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Posted by: chakie Feb 4 2009, 02:43 PM

I've been trying to learn to play the guitar on my own for about 1.5 years now. I joined GMC last fall but haven't really used the resources here that much, I find the interesting lessons too hard for me. Lots of good content, a friendly "spirit" and a good forum though.

So my question is: how do you keep yourself motivated when things don't progress? I'm at a stage where I can't really play any songs nor jam along to music I like. It gets quite frustrating to keep practising the same scales, simple chord progressions or riffs over and over and you really see no real progress. Of course there has been progress when I started, but at this pace I'll be able to play a simple song by 2019.

If I would know a fair bit more it would always be possible to just put on some record I like with songs I know and play along, but I'm far from that stage yet. My motivation is right now at an all time low and I'm thinking about selling my stuff and picking up some hobby that doesn't make me feel like an incompetent idiot...

No, I have no friends that play guitar that I could get together with, nor any friends that have bands. Having some playing friends would of course be a great aid. My wife does play the piano, so she's been helping me a lot with music theory. So compared to what I actually can play I know far more about what I theoretically could play.

Any tips for a newbie? Recording myself play is really of no use. Of course I know that just keeping on playing will improve things, I don't need recordings for that. The problem is just finding the energy to bother to pick up the guitar every day and practice those damn scales and progressions until I'm good enough to actually tackle some real song and eventually be good enough to play some simple power chord riffs.

Sigh.

-- chakie

Posted by: Mandos Feb 4 2009, 02:48 PM

I think that you need to focus more on having fun, rather than playing scales all day. Just start playing simple riffs/songs or just bits and pieces of songs you like. Don't bother with whole songs at this stage, just play random riffs from tabs.

You could start out with this one http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/rhythm-guitar/smoke-on-the-water-deep-purple/ and then maybe play Breaking the Law with Judas Priest.

I'm sure that you'll get your motivation back if you start having fun with the guitar instead of seeing it as a chore. Just take a few weeks where you just focus on playing fun stuff. Tell us what you like and I'm sure that we can help you out with simple riffs and songs.

Posted by: Fran Feb 4 2009, 03:01 PM

To keep motivation I learn lessons I like, and also songs. On top of that I keep practicing the lesons I know regularly, along with scales & improvisation, and sometimes record some collabs or my own small songs.

Posted by: timono Feb 4 2009, 03:13 PM

Like Mandos and Fran already said, play things you like too, that's what i do at least. Of course scales and that kind of stuff are important, but if they result in you not wanting to play anymore, thats not a good thing. there are enough songs to play that aint that hard.

Vary your practice routines with some fun stuff and playing will be a lot more fun

Timon

Posted by: fatb0t Feb 4 2009, 03:17 PM

I've had motivation issues before, especially in the beginning of my guitar 'journey' of sorts... What I find really gets me motivated again is - doing something you're completely uncomfortable with. For instance, I was stuck just working on alternate picking thirds in the minor scale - I got so bored and didn't feel like practicing any more. So I was listening to a song on the radio and it had slide guitar. I went home, busted out my slide and played for three hours straight. I even wrote a whole song around it... So sometimes inspiration comes from no where and sometimes inspiration and motivation come from just trying something different.
Like the guys above said, just try to learn a song that you really like and is easy enough to learn easily. Learn a new technique like I did, or maybe even take a rest for a few days and come back...

Posted by: Marek Rojewski Feb 4 2009, 03:33 PM

Yeah, You need more fun with the guitar. Learn easy songs, some lessons from GMC, playing these will improve Your technique and is numberless times more enjoyable than running up and down the scale. If You have 1 hour a day to practice guitar, I wouldn't spend more than 20 minutes on scales... Maybe I am wrong and it will make my progress slower, but I wouldn't be able to do the "boring part" for a longer time in a row..

Posted by: Toni Suominen Feb 4 2009, 04:13 PM

Like said above, learn music you think is cool and just keep it fun at all times. Maybe watch some inspirational guitar videos from youtube etc. to also give you more motivation

Posted by: ErikEklund Feb 4 2009, 04:19 PM

I get motivated because I love to play and think that it is very fun There is always something fun to play even if you are a total beginner

Posted by: chakie Feb 4 2009, 05:04 PM

Thank you all for the encouragement. But most of the things that apply to more advanced players don't apply to newbies. When I get bored I can't just "play some fun songs" or "write a new song". There's a small catch-22 here. And no, I don't play scales all the time, they are like a slow lobotomy to any sane person. I play my small riffs and some melodies that I've downloaded from all over the net, but they don't get me anywhere. I realize now that everything in the guitar world that I find cool is also very hard and likely impossible for me to learn with the amount of effort I can put in per day (10min - 1h).

Hm, I'm sorry I brought this up, this only makes me feel even more useless...

Posted by: Fsgdjv Feb 4 2009, 05:19 PM

I have to agree with everybody else. You don't need to be an advanced player to have some fun and play some songs or whatever. Learn some simple riffs, for example some Nirvana stuff. Great music and simple, I can sit for hours just playing simple stuff like that, and it's fun. Then when you are already enjoying yourself enough, you can sneak in some more serious practice, but start by having fun, even if it's simple stuff.

Posted by: Fran Feb 4 2009, 05:24 PM

Just with powerchords and some simple riffing you can play nice songs.

Learning a couple pentatonic boxes is a good way to start improvising over backings. Then learn all the boxes (maybe you already knew this!). Then learn minor/major scale boxes. That will help both improvising & understanding riffing better. Most riffing is just a part of the scale, and you'll picture it better if you know the scale.

At least that's what helps me the most!

Posted by: Wabba Feb 4 2009, 05:29 PM

Practice things you enjoy! I personally enjoy achieving stuff, so i practice a LOT of technique that is a little over my limits. But you're not me, so if scales are not interesting, then maybe you should try to learn some easy songs, or write your own

Posted by: Nighthawk1 Feb 4 2009, 05:34 PM

Well, I always watch one of my favourite lesson of GMC, I listen to my favourite Songs and then I think damn it, I wanna play like that ! and there it goes... Structure your lessons, be aware of the slightest success and progress, and practice ! Don't play stuff you already know and call it practising!

Posted by: Jose Mena Feb 4 2009, 05:44 PM

Well everyone's experience is different, maybe you started off wrong by learning theory and scales. In my case theory and scales and all that stuff came well after I could play almost an entire album.

My advice is, play your favorite songs, you will not be able to play them great as you start doing this, but it will improve, it makes the learning process more fun and feels more rewarding.

Jose

Posted by: Ramiro Delforte Feb 4 2009, 05:59 PM

I think the best way to keep the motivation is to put goals.
When you reach to one goal you go for the next.
Let's say....when I started to play metal I wanted so badly to play the Master of Puppets solo but when I reach there and play it I realized that it was no that difficult so I wanted to play some Marty Friedman solos and I continue that path until I played some Rusty Cooley chopps.
Of course you always can keep going but I stopped there and I putted other goals, different, more related to music and not technique.
The thing is that if you put some straight goal and you go for it I'm sure you'll get it done.

I hope this help you a little

Posted by: Vasilije Vukmirovic Feb 4 2009, 08:13 PM

Ups and downs mate. NOBODY is constantly well motivated. Sometimes you can easily play for hours, sometimes you just don't feel like playing. Remember why have you started to play guitar in the first place. Because you love music and you want to participate. So, I remember that when I am down, when my technique is terrible, and I then play some really simple stuff, chords and slow melodies. That doesn't help for technique improving, but you enjoy and you still play something. There are many areas in music/guitar playing. Different kinds of technique, ear training, jamming, improvising, theory, transcribing, listening, so if you don't feel like scale practicing, or theory, then jam a little, or improvise, or play something you already know. You cannot force improvement.

Posted by: Canis Feb 4 2009, 11:45 PM

I keep myself motvated by watching the people who play better then me. I find myself surfing youtube guitarists and the GMC lessons just to listen to the music and grasp the beauty of it all. When I hear something I like, I out it in my "Urgent to-do list" and promise myself that I'm gonna practice that technique or melody. If I manage to do that (which I do at some degree 99% of the times, because it's that very thing that is my motivation ) I get that warm, fuzzy feeling inside, and I go to bed with a smile on my face... I'm not kidding

So, to sum it up for those who only read the shorter lines (you know who you are ) : I get motivated by those who rock my socks! =)

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Feb 5 2009, 12:59 AM

We all have these ups and downs and I can only advise to you mate to cheer up and just enjoy the guitar, and enjoy the music. Listen to some inspirational guitar heroes, and seek for the music you love. This will let you express and learn more on your instrument. Also, always remember that some things look very distant when playing, but they are actually only couple weeks or months away. So cheer up and practice as long as you can - the rest will come into place naturally.

Posted by: Pedja Simovic Feb 5 2009, 02:32 AM

Really good points I read here. I can share my experience with you and hopefully it can be of some help

I really love guitar and music in general. I dedicated 13 years of my life studying it and going into deepest things there are regarding hidden secrets in music aka stuff that you can't just notice in the books More and more I am realizing that music is really something that always makes me happy no matter what happens in life - I always can play be happy or listen or teach and be happy. So some things that I use to motivate myself...

Whenever I am down for one reason or another, and my mind is not in a mood to take in musical ideas, I go out for a walk . Thats right, a walk It can rain , snow or whatever conditions are, I will just exit my place and woke around think some random life things and clear my mind of dilemmas I might have in my life. You are in the nature taking in things around you - somehow that relaxes me Usually this is very effective and when I come back I am much more relaxed and ready to play.


Another thing that I do to motivate myself...
Lets say I am tired and have no energy to play, I do 1 of the 3 things :
1) Do some physical exercises, or cardio (running or cycling for an hour or 45 minutes)
2) Listen to my favorite songs and solos (immediately I get that feeling I want to play the instrument)
3) Go to bed and take a nap

All 3 are very effective as 1st one somehow gives me energy (workout + shower makes me feel good about my self ; 2nd one is great for obvious reasons (it clicks in your head why you want to play instrument in the first place) ; and 3rd one sometimes is last resort as you may really need to sleep it off and wake up fresh with new things on your mind

I tend to do first two more than the last one as day only has 24 hours- if I napped 3 hours every day I would never get anything done

This may sound like a crazy motivational skill but... I go out and listen to some live music !!!
There is 3 things that can happen when I go to listen to music
1) I am hearing very bad music overall (bad communication in the band, no grasp of technique of the instruments, bad repertoire, bad singer/s voice etc)
2) I am satisfied with how band sounds (they are not John Coltrane , Michael Brecker Pat Metheny, but they hold their sound well for what they do)
3) And I get amazed by something I hear that whole gig !

Usually in my town cases 1 and 2 always happen And thats not in my town but in Serbia in general - there is couple of great jazz guys in Belgrade that can really get me to go WOW and feel like they are nailing their playing.
So when either one of these things happens I get motivated by all 3 and here is why

1) If I hear bad music I want to prove to the world that things can be done better !!!
2) I enjoyed their music, its time for them to enjoy mine !
3) Man that gig was awesome, I really need to work on my double time on Giant Steps !

Stuff like that really keeps me moving.

Anyways, I can go on forever but the idea is you can find motivation in anything !

Jam with other people, go to concerts, listen and analyze music, create and stick to your practice routine, work on all aspects of your musicality and things will definitely happen. After all , there is so many things in music that learning process can definitely take a while to have full grasp of things - so just get to it, stick with it and good things will follow

Hope this was useful to you

Posted by: chakie Feb 5 2009, 06:08 PM

Hey guys, thank you so much for all the kind encouragement! Perhaps I should just bite the bullet and have a little chat with my guitar when I see it next time.

My "problem" could come from the fact that I know enough to make simple riffs, 10 note tunes and scales mind numbingly boring to practice but yet so far away from being able to play something complete or resembling real songs. I guess most of you don't remember your newbie times when you just didn't know anything. Or perhaps you all were so eager/talented/lucky that the newbie days were past in a matter of months and you could shred away with the heroes? If that's the case I'm a bit jealous... My newbie days seem to stretch over years and years and that's frustrating and not too motivational.

But I should not focus on the negative, I have after all learned a lot since I started playing. I guess this phase will pass too after a while. Sooner or later I should be able to play TNT or Orgasmatron...

Posted by: Muris Varajic Feb 5 2009, 10:18 PM

Hi Chakie.

I can't talk in name of all people here on GMC
so I'm just gonna share my personal views an such.
There are many ways to motivate yourself,
someone is pushed to impress his friends,
someone is just trying to fill an empty time during day or week etc.
This might sound a bit strange and maybe gayish
but imo you should always try to impress yourself
BUT also you must set high standards
while moving the line higher and higher every day.

Ok, let me try explain this with real thing.
When I was a beginner I somehow
learned solo from Nothing Else Matters by ear,
2nd solo played by James if I'm right.
That was my high standard at that time,
I was sooo impressed I finally managed to learn it
that I was jumping around the room like a rabbit on steroids,really.
But next day or in few days I got some Yngwie's album or som
and it was like "ohh....now what?"
And it was time to eventually set new standards and seek for more.

We are all different human beings
and not all of us are getting motivated by same thing,
you should find your own way to get motivated
but no matter what you need to set high standards,
not everyone is able to make that on same level
and once more you have to determine how high it should be for YOU.

Posted by: Flushovsky Feb 5 2009, 10:41 PM

I understand what you are going through. I had the same feeling when I started to learn the guitar.
In fact, I started learning the main chords and playing the rythm parts of songs (nirvana for example), singing along with it.

But after one or two years of self learning, I felt like I was stuck in the same patterns of riffs and technique.

The solution I found then was to take guitar lessons. I was lucky to find a teacher who took some time to ask me what kind of music I liked the most and he started to teach me some songs we chose that suited my level and fueled my motivation.
Those 1,5 years of lessons helped me to unlock my technique and greatly improved the way I was playing the guitar by myself.

So if you can find a good teacher and afford to invest a few bucks on guitar lessons, I think that could help you to start over and fond a new motivation.
Then, you will aprehend in a new angle what GMC can bring to you.

Hope this helps.

Good luck to you and may the force be with you

Posted by: Vasilije Vukmirovic Feb 6 2009, 01:14 PM

Muris is got a point. Nothing beats that feeling when you nail the solo. You find some solo that is really cool, and achievable, and inspiring and work on it!

Posted by: slash48 Feb 10 2009, 11:50 PM

Listen to your all time favorite guitarists and tell yourself your going to be that fantastic if you keep on practicing. That's what I do.

Posted by: Praetorian Feb 11 2009, 12:01 AM

Chakie - different things work for different people as has been stated before. I am 35 years old and have a career...that is not guitar playing! I play just for the fun of playing in my own house! This is my own motivation...my own enjoyment. Whatever motivates you to pick the guitar up...just make sure you are enjoying yourself! Try not to get frustrated if you can't play with the soul of SRV...none of us can!

Try this beginner lesson out. It was one of the most enjoyable starter lessons I played on this site. It has a great feel and sound, and isn't difficult to learn!

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/john-frusciante-lesson/

Posted by: chakie Feb 11 2009, 02:29 PM

Well, over the last weekend I sat down and thought a bit about why I've been demotivated about playing. Eventually I came up with what's been bugging me to a fair degree. I've never actually liked the sound of my amp! I started out with a Roland Microcube which sounded surprisingly good (to me) at low volumes but which lacked any kind of oomph. So a few months ago i "upgraded" to a Line6 Spider III. It sounded good in the shop, but I never managed to get it to sound nice and cool at home. It wasn't expensive, so it's no big loss, but I now see that I've been pissed off at it most of the time... So during the weekend I got a new amp, a Marshall MG30 DFX (or something similar). It sounds just so much better to me, although it hs loads of buzz and hum when it should be silent.

The new gear again made it fun to test out my collection of printed riffs and melody tabs. I even started practicing the rhythm parts of some new and real songs. Much fun was had.

So thank you guys for your kind and motivational pep talk!

Posted by: lcsdds Feb 11 2009, 05:22 PM

QUOTE (Muris Varajic @ Feb 5 2009, 10:18 PM)

Hi Chakie.

I can't talk in name of all people here on GMC
so I'm just gonna share my personal views an such.
There are many ways to motivate yourself,
someone is pushed to impress his friends,
someone is just trying to fill an empty time during day or week etc.
This might sound a bit strange and maybe gayish
but imo you should always try to impress yourself
BUT also you must set high standards
while moving the line higher and higher every day.

Ok, let me try explain this with real thing.
When I was a beginner I somehow
learned solo from Nothing Else Matters by ear,
2nd solo played by James if I'm right.
That was my high standard at that time,
I was sooo impressed I finally managed to learn it
that I was jumping around the room like a rabbit on steroids,really.
But next day or in few days I got some Yngwie's album or som
and it was like "ohh....now what?"
And it was time to eventually set new standards and seek for more.

We are all different human beings
and not all of us are getting motivated by same thing,
you should find your own way to get motivated
but no matter what you need to set high standards,
not everyone is able to make that on same level
and once more you have to determine how high it should be for YOU.

Posted by: Velvet Roger Feb 11 2009, 05:40 PM

Besides all the points mentioned before, which are all very good I would strongly suggest to also participate in the collabs on the forum. When I started doing them a couple of months ago, they really gave me motivation to keep on going.

Currently, I have so many goals set for the near and distant future that I wake up thinking guitar, go eating thinking guitar, go to working thinking guitar and when I get home finally play the guitar until too late at night (so next morning I am rubbish (but still thinking guitar ).

Posted by: chakie Feb 11 2009, 10:29 PM

QUOTE (Velvet Roger @ Feb 11 2009, 06:40 PM)

Posted by: djohnneay Feb 11 2009, 10:33 PM

What I do lately, is just look at the things that I already achieved.
When playing something I can't seem to get right, I remind myself of what I have already achieved, and it gets me going again, like : "I'm gonna nail this one too!"

Also a possibility is to remind yourself that you've got all the time in the world to do it.
Strangely, whenever I get frustrated I can't play it as fast as I'd want to,
I remind myself that there is no timetable. You can take all the time you want to do it right!

Just play it very slowly and enjoy the notes!
Make it sound good to your ears, that's all that matters, there's no rush!

Posted by: Alen Feb 24 2009, 03:53 PM

QUOTE (slash48 @ Feb 10 2009, 11:50 PM)

Posted by: Vasilije Vukmirovic Feb 24 2009, 05:31 PM

How do I keep my self motivated? Honestly, I don't! If I feel like playing I play....
I noticed, sometimes, like....I don't feel like playing at all, and just pick up guitar to play few chords, and then bang!, I'm enjoying it, and finish by playing for 1-2 hours:)

Posted by: Alex87 Feb 24 2009, 05:49 PM

What works best for me is more or less what Pedja already mentioned. Fresh air and excersize, can't go wrong with it! It's also important to take a day or two away from playing. Even if you feel like you loosing hours of important practice, you really feel recharged for practice when you get to it the next time! At least always worked for me.
And another thing I do, I don't know how many who does this but if I think, my guitar (yes i always blame the guitar) isn't playing well that day, I turn to play piano or maybe sing songs instead. It's working fine for me to be kinda free around that. Other than that I could recommend listening to some bands or music styles that you NEVER heard before.
I remember one day I really wanted to play but I just couldn't get motivated and I stumbled across a song on youtube, that was really, really cool. I never heard anything like it before and just like that I thought "I gotta learn this now" and I did. So it worked in that case

Hope maybe some of this can help

Posted by: 19935027rafa Feb 25 2009, 06:32 PM

Hi! well really nice topic here! well to tell you the truth, i have felt exactly the sameway sometimes. I've felt like: i'm bored... or.. like, i dont want to practice anymore
Guitar is an extremely versatile instrument and it requiers many years of practice and hard effort to develope a good technique to play it.
I've been playing guitar for about 2 years and a half, and i've really enjoyed it!! but sometimes it gets to the point where you just want to throw it all away! seems to be the end of the world.
But the only reason we get that point is because we always forget that guitar is a musical instrument and i was made to create and play music! it is not necessarily to play at ultra-mega-monster speed and to rule the universe.
Just keep having fun with it and enjoying music!


-- A THING THAT REALLY KEPT ME MOTIVATED WAS TO PLAY WITH A BACKINGTRACK
---->>>>> TRY THIS: http://www.guitarbt.com/index.php?page=dl_list
there are many good backings out there, that will keep you motivated for a long time good luck buddy