What to do?

[benbenben]

Okay. I've been playing for a decent amount of time, 4 - 5 years and I must say i've come a long way now.
I've got a few riffs and licks up my sleeves and a few songs in the bag.
I just wanna go to that next level. AND just be better.
Sometimes when im just playing and improvising to a backing, i'm impressed. I'd be like wow, Ben, you're doing great. But there are some times (and its getting more and more frequent) where i just get totally bored and i dunno what to play.
I'm quite impatient with learning songs as i'd learn the first parts and then give up or get bored of it.
What can i do?

 

[larry_emder]

Re: What to do?

Get a tutor.

 

[schecterplayer]

Re: What to do?

Really the best thing to do is find someone else to jam with who is near you in skill level. You sort of drive each other to get better and its also just a lot of fun.

 

[Nightrunner]

Re: What to do?

Really the best thing to do is find someone else to jam with who is near you in skill level. You sort of drive each other to get better and its also just a lot of fun.

+1 -- Agree fully.

For some reason, jamming with other musicians really helps with progression & definitely helps keep the interest there during the low, slow-growth points. Now, practicing on your own is still important too, but the ensemble playing will benefit you in numerous ways!


--Nightrunner

 

[benbenben]

Re: What to do?

I see. What cani do to further my theory. It's quite weak atm but i wanna learn.

 

[Nightrunner]

Re: What to do?

I see. What cani do to further my theory. It's quite weak atm but i wanna learn.

Understanding the way that chords function in specific keys (tonal centers & their tonalities whether major, minor, modal, etc..) is a great starting place. You can take that knowledge & progress into arpeggios and scales/lead lines based on the chords for the key you're playing in.

You could find this info in any number of guitar method books or even some chord books--if you're comfortable with "self-teaching" that is... Otherwise maybe take a short run of lessons from someone with that expertise and have him/her tailor the lessons to enhancing your knowledge of general guitar/music theory.


Hope that helps! I don't claim to be guitar-theory literate either (more classical music theory background for me), but those would be good places to begin.

EDIT: Oh, and don't place too much stock in theory... it's important to have some foundation, but (and a LOT of people seem to disagree with this) too much theory may end up stifling your creativity or at least molding your sound into something less than it could be if it weren't quite as "filitered." Just make sure you aren't afraid to step outside of the theory mold once you dive in.


--Nightrunner