Beginner getting better

[Bluenose]

Originally Posted by Oxhead

I’m 58 and just picked up the guitar for the first time on Jan. 1 when my dad gave me his old Silvertone. I decided then and there that to do both my dad and the guitar justice, I needed to take lessons, so I’ve been seeing a guy once a week. If I do say so myself, I’m a little impressed by my progress, being an old dog learning new tricks.

(I’m afraid my wife might be getting sick of the opening riffs to Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well.”)

No disrespect to your Dad but I think you can do much better than an old Silvertone to learn on. Maybe I'm a bit prejudiced but a friend owns a Silvertone and it's a what I would call a 'cheese cutter' and is not conducive to easy playing.

[Oxhead]

Is it all right if I like it, though?

[davidbeinct]

Originally Posted by Oxhead

Is it all right if I like it, though?

Most definitely! I think those old “learner” archtops are cool as heck.

[Deliberate1]

OP, welcome to the "late to the party" crowd. There are more than a few of us. I picked up a guitar for the first time four years ago, at age 62. Despite being a classical and jazz woodwinds player all my life, the guitar has brought me to musical places those instruments didn't, and couldn't. And I am totally in.

I would say that I am no longer a "beginner." But I don't know what I am. It is hard to figure out what that metric is because there are some things I do not know how to do at all, like flatpicking, and others that I can, like fingerpick a pretty robust version of Deep Water Blues. So, if you gauge where you are on the expertise scale by your mechanical skills, like getting the F barre chord, as you suggested, that is all that means, and must be a stepping stone to something else. So, let us talk about what that something else might be.

Over time, I started considering a different metric. Rather than assessing my progress "playing guitar," I have started to measure it by how I feel I am "playing music." That metric surely includes the mechanical skills that we newbies struggle with. But I think it puts into focus the right goal I should be striving for, and that is to create or recreate music.

During the past four years, I have learned songs by others, as well as composed my own songs - with and without words. What I have found is that the more I play those pieces, the more they tell me where I am on my journey. For example, I now find myself instinctively adding pull-offs, hammer-ons and other embelleshments where they sound good. Or I add adjunct notes, like 6ths or 9ths (though I do not call them that) where they seem to fit. I experiment by replacing open Cowboy Chords with triads up the neck, to add some intersting complexity to a song that I once played in its most basic form. Or I will use a capo to see if a song presents better in a different.

By focusing on "playing music" I am moving my brain away from the purely mechanical aspects of learning the instrument, even though that becomes an integral part of that task. But I also do purely mechanical etudes, like arpeggios. They are helping me to learn the fretboard. But, they are also music. You can use them a vehicle to explore tempos and dynamics and touch. So, as you learn the notes and triads, you are also learning them in a musical context. Again, "playing music."

This approach seems to be working for me. And it makes me feel better about my playing when I put my guitar down and feel that I have done someting more than just climb a mechanical mountain.

Cheers, mate.

David

[doctone]

Originally Posted by jeanray1113

One of the most important reasons to practice daily is that regular practice becomes a habit. It’s not a big deal to miss a day now and then, but more than that and it weakens the habit. On days when I’m really busy, or have had a difficult day and feel too tired, I try to at least do 10-15 minutes. Often, once I start, it goes longer than that, but even a short session is better than none.

This! Routine is the key. Even when your brain happens to be elsewhere after a busy and tiring day... your ears and fingers can connect directly (unconsciously, that is). Musicians often call this "autopilot".

[jjbigfly]

I would suspect that if your dads old Silvertone got you into playing, it was the right guitar….

[Bluenose]

Originally Posted by Oxhead

Is it all right if I like it, though?

I see you also have a Martin 00 so you're not a total beginner are you? I got to quit trying to be so darn helpful.