Help!!!

HI Im matt and I've played guitar for about 2 and 1/2 years...I'm a Good rythym guitarist and i can do decent solos but....I want to improve my overall playing ability...i want to learn how to throw sum sweep picking into a solo. I want to learn jazz and metal but i look threw all these lessons on guitartricks.com and i dont know were to start theres just way too many of them!!! and i havent took any theory classes or any guitar classes soo i dont know what to search for..can someone please help me??? ive never played any jazz at all...I can play metal Rythym ok but when they start talking about all the different techniques and scales i get super confused......Plz help me =D

i havent took any theory classes

Learn some basic theory and apply it to you practice. Seriously.. you might think you "know all the basics" but if you don't know any theory at all then you are missing out on so much.. more than you think..

Here's a link to the new Beginners Course Level 2.. It starts off with the very important topic of Intervals..
http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=2

Move through the topics of the course at your own pace, you might be pleasantry surprised at how much you have missed out on, as I was, when you get a little bit of music theory under your belt.

Check out this website: http://www.chopsfromhell.com - go to the "guest collumns" and check out some of the licks people post. Theres a bunch and its a great way to get an idea of what different shredding styles there are and what works for you - stick to what you can play right now, and then expand from there is how i did it.

Hey Matt. I agree with light in that learning even some basic music theory could work wonders for you.

Here is a really good website for basic theory:

http://thenextstepguitar.com/lessons/theory.html

Taking some private lessons and letting the teacher(s) know exactly what it is you are needing work on may be an idea as well.


Chris

Originally Posted by: Oleg Z.M.C.M.P.Check out this website: http://www.chopsfromhell.com - go to the "guest collumns" and check out some of the licks people post. Theres a bunch and its a great way to get an idea of what different shredding styles there are and what works for you - stick to what you can play right now, and then expand from there is how i did it.

Off topic, but when I clicked the link above, my spyware scanner set off an alarm.

yeh i also clicked that link ( im on university computor and i got some spyware like activity. the usual telling me i have to download something to fix this problem i have on the computor. the site initially comes up then it goes bad after a second or two.

Here's a few of my metal oriented lessons.

Downstrokes
http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=409

Metal Rhythm series
http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=231
http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=264
http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=319
http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=360
http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=412
http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=477

Here's a tutorial on how to actually use sweep picking. This should really help you out.

Sweep picking applications
http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=408

As far as Jazz goes, Bobby Howe, Christopher Schelgel, Hanspeter Kruesi and Gavin Audagnotti all have good tutorials on different topics. Try looking at their instructor page and look at their Tutorial list.

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by: Fret spideryeh i also clicked that link ( im on university computor and i got some spyware like activity. the usual telling me i have to download something to fix this problem i have on the computor. the site initially comes up then it goes bad after a second or two.

Hey..

Not replying to you in particular, just using your post as the example.

If this kind of thing happens, please use the "Report Bad Post" icon and let the admins know that there is a bad link, exactly what you have said here, so they can remove it as fast as possible. Unfortunately I don't have access to moderate this particular forum but I have reported it as a bad post also.

Originally Posted by: Fret spideryeh i also clicked that link ( im on university computor and i got some spyware like activity. the usual telling me i have to download something to fix this problem i have on the computor. the site initially comes up then it goes bad after a second or two.

The link is fine from my computer. Fret Spider, are you sure that the problem is not local to you?
BTW I also happen to know a couple of the guys that host that link, and I'm 100% sure that the link is clean.

Originally Posted by: tommaso.zillioThe link is fine from my computer. Fret Spider, are you sure that the problem is not local to you?
BTW I also happen to know a couple of the guys that host that link, and I'm 100% sure that the link is clean.

My original post was removed (I hope not due to some infraction). In any case, the link now works for me. Originally, when I clicked the link, there was a giant box that opened asking me to download something, and my spyware scanner went off. Couldn't see what was behind the pop-up window.

I don't want to take this thread way off topic, so I'll join with the others that said to matt to learn some theory. Personally speaking, I find learning theory (and the fretboard), really puts the pieces together. Learn the basics first, like how chords are built, what scales fit that chord and stuff like that. I'm a mostly self-taught player and played by ear mostly and resisted theory like the plague. Now that I'm delving into theory more, I'm seeing the fretboard differently- a real eye opener after more than 30 years of playing. I'm slowly breaking out of the "boxes" so many players are used to, and the whole fretboard is slowly becoming the "box". The old box was limiting me in so many ways- it was restrictive, but now that I'm stretching out a bit more, experimenting with breaking out of the old box and habits more, I think my soloing is improving- even something "basic" like the pentatonic scale/box so many guitar players get locked into is looking different to me because I've enlarged the box to include the whole fretboard. By consciously not playing the typical pentatonic 4 fret box across the board many of us learn early on, I'm forcing myself to hit different notes, or maybe playing the old licks I've played a million times in a different way, I'm discovering different tonal possibilities, and, for me, new licks. I find this not only refreshing, but exciting too. I don't know how the other long time players feel, but for me, who's my harshest critic, to say to myself, "whoa, that sounded (and *felt*) really cool!" says alot. So, yeah, theory, theory, theory. I wish someone slapped me around 30 years ago and told me that. But it's never too late to learn! Most importantly have fun while you're doing it!