Tman5293 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I need some advice from my fellow guitarists. I feel like I'm going nowhere fast with my guitar playing. After 9 years of playing, I've reached this point where I don't know what to do next. I've been playing the same old stuff for quite a while now. I want to explore new aspects of guitar playing but I have no idea where to start or what to look for. I don't feel like I'm progressing at all in terms of technical ability or guitar mastery in general. I just have no idea where to go next. I want to improve my playing but I don't know how to get there. I play almost everyday but it just doesn't seem like I'm getting any better. It's like I've reached a wall and I can't break through it. Any advice from the more experienced guitarists on here? I feel like I need to take a new direction but I don't know the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Take some classes... look for a professor who can teach you new styles of music/guitar playing. You can apply those new styles to what you already do and create something your own. Also, playing with better musicians is a great way to better yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brad1 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Here's some things that could help: 1) Take a day, or even 2 or 3 off from playing. I find when I get back to playing after a small break I have a new perspective and often feel re-invigorated. 2) Take some lessons. Find someone who is a great player, or maybe plays with a much different style than you, and they can show you new techniques, new chords, new lines, etc. 3) Think of some songs you don't know how to play, but would like to learn. Print out some tabs, or if money is no problem go buy some songbooks. Learning new songs can help you get out of those feelings of not progressing. 4) Watch some videos on YouTube of people playing things yo like, or buy some videos of your favorite players and watch them. That can also give you a little boost in your motivation level. 5) Most importantly; don't give up. All things shall pass. And so will this feeling of going nowhere. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AXE® Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Listen to the Marty Stuart Band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Do the boring backup stuff, if you dont'/haven't already. I'm not kidding. If you know the following already I apologise in advance for being a patronising ****. As I understand it, any good classical musician knows the scales and would warm up or practice them every day as part of their routine. So I always thought if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. This is getting good at 'operating the guitar' generally, not necessarily making new creative music in itself. Figure it out so you can play the major scale using approx 3 notes per string starting off with your 1st, 2nd and 4th fingers on the E and on the A string. that's 6 patterns which will lead you to the modes. Find out what the cycle of 4ths/5ths is and practice chords round it. Get at least 2, preferably 3 shapes for any type chord and go round the cycle changing the shape. Then there is harmonization of the major scale into triads or (4-note) 7th chords. How about pattern playing against the metronome? Each note in pattern once, each note twice, then 3x all at same tempo? I know what you're talking about and others might suggest the same as me or completely different (e.g. put it down for 2 weeks) but the guitar is just going to sit there and look right back at you; it is relentlessly logical, as we all know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Listen to the Marty Stuart Band. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShIR-639GnY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dub-T-123 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Listen to and play some different music. I know you're really into classic rock.. This might be unpopular here but I think that's a pretty stagnant genre to focus on. Maybe try and play something on a keyboard or piano or something and then figure it out on guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky4 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 1 Try out a new pedal, like a flanger or chorus 2 Go acoustic for a while 3 Go see all the live music you can 4 Tune your guitar to an open G and learn some different voicings, Learn some Stones, side 2 of Zeppelin 3, play some slide 5 Buy Fresh Cream and learn how to play it. (I'm not an experienced guitar player, but I play one on the internet) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 1 Try out a new pedal, like a flanger or chorus 2 Go acoustic for a while 3 Go see all the live music you can 4 Tune your guitar to an open G and learn some different voicings, Learn some Stones, side 2 of Zeppelin 3, play some slide 5 Buy Fresh Cream and learn how to play it. (I'm not an experienced guitar player, but I play one on the internet) +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 I think already there has been excellent advice here. The bottom line of all I saw is pretty simple: Do something else musically. I just cranked up my "stereo laptop" while working on some work stuff and checking email while getting ready to write a cupla three thousand "work" words and... There in the files was a piece I did for practice about three years ago. Very different from how I currently do the piece - and that's the same music, some difference in tempo, and also fingerpicked but... I just plain do it differently and better. The difference, I think, is pretty much what the other guys suggested here. I went to other material. Then I looked at alternative fingerings and other keys. Then what did I want the guitar to do behind the vocal. "Cover band" concepts are, IMHO, part of cutting one's own best use of talent and technique - excluding potential cash, though. Gotta admit that. But technically... You like a given piece? Why? How do you sing it in the car or shower? What do you wish the guitar part would sound like? How would you do it acoustic? Etc. If you flatpick, look at some fairly simple fingerpicking material on Youtube. If you fingerpick, watch Doc Watson's flatpicking. If you flatpick classic rock, look at some old folkie fingerpicking stuff or some classical guitar lesson material. Youtube, btw, to me is absolutely and utterly marvelous for offering ideas, if not specific songs and arrangements. Compared to when I started pickin', today's player has more than digestible just at the beginner level, let alone intermediate or advanced. Then - and it's way over my head, watch Joe Pass or Segovia or whomever who isn't in your style and that you can't imagine gaining that level of technique... m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Plains Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Find some new people to play with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 R9... Yeah, if that's where somebody's life and head might be. In my current life situation... I guess you could make a case that in ways I reverse engineer and re-engineer material. E.g., the old doo-wop version of "You Belong to Me" into a cupla minutes of solo guitar thing. "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYcKS8j0s_s&feature=related" I put that in quotes so it would be more of a reference if you're interested as opposed to a forum slow-down. Thought process: First, what is the way the intro is chorded out? Then what is the verse progression? The bridge? Then, "How do I do the verse that's not just a repeat of what was done the first time?" Note that this is all "ear" rather than on a map. I think the map of something other than what you do is fine, but doesn't really change your head as much as challenging the ear. I'm sure some might argue, but for my head, it seems to work. Again, I have several versions of the Dylan "endless highway" - sometimes called "Tomorrow is a long long time" - that include folkie, bluegrass and what I tend to call retrograde New York jazz styles. It's that concept that sometimes really works. Hmmm. Try Johnny B. Goode as bluegrass or as a slow dance tune. <grin> m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowboyBillyBob1 Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Listen to music you don't generally appreciate. Bluegrass, fingerpicking, and so on. You WILL hear stuff you don't have a clue about but I guarantee you will start to hear things you have never heard before. Try some Jazz and not necessarily make it your thing but get stuff from it. You need to open your ear and try to play some of it. It will open your mind to new ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaleb Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 My playing took on a new venture when I started listening to Rush. But, as you cannot stand Geddy's voice, that might not work for you. I'd try some other progressive groups (Yes, Emerson Lake & Palmer, King Crimson, etc) as well as Alice Cooper and Frank Zappa. Listening to some different guitar players like Frank Marino and Michael Schenker might help too. And maybe some shred? Yngwie, Satch, Vai, Gilbert, Rhoads, George Lynch, and some Night Ranger might help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Get an inexpensive Yamaha and learn to play the piano. Buy as gooda Jazz or P as you can afford and learn to play bass. Buy a good drum machine, learn to program drums. Get something that records music, some form of multitrack recorder, one that'll do at least two at a time and allow you to bounce. Start recording stuff, stupid stuff, dumb stuff, ideas, bad ideas, other peoples ideas, just start playing those other instruments and record stuff. Figure out a good cover you want to do but your band doesn't or you don't have the instrumentation for. Learn all the parts on all the instruments and record it yerself. I started playing in 1971 and I probably stopped improving as a guitar player when Reagan was president. By improving I mean that I had probably gotten as far physically with a guitar as I would ever get, because I am not a Vai or Inggvay or any of that stuff and never will be because I don't want to be. I want to play as well as I have to to play this song right here, whatever I might be doing now. I don't bother playing genres or types of music that don't interest me, having skills I don't use is the same as not having them, so why waste the energy, right? And finally, I'd ask where you want to go. You can't be stuck unless you know you aren't where you want to be. If you don't know where you want to be as a guitar player, it is quite possible that you are there already, and need only get happy with where you are. That isn't easy either, I know, but it is important. Make the guitar just an instrument. I know, I have 9 of them right now, down from like 16 or so, it is more than just an instrument to us, I know. But musically, make it just another instrument you play. Music is what it is about, not guitar playing, that's just one way to do it. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Write some songs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harpo Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 I need some advice from my fellow guitarists. If you're playing Rock try some Blues, If you're playing Blues try some Jazz, if you're playing Jazz try some Funk, you get the point:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Write some songs! Agree, that's a good challenge to your skills. hey at least you're stuck, me? I feel like I am regressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Agree, that's a good challenge to your skills. hey at least you're stuck, me? I feel like I am regressing. Write some songs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 Understand, I have no idea what you technical abilities are, so this advice may not be for you. So you've got the mechanics of "what you can do" on the guitar down? What can't you do? Start learning techniques you don't know yet. Try some sweep picking, tapping, hybrid picking, finger picking, or whatever it is you don't know how to do. Even if you don't want to play in a hair band learn some of those fret board gymnastics. Dive into some theory, find out why chords are named the way they are. Learn some conversions, play your favorite song without playing a barre chord or power chord, improvise over a 5/4 time signature in D#, write a blues while avoiding the V turnaround. If you don't know what any of this means, go find out. Get ready to "Reinvent Your Swing" as they say in golf. Look at your picking technique or your fretting technique with disgust and make it better. The only way to improve your drive, chip, or putt is to change your swing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MissouriPicker Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 When I hit that proverbial wall (which is quite often), I play a different instrument for a while, or I'll watch something on YouTube that I enjoy. I used to be bothered by my playing limitations, but that was a long time ago. I think that at some point I actually kind of accepted that I'll never be a Chet Atkins or Glen Campbell, and ironically since then I actually have improved. Once I settled into being who I am, all the stress of being something/someone else disappeared. It's funny how we see ourselves in comparison to how others see us. Just when I'm observing my own musical limitations, some stranger comes-up to me and tells me they really like my guitar playing. Maybe I'm a bit better than I give myself credit for. I'm not saying we shouldn't have goals that we keep striving for. In fact, we need those goals. All I'm saying is to enjoy what we can do at this point and don't let our eagerness for something we may or may not attain in the future ruin the enjoyment we can have in the present. I suspect if I heard you play, I'd be a bit envious. By all means, practice and try to learn new things, but try not to let it bother you if things don't come as fast as you want. Anyway, just like my musical abilitles, I'm rambling. I hope you find exactly what you need. Just remember that what we need is not necessarily what we want...lol....Just keep going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaleb Posted September 10, 2012 Share Posted September 10, 2012 I agree w. FirstMeasure. Learn some new techniques, even if they aren't really associated with the styles you play/like. You can learn techniques associated with progressive rock, classical, and shred/metal and bring it to blues-based hard rock. It worked for Gary Moore. Hell, even Bonamassa incorporates prog and classical stylings into his music (both solo and with BCC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quapman Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Understand, I have no idea what you technical abilities are, so this advice may not be for you. So you've got the mechanics of "what you can do" on the guitar down? What can't you do? Start learning techniques you don't know yet. Try some sweep picking, tapping, hybrid picking, finger picking, or whatever it is you don't know how to do. Even if you don't want to play in a hair band learn some of those fret board gymnastics. Dive into some theory, find out why chords are named the way they are. Learn some conversions, play your favorite song without playing a barre chord or power chord, improvise over a 5/4 time signature in D#, write a blues while avoiding the V turnaround. If you don't know what any of this means, go find out. Get ready to "Reinvent Your Swing" as they say in golf. Look at your picking technique or your fretting technique with disgust and make it better. The only way to improve your drive, chip, or putt is to change your swing. That was bang on! I was going to say, take some lessons and learn some jazz but after reading that,, I have post envy.. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAS44 Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Try something new, completely new! Doesn't even have to be guitar, I'm picking up piano again (I gave it a whirl when I was too young to pay attention) both because I love the instrument, and because it's a new take on music, it'll require a whole new approach. Or, if that's a bit too much, can't go wrong with what FM said. I also find, giving a listen to something completely out of the ordinary (no more rock 'n blues! :P) can give your ear and drive a kick in the pants. At various points Jazz, Indian Classical (currently downing a book on the topic), and Serialist music have done so for me. Read up, get some history in you! Who do you like now? Who among them is the most unique, new, and fresh? Do some research, find out what makes them tick, look at their influences (studying up on Derek Trucks turned me into a hindustani classical fiend). A new teacher isn't a bad idea either, not to say your current pedagogue isn't up to par, but again a new style/outlook on it can be a refresher. Taking a break might help, not long (I wouldn't suggest pulling a Son House and taking a 5 year break from music altogether), but sometimes giving it a rest can remind you how much you love it, and why you love it. Go to a record store (no, not the internet)... browse about, you'll be amazed at what you'll find, there's a lot of gold in there. And again, I'll never be able to emphasize this enough... Get some more music history and theory down! Too long; didn't read version... Do something new! If you feel like you're doing the same thing over and over again... you probably are... so don't perpetuate it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CowboyBillyBob1 Posted September 11, 2012 Share Posted September 11, 2012 Ever since I started playing rock 'n roll I found out who my favorite players were influenced by. Eric Clapton got me into Robert Johnson and Robert Jounson got me into Son House. DAS44 aluded to this and he is right on the money. I have a cheap electric piano and fooling with that gives you ideas you would not have thought of on a guitar. I've owned acoutic guitars way back when but buying an inexpensive Takamine got me thinking a bit differently and started getting into fingerpicking. That has changed my outlook and got me into techniques I would not have persued with just electrics. One other thing is I have found that playing guitar is like reaching a peak and then it levels off. If you keep at it you reach another hill top and then stay there a while. It's not a steady and smooth improvement but jumps and hitting plateaus. Being tenacious is key. Most positive replies here are good ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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