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Old 10-21-2021, 12:01 PM
rollypolly rollypolly is offline
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Default Practice recommendations

I know learning guitar is a long game. For me it's been very long so far. I've been playing for a while. I can say for many years I've been an "intermediate" player. I can't seem to get over that hump where I feel like I've made real progress.

Just curious what kind of practice techniques other players are utilizing? Do you just run through scales and arpeggios until you're blue in the face? Or do you focus on learning classic standards (whether blues, jazz, bluegrass, etc.).

Thanks for any recommendations. I guess I'm in a little rut. Tired of practicing the same stuff.
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Old 10-21-2021, 12:06 PM
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Let me ask you a question or two. Can you play most of the things that you have tried to learn? Do you play finger style, are a strummer or a flat picker?
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Old 10-21-2021, 12:16 PM
rollypolly rollypolly is offline
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Fingersyle for the most part. Travis picking as well. I'm studying jazz, blues and country stuff. but for the most parts it's just generic progressions and scales/arpeggios/attempting to improvise solos.
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Old 10-21-2021, 12:20 PM
reeve21 reeve21 is offline
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Hi rolly,

I have called myself a "terminal intermediate" so I get where you are coming from.

What has inspired me is to do a "deep dive" on a player or style. The two that have been the most enjoyable and brought about the most improvement were Mississippi John Hurt and the Beatles. I played and listened to Hurt every day for over a year. I'm a few months and tunes into the Beatles and will probably stay with them for at least a year or two.

It is so easy to flit around from one thing to the next and never really master anything. After a month on "A Day in the Life" parts of it are starting to sound like music at times.

I tend to be a little OCD so this approach suits me perfectly

Hope that helps!
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Old 10-21-2021, 12:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rollypolly View Post
Fingersyle for the most part. Travis picking as well. I'm studying jazz, blues and country stuff. but for the most parts it's just generic progressions and scales/arpeggios/attempting to improvise solos.
Try one of Tommy Emmanuel's lessons on True Fire.
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Old 10-21-2021, 12:31 PM
Sugar Bear Sugar Bear is offline
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I'm another one who picks an artist whose playing I admire and then study them in-depth. It always breaks me out of a stagnant stretch.

Most recently, I got after Doc Watson. I can now play and sing a rendition of, "Columbus Stockade Blues" that infallibly makes my wife say, "Wow!"

I've covered a bunch of stuff from different styles over the years. I've worked on James Taylor and other mellow acoustic rock, Chet Atkins, country, jazz, acoustic blues, all sorts of things.

I try to pick things that are different than things that I normally do. It always breaks me out of the doldrums.
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Old 10-21-2021, 12:46 PM
Bob from Brooklyn Bob from Brooklyn is online now
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Find a playing partner with roughly equal skills. You'll have some much fun you won't notice your improvement.
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Old 10-21-2021, 12:51 PM
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You need both short and long term goals. Short term gives you a more immediate sense of satisfaction while you are working toward the long term. For me on guitar, my focus has been on accompanying , for both covers and original songs. So my short term goals might be something like chord voicings up the fingerboard. Figuring out how to get to and from them musically.

Long term, I've been getting what I call the Bluegrass pentatonic, flat 3rd and flat 7th, under my fingers so I can improvise over chord progressions. This has been a year and a half, first figuring out ways to move up and down the finger board in the I IV V keys. I'm now winging instrumental breaks on the fly. Mostly it works. So I get constant positive reinforcement as I take baby steps, then one day realize I can really do something I couldn't do a year ago.

At the same time, I'm learning mandolin. I'm taking a more disciplined approach with exercises and some instruction. Good teachers will teach bluegrass songs, not so much to learn the song as to develop techniques necessary to the sound.

In both these endeavors, it helps to enjoy practice. I happen to like that. I have the luxury of time. My first playing of the day is always practice. As the day goes on, I might do what I call noodling with a purpose. Maybe that is playing a song cording the I IV V up the neck. I try to know where the root and fifth of each chord is. Maybe it is working on vibrato. But it is what I call fun time. This is now learning to play a break from a lesson series I'm taking. Always I stop and work it out if it's sloppy.

It is a slow slog. I'd say painfully so, but I have too much fun. So, define a goal. Sign up for one of the many online courses, they are cheap, and go to work. I'm involved in an open mic, which gives me a purpose. It's a great motivator. My long. long term goal is to be able to accompany folks on the fly, you know, have people think they'd be better for it.

Stagnation is not, for me, an option. I will never be really good. That is not at all the point. Having fun is, and I have fun playing major and minor scales in every key. I have fun playing songs too. I once had a teacher say to me, I know playing these exercises gets boring. I told him in all honesty, I've never, ever been bored holding an instrument in my hands.
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Old 10-21-2021, 01:04 PM
rollypolly rollypolly is offline
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thanks guys , great suggestions here. My problem has always been , after I set a few goals I practice towards that goal for weeks or months and then find myself just noodling over and over on it and not progressing beyond it. An open mic or jam/playing partner would set some goals beyond just myself which would help.

I actually recently started in person lessons and I think that will be a good first step towards playing with and in front of someone.

I will definitely look at Tommy Emmanuel's lessons. I'm studying a Daryl Kellie book right now and it's great.
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Old 10-21-2021, 01:09 PM
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Mark Stone Mark Stone is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brooklyn Bob View Post
Find a playing partner with roughly equal skills. You'll have some much fun you won't notice your improvement.
This would be my suggestion, too - and I would add "playing in a band". Playing with others, especially on stage, forces your hand - I learn things faster in a practical application than by myself.
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Old 10-21-2021, 01:19 PM
phydaux phydaux is offline
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Here's something I did recently:

I made a list of about ten or so songs that I wanted to play. Then I looked up the songs on YouTube and I made a custom play list so that the songs would play one after the other. Then I went on Ultimate Guitar and I got the lyrics & chords for the songs, printed them out, and put them in a 3-ring binder so that as the songs finished all I had to do was turn the page fo the next song.

And then I set off to play along.

Well, I sucked. I was missing chords and not playing in time. I turned off YouTube and took to the FINAL RESORT - I busted out a metronome.

I started at the "normal" speed of 88 BPM and set about doing 1/4 note chord changes - G to D and back, and G to C and back, for 20 reps. Well, as I already knew I couldn't do 88 BPM, so I set it slower. And slower. And SLOWER. I finally got to where I could just play in time at 60 BPM, or as I refer to it "Stupid Slow."

I've been working my way up slowly, and when I get to 88 BPM I'm going to try playing along again.
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Last edited by Kerbie; 10-24-2021 at 01:47 PM. Reason: Language
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  #12  
Old 10-21-2021, 01:37 PM
Joe Beamish Joe Beamish is offline
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When I feel this way, it helps to sharpen my focus and attack one skill at a time. While also learning songs, of course.
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  #13  
Old 10-21-2021, 02:00 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phydaux View Post
Here's something I did recently:

I made a list of about ten or so songs that I wanted to play. Then I looked up the songs on YouTube and I made a custom play list so that the songs would play one after the other. Then I went on Ultimate Guitar and I got the lyrics & chords for the songs, printed them out, and put them in a 3-ring binder so that as the songs finished all I had to do was turn the page fo the next song.

And then I set off to play along.

Well, I sucked. I was missing chords and not playing in time. I turned off YouTube and took to the FINAL RESORT - I busted out a metronome.

I started at the "normal" speed of 88 BPM and set about doing 1/4 note chord changes - G to D and back, and G to C and back, for 20 reps. Well, as I already knew I couldn't do 88 BPM, so I set it slower. And slower. And SLOWER. I finally got to where I could just play in time at 60 BPM, or as I refer to it "Stupid Slow."

I've been working my way up slowly, and when I get to 88 BPM I'm going to try playing along again.
I'll download the video, if it needs to be converted to mp4 I'll do that and then watch/listen in Transcribe! software. The software can slow it down so I can play along at any speed I need. Generally I'll close the Transcribe! video viewer as generally I don't need to see the artist playing to learn a tune.
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Sad Moments {Marianne Vedral cover}:


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Last edited by Kerbie; 10-24-2021 at 01:48 PM. Reason: Edited quote.
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  #14  
Old 10-21-2021, 02:11 PM
phydaux phydaux is offline
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Such fancy software. I feel like James Bond just by looking up a song on Ultimate Guitar.
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  #15  
Old 10-21-2021, 02:22 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phydaux View Post
Such fancy software. I feel like James Bond just by looking up a song on Ultimate Guitar.
But, wait, there's more

Transcribe! can also simulate a capo or remove one if its used in the original tune and you just want to play it without one. There's one tune I was learning that the original artist played in DADGAD, but tuned down a step so I put a capo on the tune in Transcribe! so I can play along without tuning down.
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