YES!.....It's That Time.....

I think, IMHO, that you're exactly where you should be and that you're ready for something more challenging. If it were me, I think I would be concentrating on learning whole songs at this point. Get a feel for how everything fits together. Start building your repertoire.

Mike, Mike, Mike! From the samples you've been posting I'd say your doing fine why worry about where you "should" be? Ah well that's just me. For the record your further along at 10 months than I was, does it bother me? No I figure I've got 3+ years playing and I still enjoy every second I play. In the end that's all that really matters is that your having fun. As for the sticky it might actually frustrate some people( not that anybody would lie about their MAD skills :oops: ) just my penny.

Mike, Mike, Mike! From the samples you've been posting I'd say your doing fine why worry about where you "should" be? Ah well that's just me. For the record your further along at 10 months than I was, does it bother me? No I figure I've got 3+ years playing and I still enjoy every second I play. In the end that's all that really matters is that your having fun. As for the sticky it might actually frustrate some people( not that anybody would lie about their MAD skills :oops: ) just my penny.

I appreciate the feedback (and FAST I may add Elektra & Art!)...

I am not actually worried about where I'm at but my "map" is getting confusing. I just wanted to know where I should go next....you know...a fork in the road with a MILLION directions to choose!

Thanks again!

Dive into theory and ear training as well as sight reading I have yet to master those 3 :shock:

I'd say some more full songs and theory together. You can really learn a lot suprisingly quickly by combining the two.

I'd say some more full songs and theory together. You can really learn a lot suprisingly quickly by combining the two.

Yeah knowing why your playing what your playing really helps!

My practices have been getting kind of BLAH! I don't know what it is. Today I was just strumming a few chords, played a few riffs, and then just kind of zoned out. I thought that over the summer I might try a teacher but I need to GET to summer first.

Thanks everyone!

Try to come up with original stuff. That's how I keep things fresh, by trying to be creative. don't practice a scale, rather, apply it to something. don't practice your chords...USE them. make them work for you. You'll see yourself improve vastly if you break out of the box a little mentally.

Maybe I'm going about this wrong, but from my vantage point on my own playing, i have never practiced guitar in my life. I never consider myself to be "practicing" unless I'm running through songs for a performance (which hasn't been for a longish while, sadly). What you call your practice time, i call my playing time. My point is, if you just have the idea that you're practicing, that gets boring. Batting practice in baseball can be fun, but if all you did was BP, you'd be itching to get into a real game. So try to get away from a BP mindset. Sure, you need your time to learn new things, and that's important. But when I learn something new, i usually do so off the internet, and then I run through it a few times, then i PLAY it, rather than PRACTICE it. I know some of you may think it's the same thing, but in my mind they are vastly different.

It seems to me that when you are feeling as if you're not progressing, you are treating practice as a chore. It's not! Also, try not to worry about "am i at the right point in my guitar playing career????" Just keep playing and do your best, and you WILL progress. I've been playing for almost 5 years now, and there are prolly some things you can do that I can't, and vice versa. it's a highly personal thing.

anyways, the moral of my story...just play! let it take you over and let your fingers do their thing, no worries. Progress happens when you least expect it!

U2Bono, Thanks for the support and suggestions. Usually when I "noodle" I toy with chords and strumming pattern combinations so I guess it is my own material. But since I don't understand theory yet it's hard to figure out what goes together. Plus practice doesn't feel like a chore anymore (it did at one time) but sometimes I just get "lost" and don't know what to practice next. Even when I try to make up a practice schedule I don't know what to put down. I'm just lacking direction at the momment.

I have been feeling depressed lately and these feelings tend to carry over into other aspects of my life like guitar. Many people use music, working out etc. to get away from how they feel. It's been effecting my practices the last 3-4 days (as well as work). Plus I don't have anyone here to hear me play so sometime I get like "Why bother? Music is meant to be heard and I don't have anyone around to hear it." I know it's pretty pathetic.

I guess I am due for a slump since I haven't had one in awhile.

Thanks

Mike

This may seem like a strange question, but why are you getting bored with practice?

What I mean, you just listed many skills you are working on now. I think for 10 months that is a pretty impressive list. So, you are doing well.

At the same time, you say that many of these skills need work. That's great, I still feel the same about my own playing and always will. And this is why guitar is never boring for me.

If I could play everything perfectly well, I think that is when guitar practice would become boring.

So, look at the need to improve in all these areas as a challenge. Determine to improve in each area. Yes, you will get discouraged. Guess what? We all do. But you simply cannot let feelings of discouragement stop you when it comes to guitar. It just comes with the territory, so you might as well accept that now. Sometimes you have to think your way through discouragement and boredom.

It's like going to work everyday. I sure don't go because I feel like it. I go because I KNOW I need the money. And work can become blah too. But I try to find excitement in performing a better job everyday. I even take simple tasks seriously.

Sorry, not trying to preach. But get excited about all the many skills you have developed in just 10 months and determine to sharpen those skills.

Add new skills such as reading well, or try different styles of music like jazz, or fingerpicking, ....
Trust me, you will never run out of new challenges with guitar.

I have been feeling depressed lately and these feelings tend to carry over into other aspects of my life like guitar.

Thanks
Pick up an acoustic and write some dark stuff, that's what I do when I'm down. It always sounds great at the time, but then when I play it back the next day my lyrics are just too dark. I usually end up rewriting them, but I've come up with some pretty cool riffs/chord progression when I've been in a rut.

Try writing a song for the sunday songwriters club, with guitar to accompany. It will give you a good challenge and give you something new to do. Plus with all those new skills you should learn how to APPLY them to a REAL song or two. Writing just ones song helped me out, and now I'm going to write one every week, and accompany it with guitar. And look, its Sunday, so now you've got the whole week to work on it.

If you don't have a recorder, try audacity. I got it yesterday, and got my mic and figured it out quick and easy today. Only problem is I messed it up and it shut down on me, but thats because I tried something I didn't know would work. Just stick to the basics and it works great.

Plus I don't have anyone here to hear me play so sometime I get like "Why bother? Music is meant to be heard and I don't have anyone around to hear it."
That's the thing, Mike. First... you are playing for someone..... yourself...... and second..... "Why bother?".... You bother so when someone IS there you nail them with it.

If you keep worrying about where you are now..... by the time you know it....... you'll be looking at the past. :wink:

Find more ways to have fun and not just with your guitar. Go out and gather some inspiration and come back with an open mind. If you are stressed out about something and it carries over to your playing then so be it and go with the flow. After all, isn't music about conveying one's emotions?

Another thing, you do not need to know theory to be able to tell what sounds good and what doesn't. Theory is gathered information that was broken down for us from the beginning of time. I'm not saying don't learn it, but don't stress over it either.

If you think about it, technically, you are an entertainer. That's what you are doing in a nut shell. Ask yourself this, “Why did I start playing the guitar in the first place?” The rest should fall into place.

Having fun is what it's all about.

Mike

I've been at it about 18 months and most of the time no one is listening to me. Since I been putting things on the net (soundclick) distance family members have heard me and were impressed (at least they say) Actually my sister sent e-mails to em saying "I guess I didn't know my brother was a musician" The thing is though you really have to be good to grab a guitar and play for people so that they are entertained, so that they want to hear you play and ask. If your still a beginner you can't entertain to the fullest so your better off waiting anyway. Don't even tell people you play just practice