50 ways to Improve Your Playing.

[dinell2]

I want to start a thread that would include all musicians. I want to see if we can get more then 50 ways to improve your playing. Everyone’s got little Indian tricks that they learned along the way that has helped them improve in their musicianship and playing. Please only give tips that you know will virtually guarantee success if incorporated into a routine exercise.

I’ll Start it off…

1.) Tune Up – Now matter how bad-ass you are at playing your instrument, people will think you suck if your instrument is out of tune. For stringed instruments - If the tuner says you’re dead on and you still are a little off, maybe a new set of strings are in order. If the strings look corroded and are dented up above the metal fret wire, they are way past over due for some nice and shiny new ones. Make sure your instrument is properly intonated.

Now… someone goes next…. :rolleyes:

[Incidents Happen]

2.) Play with No-effects whatsoever for three months. This will force you to clean up your technique (and if you think you have good technique already...make it better.

~Incidents

[cayotic727]

3). Listen to something you don't like for a little while. Blues guys listen to classical, country to rock and anyone to rap :p after a while you could walk a way with a lot of new musical ideas ( I did after listening to some classical myself)

[Kevin Taylor]

4) to 50) Practice

[Kutzki]

ya practice is really important, lil tip about practicing
when practicing try to push yourself to your limit every time you practice it will case you to improve really fast if you push yourself, cus you just practice you will just be pretty natural but if you push yourself you can be natural and have a great style at it to :)
peace

[Re2point0]

5) (I think)
Jam, Jam,Jam.. i think getting more experienced with music, will bring some good talent with the guitar, find a bunch of friends and just play

[CW14]

6) Always perfect songs before moving on

[KRUNO]

try playing other instruments from time to time. Each instrument has his own tricks, but some of them can be applied to guitar too.

[Akira]

8.) When learning a lick, start slowly, gradually building speed. Move the exercise/lick/run around diatonically. Also try slowing down then speeding up, and experiment with your dynamics too.

[moody_fa_loonie]

SAVE URSELFS the trouble....This article was published in the new guitar one magazine....lets be realistic guys....do we really count up to 50??? lol

[alucard0941]

4) to 50) Practice

thanks for bursting my bubble...

[hunter1801]

I agree with the above post, the most important think you can do to get better is to practice. Start a very fast solo at a very slow speed. When you have the acuracy down, make it a little faster. It will take a long time to play perfect, so dont get discouraged. When you practice, dont just play songs, do exercises, even if you find them boring, they will help you where you need i the most, your speed and your accuracy.

[Hamberg]

9) Record your practice

[Mortalcoil]

10 ) When practicing: know the right/correct thing to do, and make sure you are doing it.

[fastelvis]

11) Shredding is one thing but you should also be able to knock out a backing groove and stay in the pocket (tempo). A good guitarist does both. When practicing, break up your routine and don't just concentrate on solos.

[robot123]

33) Spend more time playing guitar than on the internet.

[blueVelvet]

3). Listen to something you don't like for a little while. Blues guys listen to classical, country to rock and anyone to rap :p after a while you could walk a way with a lot of new musical ideas ( I did after listening to some classical myself)

Yup, i agree....but not everyone is as openminded as you though....

[SpeckledJim]

break up really hard solos into tiny sections.

[rockonn91]

break up really hard solos into tiny sections.

yeah that is a good thing to do. when im figurin out songs thas all i do. play like 15 secs figure out how to play it then move on. it takes awile but its a bit easyer. :cool:

[StudMuffin]

dont pay attention to what you are playing. if you are practicing, do something else too, like watch tv. when you are watching just do scales and such, or just little b.s. lead work. its like you are playing subconciously. and when you do this, magic can happen. you'll start doing things you didnt know you could do, you could come up with some catchy little riffs as well.

[ake]

7] guitar playing can be improved by learning how to play the sax. The sax is easy to learn. After only a little practice with the horn you wil find your lead lines on guitar will take on a quality that will surprise you and your bandmates.

[Akira]

I think we've lost count of which number we were on...

[Pantallica1]

6,234,604,304) Play with your guitar hung so low, it almost touches the ground.

6,234,604,305) Tune your guitar as low as you can so you only have to play with one finger.


Just kidding. Practice, practice, practice is the key to improve your playing. There's no shortcuts around it.

[Yngwie69]

try to feel the groove when jamming, by either bobbing your head, or just moving around to the beat. I find it easier than just tapping my foot, which can get uncomfortable.

[jptk]

Metronome. if you dont use one, you suck :cool:

[spanky10940]

# whatever -

get out and play with other people. I found that to be the best way to find out what I was missing and to see how others do it. I totally sucked the first time I got on stage at an open mic but I can tell you that playing in front of other people with other people really made me open my eyes to just how much there is to this (and all other) instruments...

just so cool

[Polera]

912) warm up

[cacophonyforce]

It's not a very good idea to try to find and use tecniques that cause instant sucsess.doing correct, fluent practice, will increse your skill. :D

[sd111a]

buy as much guitar as you can afford .

nuff said

[Shadowborn]

Whenever possible, play or practice with some form of audible beat, whether it be a metronome, drum machine, keyboard, etc.. I used a little cheap casio keyboard when I started out, and it helped me with my timing and phrasing tremendously. I've always suggested this to others starting out, and they've all said it helped them become better players. In my experience, I've known many guitarist who sounded awesome while playing by themselves, but totally fell apart when trying to jam with others or to a steady beat. They had never developed a strong sense of rhythm, which is the foundation of music. And without a strong foundation......you just can't build a strong creation. :cool:

[damir]

Ask God to give you ability to learn how to play guitar and then If you want to make better your playing, try to teach someone what you already know (of course, practically).
God bless you all
Damir

[Rolf G Riley]

Try figuring out a classical piece for yourself..like i just did:

Rolfgangs turkey march! (http://music.lulu.com/nowrecording/reroute.php?id=pd2117&artist_id=22264)


ok it's a crappy basic recording along to a drum machine but I just used it by way of a couple of hours practice...thats my excuse for all the 'fowl' ups anyway :rolleyes:

[u10ajf]

The right hand's for tone, the left for notes.Experiment with different tones and dynamics. If you're on acou try picking in different parts of the strings, near the bridge for 'cold' trebly sounds, near the fretboard for warm sounds. If on electric try using the pickup selector in different positions or use the tone knob like a wah-wah. Best of all there's the volume knob so you can swell the notes from zero cutting out the trebly atack of the note. This creates a soft warm sound that's brill with some delay. Bear in mind that palm muting's great too. If you alternate that sort of thing up with pinch harmonics the tone difference adds something cool to your playing.

Get a good vibrato. There's the across fretboard type (AKA butterfly vibrato) with a wide sound to it and the along the strings classical type (which modulates pitch up and down instead of just up and is narrower). Takes heaps and heaps of practice and I'm still not there but it's getting better.

Try some new scales. If you're bored of the ones you know it's time to try something new.

Try pinch harmonics, they're a great way of jumping in pitch without having to move your fretting hand so far.

Add chords to your soloing, it gives it some rhythmic structure in a way that accentuating single notes just cannot do.

[Akira]

buy as much guitar as you can afford .

nuff said

Yes because that statement does make sense... :confused:

[crazyguy]

Learn all the noises your instrument can make and learn to use them musically. This skill is often underappreciated for no good reason. Learn to play "random notes", they sometimes sound much less expected then the ussual Yngwie runs. If you tap them, it sounds like a 50's SF movie spaceship interior. Contrast control with madness.

P.S. Try playing a piano that's badly out of tune. It's better than farting, everyone suffers while you enjoy.

[jahozer]

practice what you do not know. don't just "perform" for yourself. It makes us feel awkward to play things we can't do well, so we avoid them. But eventually we end up doing them well.

[Akira]

practice what you do not know. don't just "perform" for yourself. It makes us feel awkward to play things we can't do well, so we avoid them. But eventually we end up doing them well.

To add to this: make sure you know the difference between "playing" and "practicing", it's important to utilise your time.

[Cryptic Excretions]

Let go, pay no mind to song structure, rhythm music theory or anything at all. Sit down from time to time with the intention of coming up with absolutely nothing while also not playing anything you've already come up with. let your mind wander and let the music follow with it.

[finger_cruncher]

Eat burritos. They are mind-expanding.

[Kevin Taylor]

Play music, not scales

[Cryptic Excretions]

In contribution to my earlier statement. Don't practice the same routine exactly the same. If you're practicing scales, practice a minor scale instead of a major. Give your fingers a different direction, skip two strings instead of just one, just hammer on and pull off for a change, just change something a little bit in a way to keep things fresh and focused on true growth. Sorry if I'm repeating something someone else already said.

[mstr-of-ppts]

dont copy guitar world on 50 ways to improve

[Fingerart]

Find out a few frets note names everyday, and after you learn a few, sing them to the same pitch of you're guitar/keyboard/whatever.
Sorry if I'm repeating another post, I got bored going through all the pages. :o

[eddyg]

Step number "0"

Before playing wipe off all white stains that are left on the guitar from last night. That goes to all us men...
Also, I dont think we have to worry about girls, there very good when it comes to white stains...(I hope no one got offended by that comment)
Just laugh it out..lol ;)

that should be the first step :D

[stratmahn]

practice posing... yeah like the male/female models...but use your fingers.....
pose them just above the frets....don't press down...keep em low and steady. Play your scale, arppegeio or lick ...It really teaches your fingers to not rely on This is a cool technique to get your fingers to OBEY you! The MASTER. hehe
Oh yeah...when you do get your fingers back on the board, play correctly always! Remember practice does make perfect and playing it wrong only reinforces your muscles to make mistakes!
Enjoy!
Stratmahn :)

[King Ell]

In terms of legato, the last thing u wana do is go 2 far an strain a muscle.
An with practising its better to really go for say 3 half hour practises than an hour and a half straight, this way your fingers can relax an sort of take in what you've just learnt. :confused:

[Hamberg]

put 7 hits of acid in your headband and make sure you sweat while you play

[Jolly McJollyson]

This is a cool technique to get your fingers to OBEY you! The MASTER.
Will they come crawling faster? Obey their master? Their life burns faster? Obey their Master? MASTER!? :p :D

[Pantallica1]

Will they come crawling faster? Obey their master? Their life burns faster? Obey their Master? MASTER!? :p :D

Wow, that was cheasy.

:rolleyes:

[Jolly McJollyson]

Wow, that was cheasy.

:rolleyes:
Your face is cheesy.

[Akira]

Your face is cheesy.

Your cheese is facey.

[Pantallica1]

Your face is cheesy.

If it was, would you eat it???? ;)

[Jolly McJollyson]

If it was, would you eat it???? ;)
NOW we all know the moon isn't made of green cheese...but if it were made of spare ribs, would you eat it? I WOULD...HECK, I'D GO BACK FOR SECONDS!!! :D Oh, Will Ferrel...you half-decent cast-member of SNL.