Eliminating Old/Bad Habits

[311boogieman]

Have you ever learned a riff incorrectly, and then can't break the bad habit?

We all know there a incorrect tabs and videos out there. I've learned some things over the years and I guess the muscle memory doesn't want to let go. Any tricks to reverse this? Similarly, I have some riffs I've learned where it sounds correct/better the way I play it - but if I look up the tab/video and try to play it correctly - it doesn't sound right.

 

[Rottweiler]

Have you ever learned a riff incorrectly, and then can't break the bad habit?

We all know there a incorrect tabs and videos out there. I've learned some things over the years and I guess the muscle memory doesn't want to let go. Any tricks to reverse this? Similarly, I have some riffs I've learned where it sounds correct/better the way I play it - but if I look up the tab/video and try to play it correctly - it doesn't sound right.

Yes. I was very broke as a kid and most of my adult life so I had zero training and played by ear a long time. I developed a lot of bad habits / form. The only thing that has helped me get past and into the correct method is hours, days, weeks, of reps doing the correct method.

I also agree there are tabs out there that are off. VH Anthology tab book comes to mind. I have an app called ultimate guitar and there are many versions of the same song with the ability to rate the tab. I see some variations from some of the YT videos also.

 

[311boogieman]

Yes. I was very broke as a kid and most of my adult life so I had zero training and played by ear a long time. I developed a lot of bad habits / form. The only thing that has helped me get past and into the correct method is hours, days, weeks, of reps doing the correct method.

I also agree there are tabs out there that are off. VH Anthology tab book comes to mind. I have an app called ultimate guitar and there are many versions of the same song with the ability to rate the tab. I see some variations from some of the YT videos also.

Yeah. Reteaching the muscle memory I guess is the only way. At my age I'm not sure how motivated I am anymore to bother. It's not like I'm gigging covers I use UG as well. I have 13 tabs from UG open on my laptop right now. For songs/riffs/solos I want to learn, I usually just leave them up as opposed to looking them up each time. I do like the rating system thing as the tabs are reviewed and weighed by multiple (real) people. I have the app too, and really need to take advantage of the free lessons on there. I used to post on the UG forums too back before I found R-T. GGnA in particular.

 

[phillybhatesme]

Yes. It's kind of frustrating, especially if you've been playing something with the same fingering for years or decades. I recently changed the fingering of something in one of my own songs; I'd been playing it the other way for about 7 years and I have to very meticulously practice that part.

 

[Techdeth]

It it’s the right notes I don’t worry if I actually play it the same as a band . As long as I okay the notes avs it sounds the same . You’re good . That’s why there so many tabs .you can play the same shit a million ways.

 

[Floyd Eye]

Not always. The riff to Black Dog for example. It only sounds right one way. And don't forget tuning. Like if your ( cover) band tunes down a half step as a matter of course, a lot of shit that's in E isn't going to sound right.

 

[DanTravis62]

Not always. The riff to Black Dog for example. It only sounds right one way. And don't forget tuning. Like if your ( cover) band tunes down a half step as a matter of course, a lot of shit that's in E isn't going to sound right.

Black Dog is a really good example of a riff that only sounds right the right way

 

[Floyd Eye]

Black Dog is a really good example of a riff that only sounds right the right way

Whole Lotta Love is another one. In fact a great number of Page riffs have to be played right. Ten Years Gone, The Ocean, Bron Y Aur. Fuck most of them really. lol

 

[DanTravis62]

Whole Lotta Love is another one. In fact a great number of Page riffs have to be played right. Ten Years Gone, The Ocean, Bron Y Aur. Fuck most of them really. lol

Yeah without that open D string that riff sounds completely off

 

[Floyd Eye]

Yeah without that open D string that riff sounds completely off

Exactly. And how many of us learned half the songs he's doing in open G playing our guitars tuned standard as a kid ? It sounded right to me when I was 11. lol

 

[S̷͖͑m̵͎͂á̵̺s̸͚̈́h̴̬̑]

I play a lot of stuff "wrong" but years later when i get a tiny bit more skill, i will play it right and decide which i like better. Sometimes just a tempo change or an added rest will really improve the way a riff sounds in isolation especially

 

[Floyd Eye]

I learned “No One At The Bridge” off Caress of Steel when I was about 13. Leads and all. A great deal of it incorrectly. Showed it all to my guitarist and then picked out the bass. We were rocking that shit at parties and dances for a couple years before I figured out my mistakes. I bastardized “Mood For A Day” most of my young life too until a buddy of mine who was in the navy watched some gal in a restaurant in Spain walking around with a classical guitar playing it. He was so excited he was writing me letters about how he couldn’t wait to show me it ( no internet or nothing back then ya know). First thing he did when he got home on leave was track me down and show it to me.

I guess by the time I was 16 or 17 my ear was developed enough that I was usually right when I picked something out. That’s really how I got decent at guitar because I’d learn all this shit by ear so I could show it to my guitarist then I’d pick out the bass and we’d take it to the bars. My execution on guitar may leave something to be desired, but I’m rarely wrong. And I’m old school. Don’t know how to read tabs or cheat watching videos and shit. We never had any of that.

 

[311boogieman]

That is one thing I love and hate about guitar. You can play the notes on multiple places on the fretboard. But for songs like Whole Lotta Love or Rose of Sharyn I like it the way I play it vs how I see it on tabs. The verse on Unchained is another one where I think if I played it like the tab shows it (I) would not sound as good. I still have a long way to go but thanks to places like Rig-Talk and people like @Techdeth - and the rest of you, makes a big difference.

And I'm finally starting to realize why Hetfield downstroked every note on Master of Puppets

 

[Techdeth]

That is one thing I love and hate about guitar. You can play the notes on multiple places on the fretboard. But for songs like Whole Lotta Love or Rose of Sharyn I like it the way I play it vs how I see it on tabs. The verse on Unchained is another one where I think if I played it like the tab shows it (I) would not sound as good. I still have a long way to go but thanks to places like Rig-Talk and people like @Techdeth - and the rest of you, makes a big difference.

And I'm finally starting to realize why Hetfield downstroked every note on Master of Puppets

Downstroke until you can’t !