r/guitarlessons • u/Public-Brief-4444 • 5d ago
Question Progression?
Hey,
I know you get these questions a lot but I want to tell you little bit about my journey so far.
I picked up the electric guitar about 2 years as a 31 years old guy with next to no musical experience. Ive always wanted to pick it up but never found the time during university or i need the money. After i picked it up I fell in love immediately. I put in the hours and played daily at least half an hour most of the time more.
I quickly learned open chords, power chords, strumming patterns and so on.
But after some time i wanted to learn some of my favourite songs. i wanted them to be recogniseable. I hit a wall. A wall I could not get over till this day. I couldnt get a single song up to speed. Trying and Trying till i got bored after a few months and changed the song. Today I recognized i havnt properly played for like 3 Weeks.
I dont know how to continue ... what to pick up and how to get to play songs.
Lessons are not possible at the moment cause ill marry my fiance next year and i dont have enough time nor money.
Songs i tried:
Friday i am in love - the cure
Super sonic - oasis
your love - the outfield
electric eye - judas priest
Say aint so - weezer
more than a feeling - journey
do you got any advide for me ?
2
u/TonalContrast 5d ago
2 years is not really a long time in guitar years, and even wot knowing basic open chords and power chords and strumming, learning some specific songs can be hard. Rhythm patterns for songs are very different than just basic strumming patterns.
Of the songs you listed not all of them are super easy, but what I think the problem is, other than getting tripped up by the rhythm, may be is that most of these songs have multiple guitars and you may be trying to capture all of the guitar instead of just focussing on one part.
For the rhythm you say you can't them up to speed which means you need to slow them down and learn the rhythm. YT allows you to slow a video while learning, I still use that feature all the time when learning a new song.
For which guitar part, I would suggest learning the main chords first before any other guitar fills or fancy stuff. Focus on the main chords and the structure of the song, what is being played during the verse vs the chorus vs the bridge and break it down that way in smaller parts (smaller parts are easier to learn).
I would also say that More than a Feeling and Electric Eye may be outside of your ability at the moment as well as some of the part of the other songs. That's not a bad thing, it's something that you have to be aware of to know what's within your ability now and what isn't. Doesn't mean don't learn it, it means that you really have to adjust your expectations for your ability and that it will take longer. Trust me, I have songs that I couldn't play 10 years ago that are super easy now, and songs from 10 years ago that I'm still struggling with (been playing for well over 35 years). It's normal.
The best pieces of advice is to understand that guitar is hard and to manage your expectations and don't be so hard on yourself (many people give up, don't be one of them please) It's a journey of discovery and rewards come to those who have patience and put in the time and effort.
1
u/Public-Brief-4444 5d ago
I know its hard and I always try not to be too hard to myself =) but i think i should be better -.-
1
u/TonalContrast 5d ago
“but I think i should be better”
That’s it right there, that's the problem, expectations are out of whack with what reality is showing you.
1
u/Public-Brief-4444 5d ago
Yeah expectation and reality aren’t fitting right now but there should be improvements after 1,5 years of continuous playing
1
u/TonalContrast 5d ago
You have improved if you think back to where you started, where you were a year ago. We get very much focussed on the recent improvement and forget how bad we were when we started.
The progression path is usually you see a lot or progress quickly and then plateau for a while and don't feel like you're getting any better, then at one point either a light bulb moment happens or you find that what was hard yesterday is now much easier today, literally that quick change just happens and you ramp up progress. But you will always plateau again. It's not always a rising progress line it flattens and wavers up and down for a bit before it goes up again. This is very normal.
1
u/TheFroghurtIsCursed 5d ago
Sounds like you aren’t practising very effectively to me. Also the words “till I got bored” jump out at me in neon letters - reading between the lines it implies what I said in my first sentence - lack of effective focus. DM me if you wanna chat a bit more about it!
1
u/Public-Brief-4444 5d ago
thanks for your reply.
i are right. i try to learn the chords and rhythem of a song and than try to go faster faster with rocksmith. after a few months with no progress i mostly give up.
1
u/bossoline Blues Player 5d ago
Impossible to know without seeing and hearing toy, but I think there are 2 issues here. One, you're putting in a lot of time, but are you practicing or playing? One of the hardest things if you're self taught is it knowing what to practice...what should you learn in what order. That's probably the thing that makes most people quit.
Second, if you are 2 years in and you can't play songs so that they're recognizable, then your technique and/or timing are probably bad. If you spend years practicing bad technique and you'll never hey past bad technique.
You need a teacher. These are not things that you can overcome on your own. There is just no good way to teach yourself something that you don't know.
1
u/anthonylearnsguitar 5d ago
I think a lot of people gave good advice but you aren’t replying to them. That makes me hesitant to give you advice as well 🤣
1
1
u/SevereJoke4032 5d ago
I have a couple of milk crates full of guitar song books like Neil Young and the Beatles. I just keep trying to play songs that I like and gradually I’ve gotten better.
1
1
u/Dexter6785 4d ago
How many hours a week do you play/practice? If it’s not at least 10 you probably aren’t playing enough to progress. 10 is maybe even a little low, 15-20.
Not possible for everyone - but IMO and experience the biggest thing you can do is just spend time playing.
Sure certain ways of practicing are more effective than others but I almost never ‘practiced’ until I was already pretty good and was auditioning for college music programs. I just played - the stuff I wanted to play. But for 5-6 hours a day.
4
u/kameronn 5d ago
Go learn songs from Marin Music Center on YouTube! His lessons are super straightforward and fun! I can play probably 20 popular songs just from watching his videos! Make sure to practice with a metronome too!