What level are you?

[Ranger1964]

Originally Posted by pattste

I usually say that I suck but that I'm having fun. And I used to suck even more.

You are my HERO!!! I shall steal that and call it as my own!!!

[Wadcutter]

Originally Posted by pattste

I usually say that I suck but that I'm having fun. And I used to suck even more.

Hey can I borrow that line? It seems to fit me quite well even after hacking chords for 40 years I still suck.

[Chris Kemp]

Been a beginner guitar player for 48 years but I have been known to sing and play the pants off of middle aged drunk women. LOL I think they give in so I'll shut up and quit playing.

[Craig_S]

Can the scale go negative?

[mmmaak]

Originally Posted by JoeNewbie

OK I can't let this one go. Based on the video that I saw, you're not in virtuoso territory but your playing is very clean and most definitely "pro level".

Thanks for the very flattering words, but I actually play that song much better now than in the vid (or at least I'd like to think so) and, to my ears, it's still *not* close to the level of the artist I learned it from! So maybe we have different perceptions of what "pro level" should be? Or, as others have mentioned, maybe it's a moving target

[Martin_Nut]

I play fingerstyle guitar about as good as I play golf. Should take some lessons, occasionally have good days, on the rare occassion I have been known to "birdey" a tune - and always looking for a new club that'll get me to the next level of play ... !

[ricks]

We all have different perspectives of what is "good" or how we play. And I find most players are their own worst emenies when it comes to rating their performance.

I would like to think I am an intermediate player. Some around these parts think I'm a good player. Steve Kaufman told me he didn't consider himself an intermediate player till he knew 700 tunes. By that standard I will never be intermediate. So I guess I'll be a beginner all my life.

[Juan_Banjovy]

I'm a one-trick-pony. Heavily influenced by Leo Kottke in the 70's (& since) I love fast fingerpicking but that's about all I do. I can't hold a candle to the masters. Especially the formally trained ones, I'm 98% self-taught. I learned a lot the first five years & played every day but the process slowed way down for the next 30 years. But, lately I'm focusing less on trick licks & more on trying to express the music I hear in my head, however simple it may be sometimes. Otherwise my guitar's just a novelty.

[ironman187]

beginner...for the last five years

I can play some fairly tough chords and chord progressions, I can do some basic finger picking, and I am just starting to learn flat-picking.

[Indolent58]

I usually think of myself as being pretty adequate. But last week I saw John Jorgenson perform, and now when I play I feel like a walrus trying to touch type

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by eno55

In the world of Guitar slingers how do you catagoritize and why? ....
So when someone asked what level player are you what would you say?

I think the whole idea of thinking about guitar playing in terms of "levels" is a bit screwed up. It suggests that there is a set number of moves that all players have to master before moving onto the next, superior, stage, which I think is nonsense. What 'level' was Syd Barrett? Many people, Jimmy Page included, say that he was a truly inspired and original guitarist, yet if you were to compare his chops with those of someone like Larry Coryell, poor old Syd would seem like a beginner!

[Nexxus]

Big 'ol newbie. Level 0 I've been learning chords and fingerstyle patterns for the last 4 months and I can play 1 song .... badly.

[conquerorworm]

Heh. I can travis pick without screwing up and I can butcher some basic chords. But it's fun as heck and I think I'll keep doing it. (It may never leave my bedroom, but I can live with that.)

I think the perspective of the question is just wrong? Music is about people, for me. The best music I've heard was 3 mediocre chords wrapped around some off-key singing, around a campfire in the NM mountains.

[Tuffythepug]

Being totally honest here. .... I truly believe that I am nowhere near where I should be after playing for 20 years. I'm totally self-taught which can have some drawbacks and is not conducive to achieving real proficiency.

Having said that, I'm not worried about it. I now play well enough to keep myself entertained and occasionally a few others. My wife told me recently that I'm 10 times better than she ever thought I'd be when I started.
She always thought I did not possess any natural musical talent and she could be right. But, limited though I may be, I play well enough to have a regular jam session with a real good life-long player and business associate, and I have learned a ton of songs and written quite a few.

I can't think of a clever description of my playing level. I'm mostly cowboy-chord junkie who spends a lot of time on the first few frets cause it's real comfortable there. I do try my hand at some lead lines and fill but mostly I'm content to play a lot of chords pretty well and keep it simple so I can concentrate on singing too.

In recent years I've gotten more serious about bottleneck slide style and I find that I do have a bit of a knack for that. We'll see where that leads.

[66strummer]

Originally Posted by JoeNewbie

OK I can't let this one go. Based on the video that I saw, you're not in virtuoso territory but your playing is very clean and most definitely "pro level".

Now, I might change my mind if that is the only tune that you can play...

Actually I believe that is the only tune mmmaak can play "headless" .



I would rate my level as Virtuoso Strummer.