Heh, I hope I spelt that right. Yeah, sometimes im just discouraged about my guitar playing. Im 14 and taking lessons from a very skilled teacher who works at my guitar center. Im playing on a Les Paul Jr and have been playing for 8 months. He's taught me all my modes ( Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian ect.) and I can play forwards and back. That and were starting to go over some chords like Em G D C. He's a fantastic teacher and all but sometimes I just feel that I cant do it. I know I can and I know I really want to. Its just the soloing that gets me up tight, I think im thinking to hard on it, and I jus wanted to know if its normal to be overwhelemed by all this.
Thankyou.
See you on the Dark Side of the Moon!
Yes, I guess just about everyone feels the way you do at one point or another when they first start out. The best advice that I can give you, and I think you've thought of it too, is to just relax and not think so much. Learning scales & all that is great, but at some point when playing you have to just let go & play what you feel. Try jamming to some backing tracks each day for awhile during practice & see were that leads you. Be patient, and most of all, try to have fun! 8)
Dan
"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge
Hi Jager,
Yes, it's totally normal to get overwhelmed and discouraged at times. We all go through that. Like a recent thread said "Some days you're the bug and some days you're the windshield." :lol:
And some days you'll see that bit of progress or insight that keeps you coming back for more.
You're at a great age to learn guitar. There are so many of us here at GN that wish we'd learned when we were young. Now we're trying to make up for lost time.
Patience, practice, perseverance. You'll hear that a lot around here. Stick with it. 8)
Margaret
When my mind is free, you know a melody can move me
And when I'm feelin' blue, the guitar's comin' through to soothe me ~
Thankyou very much fo the replies guy's, really appreciate it. I do need to set more time aside for riffs and stuff, and not to get all discouraged all the time. My goal this coming year is going to be to be able to play solos by mind :) course thats gona take some practice, but thats what its all about.
Anyway, thankyou for your understanding and encouragement!
See you on the Dark Side of the Moon!
Ah Jager, don't worry, you're not the only one! When it comes to soloing, I always seem to get overwhelmed as well. Everything I'll try to improvise will sound dull and old or something. And then, I'll feel like I'll never get to where I'd like to be. But then, you just have to realize what guitar is all about anyway. For you, at least.
I guess what you get is what you put into it. If we stick with it, we'll get there, so hang in there. 8)
Soloing, or otherwise playing lead is my biggest weekness. I think this is the year I improve on that.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
As the others have said, it is normal. Very normal. Its the ones that make it past those moments and onto the next that become better guitarist. Also, think of it like this. Its your teachers job to press you to do the most that you possibly can. We dont learn much from things we can do easily. Like in weight lifting, you get stronger from the struggles. So keep at em and know that all of us that are still playing guitar know exactly what you are feeling.
Jim
“The hardest thing in life is to know which bridge to cross and which to burn” - David Russell (Scottish classical Guitarist. b.1942)
Once in a while, just pick up your axe and don't practice. Have some fun with the darned thing.
Make it laugh, make it cry. Allow it some wrong notes, set it down and walk away for a few minutes.
Then get back to work on your lessons.
There's an old saying about all work and no play...........
I wanted to learn to play guitar really badly and I think that I have succeeded.
^^I agree with him. Gotta have fun with it man, and good luck.
Thankyou everyone for your replies, dang its good to here it all. Yeah, I do need to have some more fun with also.
Thanks again everyone.
See you on the Dark Side of the Moon!
Hi Jager,
Yep, perfectly normal to feel that way. Inevitable even.
I started learning in my late 50s - so at that age I'm well used to the whole business of learning, planning, getting around difficulties etc. And I still feel just like you do at times. The only difference is that I expect it to happen from time to time, so it doesn't bother me.
Sometimes I push hard and raise my expectations, and sometimes I ease off - have a bit of a thrash - and just enjoy what I've mastered so far. But it's all good. I'm in the early stages of learning, but even the most excellent teachers and players here have things that they're still working on nailing just the way they want it.
You're lucky to be where you are at 14..... I'm just a little envious... :wink:
Cheers,
Chris
Jager
Guitar will always be discouraging. It is difficult to play well. You just have to keep pushing forward. And progress always seems slow. But if you were to play a recording of your playing 6 months ago you will hear that you have progressed a lot. It's like seeing a cousin you haven't seen in a few years. The first thing you say is, "wow! you have grown!'. But to the parents, they didn't even notice a change from day to day. That's how guitar is.
No way you are going to be able to play what you hear in your mind in one year. Man, that is something that takes, many, many years to do. Sure, it's a great goal, but your time-scale is very unreasonable.
Think about this. Stevie Ray Vaughan started playing when he was about 12 years old. He was a real fanatic who played every waking moment. He quit High School to pursue playing professionally. He banged around in small local bands until he was in his late 20's. He finally started getting a little attention. Finally, around 1980 he was seen by David Bowie at a Blues Festival. Bowie was so impressed he starred Stevie in his next video.
So Stevie became a star overnight. Except he had been playing his heart out for almost 20 years.
You don't get good quick, and if you did you wouldn't appreciate it. It is the long struggle to learn to play that really makes playing worthwhile. If it was easy, anybody could do it.
Just keep playing and practicing to be the best you can, and someday you will be very good.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Just keep at it. Also, have you considered rhythm playing.
I think a lot of people tend to think of rhythm guitar as secondary and imagine themselves blaring through face-melting solos. But rhythm guitar can be just as exciting as lead. I greatly prefer rhythm/melody guitar over lead, I actually despise soloing (in the most loose definition of solo).
"That’s what takes place when a song is written: You see something that isn’t there. Then you use your instrument to find it."
- John Frusciante
Wow!
You know the scales and modes, that's quite an accomplishment in it's own right!
I'm trying to figure that stuff out now and it's not that easy.
Try to have some fun with the stuff you know along with learning the stuff you don't know. Find a song that you like and apply what you know and play around with it. Make up your own solos. Stay with what you are comfortable with and don't be afraid to go somewhere that makes you uncomfortable, that's how you grow as a player and as a person! One of these times you'll find out that you will have a smile on your face. Don't make the bar so high that it discourages you or make the bar so low that you don't learn something about yourself! It's not the final destination but the trip there that's important. At least, you've impressed ONE person! 8)
I have yet to meet any good guitarist that says they knew everything......
When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not screaming......
like the passengers in his car.
Personal opinion: someone who has been playing for eight months should have other things on his mind then modes. I can see you are a Pink Floyd fan, David Gilmour has played fantastic solos using nothing but the pentatonic scale. I find it very hard to imagine anyone so young to guitar being able to really understand all that stuff while still progressing at actually playing the darn thing. Man, my head would explode!
Even while I know very little about you I'd suggest you take your foot of the pedal for a bit and start using whatever you've learned to actually play some music. I've seen quite a few people dive head-first into the Theory Ocean only to drown and give up later, totally confused about what they're doing and where they are going. Don't be one of them.
