Need some advice please..

I recently graduated from the Fundamentals level 2 course and am now trying to put some things together that make sense...or music. I've done many of the extra offerings as well and have been practicing going from chord to chord. I feel stuck with the scales because I just cannot put any real solo's together. I am picking up speed with each passing week and feel pretty good that part.

Maybe I just need more practice. I put in at least 2 hours per day since Christmas day 2014 and have taken NO days off. I act like a kid who wants to learn solos NOW but I'm actually 53 years old, and having a great time!

This site is really awesome..

Thank you, Dave

My advice may seem silly at first but if you follow it, it will not take long before you understand why I gave it.

Turn around and go through Level 1 and then 2 again. There is so much new stuff coming at you most people can't absorb it all. Even if you only go back to level 2 and redo the first 15 minutes I bet figure out or understand things you didn't catch the first time through.

Remember to take pride in little achievements and know you will hit walls. Walls can be friends they will force you to learn new things. I've been playing guitar for 40 years now and can assure you all walls are beatable.

Originally Posted by: haghj500My advice may seem silly at first but if you follow it, it will not take long before you understand why I gave it.

Turn around and go through Level 1 and then 2 again. There is so much new stuff coming at you most people can't absorb it all. Even if you only go back to level 2 and redo the first 15 minutes I bet figure out or understand things you didn't catch the first time through.

Remember to take pride in little achievements and know you will hit walls. Walls can be friends they will force you to learn new things. I've been playing guitar for 40 years now and can assure you all walls are beatable.

First off, congrats Djmarkos on your achievement. Your dedication and hard work have paid off.

The above is great advice. I've done this myself and it's cool to pickup tidbits you missed the first time around. Things start to make much more sense.

If you are interested in improving your improvisation, the next levels help. I took the Blues course which gets into phrasing and some ideas of how to put a solo together. Anders' lessons and personal advice helped me bring my improvisation to a whole new level. He talks about taking licks and making them "your own". He demonstrates these ideas really well and before you know it you find yourself doing it.

Good luck!

I haven't been playing for much longer than you. Picked up a guitar last summer. I started making my own little licks pretty recently. I picked one scale (C Major) and repeated it OVER and OVER and OVER until I knew where every single note was. I still can get better, but it got to the point where I didn't have to think about where I was going I "just knew" where the notes in the scale were. Basically by feel. I used the GTs scale finder as a reference. You can change to show the entire pattern all the way down the fretboard in the preferences at the bottom. If you practice a couple hours per day you're definitely on the right track to get where you want to go.

https://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43115

I posted about my frustration with scales awhile back. Might want to check that out.

There are plenty of scale lessons on GT's. Learn em, tweak em. Play them how you think they should be played. The more cemented the patterns are in your head the easier it will get to make your own.

Go on youtube. There are a lot of people on there who show their material or mimic famous artists. I've found that just simply watching people play inspires me as well as gives me ideas.

If you need help with your motor skills there are some speed/technique building exercises on here.

https://www.guitartricks.com/v2/tutorial.php?input=661

There are plenty of other ones in the practice tab if that's really difficult.
When I was confident with my finger placement on exercises like this I started watching tv/netflix movies while repeating them over and over again with an electric guitar unplugged. Hey you never know...4 episodes into your favorite tv show you might just look down at what your fingers are doing and be impressed :cool: Just please make sure you're doing it correctly. You don't want to accidentally memorize something wrong.

Another thing you can consider for motor skills for chords and solos is by using Rocksmith. It makes "grinding" through practice even easier because you don't have to remember what you're playing. It shows you the notes on the screen. Guaranteed you will lose track of time practicing with this one.

Best of luck!

I have taken your advice and it really works. I might drive my wife crazy as I play while watching TV. The guitar is still a little load unplugged. At least she's supportive!

Thankyou for the great advice, Dave

I am about 1/2 way through fundamentals 1 for the second time. You are right...I am picking up a lot of what I missed because I didn't grasp it the first time around.

Thanks for the great advice!

Your welcome.

I either read or heard this on the site, so I cannot say the advice is mine, but it is worth repeating.

Hours of practice does not make for perfect guitar playing. Rather hours of perfect practice even if slow at first, makes for perfect guitar playing.

It can save hours of relearning because of bad habits later.

Originally Posted by: djmarkosI recently graduated from the Fundamentals level 2 course and am now trying to put some things together that make sense...or music. I've done many of the extra offerings as well and have been practicing going from chord to chord. I feel stuck with the scales because I just cannot put any real solo's together. I am picking up speed with each passing week and feel pretty good that part.

Maybe I just need more practice. I put in at least 2 hours per day since Christmas day 2014 and have taken NO days off. I act like a kid who wants to learn solos NOW but I'm actually 53 years old, and having a great time!

This site is really awesome..

Thank you, Dave

Learn some licks:
https://www.guitartricks.com/v2/tutorial.php?input=1702

https://www.guitartricks.com/v2/tutorial.php?input=1614

https://www.guitartricks.com/v2/tutorial.php?input=1646

https://www.guitartricks.com/v2/tutorial.php?input=1808

Playing is like a language. You can't speak when you are born so you learn the language. Guitar playing is much the same way, there are 'words' (licks) that often make up a core vocabulary for a player.

The scales are like grammar mechanics and the licks are the spoken language.You learned the scales which gives you the structure upon which you can build but doing a solo is understanding that there are certain patterns and ideas that make for good playing.

This tutorials are pretty good to start.