is it me or?

[ilzaf]

alright ive been playing for like 3 soon to 4 years uh. but i can still barely play. been practicing for about 2 hours at least per day and the highest i went up to was 4 hours. but nevertheless skills doesnt seem to be improving.

is it me or is it time for me to up my equipment?

LOL my ibanezGRX70 and some Unknown SG.

 

[LadyInTears]

what u mean barely play?
if u still cant shred ure forgiven haha, but its not the equiptment clearly
PRACTICE SMART not hard
practise scales all the time

 

[ilzaf]

i cant shred. HAHA. thats for sure.

i can sweep the floor.

 

[bin4christ]

woah.. i got the same prob here. been playing about the same time as u but the first 6 months i wasnt really playing (a guy came n taught me 5 chords n nothing else, so tt's all i did). then i began playing acoustic rhythm for about a yr n then played scales (maj, min n pentatonic scales only, nothing complicated). then without having played any licks by the pros, i started making my own licks by fiddling around the scales that i know. did that for about.. a yr? til i got so un-inspired that i only practised about 5 min a day for a few months (most of 2007, actually).

my solution now: a gd fren of mine with awesome phrasing (bloodsolo) told me the key is to playing other people's songs. the licks that i like. try to play them on guitar. n try to play them BY EAR. it's hell initially but then it gets easier once the ears r accustomed to it. it might be a little late now (i'm 18 :s) but it's better to turn back in the right direction now than never.

to the ts: by practising 2-4 hrs a day, what do u actually do when u practise? if u're only fiddling like i did, u're gonna improve very slowly or not at all.

 

[astaroth]

u gotta have a goal when learning man. find songs u like and learn to play them. or chk out justinguitar.com and learn from there.

 

[ilzaf]

yeah scales, chord progressions. then trying to play songs by ear and such. haha. i feel stagnant somehow.

 

[subversion]

hi fazli

you should sit down with someone who can assess your playing to give you some pointers. capacity is not about how long you've been playing & how long your practice sessions are; it's what you practice that matters. if you practice mistakes, might as well not play...

 

[fenderrules]

if you feel that you're not improving, i feel that means that either the way your are practicing is wrong or you need to progress on to something else.

learning the guitar is an endless journey...

you need to EVALUATE what you are practicing once in a while. best if done regularly, after a practice, gig, jam or whatever.

one example is like one of my greatest weaknesses was being SUPER-DEE-DUPER repetitive in my riffing and soloing. i can't shred either (actually i can shred a bit...), but the problem was my melody. although i had my rhythm and those pentatonic scales down, i solo, but hey, who never loses interest listening to the same shit all the time?

so i thought and i thought, and i was playing a scale at the same time also. then when i had accidentally slipped my finger out into the "danger zone", out of the box, it struck me...

i had to break out of it, and then i tear it up!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!

my playing gets better now (although im still a rhythm guitarist in my band), and i break out of my normal patterns frequently. i still use pentatonics alot, but now, my new goal would be to master the pentatonics, breaking out of the monotonous flow and creating new sounds.

would love to tell you more, but i think you get the idea yeah? the main point is that you have to EVALUATE your practice. feel you need more kick in your soloing? let your technique do the talking. melodically challenged? start working on those damn scales haha. still in doubt? ask someone experienced. ask yourself or someone else frequently to guide you along. think of how you wanna do it. then when you know it, do it!

EVALUATE. i believe that would be the word for this thread.

good luck with your practice.

and cheers..

 

[EugeneSmasher]

I'd also like to add that the way to improve is to learn from those who are experienced, or from books or the like. Have a guide (mentor, guidebook, online videos and demonstrations, etc.) to guide you along. If you just play on your own, you are not going to learn new things.

I'd advise you not to tackle your favourite songs yet. Start easy, and make sure you have a guide to follow, since if your technique is wrong, its gonna be detrimental in the long run (old habits are hard to break, yes?).

If possible, go for basic lessons. I don't advise you to go into advanced lessons even after basic lessons because your playing style is going to be very 'schooled', and you won't stand out very much. But a basic guitar course would teach you the basics, and the basics are essential for improvement. From there, you could start developing your individual playing style.

My $0.02.

 

[Hydrofly]

I'm not a good judge of my own playing, but I think I've come pretty far in 1.5 years, some simple 6 string sweeps and knowledge to be able to shred scales, conventional western scales and some arabic scales. My way of getting there? You need to pinpoint out your weaknesses, and work on that, just 3 months ago, I couldn't sweep pick for shit, now my sweeps are somewhat messy but at least they SOUND like sweeps. Everyday, I start slow, keep playing the same sweep pattern, over and over and over again, once the fingers start feeling tired, I switch to playing something very familiar and slow. Then after that, back to sweep pick practice, well, fenderrules plays rhythm in my band and he can tell you the results of that focused practice, keep your mind set on improving that SINGLE technique, you'll get there in time.

 

[Godspeed64]

Step 1:
Practice songs.. Master the licks, master the chord progressions.. This will help you out in cleaning up your technique (plus builds up speed), as you compare your own playing with the song itself.. Try to experiment with a wide variety of genres..
I picked up guitar to play metal.. I've been playing alternative rock, classic rock and blues for the past 3 years.. Now I'm trying out metal again.. So make sure the songs you choose are varied.. Not worth knowing the whole Blink 182 discography as they're mostly power chords here and there..

Step 2:
Practice you scales.. Especially master the Pentatonic scale.. And master as in KNOW the entire fretboard for the ENTIRE scale in ONE key.. Maybe try major and minor scales as well.. Clean up your playing here, making sure you allocate your fingers accordingly to the fret..
Let's say you're playing Am Pentatonic.. Only your index finger should play a note on the 5th fret, your middle finger on the 6th fret, your ring finger on the 7th and your pinky on the 8th.. This is VERY important..

Step 3:
Apply the scales.. How? Open jam of course! Turn on some music and open jam to it.. Of course don't open jam to metal just yet (in fact i think it is ridiculously hard to do so).. You shouldn't just go up and down the scale, but include bends, slides, hammer-ons, pull-offs, rakes, pinch harmonics, etc.. And like fenderrules posted, break out the of the pentatonic ONLY if you can solo proficiently already.. I do add chromatic, major, or minor harmonic to my playing at times.. :mrgreen::mrgreen:


Actually the best advice is to get a teacher, or a truly experienced friend (who had been taught) to be able to assess and comment on your playing..
PM me and I can recommend to you a teacher.. :mrgreen:

 

[fenderrules]

Step 1:
.. And like fenderrules posted, break out the of the pentatonic ONLY if you can solo proficiently already..

yups.

some advice tho. when you have learnt and familiarized yourself with the box penta-patterns, immediately, i say again, IMMEDIATELY, try to break out of the normalities and ordinary typical straight playing of it. if you dwell in playing the box for too long, you'll be somewhat melodically challenged most of the time, while using familiarization as an excuse for yourself. pentatonics are fun yes, but like mentos (i love green apple yum), you'll be more addicted to playing the same damn thing over and over again. so break out of it before it envelopes you...i have been to the dark side and it aint nice.

be sure you get your technique right as well(string skipping, muting, raking and the like), and if you want, your picking speed as well. without it or without proper technique, it'll be like....uhm...eating nasi lemak without chilli or something ahahaha. technique is like your tools for expression.

and if you're in the mood, we can have a friendly guitar battle or something like that.

:lol:

cheers and good luck.

 

[ilzaf]

ah okay. thanks heaps.

$0.02 X 10 = $0.20!

 

[Rhizopus]

so much talk about speed, and not a single word of "metronome" appear in this thread...