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How to get better at guitar

jakeworth.com

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Re: How to get better at guitar

#171

Post by sublinear »

TrackerFF wrote: post #161

The way I learned guitar: 1. Lessons for 6 months, didn't learn much. 2. Started playing cover tunes, did that extensively for years. Practiced by butt off. Played with a lot of different people. 3. Went back to learning theory. For me my main motivation to learn guitar was to play in a band, not to become good at the guitar itself. But it turned out that I was talented enough to learn a lot by just screwing around.…

> With that said, If I could go back, I'd just start with learning all the notes on the fretboard, all the basic chord and scale shapes. It's actually not that hard, but you need motivation.

I agree, but if the guitar is someone's first instrument it may also be their only creative outlet or seen as a means to an end. They're almost guaranteed to do what you did and probably even skip the lessons.

I think the physical act of playing an instrument is very overrated, and music education is underrated. Even just a few years of putting kids in the school band goes a long way. Being familiar with sightreading and basic music theory sounds boring, but it makes everything else a breeze when they want to learn something on their own.

Of course, there are also tons of people who were in a bad program and it was worse than nothing for their motivation. That's another topic though.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#172

Post by kvgr »

freetime2 wrote: post #32

This brought to mind a quote from Ira Glass: > Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your…

I just started photography last year and it makes much sense. This and: - do it with intention, to copy or simulate to learn how to do what you want. If you just go out and take random pictures you will not learn much. If you go and try to simulate some style, lightning, you learn a lot. I also think most of my pictures really suck even if i try. But then i look on pictures of someone who has "photographer" in profile with couple thousand subscribers and most of their pictures also suck. I hope one day to bridge the gap.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#173

Post by fuzzfactor »

dmux wrote: post #111
BizarroLand wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My music teacher said that practice does not produce perfection, only perfect practice produces perfection. If you mess up, redo the part you messed up correctly 5 times in a row. And, don't just practice the easy stuff. You have to challenge yourself to grow.

>If you mess up, redo the part you messed up correctly 5 times in a row. I think it may be important to note _when_ to redo this. I started off this way, but after working with a guitar teacher (a Berklee graduate), he recommended that I continue on with the song and return to the problematic parts afterwards. If you constantly stop at the problematic parts to replay them and get it right, you'll have no idea what ot…

I can be pretty bizarre without even trying, I'll take both ;)

Practice makes perfect is a thing, but that's not exactly rehearsal.

With practice you expect to improve, broaden, or maintain instrumental or musical ability for the long term. There should be no deadlines or need for actual listenability.

OTOH rehearsal is the run-up to a smooth listenable performance with a decidedly short-term objective by comparison. Unless you are rehearsing to absolute perfection, you do not halt for anything, the show must go on and that in itself requires you to practice covering up and compensating for your mistakes or shortcomings as you go along.

With practice you are actually trying to become a better player overall, but rehearsal is more about making the next performance as good as it can be and that's it.

If you're not actually as good as you would like in either regard, having a bit of commitment to simulating what you need most can give some direction itself to add to the mix.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#174

Post by bdemirkir »

My appoach is more focused on continuity rather than stop-analyze-go style suggested on this article. Select a song, get a well sounding tab of that song, pick a section, loop it slow enough so you can reasonably hit the notes, once you play it well speed it up and repeat this until 120% speed, repeat this whole process for all sections and you're done.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#175

Post by defrost »

iainctduncan wrote: post #117
defrost wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> uptight jazz bass mah man . . . too much of that loosey goosey stuff.

Lol I have to admit, I do play "uptight bass". The Freudian thumb slip got me, ha Relaxing on that thing is hard! :)

RiP Eugene Wright - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qs1J612nZs

Re: How to get better at guitar

#176

Post by darkfloo »

abcd_f wrote: post #170
Ma8ee wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I guess you never tried to speak French in France.

This is more of urban legend that may somewhat hold true in tourist-heavy areas.

I’m French, this is definitely not an urban legend, for some unknown reason « wrongly » spoken French sounds especially grating to me and all the other French people I know. We might not say it to your face , but it is extremely hard to ignore. I wonder if it’s the same with other Latin languages, or if it is just some consequence of years of forced standardisation of the French accent.

Re: How to get better at guitar

#177

Post by freetime2 »

wvh wrote: post #164
gritspants wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I picked up Violin as an adult, have done recitals, and I suck. Being able to suck and find joy in something anyway even if you're not top nth percentile is a valuable life skill.

I think it's pretty frustrating if the songs/pieces you actually want to play are demanding or even at the virtuoso level. If you really want to play a David Gilmour guitar solo or sing some Led Zeppelin, it better not suck because it won't hit the mark at all. For me, the reason to pick up the guitar as a kid was to play stuff I liked, stuff that turned out not to be that easy, and every time I play, I feel that gap…

Rick Beato did a video about being able to identify guitarists by a single note. David Gilmour was by far the easiest to recognize. It got me wondering how much work would it take to even be able to play a single note as well as David Gilmour. And even then I would still only be imitating someone, not creating something original.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gESY87hn7_Q

Re: How to get better at guitar

#179

Post by imrozim »

gritspants wrote: post #66
analog31 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a jazz musician, and my kids are both professional classical players. I've asked them why they don't learn to play jazz. My daughter described pretty much what Glass is saying here. She calls it "fear of sucking." She knows what good jazz improvisation sounds like, and trying to make herself do it is pretty discouraging. Not that there's anything wrong with loving and playing classical music, which is a factor to…

I picked up Violin as an adult, have done recitals, and I suck. Being able to suck and find joy in something anyway even if you're not top nth percentile is a valuable life skill.

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