Another question....

[Alex Mogilny]

Another question....

1. Is there a way to pick things up faster?
Right now I try to sit down for 30 to 60 minutes a night. I practice scales and chords...I will fuck around on a few easy songs (smoke on the water, sunshine of your love, communication breakdown, etc.) just to break up the monotny.

I am having trouble with chord progression...Is there an easier way to get this down?..or does it just take practice practice practice.

I have seen some books and videos that claim you can sit in on a jam after taking a 1 hour lesson blah blah blah....my playing is so bad...the dog covers his ears when i start "playing".

Any tips would be appreciated.!

[jackassrock]

You could take a few lessons.

It seems like if someone taught you a little bit about playing songs you might have some more fun. It also could show you how to use those scales, and what ones work over what chord progressions. Then you can get creative.

[Last_Child]

Play, Play and uhm...

Play.

Works fine for me.

[Coyote]

Originally posted by Alex Mogilny
Is there an easier way to get this down?..or does it just take practice practice practice.

There isn't an easier way.

One way to improve yourself is to just learn songs by ear.
Learn the bass lines first, to get a grip on the song, then move on to play chords. From there apply some of the scales you've already learned to it. Just solos. Then, the next time your playing that song, play the whole thing, rhythm & lead.

Well... That's what I did back in the day...

That and checking out the tabs in Guitar World.

[Matt White]

Start slow.....


Get yourself B.B. King "Live at the Regal"......


Start coping his licks...some basic stuff but you'll recognize a ton of em.....


SRV, Page, Clapton, etc all learned off this record......

[Alex Mogilny]

Originally posted by Matt White
Start slow.....


Get yourself B.B. King "Live at the Regal"......


Start coping his licks...some basic stuff but you'll recognize a ton of em.....


SRV, Page, Clapton, etc all learned off this record......

cool...i'll get it.

it should sound good on the epi es335 as well

[Matt White]

Right on....


Most people have the entitial problem of turning scales into licks....


That record has a TON of building blocks for cool licks.....


All the GRATES borrowed form it.....

[doctor roth]

Good advice. Start of simple and practice hepas. The cool thing about BB king, and alot of blues guitarists is their phrasing. They may not be able to play at a million miles ann hour but they could make it sing. Those 'learn guitar in 2 hr' vids are utter bull shit'. Ask Yngwie how long it takes to learn how to play. Thats an extreme example but the ideas the same.

[jslav06]

As far as picking faster, that's something that you gotta work into. Dave Mustaine gave some good advice in an edition GuitarOne last year for faster picking.
Pick one string back and forth as fast as you can for anywhere for 1-3 min straight. This should help develop that ol' wrist.

[Hardrock69]

Coyote said it best.

There is no substitute.

Keep up with the commitment and keep practicing.

Jamming with CDs is always the fun thing, and will train your ear.

Make it a goal to learn Smoke On The Water (or any other easy song) and see how perfect you can play it.

Seems simple enough of a task, but you will not just be learning the song, you learn technique everytime you learn to play something new.

I fuck around a lot when jamming with cds, but occasionally I will make it a point to be serious and try to play it all just perfect.

And my idea of fun is playing 2 Maiden cds in their entirety. But then, a lot of times when I am watching TV I will plug into my Crate combo and sit there and play along with the television.

Now THAT is some rad stuff....cause on TV you never know what is going to be playing next, or what key it will be in. Hell, you might not even be in tune with the music! So it forces you to think faster, and after ya have some experience you might be able to train your ear to recognize what key the music is in, etc.

Back in the Age Of Polyester (the 70s), I was sitting in my basement bedroom for 4 hours a day minimum, learning Ted Nugent, Rush, Kiss & Judas Priest.

I was right proud of myself for being able to play most of the songs from the Kiss Alive album after only a year or so. Took some work to figure it all out at the time (though some licks still eluded me for awhile afterwards), but surely it made me a better player!

That is the advantage of learning to play guitar as a teen...you live at home, and have much more free time to pursue the quest for guitar god-dom.

Just play and play and play and play.

For months or years.

I had been playing for about 5 or 6 years before I truly felt that I was decent on guitar.

Go into the Matrix (ya haveta take a Red Pill) and have them jack your brain up with the instant knowledge to play Yngwie Malmsteen haha....I mean Neo learned Kung Fu, didn't he?


So did you get the ES-335?

It is kind of an unwritten law here that if ya buy a new instrument, ya gots ta post pics for everyone (after all, isn't it something remotely similar to having a new child?).

[Brett]

It's just work AlMo, you have to keep practicing, eventually it will come. But you have to be dilligent. Hang with it, if you keep working on technique it will all start to come together.

[Alex Mogilny]

My younger brother is visiting from out of town for a few weeks and he is an excellent player.

He has showed me some riffs over the past few days...I've been practicing...heartbreaker, whole lotta love, road hose blues, and a generic blues shuffle that sounds pretty cool.

anyways...practice practice practice.

[Big Fat Sammy]

Got those Road Hose Blues! lol

[ELVIS]

Man, I played literally six or more hours a day for years...

I still play daily, sometimes all day...

I walk aroung with guitar in my head just as I did when I was a kid...

I still try to play what I hear in my head, as well as rip off my heroes...

[jhale667]

Originally posted by ELVIS
Man, I played literally six or more hours a day for years...

I still play daily, sometimes all day...

I walk aroung with guitar in my head just as I did when I was a kid...

I still try to play what I hear in my head, as well as rip off my heroes...

Same here.

[ELVIS]

LMAO!

Dude, thanks for the little acoustic demo you sent me...

I really like it...

I've heard several other guitarists from these forums over the years, and you're one of the few that can actually play something, and good...

You've reminded me of myself on more than one occasion on these boards, and hearing you play inspires me to work harder...

[sagebrush]

The right way to play takes time , If it was easy every one would be eddie or every other great player . Elvis is someone you should try to copy ,play all the time have your guitar with you everywhere anytime you have free time play and even when you don't have time play . I found that the more i played the more i wanted to play .

[jhale667]

Originally posted by ELVIS
LMAO!

Dude, thanks for the little acoustic demo you sent me...

I really like it...

I've heard several other guitarists from these forums over the years, and you're one of the few that can actually play something, and good...

You've reminded me of myself on more than one occasion on these boards, and hearing you play inspires me to work harder...

Thanks....
Well then--- I hope you like the next one I sent ya....

[ELVIS]

I just sent you another also...

I'm gonna check yours out, then I'm off to work...

[jhale667]

Got it...and very nice!