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.

 

[Geo]

I practice playing. I don’t practice practicing.

That's the quote of the year bro.

 

[Exo-metal]

I keep reading this thread and haven't gotten any better

 

[Racerxrated]

As @DanTravis62 said, if you can get into a group that jams/plays out that is how you really improve. If you can't/don't have anyone nearby to jam with, I suggest setting up a sound system so you can play along and jam to music of some type...whether it's blues to metal....just to give you that 'playing with a drummer' feel. Although it won't be the real deal, it's better than a metronome.

 

[OldGtrGuy]

Funny op post but there's a little truth there.

I think for an already experienced player, a new guitar/amp can really inspire.

Even a beginner could benefit from an excellent playing guitar over a turd with an inch of play.

I would imagine getting better is different for everyone but for me, what really helped me get better was having a great friend who was an incredible player. Not everyone will get to meet a friend like that but playing with someone who is significantly better, day in and day out, im the room face to face. There really isn't anything better than that for me, other than just practicing.

 

[VonBonfire]

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.

A referral from someone whose playing and work you trust is ideal. Congrats on finding a worthwhile instructor. You are right about it being more valuable than a buncha gear.

When I started in the 90's a 30 minute lesson was $7.25. If I could get $100 bucks an hour teaching guitar my bank account would be overflowing with three students and I could finally quit playing.

 

[dstroud]

 

[Omnipotent1]

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.

I have to agree here.. @Techdeth true power & techniques are 100% derived from his amps, OD set up, & ABY pedal.. Soon as I plugged in it all made sense.. I was immediately better… His collection is what catapulted him into sensei status… Pretty sure the Larry is his main source of power but it could be the Wizards.. Still haven’t figured that one out. Waiting for our next collab to gather more intel..

 

[BABMusic]

I was reminded yesterday about how much an amp can change your playing attack. I don't know why, but I just seem to find it very comfortable to play with my Mark IV's high gain. I can use more of my natural pick style and it sounds clean and precise. When I use my Friedman BE, I notice I have to try a bit harder and it's a little less forgiving when playing rhythm parts. In other words, my technical chops sound better with the Mark series than the Friedman.

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

Step 1:
You have to develop your raw technique. That means warm up/stretching, running scales until muscle failure, building strength, speed, and endurance. Play unamplified often or even most of the time in the beginning---nothing to hide behind. I did this so much the first few years, I've never had to run drills again to this day. Even if I don't play for months at a time. Just part of who I am now.

Also.....don't forget to play STANDING UP. Get off the COUCH!!

Step 2:
It goes without saying that your guitar is your sword, and it must be sharp, i.e. perfectly setup. A lot of people don't bother to get their guitars to 99% setups, they think they simply need another guitar or a more expensive one. If you can't get it there, pay a pro to set it up. Best return on your $$$. And your amp likewise must be tweaked to the actual guitars/songs you're going to play at the actual volume levels. If you don't have great TONE, anything else you do is irrelevant! Great tone makes you confident. Learn about speakers/cabs, effects order, delay intervals, etc.

Step 3:
RECORD YOURSELF!! Playback is merciless and you can hear your own mistakes in all their ragged glory. You should be able to play your isolated guitar tracks for a stranger and be proud of how they sound. Can your playing take this level of scrutiny?? Pick out at least one song per month and learn it all the way through, EVERY part played confidently. Listen to some complex music, even if it isn't what you aspire to play, just to understand how it was put together. Even if you only pick up one trick, it was worth it...

Step 4:
Learn to REALLY play bass and I also recommend drums. Can start with live triggering (not programming) a drum machine, but the ultimate is always a kit. There are some awesome electronic kits out there these days. I can enjoy playing drums 100% as much as I do guitar at times, and sometimes song ideas originate from drum tracks.

Step 5:
Jam live with others in the same room, including a live drummer. Have a good idea of what you are going to do before you arrive, don't just noodle and wank. But have enough understanding of structure that you can improvise at will. Record your jams also. Bonus: Play other instruments at times during jams (bass, drums).

Step 6:
Ultimate test is always to play live in front of a (potentially hostile) paying audience, especially a big one. What seemed so easy SO many times in practice can suddenly seem much tougher under the lights! Definitely not necessary as some people just want to create music and have fun jamming, which is fine. But pulling it off before a paying audience will test you.....

Step 7:
Profit.

 

[TheBiggestJerk]

We also need to separate the fact that leads and solos are not the music. They’re an embellishment that adorn the music, but the music is still happening independent of the solo: cake is still cake even without icing. We’re spending more time dreaming about gear and running scales and patterns and ignoring the 3* chords underneath that propel the groove. I scroll right past every noodler on reels and TikTok, IG because they convey very little (at least to me) music. And as stated above … learn to play bass. The bass is the simplest foundation to build on. It strips away all the non essential elements of the music. Less really is more.