Being good yet horrible at guitar

  • Thread starter Thread starter BigGuitars
  • Start date Start date
I hit a wall too as I think most of us do. Like I started playing when I was 12. The first year I went from not being able to play 2 consecutive notes to being able to play Crazy Train all the way through. The next couple years I did ok but after awhile I didn't challenge myself. Like learning new riffs here and there wasn't like learning new techniques.

Anyway a few years ago I started playing seriously again and broke through my plateaus with the help of teachers. I finally started learning theory. I still need to work on some song writing. I have some lessons with Karl Sanders from Nile for this subject entirely. Like I can write songs in other genres but when it comes to writing music I want to play I can never do it.
 
I have been playing since 1985 and still can't tell you what notes are on the fretboard other than a few like A is fifth fret, E is open, etc. I swear. With that said, I've been in bands and have recorded a ton of songs. I have had fun playing by ear and just enjoying whatever it is I'm doing. I don't know any scales really except a few but don't know what they are or what I'm doing. Lol
 
Learning piano taught me a lot about theory..stuff I would have never known. But practice makes me better at guitar. Especially practicing shit that I hate. If you stay in your box, you will never get better. But I don't think learning theory makes you better. Just lets you know what you are actually doing. I played the same riffs over and over and didn't improve for a few years. I am not yet good, but i get better every week now.
 
romanianreaper said:
I have been playing since 1985 and still can't tell you what notes are on the fretboard other than a few like A is fifth fret, E is open, etc. I swear. With that said, I've been in bands and have recorded a ton of songs. I have had fun playing by ear and just enjoying whatever it is I'm doing. I don't know any scales really except a few but don't know what they are or what I'm doing. Lol
Click to expand...
LOL exactly the same here.
 
I can write stuff all day long. I'm better at composition than skill. I get by... basic guitar stuff, a lead solo, etc., but will never be a 'master.' I also tend to dip into other instruments, including keys, other stringed instruments, even winds. Maybe that's what limits me... boredom with one particularly thing will noodling with other things.
 
I know names few chords. I play tons of songs. But can’t tell you if I’m doing ‘deminished 5th in g chorus’ Haha
But I learned a lot in the 80s from GFTPM tabs.
I stole little nuggets from evh. Demartini. Lynch. And kinda made it into my own style
 
Recently a possibility has arisen for mw to audition for a Thrash band. I haven't even come close to playing anything above about 110bpm in 15 or more years so really thought "nah there is no way" ... sat down and started to try and figure out (by ear from a terrible live cassette recording from 29 years ago haha) 8 of the bands songs.. lots of finger gymnastic riffs etc. After about 1 hour of the first song I said to the wife "there is no fucking way I can play this stuff". Around 3 days later I had all the songs figured out and had 3 of them up to speed ... she was blown away and couldn't believe how quickly it came together ... I put it down to the fact I have been playing for 35 years and playing really is all about muscle memory so my fingers were always going to be able to do it, I just had to let my head figure that out to

Doesn't look like the band is going to continue so I probably wasted a few weeks learning the stuff but man has my playing really "woken up" .. I am now writing songs in higher tempos with more aggression so good things have come from it
 
I sometimes write songs in my dreams. I keep a guitar, keyboard and recorder next to my bed, so that I can record what I remember. Lyrics come out of the ether.
 
Last edited:
BigGuitars said:
Musical ability is genetic. It’s that simple. I’m great, yet completely worthless on guitar at the same time. I cannot progress. Can’t write music. Can’t write a riff, can’t write a lead, can’t improvise... The more I dedicate myself to practice the worse I get. Anyone else the same?
Click to expand...
But, you say that you are great... In what way are you great? Great at playing covers?
 
HEMI Cooper said:
I sometimes write songs in my dreams. I keep a guitar, keyboard and recorder next to my bed, so that I can record what I remember. Lyrics come out of the ether.
Click to expand...
Same here mate, but I try to keep the idea in my head whilst I concoct a verse / chorus for it (whichever one it's not).

Then, if it's still in-my-head an hour later, I sing it into my old-school mini-cassette-based dictaphone.
 
Monkey Man said:
Same here mate, but I try to keep the idea in my head whilst I concoct a verse / chorus for it (whichever one it's not).

Then, if it's still in-my-head an hour later, I sing it into my old-school mini-cassette-based dictaphone.
Click to expand...
I sing riffs and lyrics into my phone. I am at the point with writing that if the riff/song is any good I tend to remember it (after playing it over and over). But if a riff has a "groove" that takes it to the next level then I have to record it other wise I loose the special thing about it
 
Monkey Man said:
Same here mate, but I try to keep the idea in my head whilst I concoct a verse / chorus for it (whichever one it's not).

Then, if it's still in-my-head an hour later, I sing it into my old-school mini-cassette-based dictaphone.
Click to expand...
It fades quickly for me. As far as writing, 3:00 AM and 5:00 AM are when the ideas come.
 
I hear ya bro.

That's the thing - it fades quickly, as is usually the case with dreamed stuff. That's why I take it and work with it in my head, tending to always keep the key feeling / phrase.

The reason I wait an hour is it's the simplest vetting process that works for me. Most of the time I lose the idea, which says a lot for the quality of my stuff. :LOL:
 
"Keep doing what you're doin kid.
Dont listen to anyone else, even me"

1989-Club 22 Monroeville Pittsburgh
Paul Gilbert to a youngster me when I stayed til LAST in line to ask nearly the same Qs.

Do YOU
 
I feel your pain. Sometimes I progress in certain areas but regress in other areas. Then...old age arthritis kicks in and boom...I'm done! LOL
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top