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

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

I'm going to second the "don't force it" thing. Guitar playing is supposed to be fun, right? If you're having to force it, you're obviously not having fun, and if you're not having fun, what's the point?
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

"Listen to your ears, if its good - its good!" - YJM. Of course that is if you have a decent taste. A lot of people are like " ... yeah man, cool" and its just crap.
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Love that stuff about breathing.

-Listen to Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue'. That will teach you everything you need to know about 'space' and knowing what not to play.

-Time is everything. Without a good sense of rhythm, it's impossible to be a great rhythm or lead player. Never lose the one, and make sure your phrases make rhythmic sense. Once you have solid time, work on playing against the beat, either by rushing or laying back. The ability to do this will allow you to dictate the rhythmic feel of the music you create, and make you better able at coping with playing different genres of music.

-Learn to play both fingerstyle and with a pick. You'll gain a huge amount of dynamic range by being able to play with pick, fingers, or both.

-Music is a hearing art, and the physical therapy aspects of playing should always be a means, not an end. Regardless of your level of chopsiness, taking time to really listen to the sounds your hands (and, to a lesser extent, your equipment) makes is to embrace the creation of sound and to start to hear your place within the music you create. At this point, you make the leap from guitar player to musician.

-Listen to as wide a variety of music as possible. If you think you're eclectic because you listen to both metal and classic rock, think again. More influences means less stylistic inbreeding.
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Mephis said:
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.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I can't imagine going a week without playing guitar, and I have never forced nyself to play guitar. I guess if you don't have the enthusiasm, you don't have the enthusiasm, and that's all there is to it. It seems odd that a guitar player, whose enthusiasm runs deep enough to invest vast sums of money into their rig, and tinker with pickups, and frequent a forum devoted to the aforementioned tinkering could go so long without playing guitar.

Please don't think I'm judging you. I'm guessing you're one of those lucky guys who has more than one hobby or something :p I just wouldn't last so long without getting me some Strat.
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

I'm surprised about the lack of discussion about dynamics. After keeping time, that was the second thing covered in the seminar I took last summer at NGW. The instructor limited our solos to three different notes (A,B,C) so with such limited note selection, we had to depend on dynamics for expression more than melody.
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Mephis said:
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.
Click to expand...

There have been times that I have.

There was a stretch in 1997 when I moved into a place and realized it was almost three months later and I hadn't even opened a guitar case from the move. They were all tucked into a closet out of the way with the amps. Had I not had a few picks in the small bucket I threw my keys and pocket change into you would never of known I played.

I'm also a big fan of not listening to guitar-centric music. Some of my favorite bands hold guitar almost in contempt. Not having that element makes you ask questions about music without concentrating on the usual aspects where there's a guitar to keep you occupied.

I work 40 hours a week and have a family and a kid. On a good week I get in a solid 45 minutes to an hour of playing. That's all i have outside of rehearsals. But by the same token when I'm at work I have my iPod and my playlists of material to know and I make the effort to know more about the song than just what the guitar is doing. This is why when I end up in rehearsal I inevitably end up being the guy leading it; I'm the one that knows the physics of the song and not just the parts.

And when the music comes together, that's why i play.....that's why I continue to do it when so many of those I grew up with don't anymore.
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Robbiedbee said:
To be honest, I can't imagine going a week without playing guitar, and I have never forced nyself to play guitar. I guess if you don't have the enthusiasm, you don't have the enthusiasm, and that's all there is to it. It seems odd that a guitar player, whose enthusiasm runs deep enough to invest vast sums of money into their rig, and tinker with pickups, and frequent a forum devoted to the aforementioned tinkering could go so long without playing guitar.

Please don't think I'm judging you. I'm guessing you're one of those lucky guys who has more than one hobby or something :p I just wouldn't last so long without getting me some Strat.
Click to expand...

Well, I usually shift interest from playing guitars to working on guitars. When I'm not playing, I'm reading about amps and guitars and how to do repairs and wiring.

After awhile the mental side of things start to get the best of me. Especially with having been in lessons for so long and now going deep into theory. It's nice to take a break and collect your thoughts on all of it. Instead of having it all infront of your face and having more to chew on every week when the rest hasn't has time to sink in.
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

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

Theres alot.. but probably the most important are..

-Practice.. no matter how much you can.. little is better than none. Dont matter if your guitar god or whoever.. if you dont keep your chops sharp your gonna get your ass kicked.

-Like some have said.. bad tempo and timing is many players downfall, get your rythm and timing straight and youll be on the good track..

-Listen to other guitarist, or musicians of many genres and styles.. you can get alot from just looking and listening to others play.

-Play because you want to, not because you have too. Taking a break is a good thing sometimes.

-Read JeffB's Post about dynamics. This is very true and have had the same reaction too and even been told "you can realy make a guitar sound good" and this hapens mostly when i do simple stuff and dont try to rip solos or nothing.
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

JB_From_Hell said:
I'm going to second the "don't force it" thing. Guitar playing is supposed to be fun, right? If you're having to force it, you're obviously not having fun, and if you're not having fun, what's the point?
Click to expand...

I'm with you for the most part. On balance it should be something you enjoy enough that you don't have to force yourself to keep going.

But no matter how much you love playing, there are going to be times when you HAVE to sit down and make yourself practice when it's the last thing you want to do at that moment. That's the way it is with anything in life you love and want to be good at -- there will be moments where it's just pure blood, sweat and tears.
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

One tip= one word:

Listen.

Listen to what everyone else is doing, listen to what you're doing. Too many people get too wrapped up in whatever they're doing to be bothered to pay attention to how the band sounds as a whole. That goes for volume, tone, time as well as the actual notes you're playing.
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Play with other people!

I play with one guy who's better than me at a lot of things, and I learn a lot there, but I also ply with another guy who's not as good as I am and I still learn from what he plays.

JUST GO DO IT! Call your friends right now!
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

The Golden Boy said:
One tip= one word:

Listen.

Listen to what everyone else is doing, listen to what you're doing. Too many people get too wrapped up in whatever they're doing to be bothered to pay attention to how the band sounds as a whole. That goes for volume, tone, time as well as the actual notes you're playing.
Click to expand...

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

The Golden Boy said:
One tip= one word:

Listen.

Listen to what everyone else is doing, listen to what you're doing. Too many people get too wrapped up in whatever they're doing to be bothered to pay attention to how the band sounds as a whole. That goes for volume, tone, time as well as the actual notes you're playing.
Click to expand...

+1 thatsa good one
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

Happy Dude said:
#1 tip: play slower.
Click to expand...

Honestly I never thought I played that fast until I recorded myself last year, and all of a sudden I realized the song I was recording for my girlfriend did not have the right feel AT ALL... I ended up recording a lot of stuff last summer, and really learned that anything can make or break a song, including being too fast or slow.
 
Re: The 1 tip that made you a better player...

After 3 pages of good tips, what do I add?

Always make sure your zipper is up before you walk out onstage.

Have a cool pair of shoes.

There's no such thing as a wrong note, if the one that follows puts it into harmonic context.

If you or anyone in your band makes a mistake, don't wince or look over at them. Pretend like it never happened, and maybe the audience won't notice it.
 
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