Practice over time

[Br1ck]

A few recent threads regarding learning has got me thinking about improvement. Seven years ago, at age 65, I took up mandolin, and I thought I'd take a much more disciplined approach from the start. I played scale and scale exercises a lot. Maybe I'd learn a fiddle tune at the tail end of my session, but it was 75% exercises most of the time. It's about 50/50 now. After about two years, I noticed how fast I could pick up on a fiddle tune, and it clicked how all the scale work was in large part responsible.

About three years ago, I resolved to be able to expand my prowess up the fretboard. My guitar playing is focused on backing my vocals, but I wanted to add more complexity. So I began playing the scales I thought I could put to use connecting chord shapes up the neck. My focus has been on playing off the cuff, not creating, then recreating parts. I now put an instrumental interlude into every song and it's very improvised. I'm building vocabulary all the time. I'm doing a Peghead nation course, and a lot is just learning tunes, but I'm getting it that what you are doing is building up your vocabulary.

It may seem a slog, but take the time to reflect on really how far you've come. If you apply a system, whichever works for you, stick to it over time, and you'll look back at how far you've come. I'm pretty pleased but have far to go. But it is a rewarding process. So at whatever place you are on the journey, take time and work on the cord change that troubles you, that next skill you don't have, and make a plan.

Do not fret that you are a two or three on a scale of ten. Rest assured that those you think are 9 or 10, think they are a four or five. Such is life, just keep moving. I really do not understand those of my generation who say they are never going to be good and stagnate, when they should be saying I'm never going to be good but I can be better. This basic mindset really is the way to beat GAS. Should hard work and good fortune bless you with some cash, by all means spend it. It can only help you achieve you plan. It's the plan that counts.

Sermon over.

[Lillis]

Good post thanks. I’ve known for awhile that I need to reevaluate how I’m approaching my learning/practice but I haven’t done anything different. You got me thinking.

[Mr. Jelly]

You play what you know to scratch the itch. You work on what you want to know or be able to do. It never ends. And that is a good thing.

When I was a young boy, the guitar taught me that I could learn. I made a career out of that lesson.

[JackC1]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

It may seem a slog, but take the time to reflect on really how far you've come.

It's actually a good feeling for me to look back at how far I've come along. Since I got my entire guitar life online, it's easy to watch videos of my progression.

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Do not fret that you are a two or three on a scale of ten. Rest assured that those you think are 9 or 10, think they are a four or five.

What if I'm 0.5? I think I need to fret better.

[Bluenose]

I'm 68 and what keeps me playing and practicing, I think is that I really like the sound on an acoustic guitar especially when it's a nice instrument that's played well. It just lights up my hypothallus (lol). Also there's a possibility that I might come up with something that will played by others in the future. I've learned to write music in tab and I do have some original things I work on so you never know. In the meantime I just enjoy playing my fine guitars.

[Myopic Squirrel]

Bri1ck - thank you for some definite words of wisdom. After many years away from the guitar, am now getting reacquainted. Has been frustrating at times not being able to do some things at age 77 that used to be effortless. Your “never going to be good but I can be better” really hit home. I needed that.

[CityPickn]

What is the average age here? I'm glad to see alot of 60+. Doesn't seem many young adults. As a grey hair myself it's kind of refreshing.

[biotechmgr]

Nice motivational speech Br1ck thanks.
I can feel it each year that I get a bit better.
At my age this is my focus and modest self satisfaction.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Acoustic Guitar Forum mobile app

[biotechmgr]

Originally Posted by CityPickn

What is the average age here? I'm glad to see alot of 60+. Doesn't seem many young adults. As a grey hair myself it's kind of refreshing.

My average age is close to that...59 at the moment, playing 6 years after only dabbling in guitar while working hard and raising children.

Sent from my SM-S901U using Acoustic Guitar Forum mobile app

[Br1ck]

Well glad I've been some use. Believe me, picking up the mandolin has been daunting in many ways. So I had to relive the experience of struggle and work. And the fact I have the time, and already had a strong picking hand has compressed the learning curve so as to be able to better mentally chart my progress. I have smallish hands and have struggled with common stretches. I was given stretching exercises which I played exclusively (on mandolin) for two months. When I went back to certain things, I could play them cleanly. I doubt it was more than a sixteenth of an inch improvement. I couldn't and now I can.

This continuous progress has caused me to put the same disciplined approach to my guitar playing. The big plus is that I'm always having a good time holding an instrument. COVID ramped up the process. It has really switched my focus from instrument to process. I still will say anyone should strive to scrape $2000 together to buy a good used guitar though. But really that should be secondary.

[jeanray1113]

Good post, Brick. May I ask which peghead nation course you’re taking?

[Glennwillow]

Good post, Br1ck!

It's helpful to remind people to hang in there and to keep working at the guitar or anything else in life for that matter. Even those of us without a lot of native ability can come a long, long way and get pretty good eventually on something like the guitar or the mandolin if we just keep going and build those new pathways in our brains.

- Glenn

[min7b5]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

...If you apply a system, whichever works for you, stick to it over time, and you'll look back at how far you've come. I'm pretty pleased but have far to go. But it is a rewarding process...

Thanks for sharing. I heard someone say last week that it's through persistence that dripping water hollows out stone. I'm also someone that is big on to-do lists and practice plans -for the week, for the month, and for the year. And they change a bit as I go. But it's rewarding having a sense of direction, and a plan and sticking to it -sometimes more or less- that moves the ball down the field. Practice does not make perfect, it makes progress. And progress is very satisfying.

[Toby Walker]

Very nice thread indeed. Having a goal and creating a doable plan to reach it is an essential part of learning. Your goal of using scales to lead from one chord to the other will truly improve your playing.

May I suggest another goal you may be interested in? Learn other ways of playing your chords by using inversions up the neck. Once you have some of these down using the principles I'm explaining in this video, you can use these chords to create a solo with the chords of the song you're playing. In addition to learning new ways of playing basic chords, you'll gain a complete knowledge of notes along the fingerboard.

Here's a video where I explain how to find different ways of playing a C chord. You can use the very same principle for finding minor and 7th chords.