how to be good???...

andy_carr · #1 02-10-2005, 12:26 PM

hey guys i have been playin guitar for about a year and i seem to be going nowhere with my practice, i watch the likes of dave and steve vai and think how did they become that good?? its actually unreal to my eyes some of the things they do. anyway, i was wondering if anyone cld give me any tips on the "best" ways to practice to be able to play faster

cheers andy carr

zEr0 · #2 02-10-2005, 03:28 PM

A year ago I never would have thought that I'd be doing the things I'm doing right now with my guitar, and I wasn't very content with my practicing either. Just relax, keep playing and all good things will come eventually. Can't think of a better advice to give you than that....

ShadowSong · #3 02-10-2005, 03:35 PM

just keep playing. love learning and practicing. treat like an exploration. thats what i did. you have to explore and learn everything. as you do all the little things will come together. don't worry about what steve vai has discovered. he has talked alot about his own process of practicing every day and visiting joe satriani. this is your journey. do it because you love it. it's a wonderful fun thing to learn all this stuff.
it took me about 6 years to get to where i liked my playing. I've been playing about 8 now.

DelfinoPie · #4 02-10-2005, 05:06 PM

Hey man,

I've been learning for just over 2 years, I started when I was 15 (I'm 18 now...as of last month)...although I originally wanted to start when I was 7, but parents wouldn't let moi..anyhoo I practice everyday...on weekends if nothing is going on I will go for a stint of 8hrs consecutively, but break it down into chunks. One day focus on a song and try to get it down, part by part. Then another day focus on some theory like chord construction or learning a scale/mode. Another day learn a technique and practice it over and over using excercises on the net and so on.

http://www.guitartricks.com has a lot of good excercises submitted by its users that I am currently using to improve my sweep picking (because I suck lots and loads at it :P) but I'm getting there.

But ya' gotta always remember play how YOU want to play and in a way that sounds good to you.

I hope that helps, theres a lot of knowledgable people on here who I'm sure can help you even further

webguy · #5 02-10-2005, 05:41 PM

Hey Andy,
What ever you do don't neglect learning the theory. My father was a professional musician so it's in my blood and I learned to play by ear and neglected to learn my theory. Big mistake! I learned later that I would never advance to the level we all want to achieve without learning theory. Now at 50 years old I am doing the mary had alittle lamb thing so I can advance beyond the seventies style of playing. Trust me it is very boring at this stage of the game when you already write and record your own material. Theory is the key to your future as a guitar player, just ask Dave. There is one thing that theory can not teach you and that is dynamics. You can only learn that through watching other players and experimenting on your own. Watch as many videos as you can get your hands on and you will soon begin to see how they make it sound like it does. Just hitting the string with a pick is not how it works as you have found out already. There are a great amount of videos that teach nothing but dynamics such as muting, bending, harmonics, etc.. Buy em and watch them till your TV blows up! One other thing. You will learn as you go along that alot of what makes these guys sound like they do is the equipment they use. Get the best you can afford. These guys play the best and most of their gear has been modified from the normal retail version that is available to you and me. So don't get discouraged if your rig doesn't sound like Vai's cause it ain't. But your day will come!! One more thing. Practice, Practice, Practice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now get busy brother!

andy_carr · #6 02-10-2005, 09:19 PM

thanks a lot, all good advice given there cheers

marksound · #7 02-11-2005, 10:47 PM

Read this and follow the instructions.

http://www.vai.com/LittleBlackDots/MLS_index.html

ElectricG · #8 02-12-2005, 01:49 AM

i personally got alot out of martian love secrets, its fabulous:P

pawel · #9 02-12-2005, 03:59 AM

One thing to always keep in mind is that you want to make MUSIC. Most of us are never going to reach the technical level of, say, Petrucci, not mentioniing players like Rusty Cooley, but this doesn't mean that we can't make good music. Write tunes, learn theory, improvise, listen to many different kinds of music.

Practice technique (vids like Petruccis "Rock Discipline" are great for this), but make sure to keep everything musical, and to play what YOU want to play - keep your playing personal, work on your own style. In the end you wil naturally develop technique that will work best for what you want to do. Just make that you do not hinder yourself along the way: for example I started off playing blues, and never relly learned to alternate pick correctly, and now after a few years I find mysellf having to relearn it in order to play whatever I hear in my head.

wildealien · #10 02-12-2005, 12:53 PM

play lots of guitar. play things you enjoy. and oh yeah, keep playing

iancharles · #11 02-20-2005, 03:30 AM

i think Satch once said something like "try to only play the things you like...eventually you will wind up only playing things you like"

not the exact quote, but same gist.

I thought it was very "zen" in a way....heh

oh yeah and learn all the major scales and modes...you'll be amazed at how your playing can easily move all over the neck afterwards.

nouromenon · #12 02-20-2005, 01:04 PM

Don't neglect your rythum playing. The world is full of hack guitar players trying to impress people with lead technique (which I love and practice everyday). But if you listen to their rythum playing, it's weak. If you play hard rock, Get away from riding that low E string and power chords all the time. Check out cool rythum chops like Extreme's pornografitti. That disc will make most shredders stumble over themselves. Create something cool to solo over.

invisibo86 · #13 02-20-2005, 01:37 PM

personally I love Pat Metheny's comping...it's very sparce but outlines changes which add just the right texture to a tune. Aside from that I've always emphasized the use of one string playing. play one major scale up and down each string in succession and then you begin to see the "fretboard" instead of finger patterns. that'll also help when you wanna comp because you can see cool cords and where they fit in the scales rather than moving from block to block.

RapIsNotMusic · #14 02-20-2005, 01:46 PM

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GiaNtBallzOfGoLD · #15 03-01-2005, 01:32 PM

when i started playing at the age of six all my guitar teachers said to just sit there in front of the TV and go up and down my scales (every one) and in a few years after that i was pretty much able to play anthing.once you get to a certain piont in your own skills you'll start to realize it and you'll take other stuff in alot faster so all's i can say is for now is keep going up and down scales like crazy and make sure that you are acurate way before you start to pick up the speed or else you'll just get worse and make sure you guys get some scales that stretch the hella outta your fingures
another tip is to sit infront of a tv just watching it while you keep playing the beginning to colorado bulldog by paul gilbert that WILL stretch the hell outta your fingures!!!!