getting discouraged
hello i am still on basics 2 what seems like a long time and really stuck on scales and getting them down to where i can play them with out thought or looking so im spending forever on c and a ,and im getting discourged i want this so bad to- become a good guitar player and suceed i am 48 and i always struggle to learn new things i have played for years but only learned a few songs never had lesssons.but i wont give up no matter what but sometimnes i feel kinda stupid but i want to be good at something ...but i get down on myself .this is the first time i ever took lessons so i joined to do something positive in my life something that means so much to me.i just have to make it for me its so important !! if anyone has felt this way ,or any advise thanks so much.mike
# 1
Hang in there Mike, I've been playing music for 32 yrs, stringed instruments for 25 of that, and guitar for 10. There are watershed moments in learning this instrument that will give you the encouragement to move onto harder things. In the beginning it's especially tough because you may doubt your ability to master a technique.
Try breaking down the scale into 2 or 3 parts, for example instead of playing G as
E------------------
B------------------
G------------------
D------------2-4-5
A------2-3-5-------
E--3-5-------------
take a little break in the middle
E----------PPPP------------
B----------PPPP------------
G----------PPPP------------
D----------PPPP------2-4-5
A------2-3-PPPP-3-5--------
E--3-5-----PPPP------------
Do little things very slowly, and then increase the speed of the little things....it's tough to try and play a new 6 or 8 note sequence, we can memorize things in our brains very quickly, but muscle memory take far more time and repetitions
Try breaking down the scale into 2 or 3 parts, for example instead of playing G as
E------------------
B------------------
G------------------
D------------2-4-5
A------2-3-5-------
E--3-5-------------
take a little break in the middle
E----------PPPP------------
B----------PPPP------------
G----------PPPP------------
D----------PPPP------2-4-5
A------2-3-PPPP-3-5--------
E--3-5-----PPPP------------
Do little things very slowly, and then increase the speed of the little things....it's tough to try and play a new 6 or 8 note sequence, we can memorize things in our brains very quickly, but muscle memory take far more time and repetitions
# 2
54Rigger is giving you really good advice. Try not to expect too much at first. Everybody starts by being really slow and frustrated. It is normal.
I would add this: The only thing that will stop you from obtaining your goal is to push yourself so much that you get too frustrated and quit. You have to keep it to a low boil of frustration. Think of the old story of the tortoise and the hare. A new guitarist should try to be a tortoise, slow and steady.
Hope that helps.
Jon
I would add this: The only thing that will stop you from obtaining your goal is to push yourself so much that you get too frustrated and quit. You have to keep it to a low boil of frustration. Think of the old story of the tortoise and the hare. A new guitarist should try to be a tortoise, slow and steady.
Hope that helps.
Jon
# 3
Originally Posted by: mikej135hello i am still on basics 2 what seems like a long time and really stuck on scales and getting them down to where i can play them with out thought or looking so im spending forever on c and a ,and im getting discourged i want this so bad to- become a good guitar player and suceed i am 48 and i always struggle to learn new things i have played for years but only learned a few songs never had lesssons.but i wont give up no matter what but sometimnes i feel kinda stupid but i want to be good at something ...but i get down on myself .this is the first time i ever took lessons so i joined to do something positive in my life something that means so much to me.i just have to make it for me its so important !! if anyone has felt this way ,or any advise thanks so much.mike
Are you playing songs, dude? All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy haha! If you aren;t having fun, change what you are doing for a while. Don't forget the scales, but definitely be playing songs. Music is more important than scales imo. ;)
...so ever since then, I always hang on to the buckle.
# 4
I completely agree with Razbo... the other advice is good too, but I think that what Razbo is getting at probably has a lot to do with getting discouraged. Learning proper technique, chords, & scales are great, but there won't be a sudden defining moment where one day you'll be practicing as a crappy guitar player, and the next you'll be awesome. Everything you learn just adds to your accumulative knowledge that you draw from to create music. Look at guys like Kurt Cobain... he really didn't have a lot of technique, theory, or knowledge of how to play guitar... technically he was not very good. But he didn't let that hold him back and stop him from making music that touched millions of people.
Everyday, you should spend some time just diddling around with the guitar making up your own riffs, chord progressions, whatever. Just have fun and come up with stuff on your own. If you like something you come up with, expand on it... maybe re-work it to make it more challenging, something you can't play but can work towards, but its still your own idea.
As a side note...learning scales can be monotonous, and you may get down a bit simply because if you focus too much on scales you may feel like you're not really getting anywhere. If you like acoustic at all, I'd strongly suggest going though Lissa McCormicks acoustic fingerpicking series. I think you'll find the tutorials easy, and very rewarding, and you can keep working on scales at the same time.
Everyday, you should spend some time just diddling around with the guitar making up your own riffs, chord progressions, whatever. Just have fun and come up with stuff on your own. If you like something you come up with, expand on it... maybe re-work it to make it more challenging, something you can't play but can work towards, but its still your own idea.
As a side note...learning scales can be monotonous, and you may get down a bit simply because if you focus too much on scales you may feel like you're not really getting anywhere. If you like acoustic at all, I'd strongly suggest going though Lissa McCormicks acoustic fingerpicking series. I think you'll find the tutorials easy, and very rewarding, and you can keep working on scales at the same time.
# 5
Scales take a long time to get good at, I run scales as a warm up every day.If you sit down with goal to master them it might take several years (or decades).My instructor encourages me to get the jist of what we are working on throw it my practice routine and move forward. It is not something to sit down and figure out it is a process.
Oh ya, and like everyone else says we generally want to learn so we can play our favorite songs and have fun. With the knowledge of a few chords and a handful of notes you can play a gillion songs.
Oh ya, and like everyone else says we generally want to learn so we can play our favorite songs and have fun. With the knowledge of a few chords and a handful of notes you can play a gillion songs.
# 6
Originally Posted by: dougjt:D
Oh ya, and like everyone else says we generally want to learn so we can play our favorite songs and have fun. With the knowledge of a few chords and a handful of notes you can play a gillion songs.
yes sir!!!
# 7