I will never be any good at guitar ....

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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    octatonic said:
    axisus said:
    John_A said:
    Years ago I took a few guitar lessons, first lesson we talked about what I wanted to achieve and I proudly showed the teacher this George Lynch lick I’d been working on for 4 weeks.  He said ‘you could have learned 50 George Harrison licks in that time”  that’s really stuck with me and 20 years later I can still do a piss poor impersonation of Mr Lynch, but can play a big part of the back catalogues of Beatles, AC-DC, Thin Lizzy etc, played in original bands and cover bands and thoroughly enjoy it.

    Ditch the Satriani, and play something you can actually get your fingers around, you’ll feel a whole lot better for it
    I completely understand that, but the heart wants what the heart wants ....
    Then do the work.

    Seriously, you can't wish this to happen.
    You can make it happen, but you need to be focussed and disciplined.
    I refer the honourable gentleman to my original post:

    1) poor motor skills in terms of accuracy
    2) poor memory recall

    Also, as a reminder - I wasn't saying how can I learn stuff, I was moaning I will never learn stuff. It was merely me ranting and moaning. Must have had a bad day or something but I'm over it now. Yeah, I'm poor at music but ultimately who cares. On reflection I've had my best year on piano for over 30 years, I should focus on my successes not my failures .... 


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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    edited April 2021
    axisus said:
    octatonic said:
    axisus said:
    John_A said:
    Years ago I took a few guitar lessons, first lesson we talked about what I wanted to achieve and I proudly showed the teacher this George Lynch lick I’d been working on for 4 weeks.  He said ‘you could have learned 50 George Harrison licks in that time”  that’s really stuck with me and 20 years later I can still do a piss poor impersonation of Mr Lynch, but can play a big part of the back catalogues of Beatles, AC-DC, Thin Lizzy etc, played in original bands and cover bands and thoroughly enjoy it.

    Ditch the Satriani, and play something you can actually get your fingers around, you’ll feel a whole lot better for it
    I completely understand that, but the heart wants what the heart wants ....
    Then do the work.

    Seriously, you can't wish this to happen.
    You can make it happen, but you need to be focussed and disciplined.
    I refer the honourable gentleman to my original post:

    1) poor motor skills in terms of accuracy
    2) poor memory recall

    Also, as a reminder - I wasn't saying how can I learn stuff, I was moaning I will never learn stuff. It was merely me ranting and moaning. Must have had a bad day or something but I'm over it now. Yeah, I'm poor at music but ultimately who cares. On reflection I've had my best year on piano for over 30 years, I should focus on my successes not my failures .... 


    As you wish.

    However, I have made several offers over the years, one not too long ago IIRC, to give you a practice routine that is doable, not going to take over your life and will transform your playing, but only if you do the work.

    I've had a few conversations with students over the years of this sort.
    The ones who succeed are the ones who make it their focus and don't allow where they are now to define where they want to go.

    1) and 2) can both be fixed, if you want.
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  • LastMantraLastMantra Frets: 3822
    For me getting better is a byproduct of enjoying playing. 
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280
    octatonic said:

    However, I have made several offers over the years, one not too long ago IIRC, to give you a practice routine that is doable, not going to take over your life and will transform your playing, but only if you do the work.

    Yes, I have noted that at times, most kind of you to offer. I did almost do you a video of my terrible vibrato after your suggestion, but I bottled it in the end!

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  • For me getting better is a byproduct of enjoying playing. 
    Exactly this. When getting frustrated learning complicated stuff sometimes it's better to just stick on some acdc or similar, turn up the amp and just rock out to remember guitar is fun.

    Another thing is, many of the elite players are elite at a particular style or their "Licks" that they have perfected over years and they came up with those because they just felt natural to them under the fingers. We then try learning songs from a large selection of these guys and wonder why we can never get them perfect and give up. 
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    axisus said:
    octatonic said:

    However, I have made several offers over the years, one not too long ago IIRC, to give you a practice routine that is doable, not going to take over your life and will transform your playing, but only if you do the work.

    Yes, I have noted that at times, most kind of you to offer. I did almost do you a video of my terrible vibrato after your suggestion, but I bottled it in the end!

    The offer is always there.
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  • John_AJohn_A Frets: 3775
    axisus said:
    I completely understand that, but the heart wants what the heart wants ....
    Satriani started out on easy stuff 
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  • allenallen Frets: 699
    I hear you. 

    I've spent years on the riff from scuttle buttin. I've recently got to 90% of the speed of the original.
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  • tone1tone1 Frets: 5112
    It’s a standing in joke in my household. I’ve been ‘plinky plonking’ for 35 years and can barely play anything even remotely musical....but I saw a post recently on here that mentioned playing as a means of mindfulness, and I thought yep that’s me in a nutshell.....I’m currently having a bash at the Black Keys Lonely boy...few chords, bit of a cool intro, bit of fuzz, happy days. 

    I can’t believe how little I’ve progressed in 35 years of playing when I see kids on YouTube tearing it up....I sometimes think of jacking it all in, but then I think ‘it’s not a competition after all’ 
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  • pintspillerpintspiller Frets: 994
    When I started I thought I was.time deaf. I didn't buy a time for nearly a year after buying the guitar and amp I started with.

    My expectations were low. No trying to emulate a virtuoso for me. I've been playing for 30+ years and still learning. I'm far better than I thought I'd ever be, but I've written songs and gigged in bands doing originals and covers in venues small and larger than small.
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  • vizviz Frets: 10644
    axisus said:
    John_A said:
    Years ago I took a few guitar lessons, first lesson we talked about what I wanted to achieve and I proudly showed the teacher this George Lynch lick I’d been working on for 4 weeks.  He said ‘you could have learned 50 George Harrison licks in that time”  that’s really stuck with me and 20 years later I can still do a piss poor impersonation of Mr Lynch, but can play a big part of the back catalogues of Beatles, AC-DC, Thin Lizzy etc, played in original bands and cover bands and thoroughly enjoy it.

    Ditch the Satriani, and play something you can actually get your fingers around, you’ll feel a whole lot better for it
    I completely understand that, but the heart wants what the heart wants ....
    I like that too, I think he makes a really good point. Yet I totally disagree with it, for me anyway; I think it’s because I don’t want to learn songs - I can already play 50 George Harrison songs, I can guarantee it, even though I’ve never heard a single one of them! I know how conceited that sounds but it’s true, and learning a George Harrison song is simply not on my development path. I want to be able to play like Steve Vai or Greg Howe, so that’s what I’ll work on. (Well I would do if I had any oomph left in me). I still agree with what he said though, just not relevant for me. 
    Roland said: Scales are primarily a tool for categorising knowledge, not a rule for what can or cannot be played.
    Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
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  • HWMHWM Frets: 2
    I doubt any musician can play everything on their instrument of choice. Music can be seen as some as a competition ( play fastest etc), an intellectual exercise (playing involves really obscure beats, chord progressions and scale variations), and a means of promoting an emotional response ( I remember the exactment I felt as a kid hearing the riff for Whole Lot Of Love by Zep for the first time). 
     
    I know a lot of others who play as I do, for enjoyment of playing. My personal method is to concentrate solely on technique without any effects on a regular basis ( one hour a day) to  improve my possible range of options and the rest of the time have fun. I am not bothered about playing other peoples stuff the way they played it, what's the point, its already been done and I am not looking to join a cover band (or any other band). Over the years I played with a lot of like minded folk. At the moment when we get together (2 guitars and a drummer, sometimes a bass player as well) we can come up with something in 20 minutes that we go on to play around with for as long as we want. Maybe start with some blues (comfort zone) and then "Hey let's try to do some Regge for a laugh", them punk, then heavy rock, maybe a ballad, a bit of country and so on. And we do have a laugh. Sometimes I surprise myself with what I come up with and that is where the satisfaction lies for me.

    One thing I have taken on board though is that trying hard is disastrous for me, I get tense, my fingers slow down and I am thinking about what I am going to do next before I get there and just end up making noised I don't want to listen to. For me the secret is concentration. The more I listen to what I am playing and think about the left/right hand coordination and the force I am using with both hands I find the more my brain is able to understand exactly what I actually am doing, not what I think I am doing (if that makes any sense). Its all about concentration building new neural pathways just like learning to drive or any other skill. If you concentrate the pathways get built, if you don't concentrate they won't develop or if they do they will develop in an uncontrolled way (the bad habit scenario)

    One thing that really made me think was the purchase of a Yamaha Revstar with jumbo frets. Switching to this after playing a Mexico Strat for years was eye opening. The way I play has changed a lot as It more or less demanded I start concentrating on playing with a light touch. With jumbo frets if you don't play with a light touch you will be playing out of tune. I think that trying a guitar with jumbo frets is the most significant thing I have done since the purchase of my first guitar. If you haven't tried it give it a go. You never know what might happen.
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  • HWMHWM Frets: 2
    If you are determined to break through on a complex  piece some thoughts about how approach and practice complex pieces is included here:

    https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/32394/Wallick_Piano_2013.pdf?sequence=1

    It is all about piano but the suggestions can be applied to guitar. It is a bit of a last resort really as it is not an easy read and there are no set instructions. However, it might give a new viewpoint on practicing a complex piece that might help someone.
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  • maw4neumaw4neu Frets: 549
    edited May 2021
    I've been shite for years but I still love to play guitar . . . :-)  . . . Plus your picking complex tunes performed by a feckin genius guitar player . . That's self torture . . . 
    Id just like to point out that, despite all the video and DNA evidence, it genuinely wasn't me, your Honour  ! 

    Feedback : https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/58125/
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  • WiresDreamDisastersWiresDreamDisasters Frets: 16664
    edited May 2021
    There's something underlying this thread that is pissing me off a bit.

    It's lack of self belief and defeatism.

    I always struggled to do downstroke palm mutes above 150bpm. It's why most TNBD material is around the 100-130bpm mark. Coz that's where I felt comfortable. All of the faster stuff, I play alternate picking so I can get the speed I need.

    And I just kept telling myself I'd get it one day. Anyway, lately I've been practicing little bits. Literally, every time I pickup the guitar I just do a few minutes of practice with downstroke palm mutes. As well as getting some cool riffs out of it, I've also become more comfortable with the technique, and I'm now in that 160bpm range, and I feel comfortable. I wanna extend this to 170bpm and 180bpm too.

    You just need to setup a strategy and follow it. There is no one size fits all strategy, you have to figure it out for yourself. But at least have one. Otherwise you're doomed to be whinging on a guitar forum about how you'll never do xyz blahblahblahblahblah.

    OP has no strategy. That's the problem here.

    Bye!

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  • mendymendy Frets: 171
    edited August 2021
     B)
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    There's something underlying this thread that is pissing me off a bit.

    It's lack of self belief and defeatism.

    I always struggled to do downstroke palm mutes above 150bpm. It's why most TNBD material is around the 100-130bpm mark. Coz that's where I felt comfortable. All of the faster stuff, I play alternate picking so I can get the speed I need.

    And I just kept telling myself I'd get it one day. Anyway, lately I've been practicing little bits. Literally, every time I pickup the guitar I just do a few minutes of practice with downstroke palm mutes. As well as getting some cool riffs out of it, I've also become more comfortable with the technique, and I'm now in that 160bpm range, and I feel comfortable. I wanna extend this to 170bpm and 180bpm too.

    You just need to setup a strategy and follow it. There is no one size fits all strategy, you have to figure it out for yourself. But at least have one. Otherwise you're doomed to be whinging on a guitar forum about how you'll never do xyz blahblahblahblahblah.

    OP has no strategy. That's the problem here.
    And refuses help when offered.
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26452
    There's something underlying this thread that is pissing me off a bit.

    It's lack of self belief and defeatism.

    I always struggled to do downstroke palm mutes above 150bpm. It's why most TNBD material is around the 100-130bpm mark. Coz that's where I felt comfortable. All of the faster stuff, I play alternate picking so I can get the speed I need.

    And I just kept telling myself I'd get it one day. Anyway, lately I've been practicing little bits. Literally, every time I pickup the guitar I just do a few minutes of practice with downstroke palm mutes. As well as getting some cool riffs out of it, I've also become more comfortable with the technique, and I'm now in that 160bpm range, and I feel comfortable. I wanna extend this to 170bpm and 180bpm too.

    You just need to setup a strategy and follow it. There is no one size fits all strategy, you have to figure it out for yourself. But at least have one. Otherwise you're doomed to be whinging on a guitar forum about how you'll never do xyz blahblahblahblahblah.

    OP has no strategy. That's the problem here.
    Yeah, pretty much this.

    One of my bands isn't really challenging in terms of playing at all, but the other one - in which I wrote over half the songs and most of the guitar parts - is really difficult, because I deliberately set out to improve my playing. So, instead of just doing the rock-noodling thing, every song I picked at least one thing that I wasn't very good at and wrote it such that if I couldn't play those things...it'd sound like ass. I didn't give it to the rest of the band until I could convincingly pull it off, and I had a deadline for getting it all recorded and gig-ready.

    Tapping, legato, fast picking, even a bit of sweeping...it's all there, in the rhythm and the solos; my playing has never improved as quickly and reliably as it did during that period.

    The trick, I think, is to have an actual point to it. I wasn't just learning techniques for the sake of it, I was learning them because I'd written something that I had no choice but to be able to play.
    <space for hire>
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  • McSwaggertyMcSwaggerty Frets: 657
    Everyone sets their own standards, whether the goal is to play like Joe Satriani or Keith Richards.
    I saw a Bloke in a local pub playing Rocking all over the World by Status Quo. He was using backing tracks and he was on his knees on the middle of the dance floor giving it laldy. 
    He thought he was brilliant. 
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  • axisusaxisus Frets: 28280

    OP has no strategy. That's the problem here.
    octatonic said:

    And refuses help when offered.
    You are both right! Bear in mind though that my original post was not a cry for help, it was just a 'pitiful rant' (my own words later in the thread. Yes, any player who has a strategy and accepts help will improve, but some of us have more deep rooted motivational issues that aren't so easy to change. 

    At the end of the day I have a very busy life and a seeming inability to organise my spare time effectively. That is the crux of the matter for me. 
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