Three months on...

[Original]

After raising some cash I decided to finally take the plunge and buy a guitar and teach myself to the best of my ability. This was near the end of august, however for the first couple of weeks I didn't practice much just a little bit here and there. After a while I began to practice more often, and now I play everyday on and off for an hour or two. Now considering that I have no musical background (unless you count music lessons at school, which to be fair were little more than a joke) and that the only person in my family which a knack for musical instruments is my sister, what should I be able to do. As I can't (as yet, I'm planning on getting one) afford a teacher I'm finding it difficult to measure whether I'm progressing at an acceptable rate or not.

I can play a number of bits and pieces, different riffs and intros etc. I can bend, hammer on etc. yet incorporating them in a song I find insanely difficult. Finally my chord changes rather suck, taking atleast 1 or 2 seconds to go from D to G. The only song I can play is Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes and that's obviously minus the solo.

My question is am I progressing at an acceptable rate, at the start I could hardly do anything, now I can do what I just listed, what do you guys think?

[loretian]

As long as you want to play, don't give up.     Just keep at it, and one day you'll be surprised with how far you've come.

[Eazy E]

Be careful not to develop bad playing habits just to "speed things up"... but I'd say after three months what you've learned is fine.  If you can get through the period of time where you've constantly got dead skin hanging off your fingers, you'll be alright... and don't be intimidated by other guitarists... practicing is really the only way to get better (blah blah blah, I know everyone says it)... but if you stick at it you'll be playing Eruption in no time.

[Darkburst]

Sounds like steady progress to me. Keep practicing and try learning a variety of different styles in songs. I recommend learning the rhythm guitar to "Used to Love Her" if you want to practice strumming and chord changes.

[November Rain 91]

Sounds like steady progress to me. Keep practicing and try learning a variety of different styles in songs. I recommend learning the rhythm guitar to "Used to Love Her" if you want to practice strumming and chord changes.

Any idea where we might find that Darkburst?

[Dont Try Me]

Great you decided to pick up the guitar and start playing. In the beginning I couldn't do shit on the guitar either. Practice is the trick. And some sort of musical understanding ofcourse.

Anyway...thing is, I started playing like 4 years ago, or something.... and I didn't know anything of it. I started to learn myself the basic chords thingy's etc etc and most of all try to play Guns N' Roses songs with tabs I found on the internet. And with allot...allot of practise you can pretty much learn songs like the Sweet Child end solo. It took me ages to master Sweet Child O' Mine. Coz in the beginning, the fingering on the fretboard is pretty difficult, it doesn't flow well when you just started.

But, as the days passed by I became better and better and reached the point where I can play allot of Appetite For Destruction.  And learning covers gives you basics on the chords, on the solo's, and to start your own songwriting. But that step is a big one. It's a whole different thing.

On the 'taking lessons'. I had lessons for like.....a few months. I already played by the time I considered lessons. And it was expensive as fuck....and most of all. I had one day lesson in the week which was 20 minutes. To be frankly..the lessons brought me allmost nothing.... You can't learn things in 20 minutes...unless your already pretty good. The teacher will give you the basics and give you figures, songs, to work on......at home.

See... you still need to take care most of the stuff at home. And to come back to the first few lines of my post. The trick is practise like an insane. No teacher can order you to do so. It must come from within. I lost fun in guitarplaying due to the guitarlessons. The spontaniousnes was slowly fading away. Simply coz I want to do my own thing... hmmm.... I ramble on too much....so...you guessed it...I quited the lessons and the fun spontaniousnes came back to me.

It's all about having fun when you play. A way to express yourself, and when you enjoy what you do....you start practising more.....and you get better...simply as that.

Like Loretian said, "Just keep at it, and one day you'll be surprised with how far you've come. "

I've been there too. 

[Genesis]

Sounds like steady progress to me. Keep practicing and try learning a variety of different styles in songs. I recommend learning the rhythm guitar to "Used to Love Her" if you want to practice strumming and chord changes.

Any idea where we might find that Darkburst?

Here: (1/2 down)
 D           A           G               A

     I used to Love her,      but I had to Kill her    (repeat as necessary)


  G                A      G              A      G                    D

    She bitched so much,    she drove me nuts,  and now we're happier this way.


Etc..

[Skeba]

I've been there too.?

Every single one of us has...

I've played for 2,5 years... I play and practice about 3 hours a day. I still don't know shit about playing.

But if I was to give advice, it would be this: learn your basic music theory. Learn the different chords, how chords are built, the different variations.. Learn how scales come together (something I still haven't done completely and is one of the biggest obstacles in my way at the moment), how you can use them while improvising.

One of the biggest dangers with learning scales is that you become enslaved by them, but that won't be the case for a few years for you. But I do think that learning the theory is important.

Of course the music should come "from the heart", and practice is more important especially the further you go, but if the basic theory (scales, modes, how chords are built) is left behind you will sooner or later hit a wall... Well, all of us will hit a wall at one point or another, but there's no need to bring it closer by being just lazy.

Oh, and remember to have fun.. It's a hobby after all...

[echrisl]

Work on Nirvana or AC/DC if you want to learn whole song.

[Original]

Thanks all, I was beginning to get worried that I was progressing as fast as I should be. I'll try some AC/DC as Nirvana get on my nerves.

[Oddy]

i can't stress how important it is to learn theory. slash claimed he didn't know any scales which may be true, but most of his playing is pentatonic despite this. he must of picked up the scales from copying joe perry and jimmy page without knowing it.

everyone thinks learning theory will make them become a robot. i beg the differ. theory can explain everything. what you can play etc.

a lot of people learn guitar by learning all of their favourite songs, learning all their favourite solos. Yeah they get pretty good and can cop just about any solo but they hit a brick wall like skeba said.

i learn songs to have fun playing them. learning songs to me isnt learning how to play guitar. its just something i do when i get bored and wanna jam out acdc really really really loud.

i also don't learn as many songs as some people, simply because theres an endless amount of theory that i'd rather learn. right now im learning all the triads (major, minor, diminished, augmented) along all 4 string sets in all 3 inversions in all 12 keys (can thank jazz for that lol).

theory helps in song writing sooooooooooo much. just say you are playing a g chord, but you don't want to play the standard open chord. instead of just playing a g power chord if you knew your theory you could play a g chord and its inversions anywhere on the neck which is great for lead or just doing something different.

i've probably confused you but its important. that is all. don't worry about how you're progressing. just keep at it. play obscene amounts of guitar and you'll get good. good luck

[IzzyDutch]

For me guitar theory is really boring and takes all the fun away, it doesn't help with songwriting it will only help you become technical. You can easily learn songs by ear without theory just bu playing along with cd's and from that you will learn alot more. That way you train your ear and when you hear a song on the radio you immediately know what they're playing and where they're playing it.

If you follow lessons then the chances are that you're playing become "standard" sounding.

I have a friend who takes lessons who has to learn something new each week, sometimes he doesn't like the pieces he has to learn but still he has to learn it. For me that would take all the fun away, I don't want to sit down and learn something because I'm instructed too... I only pick up the guitar when I want too and when I play I just play the things I want to play and that I like

[Voodoochild]

The trick is practise like an insane.

Not that much. I did that and I have a huge fuckin' pain in my left hand (dunno how to say that in english). I've been playing for almost 10 years, never had any lessons and I dunno shit about theory. But some stuff you should learn is how to play the guitar with healthy. 

[Dont Try Me]

The trick is practise like an insane.

Not that much. I did that and I have a huge fuckin' pain in my left hand (dunno how to say that in english). I've been playing for almost 10 years, never had any lessons and I dunno shit about theory. But some stuff you should learn is how to play the guitar with healthy.?

haha, true dude 

[Oddy]

For me guitar theory is really boring and takes all the fun away, it doesn't help with songwriting it will only help you become technical. You can easily learn songs by ear without theory just bu playing along with cd's and from that you will learn alot more. That way you train your ear and when you hear a song on the radio you immediately know what they're playing and where they're playing it.

If you follow lessons then the chances are that you're playing become "standard" sounding.

I have a friend who takes lessons who has to learn something new each week, sometimes he doesn't like the pieces he has to learn but still he has to learn it. For me that would take all the fun away, I don't want to sit down and learn something because I'm instructed too... I only pick up the guitar when I want too and when I play I just play the things I want to play and that I like

i completely disagree. hell if your playing other peoples songs thats just as "standard" sounding. theory has nothing to do with learning songs. and theory helps with your ear because you recognise sounds as chords or scales. you aren't gonna know that that was a an Fdim7b5 by hearing it if you don't know what that chord sounds like. it'd take ages to figure that chord out by ear if you've never played or heard that chord. that is probably the only thing theory has to do with learning songs. its very connected with learning by ear.

i was watching that special about john lennon's juke box. there was a part about where john lennon was trying to learn a lovin spoonful song by ear. he was doing fine with all the major chord stuff until it came to a weird chord, he didn't know what he was hearing and gave up exclaiming that they were "fucking tunesmiths" anyway.

it helps with songwriting and lead playing. look you can use theory to know what to play and what sounds good straight away. or you can take ages finding the chord that "sounds good" which is mostlikely the same thing that you could have used theory to do in one second.

but yeah i understand what you mean about just playing when you want and the stuff that you like. lots of people play guitar for that reason. however people that are playing guitar to join a band or be the best guitarist they can be or make a living off it SHOULD learn their theory. some people don't like theory and see it as hard work they don't like. well sometimes to get really good at something you have to put up with hard work and stuff you don't like. that applies to anything.

[IzzyDutch]

You don't need to know every chord by name, it's the sound that matters and when you play with other people or play along with cd's then you'll find out on your own about chords and remember where they are on the fretboard.
You remember chords by what they sound like not by name. Sure it helps to know a few basic chord names like a G or C chord etc. but a Fdim7b5... I learned alot when I started out by playing with other people who are better then you, also what helped me in the beginning where guitartabs, it saved time

[Oddy]

You don't need to know every chord by name, it's the sound that matters and when you play with other people or play along with cd's then you'll find out on your own about chords and remember where they are on the fretboard.
You remember chords by what they sound like not by name. Sure it helps to know a few basic chord names like a G or C chord etc. but a Fdim7b5... I learned alot when I started out by playing with other people who are better then you, also what helped me in the beginning where guitartabs, it saved time

that was my point, you would know what a Fdim7b5 would sound like and thus would be able to recognize it instantly. you would know what a diminished chord would sound like, what an augmented chord sounds like. that way you can pick them up in stuff you hear straight away. but i guess with tabs it would be the same sorta deal cuz you'd remember what that chord voicing in the tab.

if you've been learning nothing but rock n roll songs to learn guitar and try to pick up a jazz song (the chords) by ear, it will take a looong time.

its an endless battle. knowing theory vs not knowing theory. i cannot understand why serious guitarists would deprive themselves of theory. it'd save a lot of time. theory is the language of music, it makes it easier to communicate with other musicians.

all you have to do is learn one 8 note scale, know how the different chords are constructed from that one scale and how chords fit diatonically in that scale. thats all. after that its just experimentation and creativity. is it really that hard?

everything you need to understand all aspects of theory is in one 8 note scale. why avoid it.

ah well in the end its all about the fun and how people find their fun in guitar anyway.