How Long To Get Good

[tw2_usa]

Okay. I'm pretty new here and this questions probably come up before so short answers are fine. I've been playing a year anywhere from 20-120 minutes or more per day. How long til on average til you could count on your chord changes, the ones you knew and had practiced, sounding good and clean and solid on beat without mud and buzz and miss...?

[Swmcv2007]

It took me about 2 years before I heard a click in my head one day and I was no longer doing work, but creating music.

 

I still remember it. I was listening to "House Of The Rising Son" bored one day and I had to my Squire Tele in my hands with the amp still on. I just happened to be fooling around with the A pentatonic blues scale wondering why my guitar teacher taught it to me when I thought I heard a guitar lick in the song I hadn't played before. I pressed re-wind and it wasn't there. Pressed play again and went back to mindless doodling. Then I heard another lick and in my head i simultaneously heard a click.

 

After that I had a rough understanding of what music was. By the end of the week I could do very boring solos over most songs by ear. That was the point in which music became fun and a way of expressing myself, as opposed to a challenging hobby.

 

It was life changing.

[EdgarHF]

After 42 years I'm still waiting.

[Gilliangirl]

I find the problem with being a guitar player is that I'm never happy with where I'm at. I'm always thinking my skills are bad, I need to do better, I need to learn this or that. I played a song for one of my clients at work the other day and she loved it. She is just now starting guitar lessons. She thinks I'm good, but it's all relative, ya know? I suppose two years ago, if I could see me today, I'd say I was better, but now that I've *arrived*, I'm not satisfied. It's an ongoing journey as far as I'm concerned. If you think you will feel like you've *arrived* when you can switch chords smoothly and seamlessly, you might. But don't be surprised if you actually realize that it's a milestone on a lot longer journey. Oh sure, you'll have moments where you'll realize that you're 'good'. But I find those are fleeting, then it's back to 'I want to be able to play like THAT guy' mode!

[Modac]

"Good" is so relative.....I used to be "good", until I heard **** Rosmini.....so I practiced like heck....until I thought I was good again....then I heard Merle Travis....back to the drawing board, psychically scarred.....but I persevered, and worked my way back to good again, realizing, eventually, that "good" is not great, and some people, like me, will just never be great.....but I was happy with my playing....then I heard Blind Blake.....it never stops. And when you stop progressing, you regress. So don't worry about being "good"----just practice, practice and practice.....other people will let you know when you're "good".

[Jerry K]

Tell us some more about the kind of music you like and what you want to play.

[6stringTom]

Regarding clean chord changes and lack of buzz, etc.,,

 

1. A first assumption is that your guitar is set up right. That makes a huge difference in getting clean sound.

2. i think after a year, you should be getting pretty clean chord sounds and changes on simple changes that you have practiced a lot. Every time you go to a new level of complexity, you may find some of the buzz/mudiness and such coming back in.

3. I find that playing guitar involves managing a lot of different things simultaneously--the left hand, the right hand, the rhythm, my sense of musicality, lyrics and voice when i'm singing and playing. The more things i'm doing, the more likely i will slip a little on one feature of my music. For example, when learning a new song I am usually not initially focused on clean articulation.

4. The more certain things become automatic, such as a steady thumb bass on blues fingerpicking, the more i can attend to other factors. When enough things become automatic, it is magic to experience the music more wholistically. However, I still practice certain phrases in some songs after years of playing them. Those challenging parts seem to need reinforcement now and then.

5. I've played for 45 years, but I still sometimes have to focus on clean articulation after getting a little sloppy--bad habits slip in. Sometimes this occurs because I'm not fully concentrating on my playing. Sometimes it's because my fingers just don't seem to work as well as they do on other days. Arthritis also can affect the nimbleness of my fingers.

6. Self-confidence makes a big difference. If I'm thinking, "I wonder if I'm going to mess up that chord change that's coming up" it is likely I will. If I expect myself to play it right (and assuming I've practiced enough to actually have the skill to do it), I usually do play it right.

 

I hope this is useful. One of life's real joys for me is making music, and there's always more to learn.

[J-200 Koa]

After 10 years of trying, I have progressed from terrible to less than awful. Undaunted,

I decided the real problem could not be the player.... but the instrument. I have since

spent 5 years trying to prove my theory while spending hundreds and hundreds of

dollars in the process. My playing has not improved but I have certainly owned some

nice guitars along the way!

[Jayla]

I don't believe you can say, since it depends on your personal "gift" for the guitar, the amount of time you spend practicing, your ability to learn and progress, and the type of music you want to play.

 

My basic recommendation would be to play as much and as often as you can.

[TWilson]

I pretty much agree with what others have said. My friend. "Ramblin' Rex', who went to high school with Paul Butterfield and played on stage with him and also with Albert Collins, told me what he did. I remember asking him five or ten years ago what he did to get to where he was . He said what Jayla is saying. He told me that you just have to have that as your main interest in life and play and play and play every day. For that reason, I'm not as good as I should be after all the years I've been at it. My gauge is that I've arrived at a point where I can get out my geetar, pop a beer or have a nice glasss of Red, start playing and singing songs that I've really enjoyed for years and think to myself, " Wow, that was great. Think I'll keep doing it til I puke." Or, something like that. So, if you're not satisfied, just keep goin'.!! Oh, I forgot, chicks like guitar players too. Yep, even "old" chicks

[larryp58]

Just practice, practice, and more practice! It'll come! A lot of different contributing factors, though. A good ear for music, natural talent, and the genre of music you want to play. And lastly, what is your "gauge" for good? Good for you might be great for another, or, good for you might make others think that you suck! After 45 years of playing, some think I'm really good, some think I'm alright, I think I still suck!!! But keep at it, It's like GillianGirl says "it's a long journey!" Half the fun is the trip to get there!

[BigKahune]

My basic recommendation would be to play as much and as often as you can.

 

amen.

 

if you're comparing yourself to a pro/performer, remember, your talking minutes of playing time per day while they're doing hours. there's no getting around putting in playing time if you want to improve your skills. (gee, it's funny how that applies to just about everything)

[tw2_usa]

Thank you all. Someone asked about my gauge, and for me it is the ability to get the beautiful sounds that I SOMETIMES get out of my guitar ALL the time. Its about getting that sound, that rich beautiful sound, every time consistently. I feel it's no less than what the guitar deserves...

 

I am writing folk/pop/rock tunes and playing simple covers of Elton John, Tom Petty, James Taylor, Jim Croce, Eddie Vetter, some REM and stuff, basically soft rock to grunge. I'm lovin' it and will spend the rest of the evening digesting your replies. Thanks again.

[Honky Dog]

For me, I'm not sure how long it will take. But I can tell you it will be more than 34 years. :-

[Jerry K]

I guess a lot depends on your expectations. If you try to play things that are too difficult at your current stage then it tends to be frustrating and progress can slow down. It's good to pick things that are a bit of a stretch for you, but not too much of a stretch. The principle is true in learning almost any skill.

 

It may be helpful to take a few lessons. After a few years of playing I took a few lessons and was shown some exercises like chromatic octaves in first position and major scales in 12 positions. It's kind of grinding work but your hand gets stronger and more limber. I don't advocate spending too much time on exercises like that, maybe five or ten percent of your playing time (and less as time goes on), because it's essential to feel like you are making music and having a good time. Try to work out chords that are not too far away from each other on the neck so your left hand is mostly staying in one place and not jumping around too much. Another thing that I found helpful was to play chords with only 3 or 4 notes. When you are not trying to hold down all six strings your hand becomes more fleet and you are not pressing down too hard, which is one of the major problems for beginners, I think. See if you can press just exactly enough to make a clean sound but no more.

[Jerry K]

Possibly the question about how long to get good is the wrong question. I have heard beginners playing tunes with only 3 or 4 chords who sounded excellent. They sounded great within a few months of starting. As time goes on, you can sound good with more complex stuff. So I would say you can sound good very quickly, within a few months if you choose material appropriate to your level, and gradually proceed to more difficult stuff.

[Johnt]

I will know when I am good when I can pick up a guitar and faultlessly strike the opening chord from a "Hard days night"

 

Somehow after 50 years of owning a guitar I am stuck in this time warp, not getting any better but enjoying doing what I do

 

Surely that's the point

 

Or am I unambitious?

[AlanC]

Gilliangirl wrote:-

 

"I find the problem with being a guitar player is that I'm never happy with where I'm at. I'm always thinking my skills are bad, I need to do better, I need to learn this or that."

 

Ain't that the truth. It's probably a good thing in terms of improving but !!!

[G u e s t]

.

.

 

How long you got bro, how long you got.....

.....don't sweat it, just enjoy it, it'll come when it's ready.

.

[powerpopper]

To me, it depends on what your definition of "good" is. There are folks who are technically "good" and can do all sorts of interesting stuff, but they're not particularly musical. I've been envious of a few players I've seen over the years who couldn't play very well at all but just had a lot of commitment and passion about their music (soul, if you will), so much so that it didn't really matter how "good" they were or were not.

 

Then there are people who have both those things and we buy their records...

[billiards]

all of the above....playing since early 70's....practice, maybe a line at a time, i think its like most other skills.....not just running through=d> the music, consider the progression, study it until its like riveted in your mind, .....i play mostly the classical nylon string guitar...the steel string takes a bit more time and tough fingers.....when i get a little discouraged i play the classical and some the songs i have mastered that sound good ....it gives me a boost to step out into a new or difficult area of playing......the steel string has it own place in my heart, my first guitar and years of playing was on a 1972 lyle, still have it, lessons are good ...it gives one a reason to master the goal set by the instructor, bottom line for me is i will never get rich playing the guitar....do it, enjoy the trip, hopefully you will be better tomorrow than today, but today will never be here again......just my collections of thoughts along the way.

[fortyearspickn]

You might want to use light strings and tune down an octave for a year or two so your enjoyment factor increases and the muddy buzzes decrease. Hopefully, you'lll never be satisfied and not want to learn a new technique - but, yes, some of us here are stuck in a time warp that formed when we had the time to devote to really learning how to play. You can get better, but keep playing the same type of music. Or you can broaden your musical variety and not improve technically. It's hard to strike a balance - but that's part of the fun. I'd really second the notion that you consider lessons of sometype. Otherwise, you'll miss out on some structural music theory stuff that'll help you connect the dots. G'luck.

[Gitfidl]

There are **threshholds** you pass through. At first the "struggle" is to get four fingers on your left hand -your brain-and a guitar to let you play three chords in rapid succession. Your fingers do NOT want to be behind the fret -- the strings go thud and it takes you ten seconds to change chords. That challenge slips into the past and the new challenger is (perphaps) reading notes and picking them -- learning the scales (plural) on the fretboard. Lots of study. Finally that is all in your mind and you are trying to tune up to other instruments ... each time it is a new threshhold. YOU'LL NEVER MASTER ALL OF IT. You just don't -- BUT neither does anybody else. That is why we admire the "monks" at the top of the heap. They seem to have mastered it. AND it keeps us thinking "some day I will too."

 

In my opinion, though, the guitar is the most beautiful (and versatile) instrument of them all. It's well worth tthe effort. You can play just about any kind of music on a guitar (folk, jazz, blues) -- softly or quickly and lively. You can play it alone or in a group. Unlike a piano a guitar is truly portable and does not need 120VAC like a keyboard. They are beautiful (not like some brassy horn). I have enjoy my guitar all my life. What else can you say that about -- your kids. (so that's about where a guitar lives in your heart)

[mooseguy]

Moment Of Truth No. 1

 

I was standing in the fan line after a Danny Gatton appearance to tell him what a great

pleasure it was to hear him play when the man in front of me with his teen age son in tow posed the following guestion to Gatton " What advice would you give my son to be able to play like you?" whereupon a voice behind me, who had obviously also heard the question, answered "just go home and burn it"

 

Moose

 

P.S. I am not advising to do the same thing

[Plad]

I will know when I am good when I can pick up a guitar and faultlessly strike the opening chord from a "Hard days night"

 

Hi, Johnt, when you are able to sound the opening chord from A Hard Day's Night on one guitar, faultlessly or otherwise, you are not only good, you are a freak of nature. I once read a scientific (I 'm not making this up!) analysis of that chord, and it apparently involves at least two guitars and a piano!