I suck at guitar

Its all in the fingers, or is it?

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mttn3
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I suck at guitar

Post by mttn3 »

Hey I just had to get this out of my system! I am finding learning the guitar is way more of a gradual process than I'd appreciated, like I thought it'd be something I could practise at a little bit here and there, build some fundamentals then ... like, I'd be able to "play the guitar" like a boss but the more I learn, the more I realise there's a mountain ahead of me and a lifetime's worth of stuff to smash away at it.

I watch a few tutorial / motivational youtube vids here and there and they are a bit of a consolation, saying that yes, everyone has the same experience: it's hard and requires a lot of practice and you shouldn't get discouraged, just do some specific, structured practice regularly. I'm not a very organised kind of guy though.

Anyway, I'm just saying. :thumbup: I'm not discouraged so much and I like playing what I can play, which is like only the simple bits of simple songs (which is good because I like listening to simple songs, not so much the shreddy stuff) and with lots of muted notes and buzz, but I'm having fun and will keep going. It's just surprising how hard it is and I didn't get that it's a thing you actually work at forever like this.

Music theory too is like... I never learnt any at school (it wasn't compulsory at all in my high school and I didn't come from a family with any musical bent so I had no interest) but there's a lot(!) to it and every time I learn one new thing then it makes so much sense but there's so much more reason behind everything and it all gets very mathematical.
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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by Molly »

mttn3 wrote:... the more I learn, the more I realise there's a mountain ahead of me and a lifetime's worth of stuff to smash away at it.

Music theory too is like... there's so much more reason behind everything and it all gets very mathematical.
Easy to learn and difficult to master. That's probably what makes it the most popular instrument in the world. I wouldn't see it as a negative at all. You're never going to get to the end of the road so just enjoy the journey.

As for the theory, it is a very rational thing so can be understood but don't let it stifle you. If you don't know all the 'rules' you'll find your own way with things and they'll be more you. My ex was a professional keyboard player. She could sight read and transcribe music as naturally as breathing but ask her to improvise and she hadn't a clue what to do. As an aside, her mum was a c**t.

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by WellyBlues »

Welcome to a very large and non-exclusive club! It can be discouraging at times but mostly it's fun (and frustrating).

This forum helps, and GAS makes it more interesting (and frustrating).

But its fun.
Slowy wrote: Ultimately though, guitars are like women. On paper there's not much difference but only a few can make you happy.
Ray Wylie Hubbard wrote: And the days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations Well, I have really good days

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by Jay »

I gues you are frustrated then...
When faced with quality, I recognise it every time.

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by WellyBlues »

And having fun.
Slowy wrote: Ultimately though, guitars are like women. On paper there's not much difference but only a few can make you happy.
Ray Wylie Hubbard wrote: And the days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations Well, I have really good days

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by mttn3 »

Thanks for the replies :D and good that it's agreed, I guess.

I actually somehow have three guitars so I can't reasonably entertain any GAS; it feels silly even having this many now. I need to get rid of one in case something else I really want appears.

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Re: I suck at guitar

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by Kiwiaxe »

Re theory, now that's an interesting topic.

I came from a classical piano background. Did theory right through grade 8. I knew damn near all anyone should ever have to know. All the scales, key signatures, intervals, melodic vs harmonic vs natural minors, modes, circle of fifths, diminished chords (half and full), etc.

I could play damn near anything if you put the music in front of me.

Couldn't improvise for shit. I had all that knowledge and none of the understanding.

It's taken me the next 25 years of post-piano guitar playing to actually understand how it all works. And now I'm intensely grateful that I learnt all that stuff back then. But all that stuff really is the last 20%. You can do 80% of what's out there without having to know your banana eatting fat cats from your BEADGCFs.

That last joke might have a very limited audience...

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by Bg »

Ha yeah me too. After many years I realise that unless I keep practising the same shit over and over, I can't play it.
Thank the lord I know some blues, not john mayer blues but authentic blues, so at least I can convince some people I have a feeling for guitar if I can't actually play it ;)
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by mttn3 »

Ooh i have actually watched that exact one and it was helpful; Rob Chapman is a very down to earth and realistic guitar role model, I like him. Thanks.

Banana eating fat cats sound relevant to my interests. I guess it's a mnemonic for like a "circle of fifths" or whatever it was called for picking the chords in a key?

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by Kiwiaxe »

Good spotting.

Fat cats go down and eat bananas is the circle of fifths ... BEADGCF is the circle of fourths. Obviously they are the same just opposite directions.

Also helpful to know the order of #s (the same as the circle of fifths) and flats (the same as the circle of fourths).

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by Olderama »

Yep can't read music can't be arsed to either at this point in life
I'm lucky to have an ear for finding the correct key and taking it from there
I feel I had my time many moons ago "selfish and determined to play " at no cost
Now I'm happy to get an hour a week and that's enough at the mo with the rugrats dominating my life as I'm sure the future will hold many a quieter moment for playtime

And yep I do suck at guitar but what I suck at is fucking great :)
:mental:

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by Slowy »

Bg wrote:Ha yeah me too. After many years I realise that unless I keep practising the same shit over and over, I can't play it.
This is my depressing reality also. When gigging regularly, I get comfortable with the songlist and fluid at jamming. If I stop for a while, it all vanishes.
Because I'm currently having a torrid little affair with a small bodied acoustic, I have been horrified to discover I can't remember how to play the majority of the fingerpicking set pieces I spent so much of my younger life learning.

Still; never a dull moment, eh?
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by sizzlingbadger »

mttn3 your post describes me exactly. I'm having the same problems. I own two electrics and an acoustic and can't play for shit. I'm determined to soldier on though despite what seems like a large waste of money over the last few years chasing tone instead of learning.

I'm learning theory on the train in the mornings, its seems to get more complex the further I go but its starting to come together a bit now. Pebber Brown released some videos online of his college classes and they have been brilliant.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxY5wcSPjso[/youtube]
Tube amp and guitar tones straight from 1958… amazing how believable the sounds were back then, even without the modellers...

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Re: I suck at guitar

Post by Slowy »

Just watch this. It contains all the answers.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9F_FN4ygjTo[/youtube]
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.

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