How to get good at guitar

[HowieJams]

At 62 years old I am done practicing...

What I find is that when I buy new gear it inspires me to play a lot more which makes me a better player.
Sure I am doing the same old stuff, but I am gettign better at it.

I might be a one trick pony, but it is a decent trick.

 

[TheBiggestJerk]

At 62 years old I am done practicing...

What I find is that when I buy new gear it inspires me to play a lot more which makes me a better player.
Sure I am doing the same old stuff, but I am gettign better at it.

I might be a one trick pony, but it is a decent trick.

I practice playing. I don’t practice practicing.

 

[HowieJams]

I practice playing. I don’t practice practicing.

Exactly!!!

 

[TheBiggestJerk]

Exactly!!!

Everything I play (or at least attempt) is a complete musical thought. It’s like freestyle speaking. We don’t practice taking, we just talk.

 

[311boogieman]

Everything I play (or at least attempt) is a complete musical thought. It’s like freestyle speaking. We don’t practice taking, we just talk.

A great example of this, for me, is practicing scales. And I used to hate scales (until I met @Techdeth). On the surface, scales would just appear to be strictly practicing. But if I alternate between tremolo picking, and single and double picking, I can make it somewhat musical. Take it a step further by doing triplets repeatedly or alternating the tempo. Etc.

 

[Rip]

Everyone says to practice to get better. And i do find i get a little better with practice after the first ten minutes, but then i just sound a little better than shit for the rest of my practice

This leads me to believe there are two schools of thought on getting good at guitar. There is of course practice, and then there is buying a new guitar, amp, or pedal.

I feel like most of us are in the second camp. That is how @Techdeth really got good. Don't believe me? Look at how many cool amps he has.

He will try to convince you that it is scales...but scales are just for classical music. They have absolutely no carryover.

Have you tried private lessons? Lessons have helped me grow into an unrecognizable player compared to how I was just 6 months prior to starting.

Lessons have become my #1 focus. I'll sell gear to pay for lessons.

Because, lessons (along with focused practice) WILL make me a better musician/guitarist within 6 months and years beyond that, while my guitars and amps are just tools.

Do I want to collect gear or be a better musician? Lessons come first for me even if I have to skip lunch to pay for them.

PS- I'm not young and I've been playing and gigging since early high school. It's never too late to take lessons and it's never too late to unlearn bad habits.

 

[VonBonfire]

Have you tried personal lessons? Lessons have helped me grow into an unrecognizable player compared to how I was just 6 months prior.

Lessons have become my #1 focus. I'll sell gear to pay for lessons. Because lessons (along with focused practice) WILL make me a better musician/guitarist within 6 months and years beyond that, while my guitars and amps are just tools.

Do I want to collect gear or be a better musician? Lessons come first for me even if I have to skip lunch to pay for them.

PS- I'm not young and I've been playing since early high school. It's never too late to take lessons.

100% agree with this. One of the best posts in the thread. Part of the problem with lessons is if you don't know what you are doing, how do you know a given teacher actually does? Bad advice can be worse than no advice.

I had a teacher once. I just wanted to learn blues licks and stuff and he scoffed at me for saying as much. Guess what, he can play some fancy diminished licks and stuff nobody wants to hear but he more or less sucks at blues to this day, 30+ years later. Blues is the foundation of all rock guitar.

 

[Rip]

100% agree with this. One of the best posts in the thread. Part of the problem with lessons is if you don't know what you are doing, how do you know a given teacher actually does? Bad advice can be worse than no advice.

I had a teacher once. I just wanted to learn blues licks and stuff and he scoffed at me for saying as much. Guess what, he can play some fancy diminished licks and stuff nobody wants to hear but he more or less sucks at blues to this day, 30+ years later. Blues is the foundation of all rock guitar.

That's absolutely true. I wanted a very good teacher, so I came up with a strategy:

I went to a small guitar shop that had been in business for decades and asked the owner, who is a serious player. That guy knows everybody in town. He gave me a great referral. The teacher was excellent but he was $100/hour and too far away.

So I asked my luthier who's been in business for 30 years and is a real player. He referred me to a teacher who happens to be $50/hr and much closer. He's an awesome teacher!

That method weeded out all the bad teachers for me. Hopefully that strategy helps the OP if he decides to find a teacher.