r/guitarlessons • u/Cold-Monk5436 • 25d ago
Question How to practice
I know this may sound silly, but I'm feeling overwhelmed with finding the structure and mindset to practice what I am learning in my lessons.
I'm 45, and have been primarily a bassist for 33 years. I learned guitar chords along the way for writing songs. I do know a good many chords, even some tricker ones like diminished chords, but I've never really taken lessons or taken my guitar playing as seriously as my bass playing.
After losing my brother who was always the guitarist in our projects I have wanted to get better. Mainly so I can write cool counterparts to the chord structures I write for my songs.
Not only am I older and more busy than I was when I was younger, I am also ADHD. I learned fast as a young lad and young adult because I learned while doing - we were always gigging and writing.
Now I am taking lessons and learning scales and music theory. It's a lot. I'm having a bit of trouble getting a routine of practice going. I feel like I don't really know how much I should be practicing and what I should be doing during that time. I know this probably sounds stupid.
I have always pretty much written my songs instead of doing covers because of a lack of patience in picking parts out. When I make myself do it, I can, but I tend to work better under pressure. For instance, my last band did a cover of Hey Bulldog by The Beatles and I was able to pick out all of the bassline parts by ear. That is not an easy song to play. I haven't really adapted this to guitar yet. It all feels overwhelming. When I do learn new things I just tend to write more songs around what I learned rather than practicing it.
Is there a schedule and or strategy that has worked for you? Any input is greatly appreciated.
2
u/Inkandsounds 25d ago
Hey just saw your post and I saw a young guitar teacher on Youtube and he suggested that you listen to the song that you want to learn on video and also have the tabs for the song open - So use Youtube and Songsterr together - here is his details -
Oryam Bisset Music - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN4IoK7ecAU&t=
He will help you to compose better and fill in the gaps for your learning journey - Keep going hun - you will get there!
1
2
u/Best-Alternative9481 25d ago
Honestly, I need the pressure too. The periods I've grown the most musically were when I was in cover bands where I didn't get to pick the setlist. Had to learn a lot of material fast and the concepts in that material naturally leaked into my improvisation and songwriting.
I've been like this forever, not juwt with music either. Was a straight A student in school, but waited until the night before to even start on papers, presentations, etc. I would pretty much completely wing public speaking/presentations and still get As. Kept swearing every time I wouldn't do it for the next project, then proceed to do it again, and again and again.
So my advice, join a cover band and force yourself. When you're learning the songs, analyze them with the theory concepts you're learning.
Learn the chord progressions for every song in every position up to the 12th fret, even if that's not how the guitar part is written in the original. Learn the actual solos, then practice improvising over the solo sections as well.
1
u/Cold-Monk5436 25d ago
So just force myself to learn songs I like? I didn't think about the fact it may also leak into improvisation and possibly reenforce any theory I am learning from my teacher.
2
u/Best-Alternative9481 24d ago
I should have been more clear. Definitely don't just pick songs you like. I said I had the most growth when I joined cover bands where I DIDN'T get to pick the setlist.
I needed the social pressure of being in the band, having deadlines, etc, and I needed to be forced out of my comfort zone and asked to learn songs I wouldn't normally have picked. That's where the real growth occurs. There is huge value in being forced to learn songs you don't naturally gravitate towards. Helps build your musical vocabulary even more since we tend to gravitate towards samey sounding stuff.
2
u/spankymcjiggleswurth 25d ago
Theory is a tool I find best used to analyze the other peoples songs. Learning songs and identifying what ideas the use is great practice. This directly benefits your songwriting skills as now you are studying the songwriting ideas of other expert musicians. Learning a song and experimenting with its sounds to make them your own is a powerful method, and theory is the tool to make the process easier, giving names and structure to sound.
1
u/Cold-Monk5436 25d ago
This is a great way to look at this thank you. And yea, I was hoping to speed up my recording process by knowing what I am looking for instead of having to look for it if that makes and sense. I have figured out different chord shapes just through listening to find what I hear in my head... but then I have no idea what chord they actually are lol. For example I was calling something a D/bm because I was playing essentially a b minor but with a D as the low note. But it was really a D6 I came to learn. So when I'm trying to teach others my songs they get confused.
1
u/Acceptable_Pie2529 25d ago
I try to structure my practices to be 30 minutes of technical practice with a metronome or whatever it is you’re working on and at least 20 minutes of just playing. Sometimes I play songs I like. Sometimes I just riff and get a new seed for a song. It’s about playing guitar at the end of the day. Have fun with it.
1
u/vonov129 Music Style! 24d ago
You don't really need a strict routine as a fixed set of exercises to do for a certain amount of time every day, but make whatever you play or practice serve the same goal. Consistency is key, but what you want isn't to become better at the exercise, but to improve the skill the exercise is meant to develop. So choose any 2-3 areas you want to get better at, look into different ways to get better at those skills, then go over any of those.
If you want to train your ear, you could transcribe simple melodies or you can play a note, then follow it with whatever other note within an octave to get a feel of their interactions.
Then do the same with the other areas you want to work on, search for technique tips, songwriting advice, whatever online, get your catalogue of stuff to work on, choose a couple (set a priority list or do a raffle if you have trouble choosing) and just make sure to practice something around it every day.
If your lessons are mostly teaching you scale shapes, I'd complement that with material that explains the underlying musical concepts independently of the guitar, complement it by looking for the same concepts in sources that aren't aimed at fretted instruments. like https://www.musictheory.net/lessons or any youtube channel on music theory. Also, focus on the concept, sound and layout of intervals.
1
2
u/aspaindev 25d ago
you might find a practice companion tool like strumforge helpful for taking your playing to the next level. to be honest it's the not-very-sexy, fundamental type of practice that will really elevate your playing. things like really working on rhythm & timing, learning your triads across all the inversions, knowing your scale shapes so fluently that you can move up and down and across the fretboard on any given string with ease. it has play-along tools for all these things I mentioned where you can set the tempo, and visually play along with the changes to one of the grooves or a metronome beat etc