Want to improve

Hi.I keep picking up the guitar over the last 30 years because I love it,but never seem to stick with it to improve.i know some songs and can play about 8 major cords and a handful of barre chords.core learning leve
L 1 is under my belt and level2 is music theory which I am interested in but am afraid I will lose interest.im looking for suggestions on how to move forward? Open to strategies.Thanks.Mack

Although I'm constantly adjusting the length and content of my daily practice, my day's practice right now is roughly one third GT lessons, one third song practice and one third drills (chords and progressions, flexibility-stretch exercise and scales). That mix keeps things from becoming dry or boring and puts a lot of fun into the day's guitar playing.

Without practice I can't improve and the practice won't pay off if I don't stick with it. To move forward everyone must practice, some more than others. In my case, a lot more. I and you and everyone need to prioritize...make and take the time or give up the dream. Good luck...stick with it and you [U]will[/U] improve.

And don't give short shrift to Level 2...I think the GT course is well thought out and organized...and necessary to those that don't already know the material/have the skills. Take another look at the syllabus, http://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=2 ...there's a whole lot more than "music theory."

See Chet's comments in my signature.

I'm 58. I've been "noodling" on guitar since I was 8 (when the Beatles lifted America out of her mourning over the assassination) and everyone wanted a guitar or drum kit. I took lessons and got nowhere. I tried again in high school where I bought a used Gretsch and a small Fender Amp but someone let me a bass and I just seemed to know how to play it instantly--although I didn't know the note names, interval names etc. I guess like some people can put note names to frets and strings after whatever process that gets them to do that, I could figure out positions and tune and at least knew the string names, I ws able to function as a bass player in bands and jams but was totally disconnected from theory. I bought a Takamine 6 string in 1990 and approached guitar the same way. I bought a Steinberger guitar and a "RockMan" but my music was limited to the Who and the Kinks where you have a choice of probably 200 songs without a single 7th. I knew the chord forms and it daned on me what the 5 open positions were and how to move the moveable ones. Play minor versions was a no brainer. Then I discovered country music and the 7th chord. I was in love with that.But I have ver little tolerance for just practicing stuff that doesn't produce enjoyment. I consider that "motivation by dictum and avoidance of consequence. It just doesn't work for me. And I think it's what's wrong for millions of people in all manner of education. If you can't see "why", then it's drudgery.

I started a thread here trying to say there's a momumental difference between "teaching"--"do what I tell you and just shut up and ot will make sense later"--versus leading one to discover. I asked that perhaps a methodology could start with a song and have us play a scale in context. That might take a while to develop that but it could be very effective. I think I got the "nice idea I'll pass it along" treatment one gets familiar with whentrying to crusade for change where motivation must always be the horse before the cart of learning instead of the authoritarian model of place the cart of learning before the hores or motivation. What's working for me now--even though I'm glacial at finding the notes in the game where they plot notes on the fret board was to pick something advanced that I really like and solve problems slowly.

I chose "Change the World" by Clapton which I picked up from YouTube lessons. But the version on GT by Doug Showalter is the real deal. At first I encountered a chord that he called out which seeemed tabbed wrong and I got that feeling that here we go again--an error early on that makes you lose trust in the whole thing. But the music that is written was not done by the teacher. I checked all his lessons and he calls out the notes and plays them. When I encounter something that through me a curve I look at the chord name and then go to jguitar.com where you can put that chord in and see all the versions of it and listen to them both strummed and arpeggiated. They are also plotted on the neck. The internet probably has an answer now for everything. I don't think I can just play scales out of context for an hour just for discippline. But if I can find a song or etude that tells me that it involves whole or part of a scale, I will play it, I will find where to play it in another octave and so forth. I so identify with your story and I don't see anyone running to the rescue with the answer that appeals to my sensibilities. But with all these aids and some discipline, you and I can probably DISCOVER through our own detective work and deduction how and why things are the way they are. No one has told me how to know the fretboard. I may have to find a neck with all the notes plotted that someone up loaded and use it to keep up with a teach like Doug who will do a lead and call the notes where unless its down in the open chord area where I spent most of my Kink and Who guitar life, I have to pause and rewind and hunt and peck like a typist who never learned to type. Maybe some of us just can learn unless everything answers a "why" in the immediate sense. Maybe not. But that's me. Good luck.

Theory can be a tad boring, but it's important. Just getting started, getting your feet wet in it can help loads. For instance: just learning about keys and scales helps out a lot. Also some consonance and dissonance are good things to get familiar with.

You guys know a few chords, and a lot of them can be used together, but if you also learn a bit about consonance and dissonance that can really add to your playing emotionally by creating tension and alleviation in your music. Learning not just HOW to use chords together, but WHY they sound good together opens up your ability to apply this knowledge to other chords and keys.

None of these things take a whole lot of effort to learn the basics of, but when you start getting into it, it should help the rest of the process knowing that you have actually learned something applicable. However, truly controlling consonance and dissonance is something I have yet to do myself as it requires much much practice and experience. The basics are as simple as throwing a minor chord in a major chord progression.

Here's a video explaination

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJsmjhSpD3I

If a pictures worth a thousand words, then is a video worth a million words

Originally Posted by: mackmortonHi.I keep picking up the guitar over the last 30 years because I love it,but never seem to stick with it to improve.i know some songs and can play about 8 major cords and a handful of barre chords.core learning leve
L 1 is under my belt and level2 is music theory which I am interested in but am afraid I will lose interest.im looking for suggestions on how to move forward? Open to strategies.Thanks.Mack

HEY HOW U DOIN.
SOMETIMES YOU WANT TO GIVE UP THE GUITAR,YOU'LL HATE THE GUITAR.
BUT IF YOU STICK WITH IT,YOU'RE GONNA BE REWARDED:JIMI HENDRIX.

Originally Posted by: TerranautI don't think I can just play scales out of context for an hour just for discippline. But if I can find a song or etude that tells me that it involves whole or part of a scale, I will play it, I will find where to play it in another octave and so forth.

This is actually how music is taught on most instruments these days. As a teacher to kids, I know exactly what you mean. I experience it all the time when I'm teaching students. I grew with a teacher who shouted out notes and scales to me and basically just told me that's the way it is. I was completely cool with that, because it made me understand it. However, now kids need something to apply it to. Everybody needs something to apply the theory too. Everybody needs some kind of way to apply the theory. We all go through our moments especially when we just lose motivation because it seems like there's so much to learn. However, there also comes a time when we are motivated because of that same exact thought. One thing that motivates me is actually singing melodies to myself, or singing melodies from songs. Kind of makes you wonder why a specific artist or band went with that melodic idea or chord progression. However, try just noodling. Any noodle idea you hear in your head, just sing it and play it. Listen to your favorite song, and try to play it with that song and see if it fits. Something like that will ultimately lead to wanting to learn WHY that specific "noodle" you just made up fits.