how long?

[blahblah]

question for good players: how long did you guys take to get to your present state of playing (being able to whip out kickass improvised solos with your scales and modes with lots of feel and dynamics) ? i've been seriously learning since last...probably towards the last quarter of last year stopped for a while for o levels then continued and i still don't seem to make much improvement..ok a wee bit but nothing significant sometimes i get pissed off and stop practising for the rest of the day. any tips other than the usual "be patient" "relax" stuff?

thanks
a very impatient and pissed off blahblah :evil:

 

[spikes]

i know i suck , but here goes
to get yourself better skills, learn patience
expose yourself to other kinda music, learn how these musicians play... then sit down, compare these different feels and scales and see how you can use them...

 

[darkballa]

i have been playing for only slightly longer than you have but i find my progression is reliant on things. First is exercises when i started at june last year, i never too my finger exercise seriously till bout april, find some good exercises somewhere or make them up yrself just remember utilize all 4 fingers. another thing is if your willing to spend a little money buy magazines, and learn the stuff in them. i recommend guitar one and total guitar. total guitar is a bit pricey but worth it. i found that my speed increased dramatically when i learnt "thank you for the venom" by chemical roomance

 

[DoubleBlade]

One thing to take note. Make sure you practice CORRECTLY. you can practice for 2-3 hours a day but if you practice incorrectly , then you're not gonna get anything out of it for the entire practice session.

Sometimes take one step at a time. no point of wanting to learn modes when you don't even know your scales well etc.

 

[uzzo88]

hmm..i dunno sumhow i just got here..u have to go thru'secondary to get to poly...no easy way up..

 

[DoubleBlade]

I hope what I will say is in topic....

Sometimes we all get down with "Idol Fever". What I mean by "Idol Fever"?

I'm sure we all have idols in our instrument of choice right? Malmsteen , Vai , Satch , Lars , Jordon Ruddness etc. Sometimes we are so mesmorised by their playing so much so that we get so obssessed wanting to be like them. As a result , we skip the basics and try our very best to learn the more advance stuff hoping to shorten the timeframe needed to reach the exact standard of playing as our own idols.

At the end of day , it does more harm than good because you'll evantually find yourself getting back to the basics....

A person who practices 2 hours a day on scales with no knowledge of modes is often better than a person who practices 2 hours a day on modes with no knowledge of scales.

 

[dhalif]

just hantam for 8 years

 

[pooo]

just hantam for 8 years

hahahaha :lol:

 

[hay88]

skip sch and play. heck care o levels

 

[Vaiyen]

don't get impatient. I have a feeling you're coming from the wrong place.
If you truly love your instrument, every second you spend with it, every practice session will be enjoyable. You'll definitely get better bit by bit.

If the reason you're playing is to outdo your peers or impress the chicks, your motivation is wrong. You'll be desperate to get instant results, and when invariably, you don't see the quantum leap in your playing, you'll get pissed like now, and perhaps give up.

Of course, even if you fall under the first category, you'll still need to practice 'smart', to maximise your practise sessions.

 

[vernplum]

A person who practices 2 hours a day on scales with no knowledge of modes is often better than a person who practices 2 hours a day on modes with no knowledge of scales.

Please explain what you mean by this. As far as I am concerned, a mode is a scale.

 

[dhalif]

isnt that everything? to outdo ur peers? hahahah now dont lie to me vaiyen!.. every damn guitar player is guilty of that

 

[dhalif]

and yeah.. didnt notice.. a mode is a scale.

 

[Vaiyen]

That's everything??/ No way. I won't deny it's a contributing factor, but it's only a minor one.
I've seen people who pick up guitar for the sole reason of being 'cooler'. Then they boast about jamming or gigging. Usually you can discern these people by how they lug the guitar to sch everyday and play "nothing else matters."

 

[pooo]

The "cool" people who play, thinking they'd get the chicks :lol:

 

[dhalif]

oh yeah.. that kind.. and theres this bunch of sec 1 girls going "omggg hes so pro!!!!" *he continues plucking nothing else matters"

 

[vernplum]

If you truly love your instrument, every second you spend with it, every practice session will be enjoyable. You'll definitely get better bit by bit.

Couldn't agree more. I love my guitars and playing them more than life itself. Sure, most kids pick up a guitar and go through a phase of wanting to be rich and famous, but if that's your only motivation then you're 99.9999% certain to be disappointed, but for those who realize "Hey! this guitar playing is really really fun and addictive!" picking up that instrument and 'hantaming' (as some guys put it ) becomes a motivation in itself. Get into that mindset and you will always be happy.

 

[pooo]

He stops plucking when Dhalif, son of malmsteen arrives :lol:

 

[dhalif]

what a piece of poo.

 

[Vaiyen]

and then he picks up an instrument where he thinks he can be better than everyone else :lol: