improving

Don't take this the wrong way, but have you ever considered a break. If you take a week or two off from guitar, you're probably going to miss it, and when you get back at it, you'll once again love it, and it will be fun to play.

Technique does take a relly long time to devolp. Take things slow, just because you've been playing for four years does not mean that you have to be at a certain level. Sure there are people who been playing for 30+ years that aren't really happy with where they are in their ability, but they still play, and have fun doing so.

So, I think that you should just take a break for a short while, and come back with a new sense of what you want from the guitar.

Paul

P.S. Welcome to Guitar Noise, by the way!

I can relate to your frustration. I've only been playing for a month but I expected to be better than I am. I think part of my problem is being in too much of a hurry and not listening to the folks on this forum. Practice, practice, practice.

the feeling comes and goes. sounds like you need inspiration.
can you jam with someone? that helps.

playing through a whole song without any mistakes is a fallacy.
everyone makes mistakes. it's the players that ignore them, turn them into something, and plays through it makes the result sound mistake free.

if it helps you to feel better Ive been playing for forty years. it wasnt until last November that I felt i didnt suck anymore.

I have tried taking time off. I recently came back from a vacation in Arizona. This week and a half off did nothing for my guitar.

I think some better exersises would help. What are some good exersises for developing alternate picking, sweep picking, soloing, and other blues to metal technique. Also what can I do to get my fingers to work together. Thanks.

duffmaster

First, Welcome to GuitarNoise.

Second, you have improved, you just cannot tell. If you were to record yourself today and continue to practice an hour or two a day and record yourself one year from now you will notice a big improvement. It's like watching children grow. If you see them every day they look the same. But if you haven't seen them for a few months or year, you can see they have grown easily. And guitar is the same.

Guitar is a difficult instrument. It is difficult to play well and very easy to make mistakes. You just have to keep practicing. In time you will play very well. And everybody makes mistakes. I have been playing over 30 years and still make them. They don't happen as often, but I still make some real bloopers on occasion.

You should try to get together with other players. Form a band. In a band you practice the right way. You learn a song from beginning to end. You will make lots of mistakes at first, but after awhile you will get your songs down cold. You will have so much fun that you will not have nearly the frustration you have now. There is nothing better than playing in a band to develop your chops. So find someone to play with and you will improve quickly.

Don't give up. It is difficult and frustrating for us all. :D

Yeah, either play in a band and jam or buy a loop station, throw down some chords and practice that way. You can build decent jam tracks yourself with a freebie recording program and a drum machine. Lots of those have bass, too.

I jam along with records a lot, as well with my loop station. Playing in a band is great too, but don't rely on this alone becuase it's likely you won't be able to practice everyday. Maybe once a week or something. So these other alternatives are good in the downtime.

I know what you mean in terms of frustration, everyone goes through it. It sounds like you're having problems with your technique. A few things will help

1.) Get a teacher. They help enormously. Big time
2.) Metronome. I can't begin to describe how much this has helped me. I've probably improved more in the last 4 months than in the last year. Take a song, scale, lick or whatever and slow it down to half speed or 3/4 speed. Work that for a few days, then tick it up to whatever goal tempo you have. Working in context of a beat helps you to tighten up.
3.) Exercises. Same as above. These are all over the net. Take all the modes and start them slow, then work your way up.

This will take time, but you will definately improve. And you'll play more consistently.

And I agree with Wes, you have improved but you just don't know it. Wes is pretty much always right. :D :wink:

duffmaster,

I'll echo Wes and say that you've probably improved without realizing it. I've been playing now for about 10 months (one year this coming Father's day - Woo Hoo!) and have had a number of those "I wish I was improving faster" moments. One thing that is encouraging to me is to get out a few of the songbooks I bought back when I first started learning. I usually discover that a number of the songs I skipped (because of those pesky barre chords or funky slash chords) I can now play.

I also make a point to print out any interesting lessons, TABs, chord sheets, etc that I find on the internet. When I find something interesting I file it in one of two binders: "Stuff I can play now with a little practice" or "Stuff I hope to play one day". Every now and then I go through the second binder to see what I can move over into the first. I get a little charge when something moves over to that first folder.

Those two simple activities give me a bit of perspective.

Hope that helps and hang in there!

To the GN community - I am a daily lurker here (I think this is my 2nd post) and I get a lot of inspriation and instruction from everyone who posts on the forums. The dhodge lessons are great and I love the ESD. So...thanks :)

Steed

I have been teaching myself guitar for the past four years. The last year or two I have practiced for at least and hour or two a day, save a few when I just don't have the time. Theres only one problem.

I'm no better than the day I started. I can't play one song through without screwing up. My left hand and right hands don't work together. No matter how much I read online or from theory books I don't pick anything up. All I can play for scales is the blues scale and shuffle. I love music. I listen to almost everything except for country, R&B, and rap. I love metal and the blues. My technique doesn't ever seem to improve. I constantly mess up any alternate picking, and when I even attemp sweep picking i just end up muting strings, etc. Recently, my lack of skill has me so frustrated I walk away from the instrument upset. Isn't the guitar supposed to be fun? When is all my practicing going to pay off? Why am I struggling to play effective?

I think youre exagerating and I think that you know it. If you've been practicing for over an hour a day for the last "year or two" then there is no way that you could possibly be at the same playing level as when you first started (unless you've been sitting down doing absolutely nothing).

Once youre finished beating yourself up, try getting lessons. The guitar is fun only if you set realistic goals. Stop killing yourself about your skill level (which is prolly pretty high after four years). All your practicing has already paid off and you know it. You are not struggling to play effective. You most likely play quite well, but b/c you dont sound like your fav. guitarist yet, youre ready to throw in the towel.

If you need reassurance, try playing for a group of people. The slew of compliments that follow is sure to boost your confidence in your ability. Good luck.

Excellent Post...everyone!!!

I brought this same question up with my instructor, I asked him the following:

Besides my regular practice then play routine, what is the most effective thing I can do to improve?

He responded.... Play with someone else. Find someone, anyone, preferable at your level or better, but even if you find someone newer it will still help.

The thing that has worked for me the past year has been inspiration. I'll get a song stuck in my head for days, even weeks at a time and it doesn't stop till I get at least a majority of it worked out.

Lately its been Kansas "Carry On Wayward Son"
Then Floyds "Comfortably Numb"
This week its Santana "Black Majic Woman"

I just keep building and building on these songs till I know em, at least enough to "Pass". Then during my PLAY sessions -vs- Practice... I have a new song to work on...

You go through slumps and plateaus... right now I'm on a Rise and its the funnest its ever been :)

Now I want to get with some others to play a few songs at the open mic(s) we have here, except I can't sing worth a penny.

thanks for all your replies. I am currently looking for someone to jam with. Only problem is I live in a small town and only have my permit, so I might have to wait a while. About lessons, I'm looking into it. The only problem is I'm going to have to get thier, and its a long drive. Plus I club wrestle in the off season, and that chews up a big chunck of time. While on the topic of lessons, how do I find a teacher right for me. All the places to take lessons are equally far away, so I want to find a teacher thats best for me. How do I accomplish this?

ha! i always say the same thing. I've been playing for four years and i can't play a song, i'm no better than when i first started, i don't know any techniques, etc.

i think what you should do is go back to the basics. learn some easy songs all the way through. and when i say easy songs, i mean two and three chord strum songs. even if you don't like the song just learn it all the way though and memorize it. no fancy techniques here, just strumming, chord changes. learn a few of them, say three. that way when someone asks if you can play something you'll have a few songs ready that you'll be able to play all the way through, that are recognizable, that maybe you can even sing to. it'll be impressive to other people and will get you some compliments and maybe improve your confidence. some suggestions: redemption song, mr. tambourine man, have you ever seen the rain, brown eyed girl. margaritaville.

the problem is that your trying to many things at one time, like alternate picking and palm muting and songs and other stuff. its to much. that and it helps when you have some else teach you songs (respectivley). like i was trying to teach myself stairway to heaven (i actualy got pretty far). i didn't even know about Hybrid Picking let alone know how to. i went to my guitar teacher and he told me every thing. heres a possible order you might want to go as for things to learn ( that you were trying to)

1. some extreme alternate picking practice
2.shuffle picking
3.then go chapter by chapter in the books

sorry if your alot better than i am perceiving. read your thing wrong. other wise just keep practicing

I'll add another one for jamming. I remember one particular session I had a few months back. We had a subsitute English teacher, so me and a guy I know skipped off class, and went to the music room. Along the way, we grabbed another guy from the hallway.

We got in the music room, and picked up two acoustics, and a Strat. I started to play the riff from "Danny's All Star Joint" by Rickie Lee Jones. One guy started playing the chords of in a stab, and the other guy played the same riff as me. We traded leads back and forth, and some dueling solos. It was neat. I realized then and there that my leads were pretty good. They were all based around a simple blues scale, but they were solid.

That hour of improve jamming, (other songs were played also) did alot of my playing. It helped my timing, my rhythm, my ability to improvise, some theory. It was one of the most productive hours of guitar playing I ever had.

I've found a new way to work out of this rut. I'm supprised I, nor you all didn't think of this...

I decided that I was going to start the sunday song writing club for the heck of it, so I decided I wanted a tune to write lyrics to. So I looked over at the acoustic and un-cased it for the first time in maybe two or three months. I started playing chords. All the scale work I had done hadn't made my two hands work together, but had improved the strength of my left hand. Plus maybe they got longer. Anyhoo, I have never played better sounding barre chords, or chords in general. I'm going to play around with this weeks theme by learning some new chords, mainly minor chords. Plus I forgot how nice my acoustic sounds. It's a Yamaha FG700S. If anyone else here is a religious electric guitarist stuck in a rut, take a break and unplug. I'm enjoying it.