Newbie...one year in.

[zmf]

Originally Posted by BobbyMocha

Part of my goal is to really learn and understand music theory. I mean really know the why and not just the how. I want to learn to read and correctly write music notation. I want to look at a piece of sheet music and know how to read and play a piece quickly. Tabs I can already handle.

But if compose a piece of music. Or collaborate worth someone on some writing or play with people I know who already do this, then I want do it correctly. That means fully understanding that side of it b

Got it. The only reason I brought it up (I'll I'll probably catch flak for saying this) was that learning music notation isn't necessary for progressing as rapidly as possible in guitar playing.

But you have broader goals than just learning guitar.

[lowrider]

For those of you at the one year mark, it's a good idea to look for a jam group to play with. You can start out just following along and get the feel of it. Then when you are ready to can lead a song.

There will be nothing better that you can do for your progress. Also, if you don't have confidence in your singing, take singing lessons for a while. You have to learn how to sing just like you have to learn how to play guitar. You don't have to have a great voice, few do, you just have to know how to sing.

I'm at 2 1/2 years and I've been playing with a couple of jam groups for 1 1/2 years. Almost everything I know about this, I owe to the friends I play and sing with.

[dingrr]

Originally Posted by lowrider

For those of you at the one year mark, it's a good idea to look for a jam group to play with. You can start out just following along and get the feel of it. Then when you are ready to can lead a song.

There will be nothing better that you can do for your progress. Also, if you don't have confidence in your singing, take singing lessons for a while. You have to learn how to sing just like you have to learn how to play guitar. You don't have to have a great voice, few do, you just have to know how to sing.

I'm at 2 1/2 years and I've been playing with a couple of jam groups for 1 1/2 years. Almost everything I know about this, I owe to the friends I play and sing with.

I totally agree. I found a jam group that meets once a week and they just play one song after another for a couple hours. I can't quite keep up but it forces me to try and maintain the rhythm and fly through the chord changes. I usually strum with my bare thumb rather than a pick so I am quiet/less noticeable.
I am also considering taking some voice lessons this winter and I studied music theory last winter. So much to learn for someone with no music background.

[maxtheaxe]

Originally Posted by BobbyMocha

So I just clocked in the 1 year mark of learning to play acoustic guitar. I started lessons last August. I have been leaning music theory and learning notation and how to sight read music. I love it and look forward to it every day.

I’m 53 and work a regular 9 to 5 with an hour of practice time a day, everyday. I’ve come a long way in this past year but I feel like I should be be better than I am - farther along than I am.

This could be just my perception or impatience.

Is this thinking off? Am I where I should be? My instructor teaches me songs and watches that my technique is proper but I wonder if I’m not doing all that I can.

Can anyone offer their thoughts on what I should be able to do at one year in, what kinds of things I should be focusing on, what my expectations should be. I know this is highly subjective.

My goals are this: Fingerstyle and flatpicking. I’d like to be able play good rhythm guitar and know how to change the voicing of the chords I play to be able to play with accompany others. And eventually learn to play a bit more lead guitar

Appreciate any thoughts.

I haven't gone through the other responses here, so maybe this has been covered, but first and foremost, what you want is to be able to play the guitar...you're not necessarily trying to be a maestro, music major, composer, etc, right?

I think the best way to start is to...well...start. Forget "proper" technique, reading music, all of the academic stuff...just get some recordings and sit down with them, along with some chord books to help with fingerings, key signatures. A bit of guidance from an experienced player is helpful, but they won't be there in your private time when you're first trying to crack the surface of this thing.

BTW, these comments are from a guy who started with lessons, where they were trying to teach me to sight-read "Mary Had a Little Lamb" while all the time I just wanted to do what Jimi Hendrix was doing...I lost interest rather quickly until I got out my Savoy Brown and Johnny Winter records and just started hacking away....

Blues is especially handy, also some country stuff...nothing too complicated, mind you. These song forms follow well-established patterns, such as I-IV-V chord progressions, and if you master one, it will apply to many others. I look at it as acquiring a gestalt...make sounds that please you...for now...there's always time to drill down on it further if it calls to you. If you decide to really dig into it, the lessons make a lot more sense if you're somewhat conversant and have some basic skills, muscle training.

If you want to follow up later with sight-reading, go for it, but I can promise you that many of your favorite players can't sight-read to save their lives. If I were to have to chose between working with a player who could only play from sheet music and one who couldn't read, but was proficient at improvising, I would chose the latter every time.

All this is by way of saying that, unless you have a lifetime to commit to the academic and technical aspects of musicianship, those things might tend more to interfere with your enjoyment of it than assist you. Get your hands around it first...then decide how far you want to take it. That's the beauty of the guitar...one of the most difficult of all instruments to truly master, but perhaps the easiest for someone to just pick up and play for enjoyment, purely from inspiration.

[BobbyMocha]

These have been helpful comments. Thanks. I'll keep them all in mind as I charge forward

[Glennwillow]

Hi Bobby,

It seems to me that you are doing fine. You are enjoying playing every night and in general, it seems you are happy with your progress.

Many of us guitar players learned on our own, so we are not terribly strong on music theory, reading or writing notation, or sight reading music. That is a lot of stuff to learn on top of learning to play songs, so that will slow you down somewhat. But based on your responses throughout this thread, it's clear that these skills are important to you, so more power to you.

I started on the guitar when I was 16 and by 18 I was playing for money in front of a lot of people in college. But I learned songs, picked up what theory I stumbled across as I went along, and I'm horribly slow at reading music. If I don't know a piece of music and can't hear a recording of it, it's shear torture trying to figure out what a guitar arrangement is telling me to do.

We tend to do what is important to us. It sounds like that's what you are doing, so it seems to me that you are doing well. Best of luck to you Bobby!

- Glenn

[musicman1951]

Originally Posted by BobbyMocha

Part of my goal is to really learn and understand music theory. I mean really know the why and not just the how. I want to learn to read and correctly write music notation. I want to look at a piece of sheet music and know how to read and play a piece quickly. Tabs I can already handle.

But if compose a piece of music. Or collaborate worth someone on some writing or play with people I know who already do this, then I want do it correctly. That means fully understanding that side of it b

I think you're on the right track, but it's a lot of information and nobody has command of it all in one year. I suspect you're doing fine.

I'm always a little leery when someone says their teacher is teaching them songs. That's fine if the songs are the basis for actually teaching technique and theory - but otherwise you can learn songs yourself in front of the computer.

It's always a good idea to review your long term desires with your teacher. Does your teacher have the background to cover what you want to learn? You can be a pretty darn good guitar player and a not so great teacher at the same time.

I like to recommend a guitar major at a local college for anyone looking for a teacher.

In the mean time it's fine to be a little dissatisfied with your current state of affairs - but only just a little. It's important to enjoy the journey and to always make the best music you can at every stage.