The 1 tip that made you a better player...

[StratTom]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

The best advice I can give is, Record your self! Do it daily and do it constantly, listen for any errors in your technique or timing and work on them!

That's some good advice there. I don't do that daily but I always listen for my mistakes...which ironically, can be frequent. :eek13:

 

[Simon_F]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

If you feel that you are overplaying and playing too many notes and not being lyrical enough with your playing, only play when you're breathing out and not when you're breathing in. Horn players can't play when they're breathing in, singers can't sing while they're breathing in. Breath with your playing, it'll make you think a bit more lyrically

Wow, that's a really interesting thought. Never occurred to me before!

I'm gonna give it a try. If I don't post again you'll know I was too busy to breathe in.

 

[fingerace]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

I got this from a Scott Henderson DVD...I think...maybe not..anyway

If you feel that you are overplaying and playing too many notes and not being lyrical enough with your playing, only play when you're breathing out and not when you're breathing in. Horn players can't play when they're breathing in, singers can't sing while they're breathing in. Breath with your playing, it'll make you think a bit more lyrically

I watched warren hayne's interview in gibson's website. He said the same thing: If you are overplaying a good way to limit yourself is to ONLY play where you hear silence in your head. i.e. only between the phrases you hear in your mind.

 

[Robbiedbee]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

My biggest tip:

Listen to lots of music, all different types, genres. Go to lots of gigs, get to the front, see the guitar players hands. Watch lots of videos, on DVDs, Youtube, video lessons, video gigs, video interviews.

Surround yourself with it. There's a lot you can do to improve your playing that doesn't involve even touching the guitar.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Best tip I ever got was "Don´t just play the notes, but the spaces in between them as well"

 

[ErikH]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Great tips. The one tip that I can pass on is to play with people that have more experience than you, even if they are much older.

When I lived in CA, I played with some guys that have "been there, done that", in their 40's at the time and I was in my early 20's. They were very open to playing just to play, jam and have a good time. That experience, which was for a good 3 years or so, was so valueable to me. Not only did they compliment me, help me a long and show me some things, and make me comfortable, but it was a humbling experience. I didn't have to try and be something I'm not or prove myself with chops. I could play how I play and really hone in my own style and sound.

 

[Forbes]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

For the first couple of years i played guitar every single day, there was not one of those days where i didnt play guitar, none of it was practice, i was just playing my fave songs, but it sure got me to where i wanted to be.

 

[KeeperOS]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Hand coordination, I painfully realized that if one hand is falling back, then even if the other could handle it, it won't.

I found out that when the fretting hand was fretting wrongly then the picking hand instinctively "knew about it" and I would end up screwing up the picking part too!

Find out which hand is falling back, then while playing a passage that requires both relatively complex fretting and picking look (as in use your eyes) the work that hand does, visualizing is the best way to avoid mistakes until you get used to it.
Don't worry about the mistakes the other hand will do, once you feel confident that you got it right then play that very same passage only this time look at the other hand!

That's what I did and instant and tragic improvement in less than a week!!!

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

That's really horrible advice for a beginner though, or actually anyone.

It's fine if you just decide you don't want to noodle for a few minutes that day, but otherwise bad bad choice.

Actually, I have to disagree.

But it begs the question as to why you play and for what reasons.

Guitar playing should be something you want to be doing, it should be something that you should be able to develop discipline for doing because you want to play and BE a better player.

Growing up I had friends that were practice fiends. From the moment they got home from work or school they had an axe in their hands and were working on some impressive things.

Over time being good for the sake of being good wears off. You have to enjoy and want to play. You have to have a goal other than being a good player otherwise it's as productive as masturbation.

Now a days they'll pick up someones guitar and play something from muscle memory and that's it. They come out and see me play and realize they likely could be doing that had they not gotten tired of it. Their entire approach to the instrument burnt them out before they even had a chance to do much of anything with it.

The guys that I see with any longevity as guitar players are the ones that do something with it, that has it take them somewhere. Guitar playing is a fixture of the music, not the other way around.

 

[Voxman]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Don`t try to become good at everything right away,do it step by step
hmmm. or something like that

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Don't be afraid to go outside your comfort zone. Some of the biggest breakthroughs in my playing came from learning a song in a style I would normally never play (jazz or country, for example).

Along those same lines, learn another instrument. It will make you a better guitarist.

 

[Snake Aces]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

I used to be the kid that wished he was born with as much talent as the next guy, or longer fingers, or whatever...

Then, a while back now, I realized that I was born perfectly able to play or do anything I want. It all comes down to practice, how much time and heart are you willing to dedicate to the guitar. Those who can push themselves (you don't NEED lessons!!) to keep learnin' and find the self-motivation to cruise through the bad times are those who can be somethin' special on guitar.

Of course the only reason you should be pushing yourself is for the love of music itself. You probably wanna know: "How will I know if I love music or if I am just going through a guitar fad?" My only answer would be that will come with time. Could you put down the guitar for a week and play/practice piano? or bass? or drums? or sax?

The bottom line is if you are forcing yourself to play guitar to get laid like a popularity contest in high school than all you need to do is learn a few power chords and start a pop-punk or emo band and go get all the TNA you want. If you want to play guitar to respect the instrument and become one with your axe... then you can be like me and practice 6 to 8 hours a day, have people tell you how good you are getting but still practice with your headphones on because YOU KNOW it's not perfect yet. That's what a guitarist mindset is, a true guitarist's mindset anyway.

I have never had lessons, but I have bought a few books to teach me scales and chords as well as more about music theory. I play to a metronome for half of my practice time and the other half is CREATIVE TIME (a metronome can sometimes get in the way during your f-around time). I practice scale and chord forms. Sometimes I'll even kick out "Purple Haze". It all depends on what I'm feelin' like playin' and that's how everyone should practice...ESPECIALLY if you are an everyday practice kinda person.

Even Jimi Hendrix never would have been Hendrix had he not practiced...

 

[Zhangliqun]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

The best advice I got was in an article by a guy who said there is a lot to learn from horn players. He said even an average horn player plays more interesting solos than most guitar players because the nature of horns makes you play in arpeggios while guitar tends to make you play more in scales. Arpeggios are much more melodic and interesting.

 

[tubeman87]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

That's really horrible advice for a beginner though, or actually anyone.

It's fine if you just decide you don't want to noodle for a few minutes that day, but otherwise bad bad choice.


The best advice I ever received was "Guitar playing is not an olympic sport."

The best advice I can give is, Record your self! Do it daily and do it constantly, listen for any errors in your technique or timing and work on them!

If someone doesn't feel like doing something but feels they need to do it reguardless its, what ever task is at hand is going to come out crappy.

I know when I first started off if I had a bad day and practiced it sounded like crap cause I wasn't whole heartedly into it, and if I sounded bad that just got me frustrated and mad. That can be discouraging for a beginner player. Sometimes its best to leave it alone then when your feeling good, calm, collect you can approch it in a different way and actually learning something.

The times were I feel like playing and have a good energy toward practicing have been some of the best sessions that I've ever had and in those few hours I learned more than all the times that I made myself pick up my guitar and practice.

I don't care what anyone says if your not feeling it that day when your done you'll wish you hadn't picked it up. Thats held true for the 12 + years that I've been palying, and I'm stickn' by that word of advice.

 

[fusion101]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Learning the minor, major, and blues pentatonic scales backwards and forwards and practicing them everyday for a year.

 

[greedo]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

"Get your f'ing eyes off the fingerboard!"

 

[greedo]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

The best advice I got was in an article by a guy who said there is a lot to learn from horn players. He said even an average horn player plays more interesting solos than most guitar players because the nature of horns makes you play in arpeggios while guitar tends to make you play more in scales. Arpeggios are much more melodic and interesting.

+1000

Chordal theory, not scales, is where it's at.

 

[Mephis]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Actually, I have to disagree.

But it begs the question as to why you play and for what reasons.

Guitar playing should be something you want to be doing, it should be something that you should be able to develop discipline for doing because you want to play and BE a better player.

Growing up I had friends that were practice fiends. From the moment they got home from work or school they had an axe in their hands and were working on some impressive things.

Over time being good for the sake of being good wears off. You have to enjoy and want to play. You have to have a goal other than being a good player otherwise it's as productive as masturbation.

Now a days they'll pick up someones guitar and play something from muscle memory and that's it. They come out and see me play and realize they likely could be doing that had they not gotten tired of it. Their entire approach to the instrument burnt them out before they even had a chance to do much of anything with it.

The guys that I see with any longevity as guitar players are the ones that do something with it, that has it take them somewhere. Guitar playing is a fixture of the music, not the other way around.

I understand what you mean, but if I decided to put it down when I got tired of it I would end up putting it down for a month at a time. And considering I've been going through classes for theory and song writing I really don't have the choice of putting it down or taking a break. Doubt I'll ever want to get out of it, it just gets exhausting.

Even if I'm playing like crap, I can at least write down a melody and record it and analyze how I can work over it.

I think I might be thinking about something slightly different than you are though. Your last line explains it.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

I've had some people that I look up to tell me that while knowledge about theory is good, it's the folks that know how to be tasteful and don't try to be flashy that usually end up being the most interesting and enjoyable. I've built my playing around that mentality. More notes isn't better: it's the phrasing, the touch and the note selection that makes the guitar lines sing. I've always tried doing everything by ear and I think it's a nice way to break out of repetition.

 

[Diego]

Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Trying to learn a new lick, song or riff everyday.

From Paul Gilbert. It works.