On the verge of giving up

[bbtemp]

i've been playing guitar for like 5 years now, and i'm so shit. i practice 30mins-1 hr a day usually but recently ive been practising a lot more like 3-4 hrs a day. i dont feel as though in the past year i've achieved anything at all guitar wise and i've never been so demoralised. I really want to be able to play fast stuff, not metal type sweeping and stuff but just be able to solo fast and well. i've put in hours of metronome practice and got no-where.

it literally feels like i will never improve past this point and its literally making me close to tears at times. I love playing the guitar a lot but its losing all of the fun it once had as i feel like im taking one step forward and two steps back.

an example of this is how i'm currently learning the stairway to heaven solo. i've learnt it all up until the fast string bend bit and sometimes ill come to my guitar, and play what i know perfectly 3 times in a row. i'll come to it another time and play it like shit and even when i practice it doesnt seem to work. i really dont know what to do because something i love so much is slowly becoming something that depresses me. i know this is a massive wall of long boring text but can anyone help me ? i just want to be able to play fast and i dont seem to be able to get anywhere.

 

[Tomo009]

Try recording yourself. You are probably a better player than me so I can't really give you any technique advice, but what I have noticed is I never really "feel" I am improving, but sometimes I listen to a recording I did a couple of months ago and realize how much better I have become.

I've been playing for over 3 years, just starting to really be able to play some tech riffs somewhat competently and I still can't do pull'off runs. Also my bends are terrible and I can't really vibrato at the top of a bend. I also don't seem to be able to phrase very well while improvising. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that there will be some obvious weaknesses in your playing, but you aren't terrible. After 5 years I assume you would have reached a level of competency in some areas. If your weaknesses are holding you back on playing what you would like, focus on them more for a while.

 

[Lasik124]

First off, Never give up

Second, If you don't mind me asking of course how old are you? I ask in curiosity if your a bit younger as I had huge issues with feeling like I'm in ruts when I was younger

Let me get some more information to see if I can't help inspire your playing, Have you ever had a private teacher? How is your theory?(Simple scales/modes) I ask because perhaps instead of thinking so hard about your technical level of playing, simply enjoy the instrument, It will come in time

 

[MistaSnowman]

You don't want to give up especially when you say of how much you love to play the guitar. The last thing you'd want to do is think of 'what could have been.'

 

[FWB]

Some thoughts:

1. How do you spend that practice time everyday? Just messing around or playing the songs you know well isn't very helpful (not saying you do this, just trying to give advice), if you are trying to play faster, you need to work out what you're going to be playing before you begin playing.

2. You've probably heard this before, but start slow, and always with your best friend Mr. Metronome. Increase the speed to the point where you can play WITH ZERO MISTAKES. If you are practicing and consistently messing up some part of your exercise, you are playing too fast (In general. There's some people that like to bump up the metronome to crazy speeds and struggle to keep up for a few minutes, then see how they do when they go back to normal speeds. I wouldn't worry about this right now, because it's a specialized way to practice and the gains are probably purely psychological, not that that can be diminished).

Furthermore, when you reach this limit of no mistake speed, it'll probably take you a lot of repetitions at this speed or slightly faster to make a big advancement in terms of BPM. As in like thousands. Playing the same 6 note pattern for an hour can be crushingly boring, but very effective.

3. Concentrate your practice time on the specific licks that are giving you trouble. Then concentrate on the specific part(s) of that lick that are giving you trouble. Odds are, you might only need to be focusing on a very short segment of music to nail whatever you're working on. As an example, if you're trying to sweep pick a 6 string arpeggio, and you're having trouble turning around at the top, you could practice the entire 7 notes of the arpeggio (assuming a 2NPS turnaround at the top)... or you could just focus on the 3 or 4 notes at the top. 3 notes as opposed to 7 is a lot less when you're repeating the exercise thousands of times.

4. What techniques are you working on currently? You said you don't want to play "metal type sweeping and stuff" but what sorts of techniques do you wish to incorporate into your playing more? Alternate picked diatonic runs, faster legato pentatonic stuff? What sort of artists would you like to play like? I can probably find some exercises if I know what you're going for.

5. When I got serious about playing lead guitar, my best teacher was youtube. Pick a technique, or challenging song, or lessons by INSERTARTIST and you're guaranteed to find something. Your going to find a lot of shit too, and this can be dangerous... you just have to learn to recognize when someone is giving you shitty advice. But if you're watching lessons from Gilbert, Petrucci, etc., its safe to say you're getting good advice from some of the best players on the planet, right in your own home!

6. If you really feel like you're making zero progress, you can post a video here and if there's something glaringly wrong with your technique we could probably tell you what you need to work on. It's 2:30 and I can't think of any more general advice right now... but specify what you're working on and I'll try for more specific stuff tomorrow

 

[DavyH]

From a lifelong bad player: guitars can be very forgiving and very unforgiving. You can play an amazing amount with the obligatory three chords, but very few people can really say they've mastered the instrument.

I frequently watch people who make me want to go home and smash up all my instruments and then, for good measure, cut both my hands off. Then I pick up an axe, pound out some utter crap, and things are all better.

 

[Solodini]

I second most of what has been said above. The thing I've found to fight frustration is to write something similar to what you're struggling with, it could even just be the same thing with every 3rd, 4th, 5th, xth note dropped out to change the phrases a bit. A lot of frustration seems to come from thinking that if you've not reached the target YET then you're failing. If you're copying an existing solo by one of the greats then you'll have a lot to try to match up to. Bear in mind that Jimmy Page was a session player before Led Zepp started up.

If you're doing your own thing then you have nothing to compare to, except what you've improved FROM. Record it at each stage and see how much you've improved. Compare yourself to yourself because you're never going to be anyone else. Use other people as targets but judge your improvement by what level YOU were at before. PM me if you want to chat/want to discuss Skype lessons et c.

 

[Thrashmanzac]

ive been playing since i was 15 and im pretty shit but it doesnt matter to me because i love playing guitar

 

[Cabinet]

Guitar isn't easy. It might take about 10 years just to get a feel for the instrument.

 

[Levi79]

Take a couple lessons from a good teacher man. It will refresh you. Seriously.

 

[Maniacal]

Go see a teacher who can analyse your technique. You must be doing something wrong if you aren't progressing.

 

[metalman_ltd]

Just take it slow. I was having trouble after five years too. You feel like your working hard but not seeing any change. For me I just had to challenge myself alittle more then doing that pushed me to the next point.

 

[SirMyghin]

Take a break and walk away for a few months, explore something completely different, stop locking yourself in a room expecting to progress and go play with others.

Any of these might help. Lately I have a weekly jam with a drummer (we usually jam on guitars and bass, either 2 guitars or either of us playing bass) and we just play chord vamps, songs we are writing, blueses, etc. We then just trade solos and melody lines, the trick to doing this well is to really listen to what the other guy is doing, what he is bringing out from it. You learn a lot doing that.

 

[Sikthness]

This happens to me too. I watch skilled players playing things and think "I will never be that good", or if I am I will be 50 years old. However, I find that I need inspiration, not strict practice necessarily, to improve. When I feel like I'm in a big rut, I search for new bands and players, and try to break out of my comfort zone and usual bag of tricks rather than up my practice time. This may not be the best method to improving from a purely technical standpoint, but it does wonders for my personal satisfaction level from playing the guitar.

 

[Dead Undead]

^Both of the above replies 100%
It always helps to take time off or try something new. You really need to step out and push yourself.
Fret 12 | Emil Werstler - Daath
That guy will inspire you just by telling you how he was inspired.
This one in particular:

 

[Hollowway]

Definitely have a teacher look at your playing! I've started a couple of threads on here about picking technique (to get faster) and a number of people chimed in and said there is no correct way to pick, just practice. But my sense is that those people just happened upon a good technique. I practiced for years and years and was never fast, and then I learned as much as I could about picking technique, completely scrapped my old technique, and retaught myself the correct way. 6 months later I was faster than I'd ever been. (This is sounding like an infomercial for something...) So if you get a teacher (and I mean a good one for what you want - i.e. someone that can teach metal. And someone who teaches for a living, not just a friend of your dad's who plays guitar kind of thing.) you'll be able to see if there's anything wrong with your technique. My guess is that you're doing something fundamentally wrong.

 

[Alimination]

I agree with everyone that says getting a private lesson teacher!

I remember someone once told me about how even the most awesome Olympic athletes have their own coaches to help them become better. What makes guitar so different you know? no matter what level your at, you should always have an instructors there by you to give you quality work to practice with.

Don't give up mate!

 

[toiletstand]

you might just need to take a break for a few days. play just for fun instead of progressing for now. enjoy it

 

[Overtone]

There is one thing to remember... Speed=Emotion

 

[Dead Undead]

There is one thing to remember... Speed=Emotion

lolwut?