Motivation problem..

[subatomicsatan]

I think my problem is me wanting to be really good with technique and the realization that it's not all going to come this instant, haha, therefore, I get really discouraged. I'll definitely try your suggestion, it seems fun.

Yup, I understand what you're saying; we've ALL been there. It takes time to be able to kick ass, and it is putting that time and effort in that makes a player great. The trick is to make that learning time interesting and fun.

I want to hear what you come up with with the pelog scale.

And, remember, don't just think linearly, like scalar runs and just riffage; also think in depth and multiple parts. For example, come up with a four note melody that you like using the pelog scale. Now, think of a bass note to play at the same time as the first melody note (while staying within the pelog scale). Let it ring under the second melody note, then when you hit the third melody note hit another bass note under it and let it ring while you play the last melody note. Repeat over and over and mix it up when you feel comfortable.

If you are using a pick, use the pick to hit the bass note while you use another finger to pluck the melody note. Just try it. Start slow and do not think in terms of bass line and melody line; think in terms of what note is played when, and what notes are played at the same time.

 

[fathead]

Sometimes the best thing you can do is take a break. Don't let guitar playing turn into something that feels like a frustrating job, do it because you love it. I normally don't play on Friday or Saturday, so come Sunday night, I'm jonesing to play. And let's not forget that sometimes the brain needs a rest from all the things you're feeding into it.

Try a book called 'The Complete Guitarist' by Richard Chapman. It covers absolutely everything. It's the one I used when I started teaching myself theory, and 8 years on I still refer back to it.

Thanks for the tip. My theory is not strong either, it's something I've been trying to work on, and recommendations like this really help.

 

[lordofthesewers]

I know NO theory whatsoever, sadly enough, haha. I don't really understand it at all. How should I start?

dude, i had the same problems like you before i started lessons from steve smyth. He is my hero, so just watching him show me some arpegio for the sake of demonstration (when we talked about sweeps and shit) got me motivated. It was not just a vid, it was steve smyth shredding his ass off on webcam which made me, like omfg i want to do that. Practiced that for 20 minutes a day only sweep picking with a metronome (you know the drill here) and by the next 2 weeks my sweep picking was much better. Also doing homework for your hero is motivating.
I was at ground 0 with theory and ear training before i started lessons ( i am 5 lessons in) and now i know the blues scales, pentatonics, major &its modes, basic chord theory, and some riffs using those scales, arpegios, and like arpegio progressions. I am so much better at theory. He showed me a way to remember the notes on the guitar and how to constantly work on ear training while listneing to your favorite songs.
IN short take lessons from your hero be it chris broderick, steve smyth, dave wiener if they offer it. Go with steve smyth because
A) he plays in nevermoe
B) he is an awesome guy and teacher
C) I said so (jking man)

 

[distressed_romeo]

dude, i had the same problems like you before i started lessons from steve smyth. He is my hero, so just watching him show me some arpegio for the sake of demonstration (when we talked about sweeps and shit) got me motivated. It was not just a vid, it was steve smyth shredding his ass off on webcam which made me, like omfg i want to do that. Practiced that for 20 minutes a day only sweep picking with a metronome (you know the drill here) and by the next 2 weeks my sweep picking was much better. Also doing homework for your hero is motivating.
I was at ground 0 with theory and ear training before i started lessons ( i am 5 lessons in) and now i know the blues scales, pentatonics, major &its modes, basic chord theory, and some riffs using those scales, arpegios, and like arpegio progressions. I am so much better at theory. He showed me a way to remember the notes on the guitar and how to constantly work on ear training while listneing to your favorite songs.
IN short take lessons from your hero be it chris broderick, steve smyth, dave wiener if they offer it. Go with steve smyth because
A) he plays in nevermoe
B) he is an awesome guy and teacher
C) I said so (jking man)

That reminds me of when I was studying with Max Milligan (he of GI fame) when I first got into the guitar. Just being able to watch the guy rip up-close was massively inspiring.
However, as great as lessons are, they are extremely expensive if you want to do them regularly, and not everyone can afford that.

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

I find I often don't pick up the guitar for a week or 2 at a time (except for lessons) because of the lack of musicians to jam with. It's really discouraging not having any like minded musicians around. In this city, there's like 3-4 death metal drummers, and they're all taken, it's a real bummer. If you can find people, jam. It's fun, and gives you a reason to practice. When I joined my first band a few years ago, my motivation went through the roof. I have an opportunity to jam with some guys around here (who have a drummer!) but I'm kind of afraid I won't be able to keep up with them creatively or chops wise since they're all really good players. I told them that and they still said to come out and jam, so I'm going to try that out. The downside? They're not 7 stringers They tune down to C# though, so I might tune my 7 up

 

[Gilbucci]

I'm actually going to take lessons from Chris Broderick, because, he's one of my favorite guitarists. Hopefully it'll go well.

 

[lordofthesewers]

I'm actually going to take lessons from Chris Broderick, because, he's one of my favorite guitarists. Hopefully it'll go well.

great to hear that, being able to study with them is fun. The only thing i don't like about his lessons is that the lesosns are only half an hour long. Half an hour goes by really fast when you are studying with your hero.
For me taking lessons from steve on the internet are like passing out from the outside world and getting into an acid trip into guitar. When the lesson is over i realized how many things we covered and I have to do.
Good luck and have fun with your lessons.
Also going on youtube and watching your heroes rip solos, riffs, whatever floats your boat seems motivating for me too

 

[distressed_romeo]

I'm actually going to take lessons from Chris Broderick, because, he's one of my favorite guitarists. Hopefully it'll go well.

Wow! I'm jealous now! Are those going to be webcam, or one-on-one lessons?

great to hear that, being able to study with them is fun. The only thing i don't like about his lessons is that the lesosns are only half an hour long. Half an hour goes by really fast when you are studying with your hero.

That was exactly the reason for me only doing hour long slots when I used to teach guitar lessons. I don't really think half-an-hour is enough time to go into things in enough detail.

 

[Ciprian]

I also have/had motivation problems , guitar playing nowadays is rarely fun for me. In fact, sometimes I just want to pick up a hammer and smash my guitars to pieces. I keep playing hoping that some day, I'll be good enough to actually enjoy playing guitar. Yes, it's sad. My technique seems horrible to me and I don't seem to make any progress. To make matters worse, recently, my left wrist has started to hurt.

 

[distressed_romeo]

I also have/had motivation problems , guitar playing nowadays is rarely fun for me. In fact, sometimes I just want to pick up a hammer and smash my guitars to pieces. I keep playing hoping that some day, I'll be good enough to actually enjoy playing guitar. Yes, it's sad.

It's really sad that you feel that way.

Whenever I feel that way about my own playing I think of a discussion Brian May apparently had with Frank Zappa (paraphrased from an interview with Brian in a UK guitar mag)...

Brian: Don't you get scared improvising your solos onstage every night?
Frank: No. Do you?
Brian: I'm worried I'll screw them up.
Frank: How can you mess up? It's your solo. It's your moment. Everything you play is right.

A very very good attitude.

 

[Ciprian]

It's really sad that you feel that way.

Whenever I feel that way about my own playing I think of a discussion Brian May apparently had with Frank Zappa (paraphrased from an interview with Brian in a UK guitar mag)...

Brian: Don't you get scared improvising your solos onstage every night?
Frank: No. Do you?
Brian: I'm worried I'll screw them up.
Frank: How can you mess up? It's your solo. It's your moment. Everything you play is right.

A very very good attitude.

Thanks for trying to cheer me up, I appreciate it. Usually I start to feel better when I take lessons, and I have a lesson tomorrow (first lesson in a while). I'll let you know how it went (if I'm not bothering you, of course).

 

[distressed_romeo]

Thanks for trying to cheer me up, I appreciate it. Usually I start to feel better when I take lessons, and I have a lesson tomorrow (first lesson in a while). I'll let you know how it went (if I'm not bothering you, of course).

Good luck dude. Sounds like you just need a shot of inspiration. Let us all know how you get on.

 

[lordofthesewers]

hey ciprian i hope you don't have/getting tendonitis cause that willl fuck your playing badly in the long run and force you to take breaks.
I see that you are romanian (sunt roman si eu, dar prin state) and my experiences with guitar teachers was pretty bad, how is the teacher you are with now?
also youtube can provide a good shot of inpiration as romeo is sayin here

 

[Aghorasilat]

Watch Jon Maclaughlin play better on acoustic then we all on this board play electric guitar! That will easily get you to want to work on chops and especially picking.

 

[Gilbucci]

It's gonna be his webcam lessons. I'm really looking forward to it. I want to ask so many things, but, I'm going to try to stay away from too many technique questions and focus on things that are more important (for example, theory)

 

[Aghorasilat]

It's really sad that you feel that way.

Whenever I feel that way about my own playing I think of a discussion Brian May apparently had with Frank Zappa (paraphrased from an interview with Brian in a UK guitar mag)...

Brian: Don't you get scared improvising your solos onstage every night?
Frank: No. Do you?
Brian: I'm worried I'll screw them up.
Frank: How can you mess up? It's your solo. It's your moment. Everything you play is right.

A very very good attitude.

ZAPPA was a real Genious on Guitar.

 

[lordofthesewers]

It's gonna be his webcam lessons. I'm really looking forward to it. I want to ask so many things, but, I'm going to try to stay away from too many technique questions and focus on things that are more important (for example, theory)

ask him about technique too, cause you might have a bad technique and not know it, and it would be good to get that out of the way and have it corrected if necessary then focus on theory, ear training, music writting, you name it.
my 2 cents
i also agree with aghoralist, zappa was very inovative, influenced many players of today's generation and not only

 

[Ciprian]

hey ciprian i hope you don't have/getting tendonitis cause that willl fuck your playing badly in the long run and force you to take breaks.
I see that you are romanian (sunt roman si eu, dar prin state) and my experiences with guitar teachers was pretty bad, how is the teacher you are with now?
also youtube can provide a good shot of inpiration as romeo is sayin here

Frankly, I'm afraid that I'm in the process of getting tendinitis (but the pain may be due to the fact that I've hurt one of my wrists pretty badly in childhood, can't remember which wrist though). I was lucky finding my current teacher, he's from Italy, but he moved to Romania. He studied at GIT & BIT in Japan & the USA, with Frank Gambale, Paul Gilbert etc., so it's all good.

P.S. Salut, de cand ai plecat in SUA? E mai bine acolo?

 

[lordofthesewers]

Frankly, I'm afraid that I'm in the process of getting tendonitis (but the pain may be due to the fact that I've hurt one of my wrists pretty badly in childhood, can't remember which wrist though). I was lucky finding my current teacher, he's from Italy, but he moved to Romania. He studied at GIT & BIT in Japan & the USA, with Frank Gambale, Paul Gilbert etc., so it's all good.

P.S. Salut, de cand ai plecat in SUA? E mai bine acolo?

well, strech a lot and take a break, go to the doctor to avoid tendonitis. you don't want tendonitis, and always warm up.
apropos cat iti cere pe lectie?

 

[Gilbucci]

I find myself only warming up when my hands are cold. I dont really have a warmup.