Guitar goals for 2013 - what's yours?

User avatar
daryl
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 9:21 am
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Status: Offline

Sat Jan 26, 2013 8:48 pm

villisca wrote:
My goals for the guitar in 2013 ? hmmmm...... actually (being only like a week or so into learning anything about it ) I want to learn to play one song. I would also like to get the timing thing down. (cause i cant seem to match the metronome no matter how hard I try lol ) And I would like to get the basic chords so I can move easy between them. With those things down I think I would be happy for 2013.
Oh and maybe understanding more of the things you guys are talking about lol (but ill learn in time (I hope lol )). :unsure:
Villisca :)
You'll get there.

With the metronome, forget about the chords. Just deaden the strings with your fretting hand and focus on your strumming hand. Start with just down stokes on the beat. Then go to down on one, up on two, down on three, and up on four. Keep your hand and arm relaxed. Start slowly. Close your eyes. Listen to the beat. Have fun.


michelew
Posts: 87
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:43 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia
Status: Offline

Sat Jan 26, 2013 9:06 pm

Rod wrote:
Hey Shel

All sounds familiar. I not gonna go into my goals for the year, cos they been the same for years and you described it perfect.
I know where you are, I was thinking how the hell do all these guys in bars and clubs know how to do what there doing and
how the hell do they remember all the songs and improvise over the solo section in the style of the song. I felt like i was learning something
and then when I replayed it i was just pressing buttons cos i had it memorised. Very frustrating cos you know you can play it but
you cant carry it over into improvisation or reuse it with your own songs.
For me I found its all about knowing where you are and what your options are.
1. what key am I in.
2. Learn the chord progressions as they relate to the key ie. 1-4-5 for blues. You will find that in western popular music
some formulas repeat time after time. Look at this vid
You could spend years learning all these songs, but if you learn the formula and transcribe it. cuts the work down.
You can pick one song you know already and learn the formula on the way to work (dead time i call it) maybe not Blackbird as the melody
is quite strong and it would be hard to improvise over.
3. If you want to use some pentatonic scales to play some lead. Take some sort of chord jam and put a small lead break in.
Maybe just 4 or six notes, as small lick. Its all about timing at first. After a while you can add more licks. I did this with blues as its easy to find
blues jam tracks to play along with try. http://www.guitargackingtrack.com/
4. Don't work on to much. Master small challenges rather than breaking it up into bass, classical, electric. There all the same if you are aware of
your key and scales available and the chord progression.
5. Learn the CAGED technique it will help a lot with knowlage of where you are.

Anyway that's my little rant over.. just sounds like your in a place I been, and I'm telling you how I moved on from it.

Rod.

--
Cheers Rod...
Hey Rod,

Thanks for all of that, you've given me some great advice. Translate each chord in the progression back to the chord's number, I think you're telling me in part of it. Well that definitely would help with transposing too. I must admit I generally just use a capo (a guitar player's superpower). Yes, realising that it's just another I, IV, V, iv song would and does help to cement songs in my head. And yes I should probably think that way more, which I do to some extent. The rest, I hear you there too. Thanks for the pointers.

Shel


Catman
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 1:51 pm
Status: Offline

Sun Jan 27, 2013 6:29 am

Hi Shel,

Great topic, and lots of interesting and thoughtful replies.

My main goal for 2013 is to focus. I'm going to take a page out of the book next to Tony's, and focus on acoustic finger-style blues (with a little time kept aside for the two TE pieces I've been working on for ages now). I agree with Tony that this will help develop a lot of the associated techniques to the next level. I suppose that flat-picking will be left for next year...

A second goal is to find people to jam with on a regular basis. I've started working on that already.

-David


User avatar
daryl
Posts: 22
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 9:21 am
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Status: Offline

Sun Jan 27, 2013 7:47 am

Catman wrote:
Hi Shel,

Great topic, and lots of interesting and thoughtful replies.

My main goal for 2013 is to focus. I'm going to take a page out of the book next to Tony's, and focus on acoustic finger-style blues (with a little time kept aside for the two TE pieces I've been working on for ages now). I agree with Tony that this will help develop a lot of the associated techniques to the next level. I suppose that flat-picking will be left for next year...

A second goal is to find people to jam with on a regular basis. I've started working on that already.

-David
David, What two TE pieces have you decided to tackle?


dennisg
Posts: 0
Joined: Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:34 am
Status: Offline

Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:56 am

daryl wrote:
villisca wrote:
My goals for the guitar in 2013 ? hmmmm...... actually (being only like a week or so into learning anything about it ) I want to learn to play one song. I would also like to get the timing thing down. (cause i cant seem to match the metronome no matter how hard I try lol ) And I would like to get the basic chords so I can move easy between them. With those things down I think I would be happy for 2013.
Oh and maybe understanding more of the things you guys are talking about lol (but ill learn in time (I hope lol )). :unsure:
Villisca :)
You'll get there.

With the metronome, forget about the chords. Just deaden the strings with your fretting hand and focus on your strumming hand. Start with just down stokes on the beat. Then go to down on one, up on two, down on three, and up on four. Keep your hand and arm relaxed. Start slowly. Close your eyes. Listen to the beat. Have fun.
This is really good advice!

Part of what happens with any new musician trying to play something is that your brain gets flooded with information, and it gets nearly impossible to focus on (or correct) any single thing. Daryl's excellent advice will help you strip away everything but the timing issue.


Catman
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Apr 12, 2009 1:51 pm
Status: Offline

Sun Jan 27, 2013 9:58 am

daryl wrote:
David, What two TE pieces have you decided to tackle?
Windy and Warm (actually John D. Loudermilk, but I am working on the TE interpretation) and Countrywide


michelew
Posts: 87
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:43 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia
Status: Offline

Sun Jan 27, 2013 10:43 pm

Catman wrote:
Hi Shel,

Great topic, and lots of interesting and thoughtful replies.

My main goal for 2013 is to focus. I'm going to take a page out of the book next to Tony's, and focus on acoustic finger-style blues (with a little time kept aside for the two TE pieces I've been working on for ages now). I agree with Tony that this will help develop a lot of the associated techniques to the next level. I suppose that flat-picking will be left for next year...

A second goal is to find people to jam with on a regular basis. I've started working on that already.

-David
I'm enjoying reading everyone's responses to the thread question and of course the great advice that people are offering.

David, it's funny that you should mention focus as a main goal. I've been having a conversation today about this very thing, focus and balance. Maybe this should be a new forum topic, but the question of what to focus on and how to balance your focus across a range of things so that you spend your time effectively is one that is often on my mind. I'm not sure that I ever get it right and I feel I often swing between being too focused on a few songs or spreading myself too thinly and feeling like my wheels are spinning. Still I guess that's part of the learning cycle too.

So...I find myself coming back to some things both Vanessa and Dennis have said to me "it doesn't matter what you play as long as you're playing" and "just play and have fun". All of which I summarise for myself as "play, play, play". :)

I'm just ranting I guess. It's raining here and I'm having something of a reflective day. But, if anyone has anything to add on the focus issue, go for it.

Shel


dekotaj
Posts: 0
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 11:23 am
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:07 am

Whats up Sis.

2013 for me, will be going back to were I started.Lisa got me a drum set for Christmas.(poor girl) So I will be making a lot of banging around the house.I will also keep working on try to understand why this guitar dose what it dose.Knowing now that will take a lot longer than a year.Try and find some good songs to learn a long the way.

May 2013 find everyone getting on with there dreams
Kev


michelew
Posts: 87
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:43 pm
Location: Sydney, Australia
Status: Offline

Mon Jan 28, 2013 11:08 pm

I wondered when we would see you here sweet Kev. I know you've got many GREAT guitar goals.

But drums! How coooool is that! I'm dead envious. :)

So will you be taking requests for drum tracks? :) ;)

I'm really hoping that we'll see some drum action from you soon. Cool man. :)

Shel


Post Reply Previous topicNext topic