Direction Needed Again ..

Have you thought of getting together with others to play? Impromptu jam sessions or a fledgling garage band? That might be fun for you and it certainly helps in terms of becoming a better player.

I am in the same situation. I ended up taking a 2-3 yr break as i got bored/uninspired after playing on/off again for 13 yrs. Now that i have taken it back up again i am amazed at how much i still remember. I too suffer from lack of direction and focus which makes improving myself to next level much harder. I have never played a song all the way thru and i would think that by jamming with others that would definitely help.(esp. with songs that have multiple guitar parts). Now that i have mastered chords and some scales i am definitely lacking in the rythym section as i have a hard time playing a song with the correct strum pattern. I might try getting some backing traks and playing along with that to help me with my rythym.

im interested in what everyone here says!

My two cents ...

We tend to learn and grow only when we're stretched, or as consultant-speak has it 'taken out of the comfort-zone'. How do you create opportunities to be stretched? As Musenfreud says, a good way is to play with others (the first time I did that is still etched on my memory, and it was nearly twenty years ago - I was terrified!) or sign up with a teacher to do something you haven't done before. Of course that only makes sense if you want to do whatever you sign up for ...

There's also a lot of satisifaction in finishing something, getting it to a point where you view it as complete and ready for display as a trophy. It doesn't sound to me as though you have got to that point with most of what you've learned so far. Are there a few songs from your favourite artists that you could concentrate on and get to that point?

Hope this helps!

David

i don't think i could jam with a jam track to be honest, and unfortunately i don't know anyone that plays guitar, any more suggestions,
sorry now lads but I need to climb out of this pit with your help i can ! i really want to keep playing but get so frustrated when i pick up the guitar because, I just don't know !!
It was easy at the start because,chords,well you knew you had to learn them.. its harder than i thought, this learning stuff, the chords were easy part what to do afterwards is the problem HELP
To sum it up
I GUESS I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT TO LEARN OR HOW TO LEARN IT
(when you look back its easy to say wow i should have done it that way but but trying to go forward is hard, cuz you don't know what to do, to get there )
examples
should i be learning scales , should i know theory ,should i know every note on the fretboard ,should i know every key , and chord progressions, should i know loads of riffs,songs ect.ect ect
i know, maybe eventually you probably will need to know these and loads more but in what order should one learn them in?
Is there a progression one should stick to... like you learn parts of the guitar 1st,then learn how to tune it, the learn open chords,ect. ect. ect. kind of like running before you can walk

i forgot to say as, i said i have both acoustic & electric, but i find trying to play the electric very difficult in comparison to playing acoustic. how would you rectify this its like a totally different instrument ?

if I'm rambling sorry...can i hear how you guys did it please

I would seriously suggest learning some songs - you've been playing so long and can't play a single song? Where's the fun factor? Why are you learning to play if you don't know what you're going to play?

I'd suggest putting on a CD and trying to play along with it - that's how I learned to play songs. A Dylan hits compilation, a Best of CCR, the Traveling Wilburys Vol 1 - all very user-friendly for acoustic guitar.

That's what I did - first of all just worked on the rhythm guitar, then added the "twiddly bits" as and when my playing improved. Now I can put WMP on shuffle, and jam along with whatever comes on....and there's a LOT of music on there, from ACDC to ZZTop and covering a lot of ground inbetween. Now I know literally hundreds of songs!

The Easy Songs forum might be a good place to start - there are lots of songs in there, covering a wide variety of tastes.

Good luck!

:D :D :D

Vic

I would seriously suggest learning some songs - you've been playing so long and can't play a single song? Where's the fun factor? Why are you learning to play if you don't know what you're going to play?

:D :D :D

Vic
you got me wrong, i know what i want to play but i dont know how to play them

maybe i should pack up if you think thats bad after all this time trying to

hi frank

it seems you need a bit of self-esteem, don't you?
your priority is to be able to play full songs and to do so, at least at the beginning, you do not need to play scales or fancy arpeggios, you just need to be able to play a few rhythms in perfect time, so If i was you i'd start to do like this:

a) if you do not already have one, buy a tutorial cd and be sure to learn to play alongside it at least the most common strumming patterns at least with open chords;
b) if possible, buy a metronome and do the same thing at different speeds
c) now go to the Easy song lessons and start learning a few songs: maybe you do not like them but if you learn to play them you're sure that you could play hundreds of different songs. remember that your playing is ok (or at least acceptable) if you can play the songs alongside the cd
d) then you should be able to recognize the patterns in the song you listen to and you could start to play a lot of songs. remember that if you can decently play a D/du/u/du pattern you could virtually play any 4/4 pop/rock song

then you should approach more difficult songs.

Remember that it could be a long road before being able to play the songs you really love: i.e. i love heavy metal but i'm just starting to learn a few, simple metal songs and this have been possible afetr a couple of years of learning some easy rolling stones, u2, America, CCR songs etc

good luck Frank

p.s. if you wish to play some particular song and if i know it i could maybe give you some suggestion

I got stuck for about a year, bought a new guitar and started taking "real" weekley lessons and the difference in six months is huge. Even if you don't take lessons for a long period of time, if you don't have someone to jam with, an instructor could at least point you in the right direction.

I went from playing the same handful of songs over and over to now expanding my theory comprehension, chord knowledge, scales, songs, riffs, and now beginning to mess with modes (A dorian 8) :D ). Just started Santana's Samba Pa Ti last night, it's going to be a work out...

Good luck, stick with it.

ok lads let me ask this way in which order should you learn things ?

1.parts of guitar
2.open chords
3.3 chord songs
4.barre chords
5. scales
6. what do you think ?
is this the right order of learning my goal is lead.what's next
what do i need to learn to play lead :?:

surly there is a system of learning like you have to crawl before you can walk (well its easier )

hi mate

i'm not sure there is a right way to do things, but for sure the most important thing is to learn to play in time (whatever you play: chord progressions, songs, scales, fingerpicking patterns etc).

so as long as you can play a few chords (and i'm utterly sure you can), stick to a metronome or a tutorial cd and do play several different strumming patterns until you can play with ease.

then go back and play some real songs alongisde the cd: that's important! Don't forget that even the simplest song around could be virtually unrecognizable if you're not able to play it in time (but if you did the metronome sessions before you should not have any problem)

Of course it is important to approach songs that are more or less at your level: do not try some complex Iron Maiden song if you can barely play open chords and simple strummin patterns!

Then when you are sure you can play at least a few of relative simple songs alongisde the cd or with metronome, you can progress in your favourite direction. If you wish to play lead I guess that playing a lot of scales is like a mandatory excercise (i'm not sure i'm into rhythm guitar!)

cheers

Matteo

know what i want to play but i dont know how to play them

Can you give us some examples of songs you want to learn?
I'll bet someone can point you towards specific examples of how to accomplish your goal, if we have a better understanding of what that goal is.

know what i want to play but i dont know how to play them

Can you give us some examples of songs you want to learn?
I'll bet someone can point you towards specific examples of how to accomplish your goal, if we have a better understanding of what that goal is.
yea Rory Gallagher like million miles away, pink Floyd the wall any thing really from them, samba pa ti Carlos santanna (that's funny nelson cool tune though )Cannon is another cool tune id like to learn and greenday any again

yea Rory Gallagher like million miles away, pink Floyd the wall any thing really from them, samba pa ti Carlos santanna (that's funny nelson cool tune though )Cannon is another cool tune id like to learn and greenday any again

Here's Hey You from GN's easy song database. There are probably a few others that you might want to play in there too.
Put the CD on, and strum along.
Gilmour is probably playing it faster than you can at the moment.
Do you have an MP3 of it? Most MP3 software has a way of slowing the song down without messing up the pitch (for Winamp, there's a plugin called pacemaker)

Spend some time jamming with Pink Floyd. Maybe a few weeks. Enjoy.
Then search out another song you want to try, and play that for a while.

If you get stuck on a specific technique, stop by and ask us. I may not be able to answer ('cause I'm not that experienced myself), but someone will have an answer.

Frank,

I seriously think you need to find a teacher. Even if you only take lesson every other week. A good teacher will guide you well on your journey and help you see much farther down the path and how to get there.

If you don't know how to find a good one, here's how I found mine.

Start hanging around local music shops. Shops that offer lessons or allow teachers to post ads. This will do two things for you. One, you'll start to establish a relationship for a source of gear. Two most of the folks I know that work in shops are musicians and they're in tune "pun intended" with the local music scene. Ask them questions on who's a good teacher, good players etc.

I found my current teacher this way. I found out he was in a band, I went saw him play a few times, asked if he had any openings in his schedule and after I met with him, I was in.

Knowing him and working with him has been an awesome asset. Before I went to him I couldn't play an F chord. I couldn't play Barre Chords and I didn't know any songs. I was where you are right now. No he didn't necessarily give me any magic to play that F chord but he did and does encourage the heck out of me.

We have a rhythm with our lessons now where the first part is review then new work for the coming week or weeks since I travel alot for my job. Then towards the end of each lesson we have fun. We'll play a few songs or just jam for the last 10 minutes or so and doesn't necessarily stop when I make some mistakes during that time.

Anyhoo, what I'm saying is, I'd never have made the strides I have in the last year and a half without knowing and working with him. I do remember though that the first few lesson were tough only because he wasn't aware of my abilities or knowledge from the start so it did take some time for us to review what I did know. Then after those first few weeks he knew where to start with me.

But go visit the music stores and ask those folks some questions about some teachers. It will do you alot of good.