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Old 09-04-2020, 02:35 PM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Default Practicing 1-2 hours a day for a few months...

But I don’t see any significant improvements. Been playing guitar on and off for a bit over seven years, and it’s frustrating to realize I’m nowhere near I should be skill wise. It feels worse than reaching a plateau, it feels more like I’ll never be much better than I currently am right now no matter how hard I try. I’m sure many of you have felt this once or twice. How did you break off such a slump during your guitar journey?
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Old 09-04-2020, 02:46 PM
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TBman TBman is offline
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Originally Posted by 1neeto View Post
But I don’t see any significant improvements. Been playing guitar on and off for a bit over seven years, and it’s frustrating to realize I’m nowhere near I should be skill wise. It feels worse than reaching a plateau, it feels more like I’ll never be much better than I currently am right now no matter how hard I try. I’m sure many of you have felt this once or twice. How did you break off such a slump during your guitar journey?
What are you practicing? What are your goals. What do you sound like now (soundclips)?

We are our own worst critics. Maybe you are being too hard on yourself.
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Old 09-04-2020, 04:20 PM
MartinGibsonFan MartinGibsonFan is offline
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Default The Secret to Advancing

The secret to advancing your technique is to be satisfied with your playing (tone) where you are currently at. So, if you aren't satisfied where you are currently at, you need to lower your standards. I'm serious about this advice.

Otherwise, it's just a practice in futility.

You need to be satisfied where you are at and imagine WHAT IF scenarios where you will get some A HA moments to move forward.

Otherwise, practicing for practice sake is just futile (IMO)

MGF
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Old 09-04-2020, 04:32 PM
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Practice playing and memorizing actual pieces of music. Learn to play each one well and all the way through.
Not just parts of things, not a bunch of exercises, memorizing theory in the abstract. With each piece done so
you have an actual playing achievement you can point to.
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Old 09-04-2020, 04:39 PM
MartinGibsonFan MartinGibsonFan is offline
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Default For those that can get past the fact these are Gospel Songs

https://nationalguitaracademy.com/ea...ngs-on-guitar/

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Old 09-04-2020, 05:31 PM
loco gringo loco gringo is offline
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Do you use a metronome regularly? It can make a big difference.

Record yourself and listen to it. You will hear things you didn't know you were doing.

Are you playing or are you practicing for 1 or 2 hours a day? What are you playing or practicing?

I can play for hours. I can really only practice in a focused manner, I mean really trying to work on something, for maybe 30 minutes. After that, it is better to play some things and come back to the working on something part of it later.
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Old 09-04-2020, 05:52 PM
RRuskin RRuskin is offline
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From a 2009 interview in Guitar Bench Magazine:

TT- Any advice on budding fingerstyle guitarists?

RR- Slow down! And I don't just mean tempos. I'm talking expectations, too. I see players/students all the time that were in such a hurry to learn new material that they never completely learned anything. If you can't play a simple arrangement of "Freight Train," how do you expect to be able to pull off even the simplest Rev. Gary Davis piece?

Anyone wanting to become a truly good player needs to start simple and stay on a thing until it's learned, not just "good enough" but completely. Then move incrementally to something new. Don't go from "Freight Train" to "Blue Rondo Ala Turk."
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Old 09-04-2020, 08:14 PM
Wags Wags is offline
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Originally Posted by 1neeto View Post
But I don’t see any significant improvements. Been playing guitar on and off for a bit over seven years, and it’s frustrating to realize I’m nowhere near I should be skill wise. It feels worse than reaching a plateau, it feels more like I’ll never be much better than I currently am right now no matter how hard I try. I’m sure many of you have felt this once or twice. How did you break off such a slump during your guitar journey?
Slumps are part of the landscape for anyone seriously trying to master an instrument. Thing is, you never really master an instrument. I can't recall who it was but I remember reading a piece about a well-known classical pianist who was in his 90's and still practicing several hours a day. He was complaining about not being able to master a passage he'd been working on for 50 years but thought he was finally making some progress. It's a journey with no end. It's the journey, not the destination.

Identify your weaknesses and incorporate them into a regular practice routine. Compartmentalize your efforts - scales, chords, picking - whatever, but just make sure you are specific and regular with your efforts. Start with 10 or 15 minutes, or some small amount of time, and do it do every day. If you miss a day or two, a week or two, start again. Use a metronome. You should feel frustration. When you feel frustration it means you are making progress, however incrementally. This effort should be completely separate from playing for enjoyment, because I can guarantee it won't be all that enjoyable. You will make progress and gain muscle memory, finger strength this way.

Don't give up. One day you will think back to where you were and realize you've made real progress.
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Old 09-04-2020, 08:30 PM
Rob7980 Rob7980 is offline
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You are probably better than you think, guitar is just a very difficult instrument for nearly everyone except the few prodigies. What works for me is I record myself and listen to where I need improvement, it’s not always easy to hear your mistakes while playing. Timing is everything, try and play in time with whatever you have, a metronome is ok, but backing tracks are ideal for actual musicality. I use a Singular Sound Beat Buddy and it’s helped me a lot. 2nd is muting string noise, that was my biggest problem, sloppy playing. It took recording myself to really hear just how bad it was. 3rd is play new things slow and perfect, ridiculously slow if necessary. And lastly always push yourself to play things you aren’t comfortable playing or aren’t good at like barre cords, even if it seems impossible just keep trying until your fingers learn what to do... and always go back to basics now and then, simple scales, go over basic music theory and intervals, play some octaves with different rhythms and force the use of your pinky whenever possible.... NEVER PRACTICE THINGS YOU ARE ALREADY GOOD AT EXCEPT TO WARM UP, AND DONT NOODLE DURING PRACTICE TIME, MAKE A GOAL AND STAY WITH IT... hope you find something that helps in that... and it’s not how well you play, it’s THAT you play and hopefully get some enjoyment out of it...

Last edited by Rob7980; 09-04-2020 at 08:37 PM. Reason: Add
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Old 09-04-2020, 10:38 PM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Default Practicing 1-2 hours a day for a few months...

Wow so much great advice. Wish I could quote everyone so I’ll address most of the points you guys brought up.

I agree we are the worst critics of ourselves. I guess it’s just our nature with just about everything we do in life. When I say practice I mean working on passages, and trying to learn new styles. Ok my acoustic I’m trying to get into finger style after being pretty much a flat picker/strummer the whole time. It feels like I just picked up a guitar for the first time. Song I’m working on is one of my favorite songs of all time; Kansas’ Dust In The Wind. I can’t play more than two measures without messing up. But I know I’m trying something completely new, I just need to be a bit easier on myself. The other song I’m working on is quite the monster of a song at 25 minutes long, Dream Theater’s A Change Of Seasons. Yes I’m way over my head with this one, so for now I’m trying to learn the easier passages, and I use the word easier very loosely. The intro alone has been taking over 3 months, and I rarely play it mistake-free. And the intro is just about the easiest part of the song. There’s an acoustic passage that is as beautiful as it is complicated. Also working on some of the more melodic and less technical solos. It will take me years to fully learn this song. If ever.

A sound clip? That’s just terrifying lol! I do have some recording gear (tascam portastudio and condenser mic), but maybe I’ll just record myself with my phone. If I manage to muster the courage required.

Again, thanks for all the great advice guys.
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Old 09-04-2020, 10:59 PM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rob7980 View Post
You are probably better than you think, guitar is just a very difficult instrument for nearly everyone except the few prodigies. What works for me is I record myself and listen to where I need improvement, it’s not always easy to hear your mistakes while playing. Timing is everything, try and play in time with whatever you have, a metronome is ok, but backing tracks are ideal for actual musicality. I use a Singular Sound Beat Buddy and it’s helped me a lot. 2nd is muting string noise, that was my biggest problem, sloppy playing. It took recording myself to really hear just how bad it was. 3rd is play new things slow and perfect, ridiculously slow if necessary. And lastly always push yourself to play things you aren’t comfortable playing or aren’t good at like barre cords, even if it seems impossible just keep trying until your fingers learn what to do... and always go back to basics now and then, simple scales, go over basic music theory and intervals, play some octaves with different rhythms and force the use of your pinky whenever possible.... NEVER PRACTICE THINGS YOU ARE ALREADY GOOD AT EXCEPT TO WARM UP, AND DONT NOODLE DURING PRACTICE TIME, MAKE A GOAL AND STAY WITH IT... hope you find something that helps in that... and it’s not how well you play, it’s THAT you play and hopefully get some enjoyment out of it...

Found this backing track on YouTube and it’s like a godsend to me. The studio version without guitar track.


https://youtu.be/B8i-5AYXm4c
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Old 09-05-2020, 12:29 AM
NormanKliman NormanKliman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1neeto View Post
...I’m trying to get into finger style after being pretty much a flat picker/strummer the whole time. It feels like I just picked up a guitar for the first time. Song I’m working on is one of my favorite songs of all time; Kansas’ Dust In The Wind. I can’t play more than two measures without messing up...
That says it all. Just keep going and it should be easier next year. Yeah, long term. The important things are 1) to have fun in the short term so you don’t burn out and 2) make sure you’re doing things right (playing the right notes, using the right hand positions, etc.) It's important to know how and when to relax while playing.

Your hands are going to change as they get stronger over the years, and I’ve found that working on certain exercises or techniques will be more or less useful at different points throughout that process.
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Old 09-05-2020, 12:34 AM
1neeto 1neeto is offline
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Originally Posted by NormanKliman View Post
That says it all. Just keep going and it should be easier next year. Yeah, long term. The important things are 1) to have fun in the short term so you don’t burn out and 2) make sure you’re doing things right (playing the right notes, using the right hand positions, etc.) It's important to know how and when to relax while playing.

Your hands are going to change as they get stronger over the years, and I’ve found that working on certain exercises or techniques will be more or less useful at different points throughout that process.

Chord changes are not a problem. It’s telling my right hand fingers which strings to hit. [emoji38]
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Old 09-05-2020, 06:05 AM
Su_H. Su_H. is offline
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I think everyone in here gave you all the advice you needed.

I just want to add that multiple short practice sessions are more effective than one long session. Also, there are many easy classical pieces out there to help you develop your right hand. "Andantino" by Carcassi, imo, is a good one. Just about every classical student has played this piece. It's a good learning piece even if you're not into classical.
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Old 09-05-2020, 07:15 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 1neeto View Post
But I don’t see any significant improvements.
The fact you don't see them doesn't mean they're not there.
Do you have recordings you made a few months ago? That you can compare with recordings of the same pieces played now?

I'm not saying you must have improved in that time, but I find it hard to believe you haven't - assuming you really have been playing every day. Even 10 minutes a day is enough to produce technical improvement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1neeto View Post
Been playing guitar on and off for a bit over seven years, and it’s frustrating to realize I’m nowhere near I should be skill wise.
It feels worse than reaching a plateau, it feels more like I’ll never be much better than I currently am right now no matter how hard I try. I’m sure many of you have felt this once or twice. How did you break off such a slump during your guitar journey?
Personally I've never known anything like this, although I see this kind of post quite a lot.

I've always played for pure enjoyment, learned the tunes I wanted to learn as I went. I never had the sense that I "should" be at any particular skill level at any point. Obviously I often felt technically challenged by a tune, and some pieces were always well beyond my skill level (and still are, 55 years after I began playing). But either I sat down and worked on the tune until I had it, or simply rejected it as not being interesting enough to devote that much time to it.
IOW, I quite often failed to complete learning a tune I started on. I'd abandon it and move on. That was fine because no one was paying me to perform it, and I'd (probably) learned some useful new stuff in the process. There was (and is) always too much music out there that's within my grasp (with minimal extra effort if any) to worry about music that's impossible.

What I never did - except very occasionally, more for warm-up than anything else - was practice scales. I never worked on technique for its own sake. I never played exercises. Still don't. For all those 55 years, I've been just as good as I needed and wanted to be at the time - or nearly, which only meant a little more work on whatever tune it was, to get it "good enough". Why would you play exercises when you can play music? Why treat music as "work", as a "chore"?

It helped that I was playing in bands (often two or three), right from 9 months after first picking up a guitar. So I was enjoying myself gigging and playing with friends, while I worked on fingerstyle pieces for enjoyment in my spare time (which would only rarely be for performance).

So I was in an environment which proved to me that I was good enough. I think this is a critical point. If it's just you alone in your room, I can imagine you get used to seeing all these amazing players on youtube or wherever, and feeling hopelessly inadequate.

My role in the band(s) was never that challenging (not as complicated technically as what I was learning in private), and we were never boo-ed off stage, so I knew I was "OK". In fact, more than OK. Audiences clapped, even cheered sometimes! What more could one want! (Being paid for it? Yes, that happened too, sometimes... )

I realise I was very lucky in that respect. As a teenager, my closest friends were all amateur musicians, and when they needed a new member I was the nearest person. I was nowhere near "good", but I was "good enough". (They weren't great either, just a little better than me.)

But even with the gigging - and later the seriously paid gigs - there was still no pressure involved. No sense that I needed to be "better".

I realise this is a long personal rant that might not seem relevant. But it comes down to attitude. I guess you're learning guitar for recreation, for your own pleasure - not because you're being paid as a performer, and need to reach a certain standard or you'll be losing work!

Assuming you're doing it for enjoyment, then, it's a no-brainer that if you're not enjoying it then you're doing something wrong. Either you should just stop playing (until you want to start again), or you find something you enjoy playing. Then play that until it gets boring again. Then stop again. And so on. IOW, just stop thinking about where you "should" be (according to what criteria? what rules?).

Stop comparing yourself to other people - however far you think they got in 7 years. There will always be people better than you. Try comparing yourself to those millions worse than you for change! Hell, there are even some people in world who can't play guitar at all!! Have some pity on them while feeling a little smug ...

Even comparing yourself to "yourself a while ago" is fraught with complication, because memory plays tricks, and your improvement - while always progressing upwards (inevitably) can get out of balance. Your understanding of music (and your ear) can advance ahead of your instrumental technique, which can make you feel like you're getting worse. You're obviously not: your technical advance is just not keeping pace with your advance elsewhere. The reverse of that is the feeling that you don't know what to learn next; you have all this technical skill and don't know what to do with it. That means your understanding has not kept pace with your technique.

Pick a tune you want to learn. Sit down and learn it. If it takes so long you get fed up with it - stop. Find a simpler tune.
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Last edited by JonPR; 09-05-2020 at 07:30 AM.
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