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How Long To Get Good


tw2_usa

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OK OK OK...

 

1. Listen and focus on the music you love, the one that speaks to you and that you'd like to play.

 

2. Get curious, work your way, understand how it is done. Lsten to music you wouldn't listen to usually just to provoke your ears. You might get surprised!

 

3. Do it yourself. Practice it. Develop your ear and your skills.

 

4. Don't be perfect, be authentic. You wont ever sound exactly like another. Focus on your strenghts and use them to develop your style!

 

5. Have fun, have fun and also a lot of fun!

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I played my first gig in 1966. Pretty sure we stank up the place but I was convinced fame and fortune were right around the corner.

 

Agree that "good" is a pretty subjective term. Don't matter how technically good you are if your music sounds sterile and predicatable. I am just a tired old man who does not care to listen to a hot guitar playing its brains out on some tune with meaningless lyrics.

 

For me though the key to getting "good" was the right hand. It is where the rhythm comes from - it puts you in the pocket - or in the groove if you perfer. Ya got that and you can make a one chord accompaniment with a three note vocal line into something that says something.

 

Would also say always keep in mind your style will be a combination of your skills and your weaknesses. B.B. King developed his trademark vibrato because he could not learn slide. He compensated and created one of the most signature sounds in music.

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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' date=' the ones you knew and had practiced, sounding good and clean and solid on beat without mud and buzz and miss...?[/quote']

 

There are exercises you can learn to help you with control and that improves your aim. The amount of practice you do each day contributes to your growth as a player, but it is equally important what you choose to practice.

 

It is very common that when we are learning we try things that are too hard - for me it was sheet music of Mr. Bojangles in the key of D. It took a very long time to be able to play the song and then the first time I played with another person he started laughing because everyone plays that song in C - which is much, much easier.

 

So, my recommendation is for you to have a lesson with a good teacher and tell the teacher you want some control and accuracy exercises.

 

Your question can only be answered this way: If you work hard you will always make progress. If you have access to good information about what to practice you will make better progress than a person trying to figure it out on their own. Lastly, we all have different brains and bodies - so some people get it a bit quicker and others need more practice to get to the same level. No matter what, I can tell you that guitar is a life long passion that always rewards the efforts you put in.

 

I recently learned that it helps to video tape myself playing. It helps me see what I need to improve, but more importantly -- it helps me clearly evaluate where I am at.

 

If you are missing and buzzing, you might want to review some Internet information on left hand position (chording hand, sorry if you are a lefty!). Essentially, your left hand position dictates whether your fingers are heading straight onto the string or if you are approaching at an angle. Getting this part working properly is essential to prevent buzzing and missing - not to mention muting that happens when a finger pressed on one string is at such an angle that it stops the next string from vibrating.

 

Guitar is a wonderful challenge. No matter how much progress you make, there are always new things to learn. I started at 16 and I am 45 now. My biggest concern today is worrying that my hands will give out before I am able to learn all I want to learn. Chances are, I couldn't live long enough to learn it all - and even when you learn it all there will be something new.

 

Be patient with yourself, and don't get distracted. Enjoy guitar. It is perhaps the easiest thing in life to enjoy. And, welcome to the forum - I hope this place helps you stay interested.

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Someone mentioned above the importance of a good setup. If action is too high it really is difficult to change quickly, especially for a beginner. A while back Guitarstrummer pointed out a tool which Stewart MacDonald sells for checking action.: Action Gauge . Yeah it's a bit pricey but this thing is the bee's knees. I consider it essential equipment. I used to use one of those little 'steel rule' tools available in any hardware store but the Stewmac gauge beats those hands down. No more peering and squinting, readout is immediate and discrete. I recommend you get one of these and consult the appropriate pages on string action in frets.com.

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Clean chords came along a couple of months in. Just happend one day, without thinking about it, particularly, but had done enough reps, so it kicked in.

 

As to getting good, basicly there's no getting to the bottom of it. The Zen-ists would say keep a beginners mind and realize everything is practice.

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The thing that really made me sharpen up in my teens was getting a friend to join in on another instrument (guitar, bass, whatever) and play something together. I'm not sure you use the expression 'tight' in the States to describe the point where a band sounds like a single unit instead of a bunch of instruments, where your timing hits the sweet spot.

 

I was reminded of this at the weekend when I did exactly that after practicing guitar by myself for several years. A friend came over and we both picked up guitars and began playing - it started off sounding pretty rough but a couple of hours later things were coming together and I was really enjoying the way I was having to work.

 

Along with the other ideas on the thread, this may help you getting to that next stage you're looking for :-k

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1. Like everyone else said, practice, practice, practice. Like anything else that's worth it, it don't come easy.

 

2. Play with people. Nothing sharpens you up better. What you learn playing with others comes to you organically like a child learning a language. What you learn from lessons, scales, etc. is more scholastic, like an adult trying to learn a language. Both are important, but the organic stuff seeps in and you don't have to intellectualize it.

 

3. There is no timetable. There are too many factors: talent, commitment, time, etc. I have a friend who started playing at 10, took lessons, did all the right things. She's a fine guitar player. She's been a professional musician on and off her whole life. However, she's primarily a singer, and her main commitment to guitar is to accompany herself. Her son first picked up a guitar at 15 and fell in love with it. He passed her as a guitarist in less than a year. I should mention that he plays 4-5 hours a day.

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  • 1 year later...

I started this thread over a year ago. I'm now a good part of the way into my third year of playing. I read online when I first asked this question that it takes about three years to get good.

 

I feel for the first time I am getting good. When I first posted, much of this response was about defining 'good'. Good for me is when I want to express myself musically through the guitar or voice or both together, I play well enough for that to happen. Am beginning to do so consistently. I feel so lucky and grateful to be able to play an instrument, especially a steel string dread.

 

Played a Hummingbird Pro at GC today. Beauty.

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After 10 years of trying' date=' 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![/quote']

 

 

+1

 

:-({|=

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I started this thread over a year ago. ... I feel for the first time I am getting good. ...

 

 

Great to hear you're seeing and feeling improvement. #-o

 

And for our members that are still working at it - hang in there, even if you consider yourself long on practice and short on progress, you can still enjoy playing.

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It's a bit like golf....There will always be room for improvement. Ask the most well respected professionals and they will tell you they wish they were better! Including Clapton and Townshend. It will always be a work in progress don't you think?

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I don't know if any of us ever reach a point of total satisfaction. I know that I do more now on a guitar than I've ever done before, but I don't really consider myself a good guitar player. Actually, I usually joke about my playing. Yet, I still have people come-up to me after a gig and tell me they like my playing or they wish they could play like I do. I figure they're all "gluttons for punishment." I guess once-in-a-while I"m kind of satisfied, but I'll never consider myself a "picker."

 

http://www.family-friendly-music.com/

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Gilliangirl wrote:-

 

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

 

I'm sure everyone can see this coming down the road and around the corner.....

 

Gilliangirl's butt doesn't need improving!

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