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  #1  
Old 01-20-2019, 10:40 AM
markle369 markle369 is offline
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Default Getting better at guitar

Hi! I'm an intermediate player and I was wondering what some of the more advanced players would recommend for learning material. I'd like to become more musically fluent both for playing solo and writing songs and playing with others. I am interested in many styles including rock, country, jazz and bluegrass. Are there certain books or other materials that you've found helpful? What has provided you with the most musical freedom on the guitar? I'm going through Arnie Berle's Chords and Progressions for Jazz and Popular guitar at the moment.
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  #2  
Old 01-20-2019, 12:51 PM
Riverwolf Riverwolf is offline
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Maybe not what you are asking...
What really helped me was learning some genres that I would normally not listen to.
I have taken lessons on Boom/Chicka(?), Carter style and bluegrass.
A lot of the techniques transfer over to other styles.
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Old 01-20-2019, 01:59 PM
Steel and wood Steel and wood is offline
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Very lucky these days because just about everything guitar including advanced lessons on every style and genre can be found on YouTube.

In addition, I suggest taking in as much music theory and fretboard knowledge as you can, develop and train your hearing to be able to more or less play by ear, jam to a multitude of YouTube backing tracks and jam and play with others. (Apologies if this is something you already know).

The journey basically never ends!

Good luck!
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Old 01-20-2019, 02:36 PM
v32 finish v32 finish is offline
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This is a great question, and one that I'll be following, because I am also interested in trying to become more adept and moving to the 'next level' so to speak.

Currently, I just don't put in enough hours to expect to get as far as I'd really like, but I AM interested in optimizing the hours that I DO spend each day/week to try to advance.

I'm going to search for a response to a post I had a while ago, and if I can find it, maybe link it here. I think the original post was something different, but I basically asked a similar question within that thread, and got some very good responses on how to go about it.

Anyways, I think the previous poster had it right by saying, The journey never ends! I also think that having your mind wrapped around certain goals, would def. help also. I think if you're committed to practicing, with the focused intent on getting better, there's no way that it WON'T happen. For instance, I want to get better with my RIGHT hand - picking, whether it's crosspicking, speed, or just generally becoming more fluent with my attack. So I've tried to move away from just picking up the guitar and playing without a pick (which I usually do about 90% of the time) and I'm actively trying to learn songs which require a pick, and with an "eye" for improving in that area.

I guess that would be my one piece of advice. Identify a particular area you want to improve at, MOST.. and attack it.

good luck!
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Old 01-20-2019, 04:22 PM
markle369 markle369 is offline
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Thanks guys! The responses so far have been very helpful. I too am often short on time to play but I'm trying to rearrange things so that I can get a few hours of practice a day. Youtube is great but the videos are often abbreviated and actually a pitch for a paid program. I'd pay for one but deciding which can be harrowing. If anyone can point to a specific YouTube lesson series that helped (helps) them, I'd be grateful. Also, if anyone can suggest certain books I would love that too. I might try to get one-on-one lessons to eliminate some of the mystery as well.
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Old 01-21-2019, 02:12 AM
Steel and wood Steel and wood is offline
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LickNRiff off the top of my head is an excellent sight for lessons to help the intermediate to advanced acoustic player.
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  #7  
Old 01-21-2019, 05:41 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
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I'd just keep learning songs. Whatever you like, different kinds.
Books? Nah. Except songbooks.

But then I'm not a "guitarist". I'm a musician who happens to play guitar (and one or two other things). "Guitar technique" bores me stupid - or rather all those books on it do - so I don't practice exercises.
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Old 01-21-2019, 07:51 AM
macmanmatty macmanmatty is offline
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"I'd like to become more musically fluent both for playing solo and writing songs and playing with others."
No book is going to help you with last two. If want to get better at writing songs write songs. If you want to get better at playing with people then play with people. You can't get better at playing with other people by playing with yourself . Go to Jams that play the styles you're interested in or open mics where they let people jam with each other and start playing with others. Then try writing songs about the drunken patrons and musicians you see. I never got good at playing with other people till I did it. Now if your timing is not that great playing along with other recordings in style of music you want will help some with that too. But there is no replacement for just getting out there and jamming with others. Try to stay time with recordings / and other players. Remember if you can't play it in time then you really can't play it.
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  #9  
Old 01-21-2019, 09:17 AM
Mandobart Mandobart is offline
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The very best way to improve is regularly playing with others, preferably better than yourself. Find or start a weekly jam!
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  #10  
Old 01-27-2019, 02:34 PM
markle369 markle369 is offline
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Cool thanks guys. I'm sure that writing songs is a great way to get better at it but I'm sure that a study of the way chords interact with each other, how they interact with melody and how to break away from diatonic chords in a pleasing or interesting way would also improve songwriting. I'd be very surprised if there aren't at least some songwriters out there who have found useful information pertaining to their songwriting endeavors outside of simply writing songs. And as for playing with others, I'm sure there are ways to get better prepared for collaboration on one's own. For example, if I showed up to a jam ignorant to the nashville number system I'd be worse off than if I had learned it on my own prior to the session.
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Old 01-28-2019, 01:58 AM
T1mothy T1mothy is offline
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Learning plans revolving around written material are such a pit oftentimes. Go listen to a lot of music, see what really grabs you, that will hint exactly what you re missing to play that.
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Old 01-28-2019, 09:19 AM
Dog Shape Cloud Dog Shape Cloud is offline
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Learning songs, writing songs, and studying theory are all good.

Teach yourself to relax, actively, when practicing, so you can relax while playing. It's not as easy as it sounds.
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  #13  
Old 01-28-2019, 10:19 AM
mr. beaumont mr. beaumont is offline
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Definitely play with others..it's great if you can find people better than you, but if not, focus on making other people sound good. That's an artform in and of itself.

Learn your instrument as inside out as possible. Try to pick a note at random to start from and play a melody you know from that spot. Learn the whole fretboard, sing what you play, play what you sing. Train your ear...your ear is your best asset as a musician.

Specialize. Get caught up in a style and dig deep. It's fun to play around with a lot of things, but most of the people I know who are really good specialize. Find what moves you and play the heck out of it.

Record yourself. Be critical.

Focus on time. The thing that really separates the good from the great is time.
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