Advancing on Guitar?

So I've been playing guitar off and on since high school, but didn't play consistently until about two years ago. Now I feel like I've hit a wall with regards to advancing my skill level. I know chords and scales and can play a lot of my favorite songs with some of them being moderately difficult. I should probably do finger exercises more than I do, but still I feel like every time I play I just end up playing the same things I always do and stop because I get bored and run out of things to play.

I mess around with bass when I jam with a friend and I seem to get more enjoyment out of that because I feel I can express my musical ideas more clearly.

So what can I do to take the next step on guitar? I only have an acoustic and it is a bit difficult to play, which I think plays a part for why I've stalled. I would also like to explore soloing but I don't seem to have the technical skill nor a feel for solos so they always end up sucking. Any advice?

 

Capo and dropped tuning .,. if all you have in a acoustic.... (caution tuning a guitar thats been set, can cause neck damage )..

 

If you are looking into writing new shit I highly recommend blazing and then playing guitar. I have the same problem you do, I always play the same things it seems. These blocks can go on for months and it's really aggravating, I suggest you smoke a little weed, just enough for a nice little head change and then sit down and just let the music flow. This is how I get most of my new riffs, the biggest problem I have is bridging the riffs together, lol.

 

Now that you got the kiddie stuff out of the way, next step for the serious guitarist is finger-picking.

Ditch the plectrum

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDXznf-sk-g"]YouTube - Bach Double on the Classical Guitar

 

I have a capo, but really only use it if a song is out of my vocal range. How would you suggest I use it to improve my technique Orison? And I've never experimented with alternate tunings - I'll give that a go.

Regarding weed, I don't really smoke anymore because of school. If I do it's only once or twice a month on weekends, and not usually where I can play my guitar alone. However, about a month ago I dropped acid and jammed with a friend and I've never experienced guitar like that before. I felt as if I was finally broken from the guitar loop I've been stuck on, and we had some really cool jams. I was playing in ways I'd never played before. He has a nice fender strat, so playing the electric definitely helped. He also has an expensive delay pedal that was fun to mess around on, although it got somewhat monotonous after a while.

While that day was liberating, I've fallen back into the same old jams on my acoustic and I definitely want to learn to advance without having to take acid every time. Ah, the wonders of LSD :afro:

 

I'd love to learn to finger pick. I have a few riffs I finger pick on, including one I've written that I'm proud of, but I don't feel I'm on the level of seriously learning to finger pick without getting better with the actual pick first.

 

put some jigg in your playing like Dave Mathews, dont just sit on a chair and play.. If youre really into playing the guitar. When your getting down you may look like your pissing your pants< get in a grove/ ,makes money, makes womem cream their pants. Who cares what you look like if you got some style..

 

They are two different branches. Skill with a plectrum isn't a prerequisite to finger-picking; on the contrary, for many people it's detrimental.

Also:

I just threw up a little.

 

Dude, that's awesome. Of the three times I've dropped, I was never anywhere near my guitar... I bet that would have been great, I should be receiving my HBWR seeds soon in the mail and definitely plan on playing my guitar whilst tripping on those. :2thumbsup:

 

my fingers hurt from playing .. 1/2 the time Im posting with an electric guitar over my lap ..type, play listen to music, type, play.. listen to music. < dont wind up being a loser like me.

 

Orison:
Thanks, but I don't really care what I look like while playing or for making money off guitar; I'm not trying to start a band. Just looking for tips on how to improve my playing.

Neodude:
I'll practice my finger picking then. Any good place to start? And I wasn't saying using a pick is better than finger picking or anything, just that it's usually the more common method and currently how I play my guitar. Ya digg?

And finally dmob:
Yeah man, it was awesome. Definitely do it!


I don't know how to quote multiple posts, hence my segmented replies. But thanks for the help everyone!

 

Haha I do the same thing Orison. My guitar's often on my lap when I'm on the computer

 

Hendrix tired of being a showman. Derek Trucks looks like a damn monk while playing.

imo The key to progressing in guitar (any instrument) is practicing scales.

Ionian Dorian Phrygian Lydian Mixolydodian Aeolian -


Be always practicing.. If you are watching TV it should be habitual that you are practicing scales.

Learn the pentatonic scale everywhere on the fretboard.

Learn the major scale then learn the minor scale 3 steps behind it.

Learn inside picking.

Learn theory.

 

It's so simple, people hate scales. But truthfully, these are all anybody needs to know to be a confident player. Sure, there are others but this is a good start.

The key is to learn all of these scales, remembering a couple of rules

The example is C Major. Think 2212221 on the threat board. If you slide two frets from C to D, then 2 to E and 1 to F etc. you will get the scale. There are no sharps here.

But with each note comes the relevant scale. They are stated in the diagram

On the first note play the ionian, then move up 2 to D and play the Dorian, etc etc.

The thing for soloing is to start by learning these scales from the E string (thickest one).


So, once you play all seven scales up and down the fretboard from their starting notes, what do you have?? You have C Major, like I stated. But what about D Major, lets say??

You just start the Ionian from the D note. You shift the whole thing up just two frets. E is 4 etc etc.

So there we go, a master with just seven scales. These scales also let you know what notes are played where (Majors and minors). To put it it easily

play a C bar chord, on the 8th threat. You will notice it will have the typical major pattern. If you do or do not know the major and minor patterns, google them. They are simple. Anyways, if you play that C Ionian you will notice the scale fits it perfectly. The Ionian is a major scale.

Play the Dorian at D, you will notice the pattern allows for a minor finger pattern. Try the scale and the minor power chord on the 10th threat. They match.

The general rule of thumb for minors and majors is this

Maj min min Maj Maj Min Dim (don't worry about that last one for now)


So, overall you should learn the scales. Learn the C scales (the key, that's all of them), how it applies across the threat board. Have a look at the notes that apply to these scales
Look at the chords, notice how they match the scales.

As stated before, once you get one you get them all. You just change the starting position (the tonic).

If you ever want to know about Minor, let me know.


For the record, learn theory before mucking around with techniques. They are fine, but ultimately pointless if you do not know how to navigate the threat board.

Good luck!



You said you knew scales, but these scales are imperative for soloing. The pentatonic scales are just these missing a couple notes, so learn these first and you can kill two birds with one stone.

Plus the pentatonic is limited as hell.

 

if you learn some AC/ DC, you only need to learn 3chords.. A- C- D- and C again if you really wanna get technical..

 

Haha, I never noticed that

 

Good points.

Tho i think the pentatonic scale is the best for "soloing" in General

The question is are you on the same page with the bass player?

 

An A in the 5th pos, is just a C ,.. and so on, depends on the finger position, I dislike theory .. D in the 12th is F..

 

6th is the natural minor!

But yeah, Am is C Major.