Frustration

[Fingerstylist]

I'm usually pretty calm and relaxed while playing but today I've felt like smashing my guitar over someone's head. I guess that could be indicative of other issues as well :) It feels like it takes me forever to transition from a G barre to a B minor and I'm just not progressing at all. Also it appears I can't even translate tab to my fingers. I'm fingering chords according to it, just knowing there is a better way.

Just putting this out there to vent a little and for those other poor souls who might be getting a discouraged as well.

[mmmaak]

Would you like the annotated Pete Huttlinger tab now? :D:D:D

Muscle memory....it'll come with time :)

[Fingerstylist]

Would you like the annotated Pete Huttlinger tab now? :D:D:D

Muscle memory....it'll come with time :)

Do you already have it done? I'd hate for you to go through the trouble just for me. If you don't mind though, I'd certainly use it :guitar:

[mmmaak]

Do you already have it done? I'd hate for you to go through the trouble just for me. If you don't mind though, I'd certainly use it :guitar:

I don't have a photocopy that I can scribble on now, so maybe I'll get it done later tonight :)

Having said that, there's no guarantee that you'll like my fingerings better than your own. They were written for my own hands, after all :D

[JeremyG]

....and I'm just not progressing at all. Also it appears I can't even translate tab to my fingers. I'm fingering chords according to it, just knowing there is a better way.

Just putting this out there to vent a little and for those other poor souls who might be getting a discouraged as well.

Newby,

(I can say that b/c I'm right there too!) ;) .... on another site I have looked at before and still frequent, one important bit of advice I got was this...the quickest way to learn how to play fast is to play slowly!

It takes time. Go slow. Get it right, even if you have to "pick and place" your own fingers. You'll be happy to find out just how rapidly your body will learn if you make sure to learn to NEVER play slopilly and make mistakes.

Go slowly! I'm right there too.

Jeremy .. who just last night said to his wife "Sometimes I think this thing takes up too much time" and gets frustrated fast and often.

[raysd]

I read an article recently that cited a study which said that in order to become a "champion"-level performer in anything required ten thousand hours of practice.

So if you practice three hours a day, five days a week, you're looking at 12.86 years to become Tommy Emmanuel or _____ (insert your favorite guitar genius here). Your actual mileage may vary.

Now, to me, this is a sort of good news/bad news scenario. More than likely, I'm not going to become a Tommy Emmanuel. On the other hand, at this stage in life, I have a pretty good shot at becoming a good, maybe even a really good, guitar player, given the hours I've already logged, and the hours I am now playing every day.

On the other other hand, right now it does seem to take me a long long time to learn what I considered to be a medium-difficult song. And yeah, it can be frustrating, but that's when I examine my routine in reference to "flow".

I've posted before regarding "flow", so I won't go into it again here. But it's a good thing to know about: "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

As a side note, the article I read was about a Buddhist monk and how he is able to affect changes in his brain via meditation; the article said that the monk had probably "logged" fifty thousand hours of meditation. That's some serious discipline right there. (There are 8,765 hours in a year).

The really good news about playing guitar (in my opinion) is that there are many, many levels at which playing guitar can be enjoyable and life-enhancing - that's why it's such a popular instrument.

[rick-slo]

Play Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" through a hundred times. :)

[mmmaak]

I don't think Pete would appreciate me posting his tab for everyone to see so....email sent, Fingerstylist ;)

[ewalling]

I read an article recently that cited a study which said that in order to become a "champion"-level performer in anything required ten thousand hours of practice.

So if you practice three hours a day, five days a week, you're looking at 12.86 years to become Tommy Emmanuel or _____ (insert your favorite guitar genius here). Your actual mileage may vary.


What that study may ignore is the quality of practice. I presume that if you spent 10,000 hours practising the chord C you wouldn't end up playing like Tommy Emmanuel! ;) I haven't read the article, but surely it's the quality of our practice that determines progress, not just a brute total of hours grafting away at what might be a dead-end?

[raysd]

What that study may ignore is the quality of practice. I presume that if you spent 10,000 hours practising the chord C you wouldn't end up playing like Tommy Emmanuel! ;) I haven't read the article, but surely it's the quality of our practice that determines progress, not just a brute total of hours grafting away at what might be a dead-end?

It seems they studied "champions" (Olympic athletes, musicians, etc) to determine the necessary length of time to attain excellence, so it would seem unlikely that they ignored quality of pratice. But I would assume that "ten thousand hours" was an average, and that some people required more while others less. Thus, it would be a reference point, not an absolute. There would be other variables too - for instance, natural talent.

I would have to discount my own total hours rather heavily to reflect the time spent goofing off and noodling. ;)

[james55]

I don't have a photocopy that I can scribble on now, so maybe I'll get it done later tonight :)

Having said that, there's no guarantee that you'll like my fingerings better than your own. They were written for my own hands, after all :D
*******
I guess I'm confused unless this is a tongue in cheek thing.... Why on earth would you want Peter Hutlinger tabs if your having trouble transitioning from a G barre to B minor chord??? Sounds like you may need to stick with the basics for a while...??
I don't do tabs, that is enough to frustrate me.

[ewalling]

It seems they studied "champions" (Olympic athletes, musicians, etc) to determine the necessary length of time to attain excellence, so it would seem unlikely that they ignored quality of pratice. But I would assume that "ten thousand hours" was an average, and that some people required more while others less. Thus, it would be a reference point, not an absolute. There would be other variables too - for instance, natural talent.

I would have to discount my own total hours rather heavily to reflect the time spent goofing off and noodling. ;)

There are so many variables, though, aren't there?: natural talent, age, attitude, motivation, technique, method, practice components, level of tiredness, physical make-up, teacher (if any), and the list goes on. As I said, I haven't seen the study, but the idea of quantifying the number of hours it takes to acquire a proficient level in a skill like playing an instrument seems a tad preposterous to me.

[mud4feet]

Play Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" through a hundred times. :)

Great advice for developing barre chord strength!!! (and changing from that G to Bm you mentioned)


Might want to make it a thousand times, though. Can't hurt!!

[Fingerstylist]

*******
I guess I'm confused unless this is a tongue in cheek thing.... Why on earth would you want Peter Hutlinger tabs if your having trouble transitioning from a G barre to B minor chord??? Sounds like you may need to stick with the basics for a while...??
I don't do tabs, that is enough to frustrate me.

I can play a couple of what would be considered intermediate fingerstyle arrangements. One of them involves the transition from G to Bm. Now I can make the transition, just not as fast as I'd like to be able to play that particular song at speed. The Huttlinger tab we are talking about is not advanced, just tricky in some parts. Now if I just stuck to learning chords and swore off tab, I wouldn't get to far would I?

Thanks for the help MMM!

[TBman]

Which song of Pete's is it? I have one of his collections, maybe I can help too.

[Fingerstylist]

Which song of Pete's is it? I have one of his collections, maybe I can help too.

It's Darcy's Guitar. From what I read, it was supposed to be relatively easy. I'm having trouble on the stretch to the 7th fret at the beginning of the song. And something about my timing isn't right. Just gonna take alot of work :)

[David Hilyard]

It's Darcy's Guitar. From what I read, it was supposed to be relatively easy. I'm having trouble on the stretch to the 7th fret at the beginning of the song. And something about my timing isn't right. Just gonna take alot of work :)

"Darcy's Guitar" is a cool tune. Even tunes that are relatively easy, and easy is a relative term, sometimes have hard parts in them that require extra practice and will be the last thing to fall into place. That stretch you are having trouble with just requires repetition. Play that section over and over for 5 minutes and then stop. Relax, and start at the top. It'll be better this time through. Rinse and repeat.

The timing is also a challenge in this piece, until you get that steady alternating bass thing happening like a machine in your thumb. All of this takes weeks and months of practice. Even after you get it so it sounds pretty good, you'll be encouraged to know that next year at this time, that tune will sound so much better and stronger and you can day dream when you play it.

Playing is a series of frustrations, even for advanced players. Anything new is repeating the process. The good news is, fingers remember after awhile, if you've done it enough times.

Have you heard the story behind "Darcy's Guitar"? Pretty cool. Pete tells it in concert a lot. Nice guy. Monster chops.

[mmmaak]

*******
I guess I'm confused unless this is a tongue in cheek thing.... Why on earth would you want Peter Hutlinger tabs if your having trouble transitioning from a G barre to B minor chord??? Sounds like you may need to stick with the basics for a while...??

Not all Pete Huttlinger arrangements are difficult to play. Darcy's Guitar in particular is one of the simplest. There are just a couple of transitions that require some thought in terms of fingering, if they are to be played smoothly.

Thanks for the help MMM!
Did you get my PDF? Let me know if the fingerings aren't clear enough. I can adjust my scanner tone ;)

[mmmaak]

Have you heard the story behind "Darcy's Guitar"? Pretty cool. Pete tells it in concert a lot. Nice guy. Monster chops.
He tells it in the PH Collection tab book too :)

[Fingerstylist]

David,

Yeah I saw him tell that story on a youtube video. I may have met the Darcy he's talking about a few days ago as I checked out Cotten Music Center. I didn't ask for names though. You are of course right about the practice needed, too bad there isn't such thing as guitar steroids.

MMM,

I got the pdf and thanks again. I think it will be very helpful to a noob like myself. :D

[TBman]

It's Darcy's Guitar. From what I read, it was supposed to be relatively easy. I'm having trouble on the stretch to the 7th fret at the beginning of the song. And something about my timing isn't right. Just gonna take alot of work :)

I have that tab. I'll take a look at it. I remember there was some not so obvious fingerings, but I don't remember the stretch. Its a good song, BTW.

There's a neat arrangement of a Police song too, in the book I have. I forgot all about that book. Thanks for the reminder, btw. I wonder how his stuff sounds on a classical.