Memory

:( id say im prety good at emprovising with what i know.. which is basically the minor scale + blues notes more or less all over the neck.. and a little bit of maj and them little scales on the seccond and third frets that sound egyptian/indian.... harmonic minor perhaps? anyways... when it comes to theory my brain hurts... people say things and i try and read them.... and they just go right through me.. im starting to wonder if ive got some kind of learning problem..... i tried getting a guitar teacher... a really really good one.. and he brought my technique on loads..... but i still dont know any more thory.. does anyone have any tips 4 learning theory?? or perhaps some easy to remember chunks of theory to offer?

i swear i can play great stuff if i know it but i cant even seem to remember tabs. its took me about 3 months to learn the solo for sweet child o mine up to the fast run up the neck with the wah.. simply because althought i find it extremley easy to play i cant remember what notes im supposed to play.. even though ive been doing it for hours....and i end up emprovising and bluffing everything.

HELP! :(

When you're trying to memorize new scales,modes or whatever , don't go and learn them by dozens, instead take just one scale , learn it hard at one or two positions a day and so... At the end of the week you'll have one scale sticking in your mind forever , other than if you were trying to learn a full dozen and practicing all of them everyday , and end up with nothing.

I don't know if this helps, but I never could remember the notes either. I got to where I memorized the patterns on the fretboard rather than fret numbers or notes individually. To me, it's much easier to remember patterns..........which is all it is.

When trying to memorize tabs, I like to use this method:

1. Break it down into the chords that are being played over what you're playing, let's say it's a loop of G, D/F#, Em, Cadd9, for example.

2. Locate how what you're playing relates to the chord you're playing over either through the scale, an arpeggio, or pattern you're familiar with.

See, if you look at a tab as just a bunch of notes to remember, it's harder than saying, "OK, I'm playing a triplet run up the G Major pentatonic over the first two chords, then playing an 11th arpeggio down the Em chord, and I've got this little pattern over the C."

Also, I like to play along with the band when learning a song. It seems to stick better when playing in context, rather than just trying to play a lick without a band a hundred times.

Remembering tabs is like studing for a test or memorizing lines for a play... what you do is learn the first few notes, play them a few times and then try to learn a couple more notes. Keep adding notes once you are familiar with what you learned. When your comfortable with that add more. You should get the hang of it that way:)