The Top 40 Common Newbie Guitarist Mistakes

You forgot one.

Dropping the pick through the soundhole.

Oh wait... I still do that now! :lol:

"Investing in distortion boxes instead of a good amp"....so what's wrong with having a good amp AND a distortion pedal? There may be times when you want to switch from clean to distortion.....the box'll do it for you, instead of having to pause the song, reset the amp and check the gain....

"Limiting yourself to one style of music – usually metal." I play GUITAR music....that counts as one style, surely? Seriously, what's the point of learning, say, classical music if all you want to do is crank out powerchords at max vol?

"Jamming with other players"....yes and no. Playing with BETTER players will help - but I learned a lot by jamming along with the radio and CDs.

"Not knowing the difference between tube watts and solid-state watts." There's a difference? Well, if there is, I may as well throw my guitars and amps out then because obviously I'll never be able to play guitar.....

"Learning with your eyes, instead of your ears." I learned a lot from going to acoustic jam nights and watching other player's hands - watching how they changed to certain chords, watching for chord changes etc.

These are just a few taken at random....I could probably pick holes in most of them. What's wrong with playing SOTW on the high E? If a new guitarist does that, and it's recognisable as music, and helps his confidence, then play it again, Sam!

Perhaps it's meant to be a "humorous" observation of what new guitar players do? Seems a little condescending and patronising, if so. We all had to start somewhere!

:D :D :D

Vic

Some of us "oldbie's" make some of the same mistakes. But we don't take it so seriously :D

"Over use of legato with a complete disregard for tempo". The writer probably meant "slurs" or maybe "sostenuto"; legato can't really be "over used". Legato doesn't relate to tempo, either - it's how the notes flow into each other.

I just assumed it must be a guitar rag writers mistake to not know the difference between legato and rubato.

You forgot one.

Dropping the pick through the soundhole.

Oh wait... I still do that now! :lol:
I had a friend that would do that to me all the time. I got good at popping it out.

I just assumed it must be a guitar rag writers mistake to not know the difference between legato and rubato.

Rubato hadn't even occurred to me!

But rubato can't be done with any disregard to the tempo, much less "complete" disregard - the underlying beats have to remain the same. Maybe they meant a piacere (which can be overused)?

And I thought rubato was a root vegetable....................

I'm soooo glad Clapton stayed away from Bowling shirts :roll:

A slice of rubato pie, please - but no beets.

A slice of rubato pie, please - but no beets.

omg . . warn us before you do that!

I have coffee all over my shirt now!
:o :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Serious answer, here's my big 10:

1) being more concerned with equipment than practice time
2) not finding a mentor or teacher to help identify areas of study and improvement
3) over-focus on playing favorite tunes instead of learning about music in general
4) under-focus on playing entire songs instead of just favorite riffs
5) Thinking tone comes from gear
6) not using a metronome
7) not learning how to play a wide variety of rhythms and styles (there's more to life than straight 4/4)
8) not learning the fretboard
9) not learning how to site read
10) worrying about comparing themselves to others before they even know what they don't know

and a bonus 11) not demanding unerring accuracy from themselves for every note when practicing

9) not learning how to site read

Hmmm ... this must be that arcane knowledge of how to assess a stage layout. :wink:

That's too much!!

You can't go and make those kinds of broad sweeping statements about pentatonic box patterns and dragon shirts! I don't care what anyone says. :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:
I agree :D
#1 BB King, Albert King, and Freddie King all did OK with box patterns.
#2 What does a shirt have to do with playing guitar :?: I like loud shirts , fits right in with rock-n-roll :twisted:

i find me trying to do anything except what i want to do ends up with me not doing anything at all.

I'm glad I wasn't the only person who considered some of this list BS. I mean, if you can keep time, why can't you be in a band? Nevermind that it's contradictory to expect newbies to jam but not to join a band.

Greatest all time mistake by beginning guitarists:

being seduced by Steve Vai's evil ways!!! :twisted: :shock:

This is a common tragedy that occurs to many soft guitarists, but the ones that the survive the difficult first years of struggling and confusion will soon be able to see this blemish and remove it from themselves. :lol:

Unfortunately this happened to me, but I have seen the light and have been saved! If you are a struggling guitarist twisted up in the tangled roots of Steve Vai's death hold upon you, contact me and we can work together to save your musical and creative freedom!!!