Getting back some technique - how??

jellybelly

Hi all

I've not been around for a while - a change of career, bought a house, band split up and I'm currently planning a wedding, so playing guitar has completely gone out the window to the point that an hour of noodling feels like a struggle. 

I no longer lust after gear and more than once I've thought about selling all my guitars to fund something else. However, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and I know what I really want is to get back to playing properly. 

When reflecting on it, I realised I'd gotten very good at 'sounding like me' since I was 18 or so (13 years ago!), but in that time I've also gotten into a very comfortable rut and forgotten/lost a lot of technique that I once had (not that I was ever 'shredding'!). 

So now I'm considering the best way to get back into it, get my game back and play more AND better, but I need to do this relatively efficiently time-wise. I know nothing is going to replace solid practice, but how have others gotten back into playing 'properly' instead of lazily trotting out the same riffs?? 

Learnt Theory?? Lessons? A particular set of exercises? Good old fashioned playing along to songs and pretending you're a rock star in front of the mirror? I'd really appreciate some anecdotal information!

octatonic

You could do worse than doing this every day for a month:

http://www.guitarworld.com/bent-out-shape-intensive-30-minute-guitar-workout-musicians-go

Lestratcaster

Get a tutor. It'll save you years of figuring stuff out and keep you motivated to stick to the structure.

Grades are good to give you something to aim for and something to show but I know a lot of people are keen on the strict "academic" approach. Alternatively the Rockschool stuff is a great way to mix contemporary songs whilst combining different playing techniques so you can strive for the end result (performing the song).

Try not to play the same stuff all the time, venture into different styles as well, esp ones you don't know very well or like. That's how I improved. I'm predominantly a rock guitarist but like to think I can do funk, fingerstyle, reggae, jazz, blues, folk, metal, etc.

If you're in London and might be interested in Lessons I@m a tutor, if not I can do Skype. Haha.

Barney

I think you have to be really honest with yourself and work out where the weakness is in your playing then decide what you need to work on to get to be where you want to be .....then just repetition ...thats the only way to move forward in my opinion ..stay on something until you nail it ....or a number of things but set some time to each subject and do it daily ...when you reach a goal add other subjects in ...

Its also a goid idea to get a teacher and he might be able to highlight things in your playing that you are not aware of and give you goals to work for .....i also think things dont need to be complicted ...all the best ideas are simple things put together and made into more complex things ...so my advise would be to nail the basics properly...

viz

Congratulations!

TheBlueWolf

Give https://www.justinguitar.com a try perhaps?

I finished his Beginner Course a couple of years back, as I knew how and what to play but wanted to go through all the basics and make sure there aren't any gaps in what I know. Justin has a great way of teaching.

As @Barney said, sit down and consider where you're currently at and where you'd like to get to. That should give you plenty of ideas

sessionguitar

I've just setup my new Session guitarist Channel, They'll be lots of insight here, hope it helps.

TimmyO

jellybelly said:

Hi all

I've not been around for a while - a change of career, bought a house, band split up and I'm currently planning a wedding, so playing guitar has completely gone out the window to the point that an hour of noodling feels like a struggle. 

I no longer lust after gear and more than once I've thought about selling all my guitars to fund something else. However, I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and I know what I really want is to get back to playing properly. 

When reflecting on it, I realised I'd gotten very good at 'sounding like me' since I was 18 or so (13 years ago!), but in that time I've also gotten into a very comfortable rut and forgotten/lost a lot of technique that I once had (not that I was ever 'shredding'!). 

So now I'm considering the best way to get back into it, get my game back and play more AND better, but I need to do this relatively efficiently time-wise. I know nothing is going to replace solid practice, but how have others gotten back into playing 'properly' instead of lazily trotting out the same riffs?? 

Learnt Theory?? Lessons? A particular set of exercises? Good old fashioned playing along to songs and pretending you're a rock star in front of the mirror? I'd really appreciate some anecdotal information!

TLDR - work out what your barriers to practice are and organise things to get them out of the way, and have a plan of what to do so you don't have to think about it

Any of those will help, but ultimately the thing that will work best is the thing that you will do consistently. 

My period of greatest progress was when I accepted that, and found what my personal barriers to being consistent were.

Some of it (again, for me) was the small but real faff of getting the stuff out, finding the reference material, and actually getting down to it. so what I did was set it all up permanently. A music stand with each of the books/sheets of paper bulldog clipped in place, metronome ready to go. I'd also worked out what I wanted to be working on *as a minimum* and did that first before any dicking about. Usually unplugged. 

1. David Mead 10 minute guitar workout (now available in book or app form) - this for basic finger mobility and independence - it is also its own warmup which is cool
2. Musicians Institute Rhythm Guitar book - 20-30 minutes working through this book - good for basic chord familiarity and rhythm discipline
3. Current song being learned - 20-30 mins
4. Anything else

If I was busy I kept it to just the first item.

I have actually been thinking about getting back in to a similar routine. Now I'd add some theory stuff too. I started another thread somewhere on here about learning theory with some resources mentioned that I have and would/will use.