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Posted by: twist Aug 9 2009, 04:49 PM

Hi everyone!

Well i am nearly playing half of my lifetime now, with some short and longer pauses in between. I started off with a classical teacher on the acoustic guitar, some smaller courses and the i switched to electric guitar. From that on my knowledge comes from books and the internet.

My actual status is that i can easily learn simpler songs and even play them along but i have problems with the more complicated stuff that is in my favorite music. Besides that i have serious problems improvising or 'jamming along'.

As far as i can tell this breaks down to the following:
- Lack of speed in right hand (problems with for example stuff like the intro to deadly sleep from iron savior, i just cant get that fast)
- Lack of speed and independency in left hand, with the more complicated stuff i always have to slow down and look at the tabs every two or three notes.
- Lack of theoretical knowledge. I do know the basics and even some chord building stuff but the magic behind scales and building melodies and solos from them i dont know.

So this is where i am. And now i have this huge archive here with tons of lessons and millions of people to ask. And i dont know where and how to start. I am not a totaly bloody newbie in most parts but i feel like missing some serious parts.

Can someone give me advice on what to do now?

Thanks a lot in advance for your help

Posted by: mattacuk Aug 9 2009, 05:22 PM

Welcome twist - great to have you on board

OK, so I have read through your message and these are all very common "problems".

The first thing that comes to mind when reading your list of "things do improve" is that you would benifit most from learning some core "basics" regarding lead guitar.

You mention you picking hand is not fast enough, and your fretting hand is also having difficulty. This is something I read often with our members, and I would say that actually the problem is not about speed but rather CONTROL over your instrament.

Remember these three important things on your quest, CONTROL, TONE, and THEORY.

Control and Tone are the two most important things here, and theory is extremely useful but can come later.

Speed comes as a Bi-product of Control (as does "good" tone). How does one get control over there instrament I hear you ask??

Learning by repitition and taking your time over things

Ok so now you know these "secrets" you need to know how and what to practice in your routine. There is no set answer, everyone practices different but there are general guidlines that can be followed.

My personal routine consits of practicing scales, but "sequencing" musical patterns over them in order to build up my improvisational (and overall) skills in lead guitar. I practice alternate picking and legato, tapping, chord relays, and a fairly complex (on going) peice of music in a typical week.

You may or may not understand what I just wrote depending on your skill level, so I would recommened first watching some of Kristofers 101 lessons which will show you the basic ideas surrounding how to approach your own practice sessions.

These should get you started;

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/how-to-practice-guitar.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/speed-alternate-picking-lesson1.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/One_on_one_pentatonic_scale1.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/how-to-use-a-metronome.htm

These are just ideas to get you started (try to explore the spoken lessons to get ideas on how to practice), the important thing im trying to get across is to take your time, and learn the foundations of what makes a great guitarist. Youd be supprised how quickly you can progress!

I would recommened doing some licks / exercises over a single scale (many players worry about learning too much at once), learning a simple peice of music from the GMC lesson archive (any that takes your fancy) and learning the basics on chord construction (check the theory board) for that. Then just take it from there

Posted by: twist Aug 9 2009, 08:05 PM

Thank you for the detailed answer!

Most of the things you say i sort of knew them but did not admit to myself that i have them. I will begin with the lessons you pointed out and will try to work my way up from there!

Posted by: mattacuk Aug 9 2009, 08:24 PM

No problem, we have a huge archive with loads of cool instructors to so be sure to have fun.

Its really all about synchronising your picking and fretting hand, its just takes time and hard work

Good luck!

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 9 2009, 10:24 PM

Matt has given you some GREAT advices!!

In addition it would be great
if you could share couple of video clips of your playing with us
so we could talk more in details about your current issues.

Posted by: twist Aug 10 2009, 12:12 AM

I never did any videotaping of me, so i dont know what you expect. What should i show in the video or what should i play?

Posted by: Muris Varajic Aug 10 2009, 12:43 AM

Play pretty much anything you want, a solo or a song,
or improvise over BT etc.
Tape as much as possible and show it .

Posted by: twist Aug 10 2009, 04:13 AM

ok, you wanted it... I made a midnight recording session (actually its 5am now...) and just played a bit of the stuff i can remember Its not nice and it doesnt look good, but its an example of what i can and can not... (I wouldnt want to watch it...)

I uploaded a rar archive with a flv video inside. it plays with the vlc or something similar. Is there a common way to upload videos here? (I dont like youtube...)

Posted by: mattacuk Aug 10 2009, 08:49 PM

I spent so much time Improvising of Emirs Backing tracks

Posted by: twist Aug 11 2009, 01:05 AM

Hello again, i just recorded something i learned today, its from Lian Gerbinos Power Metal Rhythm Lesson. Its far from perfect, but i like it.

 lian_powermetal_rhytm_by_twist.rar ( 1.95MB ) : 399

Posted by: leedbreak Aug 11 2009, 04:54 AM

Well you are not alone I started at 17 and finished at 40. That was phase one,,, LOLOLOLO
Then I joined GMC 2 years ago and started over in many areas. I came here to learn to play fast, I am learning much more. When I joined I could play groups of notes 8 - 12 notes long (16th notes) at 96 BPM descending and about 92 for ascending. I now can do the same patterns at 135 descending and 127 ascending. That's like 15-20 BPM a year. Maybe slow progress for some, but I am very happy with it.
What is still driving me? Well that is simple. So many people know I am trying this hard so I can not bare the thought of not being able to do it.
If I can play decent 16th note runs at 145 or more by this time next year I will have reached my goal. (speed wise).
The best tip I can give is the importance of warming up with proper technique.

Most everything you need is on this site somewhere but the determination is up to you.

Posted by: twist Aug 12 2009, 02:57 AM

For easier access i put my last video on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MbqyLn99MI

Posted by: kaznie_NL Aug 13 2009, 06:19 PM

The intro solo sounds... A bit out of tune?? I'm not sure, just not right... you get my "twist"

Posted by: twist Aug 13 2009, 06:23 PM

It IS out of tune, since i didnt see that the lesson is in dropped tuning Will fix that soon

Posted by: mattacuk Aug 13 2009, 06:37 PM

Would I be correct in guessing you are mostly relying on tabs / playing by ear, than having knowledge of the notes/pitches your playing?

If so this could be another really great skill to add to your bag, maybe the next step in your quest to rock god

Posted by: twist Aug 13 2009, 07:04 PM

You got me... But sadly its not the by ear thing, i relied on the tabs with that one. But the knowledge about notes and stuff is what i am working on at the moment. I think i will never be a rock god, a realistic goal might be a good rhythm guitarist

Posted by: mattacuk Aug 13 2009, 07:07 PM

Sounds like your really on the right track twist, keep up the good work