Guitar Playing

[joverby]

I've been playing guitar for 3 1/2 years now. I played A LOT in the beginning, up to 6-8 hours a day sometimes(I could play where I worked lol). Took lessons for about 9 months, it helped me a lot. I have trouble staying motivated lately(I was in a band for about 10 months and am no longer in it) so I signed up for lessons again. Have learned a few new scales already.

Going to be re-joining my old band again most likely and would like to know how you guys keep yourself motivated to practice every day, I do almost every day but some days just don't have the time(when I'm hanging out w/ my GF mainly).

Also this thread should be used for general guitar banter too, I like talking about gear / techniques etc...Speaking of that what's your set-up? I have a Yamaha RGX(want to get some EMG pick ups, opinions?) Peavey 2x12 Ultra(Tube Amp), Boss GT-6 Pedal.

 

[OC Speedball]

Hey man, it's hard to stay motivated sometimes. Most guitar players I know will sometimes go without playing for a couple weeks. I only know one that still plays everyday. Even the best guitar player I know (he can play Steve Vai, Dream Theater, etc, flawlessly) will play about once a week for an hour.

I have been playing for 6 years. The first 3 I was playing for hours everyday. It's kind of like riding a bike. Once you get to a certain point where you're "pretty good" at guitar you will stay there even if you don't play for months. Now, you won't advance, but you won't lose your abilities either. You don't really forget how to play guitar... unless of course you forget about it for a couple years.

I am in your position right now. I play for about 30 minutes to an hour a week. There are a few reasons for this:

1) I am not in a band. And it is hard to find a band. So I lack motivation to be creative and improve.

2) Most of my friends aren't serious about guitar, so I lack motivation because I don't have competition anymore. In high school it was all about who could play the best, so it was a competition. I am 20 now.

3) Rock music is dying out. It pains me to say this, but it is true. And most rock bands that make it big these days lack the true talent and guitar playing that bands used to have. Also, electronic and pop music is huge. Most kids these days are less creative because they spend so much time on the computer (I am guilty as well), so they would rather make music on their computers than learn a real instrument. So this is contributing to the downfall of rock music. And if there is no one around me that wants to jam, then I kind of forget all about guitar.

4) At a certain point you've "heard it all before." You've heard the guitar solos in Sweet Child O' Mine and Stairway to Heaven thousands of times now. They no longer give you the feeling they used to. You no longer have the motivation to go pick up the guitar and try to learn them because you can already play them. You're no longer trying to be as good as Jimmy Page because you've heard his stuff so much that it almost becomes boring. The songs are no longer fresh and inspiring.


The way I find inspiration is to find new artists to listen to. Although rock music is dying out there are still a few good underground bands with good guitar players. Maybe even some old bands you didn't like before. Hell, I used to hate The Doors, but two years ago I started listening to them and I fell in love. I had discovered a brand new artist (to my ears) even though they were right in front of my face the whole time I was learning guitar.

Best wishes to you. Hope this helped you a little. Cheers.

 

[Atom Smasher]

White Strat, Les Paul Black Beauty, Yamaha Acoustic, Marshall 100 Half-Stack, Fender Princeton 65, TC Helicon Voicelive Touch, Boomerang III Phrase Sampler, Digitech RP-500, TS-9.

I find I have long periods of lethargy when I'm not in a band, but I'm on fire when I'm in one. What has helped me is saying to myself, "Do you want to be a true professional, or stay mediocre all your life? Then what does it take to become a true professional?" The answer is that there is only one way... commitment to practice. I recently told myself that I will practice for one solid hour a day (sometimes split into two sessions). That is do-able, but not overwhelming. It amounts to 7 additional hours of practice during the week that I would not otherwise do.

I find it best to do 1/2 hour at a time. That makes it very easy. I also mix up what I do... Fingerpicking, scales, writing, etc. A little of each does the trick for me, and I do see massive improvement when I implement this.

The only other pressure that works is booking a gig somewhere in order to force yourself to get your act together. I perform solo quite a bit so that usually works for me.

 

[joverby]

Thanks guys! Glad to see there are other string pluckers here. I think I just really need to make a personal commitment to myself and stick w/ it. Possibly make a couple reminder signs, "Did you play today?" Something like that.

Also switching it up seems to be a really good idea, I tend to make my whole practice diverse usually. But I like your question you pose to yourself atom, good way to keep yourself motivated. Because as a player you know it's true.

Sounds like you got some really sick gear too! I would have a lot better but financial restraints . I really hope I get back into my band, it is an awesome way to stay motivated and have a sh1t load of fun.(And make some money too!)

 

[OC Speedball]

I play a Gibson Les Paul Premium Plus through a Marshall JCM 800. I also have a Blackstar HT-5 for bedroom practice. Here is a video of my setup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaXGCrBlJu4

 

[WhitePimp]

Been playing for about 9 years (I've also been playing drums for 17 years), and am currently not in any bands.

I've gotten tired of the whole democratic band process, and choose to just record a bunch of music on my own. I've written probably over 300 songs, some are quick poppy tunes, others are huge Yes-like epics, others are jazzy improvisational songs, while others are straight up death metal.

I rarely practice. My practice is writing music basically, as I often write music out of my realm of technique which forces me to basically learn how to play what I've written. It's tough, but the creative process of discovering new sounds/chord progressions is always exciting. I went 6 months without writing a single good song, then managed to write 39 new songs in the course of a month. It's crazy. Your motivation should just be to create new sounds that absolutely move you to be a better person. There's songs I've written 5 years ago that still move me emotionally and spiritually and always inspire me to move forward. In this world of game we inhabit, this becomes a massive source of confidence when I feel sh!tty.

I write everything on a old Ibanez acoustic, and I usually practice on that as well. My electrics are two Ibanez SZ models, with a Peavey 6505+ head and Avatar cabs. I use every guitar effect/combo known to man to achieve new sounds and song ideas

 

[joverby]

I love making guitar riffs and have been called a riff factory before. Obviously the complexity/awesomeness of your riffs depends on what you know already. So they've been getting better with time. I remember I made up my first riff the first week getting my guitar.

But I'm not much a lyrics type of guy. I've tried before and made up some cool ones but they seem to be all poeticy(I know it's not a word but w/e). IDK I just mainly only have an interest in the musically aspect. Never been much of a lyrics guy.(Luckily the guy in my band could always come up w/ lyrics or my buddy for our songs)

Also, did you guys know that rythm and your musical ear are both tied to the same brain path ways? When I first started playing I had like no musical background at all(I barely even listened to music) and I had NO RYTHM at all. My buddy who first started teaching me(who I'm teaching now) would get really frusterated and pissed off at my lack of rythem(He's a bad teacher lol, but it motivated me)

Anyway, I have really awesome rythm now(I hate to say perfect becasue I know it can always get better) and a really good ear, which I know is far from perfect but keeps getting better too! But I made an active effort for a while to improve my rythm. Playing w/ drum tracks etc.

@whitepimp I like your style dude. I personally find I strive best w/ other guys to make music. But I also make up a wide variety of riffs so I can respect that.

 

[Annada]

：rockon： ：岩石：



The customers of the MBT shoes have claimed that the shoe can really help alleviate the pain on knee.

 

[r0cky]

I stay motivated by listening to Hendrix

 

[Atom Smasher]

Get yourself a looper and you might get re-motivated. I use a Boomerang III. It's extremely easy to use.

 

[joverby]

I've played with loopers before and did have a lot more fun. It's always a lot more fun playing to backing tracks / rythm loops or ultimately w/ a band. But I'll look up youtube videos of backing tracks.

 

[Atom Smasher]

Yes, check out the Boomerang III vids on there with Mike Nelson (the inventor) running it through its paces.

I have used lots of loopers and this is by far the easiest. I only have one complaint... Some functions have to be assigned to two "Bonus Buttons". Each bonus button can handle two functions, so out of 11 possible functions (like reverse, fade, rerase, undo, things like that), only 4 can be used at once without having to bend down and reassign.

He is currently creating a "Sidecar" as he calls it that will plug into the Boomerang and provide much more switching capabilities so that every function I want will be available without having to reassign. More money, but it will cause the 'Rang to be a monster.

Edit: There are cheaper ones out there that work perfectly fine if you simply want to record a few stacked tracks while you play. The thing to look for are functionality and features. Does what it does cover your needs? And functionality-wise, are there too many pedal presses to do it? The fewer buttons and switches, the more you have to tap dance.

 

[joverby]

Anyone have any vids or anything they want to share of themselves jamming out?