Criticize My Playing Ability

hello all, i have just uploaded a video of my attempting to play Slayer - Raining Blood,
{ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SES1nK4oRc }
now ive been playing for a month and a half and was just wondering, am i lacking behind, or am i ahead of the crowd?

constructive critism would be really nice and compliments of course ;)

thankyou! :)

sorry....but that video was really funny :p

And just so that I don't sound like a jerk, I'll leave some tips. First off....SLOW IT DOWN. Don't try to play like them, because you know you can't. If you can't play something perfectly, slow it down until you can. As far as practicing goes, I'd say you should never be playing unless you are playing it accurately. If this means you have to play the song 100 times slower, then so be it. You sounded sloppy, not because you suck, but because you were trying to play it faster than you can (and I'm sure you know this).

hello all, i have just uploaded a video of my attempting to play Slayer - Raining Blood, now I've been playing for a month and a half and was just wondering, am i lacking behind, or am i ahead of the crowd?

Neither. :) You will never stop learning to play/sing better with anything musical. What you are good at one point doesn't mean you're better or worse than anyone else at any other point. Sure there's guitar legends out there that you want to play like but they're just people like you and me, who have put in the hard work to develop their own personal style of playing... but even those people keep learning. The more you want to play, the more you need to know, the more you need to practise. :)

I have to agree with some of what hunter1801 said:

SLOW IT DOWN. Don't try to play like them, because you know you can't.

I prefer to say "Don't try to play like them because you are not them." but learning other people's music when you're starting out is a great way to motivate yourself to learn how to play.

If you can't play something perfectly, slow it down until you can. As far as practising goes, I'd say you should never be playing unless you are playing it accurately. If this means you have to play the song 100 times slower, then so be it. You sounded sloppy, not because you suck, but because you were trying to play it faster than you can (and I'm sure you know this).

I agree totally. However once you have the ability to play the song through to the end "perfectly".. experiment with making the song "better" (better is a very subjective thing :)) by making it a "cover song by you" rather than a "replica of the original". Though don't bother experimenting with someone else's work until you can, at the very least, play the replica of the original... listeners are still going to want to hear the original song's main themes and motifs, riffs and licks.. but you should be adding your own personality to it at the same time.

But yes.. slow down.. get the technique(s) down first then, using a drumloop or metronome, slowly work up to the speed you require. Alternate picking is very important for the type of music you are attempting to play as well as picking efficiency in general. If you have to move the pick, then you want it to be the least distance of travel. Technique, accuracy and efficiency are the most important things in my opinion.

You need good technique, accuracy and efficiency on slow songs just as much as fast songs.. there are no "easy" songs.. and there are no "hard" songs either. It's just whether you are good enough, at that point of your musical development, to play it. I've seen many times where someone can play fast but not slow ballad/blues stuff, and the opposite of that. Also different styles of music require different skills.. a notable example would be Flamenco guitar. My flatmate once asked me to reproduce a particular Flamenco guitar piece from some obscure movie I'd never heard of before. I couldn't play it at all.. just so different to what skills I have developed. I could play the basic melody of course and try to make it sound like Flamenco guitar.. but yeh..

I'd keep working on that song, even if you get sick of it, until you can play it with a reasonable amount of accuracy. Use it as your first goal but obviously practise other stuff like scales and playing around with chord construction/extensions, also a TINY bit of music theory (enough to get by :)) wouldn't hurt either. When you can play the song properly then give yourself a pat on the back and set another goal. The goals you set don't have to be as big or bigger than the one you just reached but it is important to set another goal. Always have a goal to work towards, whatever it is, it will motivate you to keep practising.

ok guys but just remember i never said that i was gunna play it perfectly i just thought that id make a film of a noob trying to finish a hard song.

but you seem to be looking past that. :(

Originally Posted by: DGM Shredderok guys but just remember i never said that i was gunna play it perfectly i just thought that id make a film of a noob trying to finish a hard song.

but you seem to be looking past that. :(

Dude, you asked for constructive criticism and that what you're getting. Nobody is flaming you here - head on over to the UG forum if you want to hear some real abuse. I've been playing for a lot longer than you and I started out just like you, trying to play everyhthing at the speed that I heard it. It's a natural thing to try and do but take it from me and the other guys, you won't get any better untill you slow things down.
It's a bitter pill to swallow because everyone want to go from 0 to 60 in one second on the guitar but it doesnt work like that. If you put the time in and approach it from scratch, taking advice from accomplished guitarists who have been there and done that you should be able to play ANY Slayer track in 3 to 4 months from start to finish (minus the solos!) - Metallica will take you longer to perfect. All it takes is a solid practice regime for the first couple of months to learn the basic techniques without picking up any bad habits.
The number one habit that 99.99% of all guitarists have is they try to play above theire abaility, you included. Slow it down by half or more and post it again - make sure every single chop is in time and that you hit all the right notes. Post that back and we will be able to give you some real tips on how to become a great player. Don't let constructive crits get you down, take them onboard and you will start improving a lot faster.

Originally Posted by: DGM Shredderok guys but just remember i never said that i was gunna play it perfectly i just thought that id make a film of a noob trying to finish a hard song.

but you seem to be looking past that. :(

building on what superhuman said, if you can't take constructive criticism, just wait until you play in front of people you don't know and the regular type of criticism comes in. when you perform music, you are opening yourself up to what other people think. some places, like here, people will tell you what they think without being rude, but if you ever start to play shows, you will always have a few people that will say you suck. i mean, i heard someone say that jimmy page plays like a 2 year old with a broken hand.

You seem to be fine I would think for a month or so.

You need to practice with a metronome. Learn something you can actually play too or you won't really be learning anything. You seem to be aiming a bit high at the moment. No offense you just are. Learn something easy, learn chords and scales and theory, and if you like metal then play scales constantly. Don't ignore everything else but concentrate on scales and building dexterity and speed.

The best way to do this is to practice four to seven hours a day or more (haha). Actually it probably is but you shouldn't need to if your in it for the long haul.

I would (and did) start by learning all the postions of the pentatonic scale and then practice playing through it for hours (honestly just play through scales to a metronome for hours and hours and hours).

You should start writing songs though, if there is one thing I wish I had done is start actually writing and recording as soon as possible. Being a good song writer is infinitely more important than being abe to shred the fret board. Technique is just the tool and the better you are the more tools you have to play with when writing but being good at writing is more important.

I should add by saying that just knowing how to play scales is not going to make you a good guitarist. I mean I think it is important to build up your profiecency with the instrument and be a technically sound player, but keep in mind that your still trying to become a musician (I should think any way) and you are gonna have to play music to do that and music is not shredding and it's not scales and theory. Honestly I started out focusing souly on those things and I think I am well off for it but I also had to figure out that there was a lot more to everything than just playing fast and well.


The main thing is don't try to rush it. Practice hard and learn a lot and it will all come in time.

But yeah like everyone else said and I said early stop trying to play songs you can't cause you aren't really learning anything. Until you can play it (perfectly) don't try to play it to speed.

Use a metronome and build up. If you keep at it you'll get there eventually.

:o hah, that was funny cause I just realized what it was like to be a beginner. You're not ahead of the crowd, and you're not worse than you should be. Some tips - When you learn a new song especially since youre a beginner, slow it down until you perfect it and then work your way up. Keep practicing. Learn how to alternate-pick. Good luck man!

Echoing other sentiments: slow it down. Maybe even pick another song. You want to play Slayer, take a shot at South of Heaven. It's slower and little easier to get a handle on for someone who hasn't built up the speed and accuracy yet. I'd suggest maybe digging into the Sabbath catalog. There are some great songs there that you can pick up pretty quick and play with better accuracy.

I say this from experience. Part of the reason that I'm a lousy guitar player after 20 years of playing is that I didn't have patience. I didn't like playing a song over and over and over and over in slow motion (still don't, to be honest), and I figured that playing the song I wanted to play half-assed was better than the alternatives. Now I really want to go back and learn like I should have, but I've got a ton of bad habits that are going to make it a struggle.

I hope you take the advice here and use it. I would have loved to have had Internet and a forum like this when I started. I give you tons of credit for having guts. I've got about 20 years experience on you, and I'm not about to post my version of Raining Blood. :D

Just keep at it when i started playing about a year i sounded just like you. then i stopped and started again about 3 1/2 months ago and im starting to get back to where i was. So keep at it, if your musically talented it should take no time at all.