Help

[howsey]

Hi, just wondering if anyone can help me out. Ive been playing guitar now for about 3 years and feel as though i've come to a dead end with my learning. Everything seems either too easy and boring, or really Hard (the stuff im wanting to learn). Id love to have a certain routine of lessons, but i always find myself having a go at the harder lessons for 5 mins, then stopping through frustration, only to find myself then searching through the boring beginners stuff. Anyone got any advice please on how you advanced on your guitar.

Thanks for reading

Howsey

[aschleman]

Well, everyone gets stuck in a rut every now and again. It happens to the best of us. The key is to stay motivated and set goals. I know that it's frustrating to learn some of the stuff, or to sit and practice it over an over. But like anything else, it takes practice to perfect it. Baseball players don't just pick up a baseball bat and expect to hit a 95 mile per hour fastball. They hit hundreds and hundreds of 95 mile per fastballs in a batting cage so they can become accustomed to it. It's the same with guitar. You have to practice those tedious things in order to get yourself out of the rut and into a new phase.

The best thing you can do is check out some of the lessons on this site and or simply pick out a song that will challenge you and try to learn it. None of us here were instantly good at guitar. We all paid the dues and faced the frustration of not being able to play certain parts of songs... But we've all stuck with it. That's really the key... staying motivated. So if there's a song that you want to learn... learn it. Practice the tough parts slowly and build them up to speed.

I'm not sure of what all you know as far as theory... but maybe take a look at some theory and try to view the guitar from that angle. That helped me get out of a rut a few months ago... I've played for 5 years with limited knowledge of theory so I went back and learned what I didn't know, or atleast what I wanted to know.

I'm sure some of the instructors here will have some advice beyond my obvious advice... But welcome to GT.

[Kevin Taylor]

One lessons at a time I guess. Total obsession. Endless patience.
The only way I know to learn something is keep working on it until you can do it, and always go for the harder stuff. Keep pushing yourself and realize that guitar is a long term thing. Ya can't just try something for a couple of days and give up. You've gotta be willing to keep going until you get it.
A lot of guitar stuff is done subconsciously, so always push yourself for a coupla days on something, then rest for a few days to let it sink in before going back to it and pushing it to the next level.
Maybe it's something physical with the brain or something but it's like you're burning new pathways into your brain and it takes a few days for them to heal before you can use them.

[dvenetian]

When taking on something new, I always break it up into pieces and learn a chunk at a time. Once I've conquered a chunk, I piece it together with the next one rather than trying to take on the whole piece at once. If you practice something difficult for 5 minutes remember to practice it again the next day and soon it will not be difficult and so on.
It's much easier to get on the roof stepping up a ladder than sprinting across the lawn and making an out of control leap for the gutter. Just make sure that each step of the ladder is sturdy and you will reach your goal.

[Grambo]

Some recording equipment could help.
I found that when i started recording , I had to play chord sequences for 3 or 4 minutes as perfectly as I could - and it certainly helped with discipline.
With guitars everything costs, amplifiers, effects pedals, leads, picks and computers and software, it all adds up.
I quite often give myself a break for a month or so.

[Benoit]

Every now and then I just jam over backing tracks. I guess it is kinda like Schmange said, I try to learn something new, try try try then I get frustrated so I put on some backing tracks for a few days or record endless riffs and stuff, then come back and often I find it easier ... I never actually thought of it has being subconscious but it makes sense.

When I jam I usually don't think about anything, I just try to play in different places on the neck .. sounds weird right? but that's what I do. It forces me to break out of my usual comfortable spots I know too well.

[ericthecableguy]

Some things i do to get out of a rut:

*Go out and buy a dvd of your favourite band. The visual helps. I can hardly get through half a song on a dream theater dvd before im jammin again.

*Jam with cds. THis is just fun. Put on you favourite cd and wail.

*Play in open tunings...or create your own. Last time i tried this, i wrote my favourite song i've written.

Sometimes monontony is necessary for the hard stuff...and yes the metronome is your friend.