help me

ok first off im new on this site, ive been playing for 2 years and i still cant play very fast but im working on it, im also trying to learn how to write solos but have trouble thinking of what to do to the pentatonic scale a major. also ive heard of these things called arppegios but what are they and how can i use them. oh and i play rockish death metal just whatever i feel like at that time. please give me some pointers on how i can improve my playing. thanx a lot :)
# 1

Best thing to do is to get lessons if you dont already have any. It will help you understand what your doing a bit more and give you a little bit more theory to work with.
Arpegios are where notes from a chord are individually picked rather than just "strummed" all together. Sweep picking picking is usually used for playing arpegios.
Once you have learned all you major and minor pentatonic scales you might want to start learning the modes and working out what scales you can use with certain chords if you want to write a song.
Just have a look around this site and you will learn a lot from all the little exercises :)
I have only been playing for just under 2 years now and i have learned a lot from looking around this site and many other sites on the internet. I think having proper guitar lessons have helped a lot !
Arpegios are where notes from a chord are individually picked rather than just "strummed" all together. Sweep picking picking is usually used for playing arpegios.
Once you have learned all you major and minor pentatonic scales you might want to start learning the modes and working out what scales you can use with certain chords if you want to write a song.
Just have a look around this site and you will learn a lot from all the little exercises :)
I have only been playing for just under 2 years now and i have learned a lot from looking around this site and many other sites on the internet. I think having proper guitar lessons have helped a lot !
By virtue of their electrical properties, tubes generate a special waveform when they're saturated, which is why tube engineering has tremendous tonal advantages over solid state or DSP solutions, particularly for crunch and lead sounds. Tubes enter the saturation zone gradually or softly, which lends tube-driven tone its trademark yet totally unique character.
# 2

this may sound like a very simplistic approach, but it can be helpful in using scales that you are not used to. it is how a friend of mine pushed me into playing leads back when i couldn't .
but it takes restraining the natural urge to shred. :)
record the chord progression you want to do a solo over, so you can play it back to jam over.
find two notes in the scale you are tring to use that sound good over the chords. attempt to make a two note guitar solo, being as creative as you can with those two notes, using bends or different picking, get different sonds on the same notes. obviously you will get bored with this quickly, but give it an honest effort. when you can't stand it anymore, add another note, and work with those three.
this actually helps you get a feel for timing, and playing notes that sound good at the right time. don't be surprised that if you give it an honest effort you won't have to keep adding one note at a time through the entire scale before you get the feel for it. another thing to keep in mind. you do not have to play every note of a scale, just because you are using a scale.
three notes that sound good goes a lot further than five that don't.
hope it helps you as it did me.
but it takes restraining the natural urge to shred. :)
record the chord progression you want to do a solo over, so you can play it back to jam over.
find two notes in the scale you are tring to use that sound good over the chords. attempt to make a two note guitar solo, being as creative as you can with those two notes, using bends or different picking, get different sonds on the same notes. obviously you will get bored with this quickly, but give it an honest effort. when you can't stand it anymore, add another note, and work with those three.
this actually helps you get a feel for timing, and playing notes that sound good at the right time. don't be surprised that if you give it an honest effort you won't have to keep adding one note at a time through the entire scale before you get the feel for it. another thing to keep in mind. you do not have to play every note of a scale, just because you are using a scale.
three notes that sound good goes a lot further than five that don't.
hope it helps you as it did me.
# 3

wow.. you guys have a lot of good advice.. funny, I just got a few tips on practicing I didn't even know I needed and I read the post to help someone else! :D
I would suggest these 2 sites..
www.guitarknowledgenet.com some dude Mike Lyndin made the site and I think it's one of the best learning resources I've seen so far
(guitartricks.com excluded of course :cool: )
the other would be
www.worldguitar.com
they have a jam section that a few people posted to (I know, I know guitar tricks has one) but there is a bada** blues jam on there that I LOVE!
Good luck dude, keep us posted on your progress...
I would suggest these 2 sites..
www.guitarknowledgenet.com some dude Mike Lyndin made the site and I think it's one of the best learning resources I've seen so far
(guitartricks.com excluded of course :cool: )
the other would be
www.worldguitar.com
they have a jam section that a few people posted to (I know, I know guitar tricks has one) but there is a bada** blues jam on there that I LOVE!
Good luck dude, keep us posted on your progress...
"The one truly great thing about this life is that noone can sincerely and truly help someone, without helping themselves"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
# 4

well thanx a lot for the advice, i will take this into consideration as i play, i dont want to get lessons mainly cause i dont have the money and cause everything i do i teach myself i know i sound stubborn but thats just how i am. and the problem with the solos is trying to figure out what sounds good or when i should do a bend or how far i should bend, im just not that creative, but my influences are like jimi hendrix, jimi page, van halen and those type of guitar players but im just not getting how to do like pinch harmonics and being creative ill try your advice but i need more help and i will be using this site and others to help me understand. thanx a lot but still need more help. thanx
~justin
~justin
# 5

aaahhh - I hear you. I'm in the same boat... those things will come with time,
I think what you're missing is the "owning" feeling.. when you know what sounds will come with what positions on the fretboard. Here's what I try to do so I can plan what I'm going to play.. listen to the part you're going to solo over and start to hear what you think you want to do. It's tough to improv and be happy with it (at least it is for me). Once you have a good idea then you can start to piece things together. Don't worry if you start with things that remind you of someone else's stuff.. you'll tweak it to match your style and if you've only played other peoples stuff, that's what you "know" if that makes sense..
as for the pinch harmonics.. it takes a while to get those to happen just when you want. A little hint for getting them.. keep your finger close to the bottom of the pick, the harmonic comes from your finger more than the pic. when you hit the string your thumb should be just above and then graze the string.
Hope this helps! keep asking questions too.... everyone here is very helpful and I've made leaps and bounds of improvement from just asking a few very specific questions. As long as you're not going "hey, how can I play like SRV?"
good luck and keep practicing!! 5 1/2 hour practice sessions will do much more for you than 1 marathon session....
I think what you're missing is the "owning" feeling.. when you know what sounds will come with what positions on the fretboard. Here's what I try to do so I can plan what I'm going to play.. listen to the part you're going to solo over and start to hear what you think you want to do. It's tough to improv and be happy with it (at least it is for me). Once you have a good idea then you can start to piece things together. Don't worry if you start with things that remind you of someone else's stuff.. you'll tweak it to match your style and if you've only played other peoples stuff, that's what you "know" if that makes sense..
as for the pinch harmonics.. it takes a while to get those to happen just when you want. A little hint for getting them.. keep your finger close to the bottom of the pick, the harmonic comes from your finger more than the pic. when you hit the string your thumb should be just above and then graze the string.
Hope this helps! keep asking questions too.... everyone here is very helpful and I've made leaps and bounds of improvement from just asking a few very specific questions. As long as you're not going "hey, how can I play like SRV?"
good luck and keep practicing!! 5 1/2 hour practice sessions will do much more for you than 1 marathon session....
"The one truly great thing about this life is that noone can sincerely and truly help someone, without helping themselves"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
# 6

thanx man, thats what my friend says "what the hell, thats a cover come on dude you dont learn from that" he plays covers once in a while but he can play pritty good to. so im going to take anything i can to play better than him, i just jammed at his house last night for about 5 hours and my fingers feel weird but thats how it goes. when i do a pinch harmonic though do i fret whatever fret or do i play its harmonic to? i think this is my oter problem.
# 7

i heard you metion about how far to bend.
usually you want to bend the string until it is the same pitch as the next note in the scale. there are exceptions, but that's the best place to start.
i actually spent time playing a note, and then bending the next note lower to match the pitch, to make sure i was hitting it right.
it's worthwhile to do, i've heard guys that play well, but didn't put their time into their bends and it can be just as bad as playing a wrong note.
usually you want to bend the string until it is the same pitch as the next note in the scale. there are exceptions, but that's the best place to start.
i actually spent time playing a note, and then bending the next note lower to match the pitch, to make sure i was hitting it right.
it's worthwhile to do, i've heard guys that play well, but didn't put their time into their bends and it can be just as bad as playing a wrong note.
# 8

you should be able to grab one just about anywhere on the fretboard... it's all in the fingers.
Let's just be clear about this. To do a regular harmonic sound like you do when you tune your guitar is where you lightly touch the string while picking it. The pinch harmonic is when you actually fret the note and then the harmonic comes from how you strike the note. It's almost like you're grazing the string with the tip of the pick and then hitting it with your thumb. I still can't get em' all the time and I've been at it for a few years now... (maybe I just suck) who knows.... :D
Let's just be clear about this. To do a regular harmonic sound like you do when you tune your guitar is where you lightly touch the string while picking it. The pinch harmonic is when you actually fret the note and then the harmonic comes from how you strike the note. It's almost like you're grazing the string with the tip of the pick and then hitting it with your thumb. I still can't get em' all the time and I've been at it for a few years now... (maybe I just suck) who knows.... :D
"The one truly great thing about this life is that noone can sincerely and truly help someone, without helping themselves"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ralph Waldo Emerson
# 9

wow i just start liking this site more and more :) thanks for all the help im starting to understand much more now. i will continue to post my progress as well as look at the lessons. i havent played much in the last couple of days and now im back at my dads but i forgot my distortion pedals and headphones at my moms :( but i will still play. thanx again for all the help and kindness
~justin
~justin
# 10