Beginner Advice Sought!

I have to say that the hardest part for me is how much potential the instrument has. I only wished I started years ago .

Plakerl, I have often had these exact same felings. First, the more I learn, the more I find out how much nore there really is to learn. It can seem overwhelming if you allow yourself to get caught up in that type of thinking. So I just acknowledge that, yes, there is a lot to be learned, and leave it at that, not dwelling on what I don't know but rather what I do know and what I am currently working on.

I also feel quite often that I don't seem to be progresing. I have been playing now for going on 2-1/2 years. But sometimes when I play in front of people who hadn't heard me in a while, they remark about the progress I have made. So that gives me feedback tht I am indeed progressing even if it doesn't seem that way to me.

Then I ask my teacher, and also I have asked the same of an old time friend who has been a musician for quite some time, "How long should I expect it to take to reach my goal of being at a level where I can perform with a band?" They both say don't worry about how long it takes. My old friend replied "you'll know when you are ripe" What that all means to me is just that you need to enjoy the journey, the process of learning. Being good at the guitar trakes a lot of time, and you can't expect it to happen quickly. You've got to enjoy the process.

Another thing is about wishing you'd started younger. I was 46 when I started, and when that thought begins to cross my mind I just forget about it. Hey, you can't change the past; you can only be glad you started n the journey when you did.

hey slipperman...
spooky....I started at 46 and have been playing 2and half years....the advantage we have is wittnessing some great music over the last 4 decades...

This is coming from a 15 year old so don't take notice if you chose, but i tend to think that another advantage
of starting later (such as in you're forties) is that you would likely be far more patient than the average teenager
starting out. For instance i am very easily distracted and often if i don't get a good sounding part of a song down
early i often give up on the venture and move onto something else whereas i think that someby older than me
would be more persistant. People starting later would also be less likely to quit as they would be more accepting
of there current guitar weaknesses.

Thats just my uninformed opinion, but i believe it to be true.

This is coming from a 15 year old so don't take notice if you chose, but i tend to think that another advantage
of starting later (such as in you're forties) is that you would likely be far more patient than the average teenager
starting out. For instance i am very easily distracted and often if i don't get a good sounding part of a song down
early i often give up on the venture and move onto something else whereas i think that someby older than me
would be more persistant. People starting later would also be less likely to quit as they would be more accepting
of there current guitar weaknesses.

Thats just my uninformed opinion, but i believe it to be true.

However most teenagers have more spare time, plus kids pick stuff up easier than adults, it's swings and roundabouts really! :wink:

I am a living example of the last few posts. I tried to play in my mid teens (very early 80s). Back then, there was no way to learn at home, except using books like Mel Bay or Hal Leonard, or the few cassettes out there on the subject. So, I was pretty frustrated after several months - I didn't have any friends who played, my parents had no money for lessons, and the books I had were impossible to figure out! Needless to say, frustration ended my teenage career quickly. I picked up the instrument again in my mid 30s. This time I had much more patience. Things made more "sense" to me. Plus the opportunities to find good material on the internet made it MUCH easier. I wish I were starting again in my teens, but only if I had the materials that are now available! :wink:

Plakerl,

I am 46 and I am on my fourth attempt at learning guitar. The first two times was when I was a teenager and did not have the patience to stick with it; I started again in my twenties, but quit when my career took off; Finally... I started learning and playing again last November with my son (11) and now one daughters (13).

A few of my thoughts (that echo what others have said):

1) Patience. You will 'hit a wall' every now and then. Stick with it. You will get unblocked.
2) Set goals, both long and short term. One of my long-term goals is to learn to read standard notation (it is part of my daily practice); a medium term goal was to play with others (I do that with my kids when they let me :D and on a monthly basis with some coworkers); I set daily goals to improve a section of a song or learn/improve a technique.
3) Related to goals is to get focused. My instructor helps focus me on weekly tasks and I have created my own daily practice log to track my progress.
4) Play with others! It's fun and you will learn from others. You will probably even teach them something too.
5) Use multiple resources. My kids and I have an instructor, but I also use the lessons here at GuitarNoise and other sites; read magazines; etc...
6) Record yourself occasionally (I do this monthly) and review the recordings to check your progress. You'll be amazed at how much progress you make over the course of a month!
7) Have fun! In addition to learning theory and technique, I learn songs. My 11 year old son blows me away with how quickly he learns riffs and parts of songs, but he never seems to learn entire songs. He's perfectly happy with that. Personally, I like to learn entire songs because it makes me happy and gives me a sense of accomplishment. Both of us are having fun in our own way.

Enjoy!

One thing you mentioned is learning entire songs. It is crutial that you learn complete songs if you ever plan to play in front of people. It doesn't impress anyone to be able to play half of 3 dozen songs. It would be preferable to be able to play 6 or 7 all the way through. So get really stubborn about learning entire songs. You mentioned you learned the intro and stopped. Often the intro is the most difficult part of a song.

Been playing over 34 years and I'm still not happy with how I play. That never goes away. Guitar is really tough on the mind, it can get discouraging. I have learned to accept this. Besides, feelings change. Today you feel like the lousiest player in the world, tomorrow you might think you are the best. Neither is true.

There is only one real secret to playing guitar. Just keep playing. If you keep playing, sooner or later you will be very good.

Don't compare yourself to others. You will always find those that play better, and some worse.

I agree with learning very simple songs. As you get better you will be able to take on more difficult songs. People only care about hearing songs, they don't care how well you tap or bend strings. So learn super easy songs you can play all the way through. As far as technique, I have always thought it's a good idea to learn a song you love with that technique. So, if you want to learn slide guitar, find a song with really easy slide. You will learn technique and have fun at the same time. For me anyway, this is better than simply practicing technique for the sake of technique alone. I could never sit and practice a technique for hours.

Be stubborn. Make up your mind now you are going to play guitar the rest of your life. It's never too late to start. The bass player in my band started just 4 years ago, he just had his 58th birthday! And he is gettin' pretty darn good. :wink:

I am a living example of the last few posts. I tried to play in my mid teens (very early 80s). Back then, there was no way to learn at home, except using books like Mel Bay or Hal Leonard, or the few cassettes out there on the subject. So, I was pretty frustrated after several months - I didn't have any friends who played, my parents had no money for lessons, and the books I had were impossible to figure out! Needless to say, frustration ended my teenage career quickly. I picked up the instrument again in my mid 30s. This time I had much more patience. Things made more "sense" to me. Plus the opportunities to find good material on the internet made it MUCH easier. I wish I were starting again in my teens, but only if I had the materials that are now available! :wink:
Ditto. If only we had the internet back then. :)
I have only been playing for a couple of months now. Actually, I wouldn't call it playing just yet. I try to set small goals for myself for the week like learn a new chord or an easy song but it doesn't seem like I am learning much or that I have any kind of real plan. I start lessons this week so hopefully that can give me some sort of structure.