New member off and on guitar player looking for guidance

Hi all,

I'm 45 and started with an acoustic guitar in 2005 after years of guitar hero.  I've been off and on and off again have a fender starcaster with an authentic stratocaster neck.

I can play songs and read guitar tab, mostly.  But I have several serious shortcomings I want to address.

Timing

Strumming - specifically alternatating up, down up up up down etc,  

Learning the notes

Basically I want to smoothly play in time and advanced strumming.  I also want to progress to soloing over looping chord tracks.  I'd love to just play a back track and hit notes that sound good.

I enjoy being able to dive into a tab and make it sound like the song.  I just want to get better and am trying to maximize the little bit of practice time I'm putting in.

FYI mostly self taught from videos and books.  I did take one set of lessons years ago. 

Hi,

I would suggest strumming to a metronome if you have one. You can set a tempo you are comfortable with and gradually increase.

@ken5064

Thanks!

So just pick a series and start at 60 bps and ramp up?

I'm not sure how to train my brain to letup at odd intervals.  It's been a struggle any time I tried it.  This is just a grind it out thing???

You might want to look at subscription membership, there is a ton of info on this site.

And yes to grinding it out. Lots of that with guitar. Repetition will be your friend. 

@william mg - thanks.

I see there is a monthly plan.  I might check that out to see if Id want the year plan.

crowtrobot313, GuitarTricks would be a great fit for you - as an experienced player, yet wanting to fill in some blanks, and gain an understanding of the new things you want to learn and hone.

There is a bounty of really-well-structured courses and tutorials which address all of the the skills you mentioned. 

I highly encourage you to join!

-Lisa

I decided to join.  I did the monthly plan to get a feel for it.  I like what I've experienced from the forums so far and want to go farther.  

I have plenty of books and various DVDs and such but haven't quite found the right fit.  I'm looking forward to diving in even deeper.  

I really appreciated the insight on the octaves for learning notes and I'm pushing there.  I'm also trying to work in improving my strumming.  My last area of a interest is putting full effort into working on timing.

Good luck, the site is so large the only effect way to access it using the search bar which will bring up various links to lessons on the topic.

@william MG- Thanks!  I'll definitely be digging in.  of course setting aside dedicated time to practice is the other big challenge:)

Welcome crowtrobrot!

I think you’ve made a good choice.  I’m a couple of years in and still finding plenty of challenge - and fun.

Jump into one of the learning paths and see where it takes you.

Rumble

Yay - so glad you decided to join!

Have lots of fun!

- Lisa