Another obvious tip after 50 years at guitar ... RECORD your practice ! With cell phones this REALLY makes a post practice critique easy, you can check the music AND your technique ( as well as stage presence stuff) .
Frustrated as h*ll sometimes
- Thread starter danktat
- Start date
I have been playing for over 40+ years, and I still suck. any talent I have on it has come very hard. to be honest I have far more natural talent on the drums. If i put as much time into the drums as I have the guitar, I could have been a very good musician. But, I love the guitar. I love to look at it, I love to hold it, I love to play it. I love everything about it. It fights me tooth and nail, but I will NEVER stop playing it until my arthritic hand makes me. (then, I’ll play drums full time-lol) I picked up the guitar for something to bring me joy, and personal happiness, and overall, it still does, even in my limited ability with it.
DougGuitar
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2023
- Messages
- 374
Danktat-maybe you're kinda like me. My problem is that I will grasp a concept in a video or book almost right away. As soon as this happens, I think I know it-but I don't. So I won't do the needed practice. It's like arguing with myself!
"See, Laz, apparently Doug argues with himself just like we do."
"Not exactly like we do, since he isn't crazy enough to argue with himself on a public forum."
"Sure, but we do it to entertain others."
"Says who?"
I have two theories about practicing. The two theories are 100% inconsistent. One's probably wrong. Here they are:
Theory A
"Playing and practicing accomplish the same thing except one's boring and the other isn't! Play songs, write music, see what happens. Do it often enough and you'll be fine."
OR...
Theory B
"No, they're not the same thing, you lazy, ignorant slattern. Remember how you were trained on classical piano? You did the Czerny exercises ad infinitum.
You did scales in various keys on both left hand and right hand with a metronome to play the scales in time, and gradually increased the speed. That was mind-numbing, it took forever.
Then you worked on the repertoire you could handle - which wasn't much. Slowly the pages turned, bit by bit, page by page, measure by measure, until you wanted to go mad and take a flying leap into Niagara Falls.
But you f'ing learned to play piano. You can't even play 'Happy Birthday' on guitar."
"But I can play Sunshine of Your Love and Here Comes the Sun, including the cool parts."
"Yeah, maybe you should learn some new songs, since you've been doing those for what, 50-something years."
"What about my writing?"
"Writing!?! [snicker] You call that drivel writing? Go practice."
Theory A
"Playing and practicing accomplish the same thing except one's boring and the other isn't! Play songs, write music, see what happens. Do it often enough and you'll be fine."
OR...
Theory B
"No, they're not the same thing, you lazy, ignorant slattern. Remember how you were trained on classical piano? You did the Czerny exercises ad infinitum.
You did scales in various keys on both left hand and right hand with a metronome to play the scales in time, and gradually increased the speed. That was mind-numbing, it took forever.
Then you worked on the repertoire you could handle - which wasn't much. Slowly the pages turned, bit by bit, page by page, measure by measure, until you wanted to go mad and take a flying leap into Niagara Falls.
But you f'ing learned to play piano. You can't even play 'Happy Birthday' on guitar."
"But I can play Sunshine of Your Love and Here Comes the Sun, including the cool parts."
"Yeah, maybe you should learn some new songs, since you've been doing those for what, 50-something years."
"What about my writing?"
"Writing!?! [snicker] You call that drivel writing? Go practice."
Last edited:
DougGuitar
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2023
- Messages
- 374
No I don't/Yes I do. Shh! They're listening!
Sez who? I represent that....
No, I do it to entertain myself. There's only 3 of us here, right? Me, Myself and I...
Says me. I am the head Targaryen, the blood of the dragon! Sick em Drogon! Good dragon. Now save some of that dragon fire for the cook out later....
DougGuitar
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2023
- Messages
- 374
Only one question is important-do you have fun when you play guitar?
veinbuster
Zombie Three, DFZ
I kind of think both theories are ok. Maybe it depends where you are on the journey.
For me, practice was important because it gave me the skills I needed to play things I wanted to play. Some examples from the first year or two:
Triplets - I wanted to be good enough at them to be able to put them where they fit - within a beat, or across 2 beats, occasionally across a bar.
Scales - not so much the grade school scales, but I wanted to know where the notes were without having to look or think
Feel - harder to express, but on a double bass there is a huge difference between tender and bold, doubled when you consider bowing versus plucking, and I wanted that range on electric
Then, for a few years I just played a lot. Completely different repertoire in each of the bands I played with regularly. Only one of them had formal practices. With Ice Capades, I had one practice before heading to the arena. My busiest year, I probably played 500 distinct songs in front of an audience.
When that era finished, I started practicing again to develop a wider range on guitar. I would practice some technique for 15 minutes when I sat down until I could naturally incorporate it into a song. When I was happy with one, I would start another. After that, I fought my way through Ted Greene.
Now I just play. As my fingers age, I find ways to compensate so I can continue to play things that I enjoy hearing. So maybe, I’m now practicing ways to beat time...but to me, I’m just playing guitar.
Of course, or I wouldn’t still be playing.
DougGuitar
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2023
- Messages
- 374
And that's all that really matters.
It’s all that ever really mattered in the first place. lol
I don't have fun playing music, at least insofar as I remember what fun is.
But it's something I'm deeply interested in, so it's satisfying when I play well or create a piece of music I can tolerate.
DougGuitar
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2023
- Messages
- 374
True!
But it's definitely not a source of enjoyment or amusement. If satisfaction = pleasure, then count me in. I think it can be interpreted that way.
DougGuitar
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2023
- Messages
- 374
Let's put it this way: Could you live without your guitars to play? You would have to take up spoon collecting or training circus seals! 
Doug
Doug
Huggy Love
Vintage member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2015
- Messages
- 2,888
Here's my only take on this, cause I've never taken lessons, never really "practiced" seriously, and have never felt that I was a great player. I never even thought I was any good until people gave me compliments. But the only thing that got me to at least that level was having a guitar hero.
In the early days it was Santana & EVH, later on it was Pat Metheny, George Benson & Wes, and I didn't practice scales or theory, I just played their songs.
It's mentioned here in this thread that goals are a big factor in making progress, I just wanted to do what they did. I thought in my mind how cool it would be to be able to play Europa like Carlos or Panama by EVH, then later I just wanted to be able to play over Jazz changes. In doing so was the only way I got ahead.
In your group it seems you play original tunes and that can be an obstacle, unless you have a very imaginative mind and visualize your parts in these songs more complex and challenging as you go along on your musical path. Even if you do covers and do them differently than the original, it takes discipline to force yourself to reinvent the parts and do them with some artistry.
So it goes back to one of the questions you asked yourself when you first picked up the guitar, what or who do you want to sound like? Maybe if you ask yourself this and find a couple artists that can be goals for you, then you can use that and raise the bar for yourself. Just choose something that you're passionate enough about that you'll stick to it.
Best of luck in this musical journey.
In the early days it was Santana & EVH, later on it was Pat Metheny, George Benson & Wes, and I didn't practice scales or theory, I just played their songs.
It's mentioned here in this thread that goals are a big factor in making progress, I just wanted to do what they did. I thought in my mind how cool it would be to be able to play Europa like Carlos or Panama by EVH, then later I just wanted to be able to play over Jazz changes. In doing so was the only way I got ahead.
In your group it seems you play original tunes and that can be an obstacle, unless you have a very imaginative mind and visualize your parts in these songs more complex and challenging as you go along on your musical path. Even if you do covers and do them differently than the original, it takes discipline to force yourself to reinvent the parts and do them with some artistry.
So it goes back to one of the questions you asked yourself when you first picked up the guitar, what or who do you want to sound like? Maybe if you ask yourself this and find a couple artists that can be goals for you, then you can use that and raise the bar for yourself. Just choose something that you're passionate enough about that you'll stick to it.
Best of luck in this musical journey.
danktat
Award winning tattoo artist ... Amateur guitarist
Part of my issue is that my "heroes" are basically "unobtanium" ... My ideal playing level would be that of Trey Anastasio, SRV and Carlos Santana all rolled up into a neat, tight little package of playing. And Trey alone is so "Schooled theory" based that the level of study, just to get close to the feel of what he would do over a certain change is just mind numbing. I hear people trying to break it down, and even listen to him talking about how he practices and studies, and I am like "G*D D*MN IT....if I were to practice like THAT, I may could have done it after about 15 or 20 years of study". But to me, that level of discipline is just unheard of. But then again, this isn't a "hobby" or a "fun little escape
for him. This is what he DOES. It is how he feeds his family. It is his LIFE. . . . . . . similarly, when I tattoo, I just do it at this point. But I got to the level of proficiency to just "do what feels right" from years, DECADES of unrelenting practicing the skill set. Because, it is WHAT I DO. It is HOW I LIVE. A person who looks at some youtube vidoes and tattoos from time to time at home from a kit they purchased on amazon will probably [unless they were some hidden savant] will never reach even my level of proficiency, much less that of those that I look up to and try to excel to be on par with. And therein lies my issue. I already know what it takes to get to a certian point. But, I am not sure I have it to have that level of drive and discipline to get to that level. So, it becomes a circular conversation with myself that leads to that point of frustration/anger.
CandidPicker
Tone Matters. Use It Well.
Would like to suggest a log book for charting progress. A simple notebook will work as well. A notebook with spaces for log entry, descriptive adjectives about how you felt, time and date entries for mapping progress. That, and learn the various forms of triads and their inversions the length of the neck. Not only will you receive an education in chord structure, you'll learn where every note is located on the fretboard.
Regards fun = satisfaction = pleasure, Les, you've just described a trait of an older man: wisdom. Yes, it is possible to enjoy oneself without having frolicking fun. My next haircut should provide satisfaction. I'm not looking for fun in the traditional sense, unless chatting with a barber counts as fun. A wise man once said, "The world has many mouths to fill. Ever imagine a time without hunger?" I think the barber was telling me to put a sock in it, but I could be wrong...
Last edited:
Moondog Wily
In Tune Wit Da Moon!
I try to play at least 3hrs a day , as my health ( or lack of it) allows. There is definite progress to made from just jammin with records to get your chops . I've certainly had "epiphany moments" when progressions seem to just click and the light bulb glows brightley . Dedicated practice is slow , and on occasion frustrating , but the results are always worth it.
