155 replies to this topic

[Left Wing Loner]

Anybody else play guitar?
I've been getting back into it after a LOOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGGG hiatus.
And of course I'm super rusty. What does anybody else do to practice or improve their play?
I've mostly been working on strumming patterns, running scales, alternating picking up and down on scales, and chord shapes.
I need something else to do here. So give me your ideas.

[SgtFrenchy]

I've got a bunch of guitars that I can hardly play. I've been looking to learn to play for a little while now. Youtube's been a great help.

[Tamby]

Just play how I play: all style, no technique.

[CoyoteQ]

What Tamby said. I just make it up as I go along. How long of a hiatus was it? I too just picked it up again after an 11-12 year break.
It's been very frustrating because I know the level I was at before was much more than where I am now and I have a fraction of the time to learn/practice/play that I had back then.

[Left Wing Loner]

Like 12 year hiatus.....more or less.
I started taking lessons last Friday and he explained to me what an Arpeggio actually is. It was like a giant weight had been lifted off my shoulders.
Still rusty, but making SOME headway.

This point has been edited by Downstate: 06 February 2012 - 08:21 PM

[CrittersBuggin]

ive been playing Guitar and Bass since i was 12 (am 33 now). i was never good at practicing my theory. i can read music, but i suck at it. majority of my knowledge came from just learning songs and paying attention to the techniques my favorite artists used. if you know basic chords, and what hammer-ons and pull-offs are, you are set. you naturally pick up the rest by just jamming.

PRACTICE USING YOUR PINKY. ive gotten to the point where i play my 5th chords w/ my pinky instead of my ring finger (it allows me to have cool hammer on options w/ my ring finger). ive actually just started using my pinky in place of my ring any time a chord will allow.

further than that... if you want to get better at your picking skills (with a pick) and strenghten your fingers, and not have to worry about following a specific scale... just start at F (fret 1) on the E string and walk up the frets...1, 2, 3, 4. repeat for each string, from E to E, and then walk right back down again...backwards. then shift up one fret (F sharp) and repeat the same process. do this all the way up the neck of the guitar. it is time consuming, and tedious, but really is the best way to accomplish training your hand for strength and speed. you get this down to the point where you can blaze through the neck scales will be MUCH easier.

are you practicing any hand (classical style) picking?

[Left Wing Loner]

I like playing the scales up and down the neck anyway. But I'll give your thing a shot.

I'm not really working on hand-picking technique at all yet.

[Left Wing Loner]

My brother practices constantly. His motto has to me has been "If you played guitar instead of video games, you'd be better than me."
My XboX commitment has reduced drastically from 4 or 5 hours a day to about half an hour.

[Left Wing Loner]

The thing is if I played less games I'd be more bored lol I'd rather a good game of NHL or skyrim than to being able to play the guitar.

You can always run scales or work on finger exercises while you watch NHL games. I do it all the time.

[CrittersBuggin]

You can always run scales or work on finger exercises while you watch NHL games. I do it all the time.

i def get most of my practice time in watching sporting events!

[Xcal97]

PRACTICE USING YOUR PINKY. ive gotten to the point where i play my 5th chords w/ my pinky instead of my ring finger (it allows me to have cool hammer on options w/ my ring finger). ive actually just started using my pinky in place of my ring any time a chord will allow.

Youre not kidding either, when I first learned how to use my damn pinky it was like a whole new world of epic guitar playing.

[Tamby]

I've been playing bass since age 16...so umm 20 years...and only started using my pinky on a regular basis after playing Expert level Rock Band for a long time. Rock Band is good for something!

[Left Wing Loner]

I actually started playing again because of Guitar Hero: Monsters of Rock. I didn't want to play another Tool song. I wanted to do something fun.

[chicken wing]

Meh, I used to play bass, well I still have it but I haven't "really" played since 1989. Holy crap it's been that long?

[CrittersBuggin]

Youre not kidding either, when I first learned how to use my damn pinky it was like a whole new world of epic guitar playing.

seriously man. thats no lie.

[Left Wing Loner]

I just scored a Black Label Chorus pedal. And it's awesome. I've been running my Blues Driver pedal into it. Anyone pay attention to chain orders? Is it supposed to be the other way around?

[Craig Simpson]

I've played bass for about 19 years but never really played well. I can play along with most things but never really got too fancy. This past Christmas holiday I determined that I would practice every day. Normally I play once or twice a month in church and nothing around that. I practised a walking bass line for Sleigh Ride and spent 10 hours figuring it out and realized if I only practised, I could be pretty good. You just have to keep challenging yourself and staying in your comfort zone. That's my aim now. Long & McQuade has a big sale on this weekend, so I'm going to go check it out and see if I can pick me up a decent four string bass (I've played a 5 string since I started and have a real problem adjusting back to a four string when that is all that is available).

I also want to start back on the saxophone. I have both a Tenor and an Alto (played in high school and a few years after), but finding time to practice two instruments is tougher. My son also plays the drums (BladesLeafsFan), so I'm trying to get more practice time with him but he's super busy as it is. I find, especially on the bass, that practising by yourself is rather dull, but I can jam with people all day long. Just have to find those people to jam with.

[CrittersBuggin]

I just scored a Black Label Chorus pedal. And it's awesome. I've been running my Blues Driver pedal into it. Anyone pay attention to chain orders? Is it supposed to be the other way around?

i dont pay attention to any kind of specific order... only with whatever feels comfortable and sounds best to me. i have mine set up: Wah - Phaser - Overdrive/Distortion - Auto Q - Auto Q - Synth Wah - Delay. tried it a number of dif ways and the difference in sound wasn't something so great that it couldn't be fixed by tweaking my EQ.