Practice

[PSA]

Well, I saw Deafmetal's thread and decided to start my own because he and I are completely opposite sorts of players.

 

Until I find something else I want to do (hopefully that actually pays money...) I'm going to work toward being a musician. And I'm willing to put forth the effort, but I have trouble knowing what to practice. It's just so overwhelming, you know - there's just so much stuff to learn!

 

I have basic music theory and am somewhat familiar with the whole guitar neck - I use the whole thing, anyway, but I still don't usually know what notes I'm playing. If I get a piece in standard notation to play I have to sit down and figure ut where everything is. I learned all my open chords a long time ago, though I don't use them often anymore. barring isn't (usually) a problem. I have pretty decent comping skills and my soloing, when I know what to play isn't hideous, but it's not really impressive either. the bigger problem is figuring out what to play over the changes. I'm comfortable with fingerpicking, but don't have super advanced skills. incredibly, I don't know how to play rock. I tried playing power chords the other day, and it was.. well... awkward. which is stupid, I mean, it's a power chord. but I never use them.

 

I probably forgot to talk about some stuff, but that's kind of a run down of my guitar skills. So, on to what I want to learn. well, obviously I want to learn everything , but I'll try to narrow it down for now... I want to learn to sight-read music on guitar, learn my intervals, get a good idea of what scales to play over what chords, how to set-up changes in the music and such like during solos (they're things I do to some extent by ear, but I want to understand it), and basically just get really familiar with where everything is on the fretboard. I'm still just using a handful of shapes I memorized to comp through jazz. and they're good voicings and i't sounds okay, but I want to be able to come up with things as I go and be able to do whatever I want, which takes a really intimate knowledge of the fretboard. I'm mostly jazz oriented, but I want a good basis in blues and rock, too.

 

so - there's what I can do and what I want to learn this school year. of course I won't master the fretboard by july by any means, but I want to get a good start on all those things. I can shoot for more time, but being realistic with myself, I'll practice 2 hours a day, 4 or 5 days a week. I have at my resources my Godin Solidac, strap, a variety or picks, a junky tuner and metronome.

 

so, what should I do to accomplish my various goals? oh, I have several books, but I have to go so I'll list them later.

 

thanks so much!

[thamiam]

It sounds like you are at a point where you have a lot of the fundamentals down, now you just need to do it. A lot.

At this point probably the best way to get a complete knowledge of the fingerboard would be to do a ton of sight reading. Just get a really fat book of songs (Great American Songbook, Real Book, Complete Beatles, etc...) and start at the beginning and sight read everything. Take it really slow, and don't worry if you have to stop and think about where the notes are. The point is that after you've found them a couple hundred times, you won't have to think any more. When you're done sight reading the whole book (probably a few months at least), do it again, this time with a really slow metronome. I'll bet that you will suprise yourself with how far you've progressed while not thinking about it.

If I may make a trite sports analogy, it's like shooting free throws. The only way to make two free throws when it counts is to miss a thousand when it doesn't. Just calm down, take all pressure off of yourself, and allow yourself to learn new things as you play, and progress at a reasonable pace.

[555]

It's time for you to find a good teacher.

[PSA]

hey, thanks for the replies! no BS! wow! I've been hanging out on the guitar forum too long... it's like everybody there always has to say something even if they don't know what they're talking about...

anyway. I'll do that with the reading thing. cool. I already have the real book, but the rhythms in it are really hard for me to read and I have no way to know if I'm doing them right or not. so maybe I'll find something else... any specific suggestions, anyone?

As for a teacher, that's a little hard to arrange because 1. I'm new here and 2. I don't speak the language so it's really hard to get information and such like. Any Nederlanders know a good teacher in Groningen?

Lastly, I never got back to say what books I have. I have lots of good material, I'm just not utilizing it very well... so. here they are.

Aebersold: Killer Joe, Maiden Voyage, All Blues, II-V-Is & turnarounds
Larry Correll: Power Jazz Guitar (or something like that.)
Guitar Grimoire: Improvisation and something else

and a berklee press one I can't remember... I'll have to update this when I get home. thanks again!

[StratKat]

For alot of people the idea that you can be taught to be a good player and becomming one is a different thing. Or perhaps what i should say is that all the knowlege you amass means little if you dont play in front of people on a regular basis.

You can blaze in metal or charm in jazz to death. But if you cant do it in front of a crowd (on que) it's a waiste of time for the idea of making money at it.

Even the slightest adrenaline from nervousness can diminish your skills enough to throw off your chops.

So for anyone who is seriously going the music route always keep in mind that you need to learn how to play, what to play, and as you go along get out and play equally.

Thats one of the reasons at music schools they make you learn and play in front of everyone. To get you over the nervousness of people watching and critiqueing you.

So whatever you decide as a course of action make time to perform it live somewhere as you go along. Performance is just as important as showmanship and knowledge.