Which road to take??

Hi, Im a bit stuck!

I could use some sound advice from experianced players on what to do next.

Im learning guitar on my own, I dont take any lessons, non of my close friends play & im kind of at a dead end..

I can play the basic open chords & just about do the main barre chords, but I dont know what to start learning next. I try to learn parts from songs but I always end up leaving them because I get to a part thats waaay too hard for me. I love playing my guitar but get cheesed off & dont think im improving much because I just keep playing the same sorta 3-4 songs over & over. I dont know what to do next.

Anyone out there have a clue what I cant do or know some half decent songs I could try to learn fully that are not too hard?

[Edited by heelsy on 05-09-2002 at 11:55 AM]

Try to learn some basic scales. Pentatonic is a good start. It's easy and really quick to learn.

I'll be honest, the first years are all about learning so you'll have to stick to chords and scales to improve. That doesn't mean you can't learn some new songs. In fact you better cause it's the only way at first to not get bored of the guitar. I suggest warming up for 15 minutes, work on chords progression for 15 minutes, then switch to some scales (to gain flexibility-dexterity and speed) 15 minutes and then finish with some songs for the last 15. Thats what I mostly do and been doing for the past 5 years. Before that I had no structure and I stopped improving.

Just do a search on scales in the tricks sections for some exemples.

I you need more help just ask.

Thanx Benoit, some real good advice there I think..I gues i'll just keep bashing about with chords for a while then lol...
Hmm Scales? Can anyone suggest any good videos or something that are good for beguinners?

You can keep yourself motivated if you set achievable goals for youself. Pick a song that is just past your current level, and work on techniques that you can apply to playing it.

Try learning Nirvana or some Greenday. Thier songs are pretty simple, just a few power chords. I'm pretty much in the same postion as you are, I mean, teaching myself to play. But, after learning some simple songs a went on to learn some Jimi and some Zepplin(yet I still can't play the full songs).

ive only played for about a year and a half, and i found that practicing scales really improved and widened my playing. A lot of deftones and tool songs are based on one scale and a chord progression (tool is a bit more complicated). Its all about listening to a song on the radio and telling yourself, "im going to learn that song." Look up the tabs on a site like guitartabs.cc or taborama.com youd be surprised at how easy some songs on the radio are. Good Luck.


End.

Yeah, hey i am teaching myself, although i dont know why i am when my stepdad plays guitar , sax, bass, and is a soundman. i am starting off playing songs, well parts of songs....even if u cant get past a spot you work on your skills and well, i dont know what im talking about...but i read the tab and i see X's i dont know what that means...i also dont know what hammer on means, mute, etc... and if anyone could explian them to me that would be rad.

punk & 70's rock!

Find a teacher. You can be in the same room as the best guitar player of your area for the same price as a movie show (with popcorn and soft drink), and he'll tell you what to do. I have worked on my own for years before I went to a teacher, and dude, when I saw one, my playing skyrocketed. All those things I just felt, he put words on them. All the techniques I thought I had found, he had mastered, and he showed me how to expand them. All those styles I thought sucked, he showed me, and I started enjoying them.

If you think a guitar lesson is boring, try it out. If the guy is a decent teacher, he'll give you a free tryout... Go for it (and if there's a lot of guitar teachers in your area, you can have a lot of free try outs...) Also, see the best working guitarists in your area, find out who their teacher is or was. The working guitarists aren't the best guitarists, nor are they the best teachers in your area. So find those guys, and stick to them. Even the best have teachers (some pros sometimes come to see me to learn a new scale, or understand a riff they have written, to teach it to their drummers for example)