Well, I've been trying to teach myself guitar off and on for 3 months. In the last month I have redoubled my efforts, bought another instructional dvd and book, even bought a new guitar. Have been practicing anywhere from 4 hours to 8 hours off and on during the day. My focus has been on blues rhythm and leads. My problem is that it seems to be going nowhere.. I practice the same things everyday and never learn anything that fills in the gaps, I've completed the Level 1 instructional book, and memorized most everything in it (Except Barre chords, still working on those).
My practice routine is: 30 minutes warming up, which I do on minor pentatonic scales in various positions and patterns while increasing speed, and then to hammer ons and pull offs to practice them, and warm my fingers up at the same time.
Then I do around 30 minutes of strumming/timing practice which I got from a very nice lesson on this site (Thanks).
At this point I usually take a break, have a smoke, and listen to a few old blues songs that I'd like to learn (Lead Belly, and Robert Johnson mostly).. trying to get a better feel for them in my head I guess, and to keep the reason I wanted to learn guitar in the air around me.
Then I go on to the part I hate.. Chords. So far, from my blues guitar book and this site I've learned some basic chords, and progressions. So I spend the next hour going over them. I start with Am-Dm-Em, then A-D-E Which are all easy, and I have them down very well I think. Then move to Harder things like G, C, D7. And a variety of other progressions and chords. Most of which I can do well, and have no problem with them, I've gotten the changes down well, increasing speed every night.
Now I take another break, well, sort of; I relax and play something I enjoy. I have fun with it, as simple as it is.. I just play around with Am Pentatonic usually, trying to improvise and get a feel for the notes and how to make them come alive, etc. I do this, and move from this to a basic shuffle rhythm and back and forth, working my movements to and from chords and leads... trying my hardest to make it sound decent. Also, I'll find some easy song tab and work on it during this 'break'. Then I go backwards through everything listed and do it all over to keep it fresh in my mind before I go to sleep. I also take any time possible to go over and memorize the notes of the fretboard, which may be pointless, but I do a quick run up and down each string naming the notes as I do.
Now my problem is, I do this every night now. where 2 months ago I would do maybe an hour a night unfocused.. I've gotten over all the pain and all that, the skin of my fingers has peeled and healed, etc. I consider myself to be a quick learner, and have a good grip on everything I've come up with to practice, and I practice hard, relentlessly. But I've hit a wall, and I'm nearing a burn out I fear. I can't find anything new to learn, there's a huge gap in teaching myself, and too many questions coming up as I learn or hear of new things... from the easy beginner stuff that's floating around everywhere to the harder beginner stuff... and I'm finding that gap to be very daunting and intimidating. Going from basic open chords to barre chords, and all the while learning more and more that still isn't pointing me in the direction I feel I need and want to go. What I want, and need is comfort with the guitar, not this sense of frustration. I guess all beginners go through this, knowing just enough to know you don't know anything, and just enough to know how much there is to learn. But, how do I get past this, what's the next step in the process, to move from beginner to serious beginner? Is this the point where I try to learn more difficult songs? What do I need to work into my practice routine to be more comfortable with my guitar?
Thank you for reading this.
I had the same problem, but maybe I was less advanced than you.
I got a teacher and that'S the best way to progress
A teacher knows what you should learn and he could also show you things you don't even know.
" First time I heard the music
I thought it was my own
I could feel it in my heartbeat
I could feel it in my bones
... Blame it on the love of Rock'n'Roll! "
That makes sense, Clau20. I probably would benefit greatly from a teacher, just don't have the money or time during the day for lessons sadly. I usually only practice late at night (After 10 PM), till I get tired enough to sleep.
-Thanks
That makes sense, Clau20. I probably would benefit greatly from a teacher, just don't have the money or time during the day for lessons sadly. I usually only practice late at night (After 10 PM), till I get tired enough to sleep.
-Thanks
I take my guitar classes at 8h30 to 9h15. There's another person after me, so you could find something that'll fit your schedule.
For the money, it's another thing...
But for the moment, you can buy other technique book that could help you.
" First time I heard the music
I thought it was my own
I could feel it in my heartbeat
I could feel it in my bones
... Blame it on the love of Rock'n'Roll! "
Problem with a teacher is that you may start going to a guitar teacher and he or she may bottle you up and not teach you how to be free in your playing.
Anyways, keep practicing the bar chords. It's funny because I know more bar chords and I'm better at sliding bar chords than I am at switching between open chords. Bar chords are so fun to play and you can do so much with it with hammering on and off with the free finger (likely the pinky).
Just keep working at it.
I'd also like to say I think you may be overloading your practice. Don't stress so much, it's possible 8 hours is too much and it's possible you are getting bored with a half hour of pentatonic scales and strumming to "warm up". Maybe cut it down to 5 min of pentatonic scales and another 5 of strumming. You've been doing it long enough to know "okay, the only way I'm gonna get better at it now is if I play some actual music."
Good luck.
Sounds to me like your driving yourself without the fun part. The first rule should be to have fun and after 3 months you can do quite a bit. One thing missing in your description was any mention of playing with others. I'm sure you would see improvement if you got out and started jamming with other people - not so much with comparing yourself to others but how to interact more smoothly. Barring that, when you listen to your records do you play around on the guitar to see if you can pick things out?
Finally as someone who has played for awhile but never learned the fretboard until recently, I can assure you it is not a waste of time and will come in handy sometime in the future, probably sooner than you think.
that is a killer practice routine.
sounds like all work and no fun.
walls come and go. you will break through one day.
then another will eventually come.
find a way to make your practice more challenging.
maybe compose a song.
Problem with a teacher is that you may start going to a guitar teacher and he or she may bottle you up and not teach you how to be free in your playing.
As a teacher, I have no idea what it is you mean by this.
I suspect you mean something along the lines of teachers will give you a regimented routine and not let you explore.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Good teachers encourage exploration and innovation. Indeed, part of my regular lesson plan is to have my student teach me something they learned on their own. It can be a song, a riff, a technique, whatever.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
Yeah, I totally agree with most of what has been said. My routine is all work and no fun. Trouble is I keep telling myself 'I don't know enough to have fun yet' and to just try to have fun within the techniques and lessons in the books and other lessons. I think that's my biggest problem, not knowing enough or having enough confidence to break away from the easier lessons and find something more challenging to learn, but, since I'm teaching myself... I don't know what to learn next. Maybe tonight I'll find a more difficult song to learn, and go from there. A song I like, maybe that'd make it more fun. Thanks for the replies
I encourage my students to spend as much time playing as they do practicing. "Playing" time or noodle time has only one rule -- you aren't allowed to work on your lesson material. Do whatever you feel like doing. Learn a song, work on a riff, write some music, strum with your tongue, whatever . . .
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
I suspect you mean something along the lines of teachers will give you a regimented routine and not let you explore.
Yes. And unfortunately it's tough not to find a teacher like that.
Well, I've been trying to teach myself guitar off and on for 3 months.
Holy Smoke - have I read this right? You've only been playing 3 months and you can't find anything to learn.... :shock:
Sounds like you're practicising nearly as much as me :D and you ought to see where I've got to in two months... :oops:
Ok, first thing to do is take a lot of this advice and start enjoying playing rather than making it a chore... secondly, make a video of a kickin' song that you can play and embarrass all of us that have been 'playing' much longer than you and last, but not least...
Wear shades when you're learning - I tell you, you can't see a thing and it takes the whole learning experience into another dimension.... :lol:
Rock on...
D 8)
ps - sorry about all the smilies - I really must stop using them gratuitously.... :wink: and don't get me started on barre chords...now there's something to learn....
I'm nowhere near Chicago. I've got six string, 8 fingers, two thumbs, it's dark 'cos I'm wearing sunglasses - Hit it!
Well, I know 3 months is really nothing, barely a drop in the bucket of guitar knowledge.. I can find plenty to learn, that's not the problem. Being totally ignorant is my problem I guess :P I don't know what to learn next, and I'm getting tired of doing the same things every night, hearing the same sounds, there's only so many things a newb can do with newbie chords ;).
And as far as the barre chords go, I know I've got a handful to learn there, but... uhh... guess I'm looking for something that doesn't make me want to toss my pretty new guitar around in frustration, something that makes practicing fun!.. I could write a blues song about learning barre chords :cry:
Since your unable to get a teacher at the moment, do you know anyone that plays guitar, drums or bass?
If you do try jamming with them. It's amazing how hard (and fun) it is to keep in time with another person when you first start jamming. If your trying to play a song and one part is to difficult then simplify it or leave it out, it doesn't matter, just have fun.
Well, I've been trying to teach myself guitar off and on for 3 months. In the last month I have redoubled my efforts, bought another instructional dvd and book, even bought a new guitar. Have been practicing anywhere from 4 hours to 8 hours off and on during the day. .
Well at least a beginner (me) is qualified to write about being a beginner eh? So here`s my addition to the good advice thats gone before. . .
You seem to be in a great hurry. Maybe you should slow down a little. 8 Hours!?! :shock:
I think that is way too long and probably contributes to the frustration because you feel that putting in the hours should make you progress faster. Even if you are a fast learner there are many things you cant rush in the body. How your new skills become part of you involves muscle memory which involves all sorts of changes in your brain & nerves - you cant rush physiolgical changes. The passage of time is an essential component of consolidating newly learned skills.
Besides, long practice hours bring the law of diminishing returns in to play. In your last two hours you probably gain as much as you did in your first 20 minutes. It is a well demonstrated fact that our efficiency at a task drops off rapidly after as short a time as 20 minutes - though you do take some breaks which is a good idea.
I think you are trying to get the beginner phase behind you too fast. This is a lifelong journey youve embarked on. Relax, enjoy the things you can do now (& remember to do that at every stage of the journey.) Do shorter practice stints & let time work its magic. One day you will wake up and find that you aint a beginner any more. . . :)
Enjoy
Ola 8)
“Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things which get you. And all you can do is go where they can find you.” - Winnie the Pooh
