31 PM

That's great. It's good to be versatile, I'm working on being as versatile as I can.

In the beginning it's not a good idea though. imo

Posted by: MonkeyDAthos Dec 17 2010, 02:40 PM

why do you think that?

Posted by: audiopaal Dec 17 2010, 02:49 PM

I think I know what you mean, and I agree..
In the beginning I focused on learning some songs in the style my band played,
and after a while when I could play basic riffs and melody-lines I progressed in a different way.
I then moved away from specific plans and learned guitar the way I have practiced here on GMC.

I usually don't learn whole lessons, but the parts I like and parts I wanna learn to compliment my playing
This has given me a better learning experience, only learning things I "need" if you know what I mean

BUT, I have never had the drive or wanted to become an overall guitar maestro playing solos all over, hehe..
I just want to be a good and secure Rhythm guitarist, and I feel I'm pretty close to where I want and need to be

Could I be better? Sure!
I'll never stop practicing, but I'm never gonna be a theory or solo "god", hehehe...

Posted by: Daniel Realpe Dec 18 2010, 02:51 AM

Because you might get overwhelmed. Audiopaal is right. You can't be the ultimate guitar player who can play ALL the styles! (maybe if you are Guthrie Govan) but not even!

At least in the beginning it's more fulfilling to being able to nail stuff perfectly and not just all over the place with a lot of incomplete pieces.

And I'm just talking about periods of one month for example. Take one month to only do solos in the style of.....hmm, Joe Satriani, or Marty Friedman, whoever,

After a while you'll realise that all these great players have common things and then you will start expanding your vocabulary,

Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 18 2010, 12:13 PM

This is a good topic. I must admit that nowadays, I don't tend to learn other people's music as I believe that my time is equally well spent working on my own music and playing.

In my earlier years, I tended to play along to the tape/cd and learn basic chord structures with all the barre chords I knew and that was it. I didn't have any tabs or anything until they introduced the internet at school !!

I think it's very beneficial to absorb as much of other people's styles and songs as you can when learning and developing you're playing in the early years. I discovered things like sweep picking from Guitar Magazines, but once I had a basic handle on my ability I tended to just play and follow my heart.

If I was to learn somebody else's music today it probably wouldn't serve me any purpose at all, other than just something else I've learnt. I'll forget it in a couple of years if it's a solo !!

As long as you're learning from it and it's helping you understand technique and music, then I think learning other people's songs is a good thing. If you're no longer benefiting from it, I think it's energy that could be spent exploring your own guitar vocabulary, now that you have the tools to do so.

P.S. This is only really applicable to those guitar players who are actively seeking to improve as much as they can.. some people are perfectly happy with what they get from the guitar and just like to play songs for fun, which is totally cool and there's nothing wrong with that.