Hello all, I just wish to be a 'better' player...

Greetings all fellow guitarists, this is my first (long) post. :)

Been playing for a while for the last decade and a bit, through bands, churches and etc, and I have never considered myself as being even an intermediate player. :(

It's frustrating to see me going through same stuff all over again and again, and I am not even sure whether I am advancing or not anymore.

How would you define a great player? Sure, you can practise all the cool songs that we know and probaly repeat them before a group of 'less musical' people to impress, but is that all what you really want to be?

In my opinion the definition of a great player is whom has all the tricks under his/her sleeve, and he/she is always ready to apply them to suit. I mean, throw a simple progression at players at different levels - beginner players would probably play simple barre chords along, intermediates tries to jam with all they know & got, while advanced players stretch their brilliant musical minds to let the fluency go wild.

I am just at the stage being sick of being a 'poser' player. I wish to be better, and more fluent with guitar. I do enjoy practising the songs and play, but I really want have an at least understanding of why they are written that way, and how I can extend from them.

Don't get me wrong, I know music is all about enjoyment. This should not be a competition or anything, which would become a chore then... The reason I play the guitar.... i guess is for my own satisfaction and enjoyment.

Being a self tought, and a hobbyist can be quite frustrating... I know that most of you would say 'get a teacher' but. :D

Sorry for all the ranting and blah blah.... probably i need more sleep....

Have fun! :)

I think a lot of people are here for similar reasons. I took a long break from music, but back in the day, I considered myself pretty good. Now I realize I was just a hack! :D GT is filling in the gaps, giving me understanding of things I used to just accept.

I think you are in the right place! Good luck!

Hi, hows it goin, Im glad you decided to come here, Ive never had a teacher either and im sure the grand majority of people on this board can 2nd that, aswell as many many many professional players. And though I think it would probably help to get a teacher (as it would help anybody wanting to get better) , all he can do is give you the concepts and tips but not the practice, that you have to do on your own :) .

I gather that your eventual goal is to be able to improvise and also have a few nifty tricks, I would definately recommend chris's lessons on modes and pentatonic scales/modes found here http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=737 here http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=370 , and here http://guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=770 aswell as many other places around here. just run these scales up down and inside out every day and you should be ripping it out before you know it, also i stongly recommend the use of a metronome, because it helps you learn to stay on beat, it helps you track progess in the easiest manner and it gives you a movable floor so you know your never slowing down, just going up :). as for the nifty tricks do some searches (search bar top right hand of page) for harmonics, tremolo picking etc etc. also check google for other things not in the site( few and far between) like 3rd bridge playing, tricks from people like tom morello etc. etc.

peace and all the best in your travels

Thanks to all of you for the great feedbacks!! :)

First thing I would suggest; get totally clear on just what your goals are. You're obviously pretty passionate about guitar, or you wouldn't be seeking improvement, but one thing that jumped out at me is you seem a bit vague about your goals; being a "great player" could mean many things.

I can relate, and I'll share one of my biggest mistakes so you can avoid making it: trying to do everything, and ending up doing very little because focusing on "everything", isn't focusing at all. Not just in guitar playing, but in life, without clear goals and a lazer sharp focus, it is very difficult to make serious progress. We have to "tame the monkey mind" as they say in zen. What you exclude from your limited practice time is almost more important than what you include. Jerry Garcia used to say that a musician is largely defined by her/his limitations. You have to get creative to find ways to express yourself within those at any given moment in time. You have limited practice time, so you probably won't master blues, classical, folk, jazz, Indian ragas, bluegrass, etc, but you might make exciting progress if you narrow your focus a bit.

I wouldn't get too hung up on how you define greatness (that goes double for how anyone else does). Unlike being a great mechanic or lab technician, this is art. There is no single standard, or prescribed course of study.

Having said that, I hear your frustration, and it seems you might benefit from taking a composition class, or at least study it on your own, as indicated by your wanting to understand why songs are structured as they are. (Keep in mind a lot of songwriters are pretty intuitive, simply experimenting until they find a chord sequence, and/or melody that "sounds cool").

You might consider following Tony Robbins' advice to find somebody who produces the kind of results you want to produce; learn everything you can about how they did it; their knowledge, physical techniques, mindset, etc; everything; really get inside their brain. Then model it. A caveat though; ultimately you want to use the inspiration, techniques, songs, etc, of others as a starting point, because the one thing that you can say about all the greats is that they sound like themselves.

Hope that's helpful and not too long and pedantic. Good luck, and let me add one more, perhaps most important piece of advice: stay in touch with your joy, enthusiasm, excitement, love of music, and your instrument. Celebrate that you've come as far as you have! It's fine to get bored with your playing; that's part of what drives progress. But try not to put yourself down; you aren't a "poser"; you're a person who loves to play and does it at a level that's good enough to entertain some people; that's a gift that you give to the world every time you pick up your axe.

Whoa, I have just read this reply in nearly two years. Silly me... What a great advice, probably one of the best i have had in years. Thank you so much Greg!

(But I still wanna be great at everything :p )

His reply has allowed it to come back to life!!!!!!!!!!

Believe it or not, ask any player at any level and "most" will have a simliar attitude. Everyone wants to be better, all the time. It's an uphill battle that any instructor on this site will agree with. We are all always working to be better players, and humans :D

Along the way, there are a few things I have done that I feel have helped this process along. See if these can apply to you and what resources you have available to you.

The Company You Keep
- You are who you surround yourself with. Musically, you will never grow if you aren't in environments that challenge you. Even if it's just playing at church, with friends, or taking lessons; all of those things are great ways to push yourself. As individuals it's tough to push yourself without the motivation of others for a long time. Find the best musicians you can and work with them. It can be intimidating, but it's worth it.

Stay a Fan
- Find that part of you that first got inspired to play, and stick with that forever! I have found being a fan allows me to stay a big nerd about music and motivates me to practice. The best musicians I know at the core are ENORMOUS musical geeks that love to play, listen, and perform. I think if you asked any of your musical heroes if they were a nerd at heart, they would whole heartedly agree.

Those are a few things that I feel anyone could apply. Perhaps these can apply to you? :confused:

I second Doug's reply! :)

who is better , an unanswerable question , music serves but one purpose and that is to put a smile on your face , you can take the best of shredders , and yes it is impressive but still nothing gets to me like a simple solo , and i mean something as simple as say the solo on the Beatles I'll Follow the Sun ,,, it get me every time , even after all these years ,, so just find what puts a smile on your face , and dont dwell on the small stuff , but yes strive to be better , but dont let it take the fun out of what music is intended to do , make you smile ,,,,, anyway , that my take on this , have fun picking , Anne

Hey actually being a guitar teacher myself, it's quite untrue that we only give tips, feedback, and information. The BEST guitar teachers will actually have you PRACTICE in front of them. That means, they WONT teach you new things. They'll just sit there, and watch you practice for an hour. Then you go home.

Thing is, most guitar players don't practice very effectively, so they put in a lot of effort and get small results. Having a teacher in front of you while you practice will make sure that you get MAXIMUM effectiveness out of your practice time! Then, when you go home, you know HOW to practice.

Sure, we do give tips, feedback, and information too... but there's a whooole lot more that a GREAT guitar teacher can give you! For example, my teacher has already introduced me to hundreds of other really great musicians, and we've had an amazing experience getting together at an event just recently that my teacher hosted for us.

So if you want REAL results, your best option is to find a truly good guitar instructor in your area. Here's a little video you should check out to make sure you get the best teacher for you:
www.guitarlessonsinsandiego.com/AvoidBadGuitarTeachers.html

oh this i love from Keith Richards , on who is better him or Ronny , as Keith says , well i know the truth we are both pretty lousy ,,,, but toghter we are better than 10 others ,,,,,,, you gotta just love Keith

Originally Posted by: Matteo MillerHey actually being a guitar teacher myself, it's quite untrue that we only give tips, feedback, and information. The BEST guitar teachers will actually have you PRACTICE in front of them. That means, they WONT teach you new things. They'll just sit there, and watch you practice for an hour. Then you go home.

Thing is, most guitar players don't practice very effectively, so they put in a lot of effort and get small results. Having a teacher in front of you while you practice will make sure that you get MAXIMUM effectiveness out of your practice time! Then, when you go home, you know HOW to practice....

Jamey Andreas relates a story of a great guitar player taught by his father starting at the age of four...the young student wasn't allowed to practice unsupervised for years. That is, he was not allowed to do anything wrong during practice and not allowed to practice on his own until he could be responsible for practicing correctly.

While thinking about this, I got a picture of a stern father wrapping the son's hands with a ruler. Obviously, that wasn't the case and I think we all can understand and benefit from the idea of correct and efficient practice.