Somebody said that by playing the same song over and over until you can get it perfect is not the real way to play a guitar. So what is the real way to play a guitar?
I think the real way to play requires the use of a pickle, a live frog, a small pocket blowtorch and belly-button lint . . .
As for what to play . . . whatever you feel like.
But, in all seriousness, if you don't balance exploring different songs with working on what you already know, it will lead to slower improvement.
At the same time, trying too many different things and not focusing on playing any of them "right" won't get you very far either.
"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
Strumming with a pickle? You're making music and relish at the same time! Brilliant!
I relish relish!
"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've been playing the classical guitar for a few months now (still a beginner obviously) but some guy was saying just because I can play a song doesn't mean I can play guitar. How else is a person to learn though? I learnt many chord shapes through different songs, now I may not know the name of the chords but my hands have developed a familiarity with the actual shape of the chord. I have scales to learn and anything but what does it take to become a "real" guitar player?
Sounds like you're doing exactly what you should be doing.
"Knowing how to play guitar" can mean quite a few different things.
For a complete beginner it can mean knowing how to pluck out a simple melody one note at a time.
For someone a little further along it can mean being able to play a song with simple chords.
For someone further along still, it can mean being able to read a chord chart and strum a song.
For someone still further along, it can mean being able to site read in multiple positions.
For somone a bit more seasoned it can mean being able to do chord substitutions and comp on the fly.
For someone still more advanced it can mean being able to site read a chord melody and improve over that on the fly.
Eventually, however, every really great guitarist realizes that they don't know how to play the guitar, and never will . . . they're just learning the same as everyone else.
"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
hmm I never really saw it that way before. Thanks for the advice =)
No problem . . .
Remember though ... use a fresh pickle!
"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
Intriguing question.
I really can't improve on KP's answer about how it can be different depending on where you are. :)
But that won't stop me having a little waffle anyway.
One of the best things I ever read about learning guitar was on this site. I think it was NoteBoat who said it. It was (approximately):
"Practice doesn't make perfect - it makes permanent".
So that was one of my first beacons to light the way. The first step along the 'real' way to play guitar is to get it right. You won't get a song right purely by repeating it. If you're getting something wrong you'll just get more consistent at playing it badly, and you'll make it harder to repair the damage later if you do realise you've been blowing it.
Perhaps that's a bit of a digression, but when I see the word 'practice' that saying pops back into my head and prompts me to keep working on accuracy and technique.
At this stage of my musical journey, the 'real' way to play guitar is to be able to play a song by knowing musically what comes next, rather just having learned by rote where my fingers should be.
Take a simple arrangement of Amazing Grace that was in one of my learning books.
Chords A D and E. Sixteen bars as follows:
a-| (A) ma-zing| (A) Grace, how| (D) sweet the| (A) sound that
| (A) saved a|(A) wretch like|(E) me.....|(E) ....I
| (A) once was |(A) lost but | (D) now I'm |(A) found, was
| (A) blind but |(E) now I |(A) see.... |(A).....
When I first learned that I clamped my eyes on the page like a snake hypnotising a mouse... I tapped out the beat and I counted the bars - One A - bang bang bang bang - Second A - bang, bang, bang, bang, One D - bang bang... etc. I was greatly satisfied when I could play it accurately all the way through. But It didn't really bother me whether I could memorise the song without the music in front of me.
Now if I play it I not only know when it should change from A to D, but I also know that the sound I'll be looking for will be a D sound, not merely that I need to put my fingers in that shape next. In other words, I know that the sound of the song needs a D after the A rather than an E or even a C, because I now now what a D sounds like and I have developed a feel for what A to D sounds and 'feels' like as opposed to A to E for instance.
So for me, the 'real' way to play guitar is to have done enough work on chord changes, intervals, scales, keys, etc that I know why and how to play that song rather than just being able to play it because I've memorised it only through repetition.
But, next year, what the 'real' way is will be more ambitious again, I hope... :)
Enjoy your journey.
Chris
"Practice doesn't make perfect - it makes permanent".
Yeah, I do say that all the time. Whenever I have a student who's rushing through an exercise I remind them....
If you're playing too fast to do it right, you're practicing your mistakes.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Yeah, I do say that all the time. Whenever I have a student who's rushing through an exercise I remind them....
If you're playing too fast to do it right, you're practicing your mistakes.
Thank you again for that NoteBoat. It's probably the best single piece of musical advice I ever got. And for free too. :D
I wish I were better after all these years playing, but I'm not. I need to be able to play more of other peoples songs, but was never really interested in that. I like playing my own stuff and have been writing my own songs since the begining of my playing back in '84. I try to play what I like to hear. I am currently doing a little bit of this and a little of that, mostly in the rock-metal genres. I don't try to copy anyone's sound. I just try to be me. If there is a particular song you like, then by all means, learn it all the way thru, correctly. But explore your creativity sometimes. And most important of all, have fun!
It is a small world for metal fanatics. I welcome you fellow musicians, especially the metalheads!
learning guitar is hard because there's a lot to know and not enough time to learn it all. you can learn and practice scales, know the names of the notes and go from a technique point of view but what most people want to do is to play songs. and that's the main point of playing. if you find someone who plays an instrument the first thing that they're going to ask you is "what do you know?" by knowing songs you learn the chords, chord changes, rhythmns. if you study the song you can know the key, what the sharps and flats are in that key, maybe work on the solo if there is one, make up your own solo eventually. once you really get to know a song you'll find that there are many ways to play it. you can substitute bar chords for open chords, find new ways to strum it and have it still sound like the song, make up little fills. so i wouldn't knock knowing songs.
I've been playing the classical guitar for a few months now (still a beginner obviously) but some guy was saying just because I can play a song doesn't mean I can play guitar. How else is a person to learn though? I learnt many chord shapes through different songs, now I may not know the name of the chords but my hands have developed a familiarity with the actual shape of the chord. I have scales to learn and anything but what does it take to become a "real" guitar player?
I may differ from the opinions of others, but I think that playing songs is playing guitar. Period.
You don't practice to do tapping. You don't practice to do bends. You don't practice to play arpeggios.
YOU PRACTICE TO PLAY SONGS
Yes, you need to know all these techniques to play songs. But the end goal is to play music, to play songs.
Would you pay $50 to go to a concert and watch some guy (or gal) tap for 3 hours?? I wouldn't.
But that is how some people play guitar. They just practice exercises all the time. Ask them to play a song and they are stumped.
True story I've told a few times before (humor me, I'm gettin' old):
I met this young fellow playing guitar with his girlfriend once. He was playing all sorts of scales and arpeggios, stuff that I can't play. Then he sort of bragged that he was studying guitar in college.
I told him I played too and asked if I could play his guitar.
Well, I just played about 5 songs in a row (very simple songs at that) and sang. But these were all songs I knew I could perform well. This guy's girlfriend remarked, "Wow, he's really good!"
Man, I was laughing inside. These were all super simple songs. But I had them down and could sing them pretty well too. The poor guy was shocked. He could play all sorts of scales and fancy techniques, but I don't think he knew a single song. I handed the guitar back to him and he wouldn't play anymore after that.
No guitar player can play every song, at least without practicing it. Even super great guitar players practice. In fact, they practice MORE than casual guitar players, that's why they are so good.
But you will never arrive at the point where you can play any song instantly without rehearsing. Simple songs with simple progressions yes, but good guitarists practice all their songs, even the easy ones.
So, practice scales and techniques. But start a little notebook and learn songs. Start with easy ones and build up. Next time you see that guy, play about 10 songs for him. He'll still say you can't play. Hand him your guitar and ask him to show you how. :oops:
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
"not the real way to play guitar"
This is the sort of rubbish that pseudo "musicians" sprout all the time. 9 times out of ten these people couldn't play to save their life and have never played outside their bedrooms. They're the same guys who sleep with heaps of girls - alone in their bedroom.
Don't worry about what anyone else says, if you hit the strings and it makes a noise that you dig, that is the real way to play the guitar.
