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Feel stuck in progressing with guitar


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So I've been playing guitar for about 2- 2 1/2 years now. Mostly it has just been covering songs and learning parts of songs that I really like. However, more recently I have been interested in learning the theory to guitar, as in how it all works, chord structures, why certain chords progressions work, etc. I was wondering if anyone could give me any kind of tips with an approach to learning these things/practicing. Thanks in advance! 

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I feel like music theory should be a primary focus in going forward. Any tips on transitioning from playing mostly acoustic to electric? I recently got my first electric and of course song structures/tunings etc are different so I've been trying to adjust in the songs I'm wanting to learn

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Yeah if your electric has a whammy bar, use it to dive bomb and make horse whinney-ing/dog-barking noises.

Seriously though, if you are unsure about taking lessons over skype I would offer you the 1st half hour free so you can see it's legit. You'd have to provide a couple bucks if you want the video though, and then after that we could work out something you could afford, and what you want to focus on learning.

I'm not expensive, but very knowledgable and also flexible in terms of when I can teach so even if you're in a different time zone I can likely work around your schedule, to an extent.

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Having played guitar for about 13-14 years already, I've found that music theory is not necessary to progress your playing. You can be classically trained all you like, but at the end of the day, it's creativity that matters the most. If you feel limited, try transposing other instruments in songs to guitar. That will have you learning more quickly and give more towards your eventual technique. 

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Well, like I said 1st half hour is free, so there's no reason not to try it if you already have skype set up. Also I can record the lesson and dropbox it to you, so you have the lesson as reference forever, no need to take notes. That's something you don't get in person.

btw theory and creativity are not mutually exclusive. I could do an entire series of lessons on that.

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Well, like I said 1st half hour is free, so there's no reason not to try it if you already have skype set up. Also I can record the lesson and dropbox it to you, so you have the lesson as reference forever, no need to take notes. That's something you don't get in person.

btw theory and creativity are not mutually exclusive. I could do an entire series of lessons on that.

I'll have to consider that. I could really use a crash course in scales and more obscure chords.

I don't think I would want to do online lessons.

But I am looking at playing with friends. I have a friend that plays drums and has told me to come over and play with him, so I'll be doing that soon. Does anyone also have tips on ways to approach learning and practicing songs?

It should just flow naturally, there's no right or wrong way. If you work on a song for an hour or so it should stick with you even when you're practicing by yourself.

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I bought my first acoustic guitar about 8 years ago and have played quite a bit and I'm garbage.  Music comes easy to me - I'm pretty darned good at sax and piano and can play anything I hear on any instrument, even ones I don't know, but I'm so shitty at guitar.

 

I guess you could say I've been stuck in progressing with guitar for years.  Bar chords took me like 3 years to get okay at, and my B bar chord sounds like ass.

 

I've always wondered if practicing with something other than an acoustic ( aka an electric ) would be useful, but I have yet to look into it.

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I've always wondered if practicing with something other than an acoustic ( aka an electric ) would be useful, but I have yet to look into it.

Distortion and/or delay makes everything better, trust me.

As far as theory, I know some, but am by no means an expert, especially with chords since I learned while playing bass in orchestra, but I have a good foundation I guess. I just want to learn more so I can then ignore it all and play mad jazz riffs on upright yo...like some Ron Carter type shit son.

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Take a break from guitar and study styles. Experiment with different sounds and see what you want to implement to your own sound. I wouldn't call music theory a complete waste of time, but most of it is common sense. Now you can study scales on your own and follow your feelings with the music. Don't get caught up in the hype with music theory, music will just become a game of numbers and facts to you once you acquire that knowledge I know for me it made me hate how superior some students thought they were in those classes, haha so f'ing lame to be "musically superior" imo.

 

Also going from acoustic to electric will be a breeze. You'll only be using 25% of your hand strength when holding that electric compared to what you were using for acoustic. 

 

Just have fun and be yourself, follow your feelings with the instrument.

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I feel stuck in progressing for 10 years now :D

The improvements in the beginning are huge...after a while it's normal that the process of improving appears to slow down! Although I play for around 15-16 years now, I still can't shred or sweep...but honestly, for the music I love to make, I don't need this kind of stuff...

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I used to teach guitar for about five or six years. Teaching was a great way of learning, so if you have friends or siblings or whatever, try to learn things to the level that you would be comfortable to teach with. IT kinda gives you a chance to lay out some of the trickier things.

 

Some tips:

 

Pick songs that sound "odd", or outside of normal chord progressions, time sigs etc. You can analyse these songs and see how the theory works with them. Makes theory a bit more accessible imo.

 

Practice your practical theory (scales, chord formations etc) in conjunction with effects, picking styles, time signatures. Stops them getting boring which is #1 killer of wanting to continue to learn theory.

 

Try not to fall into the trap of playing the same three or four riffs every time you pick up a guitar. Before you pick it up, think about what you want to try. I know tons of people who just play the same stuff they know over and over, and it does nothing for your personal progression.

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Distortion and/or delay makes everything better, trust me.

As far as theory, I know some, but am by no means an expert, especially with chords since I learned while playing bass in orchestra, but I have a good foundation I guess. I just want to learn more so I can then ignore it all and play mad jazz riffs on upright yo...like some Ron Carter type shit son.

 

I have a Ron Carter record, purchased randomly trying to add some Jazz to my collection. I have questions. 

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Maybe I should just find the Jazz thread, I know there is one around here...but I just need suggestions. It's such an overwhelming genre and section at stores. I have no idea what I'm looking for. 

I wouldn't be mad at jazz suggestions in this thread, I'm always looking for new stuff to listen to lol

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I used to teach guitar for about five or six years. Teaching was a great way of learning, so if you have friends or siblings or whatever, try to learn things to the level that you would be comfortable to teach with. IT kinda gives you a chance to lay out some of the trickier things.

 

Some tips:

 

Pick songs that sound "odd", or outside of normal chord progressions, time sigs etc. You can analyse these songs and see how the theory works with them. Makes theory a bit more accessible imo.

 

Practice your practical theory (scales, chord formations etc) in conjunction with effects, picking styles, time signatures. Stops them getting boring which is #1 killer of wanting to continue to learn theory.

 

Try not to fall into the trap of playing the same three or four riffs every time you pick up a guitar. Before you pick it up, think about what you want to try. I know tons of people who just play the same stuff they know over and over, and it does nothing for your personal progression.

I have gotten into the habit of playing the same similar stuff over and over on guitar, I will admit. I honestly probably don't even think about it consciously, but I am going to start thinking about other styles/types of stuff to play to venture out a bit. 

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Playing with friends is what got me back into it. I played for a few years in high school and lost interest but picked it back up last year after (9 years later) visiting my friends jam space. We started writing original music and doing less covers and I fell back into it fairly quick and haven't looked back. I guess now I actually have enough money to buy pedals and gear that I only dreamt of with my high school part-time minimum wage job it's much easier to stay motivated.

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Creativity is big, I think. What helps me now and keeps me progressing is playing with friends, now that I've progressed this far. Try playing different styles or something. Music theory while is very helpful isn't crucial. If you know a bit here and there it's good, but what will really keep you going is motivation, creativity, and optimism in your playing.

 

If you're really interested in learning theory, what I can suggest is probably learning some scales or just pretty much analyzing songs in general. How some progressions or riffs are constructed. Learning the notes on the guitar. Experiment with different tunings too if you haven't already. Just understanding how things works basically.
But overall just enjoy it and you'll feel it.

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I started playing in Junior High and have gone through long spurts of "not progressing".  It's tough when you get stuck in a rut.  Playing with other people really helps because it inspires you to go in other directions.  One of the things that I do when I feel like my guitar playing is getting stale is to pick up another instrument.  Bass is really simple if you can play guitar and know a couple scales.  But it forces you to think differently about your approach to music and how to put sounds together.

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I have gotten into the habit of playing the same similar stuff over and over on guitar, I will admit. I honestly probably don't even think about it consciously, but I am going to start thinking about other styles/types of stuff to play to venture out a bit. 

It's something that I fell into and it seriously hurt my guitar playing. Whilst the same stuff I was playing wasn't particularly simple, I found that I'd pick up a guitar, play it for a few minutes and put the guitar back down immediately. Try to just get something in your mind even to just attempt before you think about playing guitar.

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