I've kinda hit a roadblock in my progress.

I know I should be practicing anything and everything and I am. But is it better to practice learning songs or start working on the pentatonic scales? Practicing chords? Any suggestions? Right now I'm practicing about 3 hours a night just playing the songs i know over and over and trying to practice the few scales i know while learning a few other songs. Thanks in advance.

Hi,
Try looking at places like http://www.justinguitar.com or other sites,
you will find practice materials and routines.
Good Luck

Bill

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

i've been using all kinds of youtube lessons... Guitarjamzdotcom seems to be the best for me so far, not sure why but I just cnt seem to follow along with justin sandercoe. There is also a guy called Siggi Martens (german guy) who has great lessons.

I was basically doing exactly the same thing you are when I started learning. Just keep it up, there will be times where it feels like you hit a dead end or you just don't know what to do. I nearly quit because of that. That's when it's time to go find other musicians who can help you out. Or a teacher. You'd be shocked by how much help it is to have someone to help you out. But a bad teacher can make things even worse, so you have to be careful. I found my teacher by asking local musicians about it, and his name kept popping up.

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dbr get some backing tracks or just record some progressions yourself and practice playing your scales over them. This is one of the most important things you can do as it breaks you out of just running a scale to trying to use it in a musical context. Even if you just try to come up with a little melody using two or three strings it gets you to think musicly . Remember all the great solos you hear are fragments no one ,except in a very fast run where someone might sequence through a scale uses scales in the order you practice them. So this will pull you out of that also play on one string going up and down using the notes of the scale that way,or take the E and B and do some bending over a track. Take a few licks you know and use them over a different progression changing a bend to a slide or hammering on and pulloffs till it sounds good to you.Just keep doing what your doing at it will all click. KEEP ON ROCKIN

yeah actually tbh same thing exactly happened to me also. i was just learning songs and i was like ....what do i do now. lol but once i started to play with different people i learned a lot and actually learned better techniques. but most important thing is just keep it at it and have fun. theres no sense in learning if your not having fun.

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Guitars:
-2008 fender american standard telecaster
-homemade stratocaster (TA guitar)
Amp:
-Fender Deville
effects:
-Boss Md-2
-Vox V847

See I have been looking for someone to teach lessons but the budget is tight. I have several friends who play guitar, but like many guys for them it is a competition and no one wants to play with the beginner! One of my friends who plays and tours with his band mentioned someone in my city, but the lessons are pretty steep. Do you think $45-50 an hour is steep for a lesson? At that rate I could only take 1-2 lessons a month!

stray cat thanks for the advice, good words of encouragement. Ive been playing more and more with backing tracks to the songs I know and also the rp-90 i have has drum patterns on it so i try to play little solos and "bluesy" type riffs over that. I guess what i am going through is normal though, a point where you need to take that next step in your progression and aren't sure where to go. Thanks for the advice man, and I'm gonna keep rocking because at this point playing guitar is more than something I do it has become part of my life.! thanks!

damn i need friends like yours! my friends all say "yeah lets get together and play" then something comes up, but most of them have been playing since we were kids and seem to think it is a hassle to play with someone who isnt on their level. I'm definitely having fun though, as the minute I get home from work til time to go to bed I have the guitar in my hand and nothing else on my mind.

How long have you been playing for? If it's less than a year I'd say to just keep playing easy songs and play along with the recordings. Later on when you start learning scales and all that you'll have a good reference point. I've been playing close to 20 years and I regret not taking the time at the beginning to just play the easy stuff. Like most people I wanted to jump right to SRV and Hendrix songs and all it did was slow down the learning process. You have many many years of playing ahead of you, don't rush it.

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Tune Low, Play Hard & Floor it!

Truthfully only 7 months total, but the first 1-2 months I was playing maybe 3 nights a week. The past 5 months I have been playing 6 days a week for 3+ hours on weeknights and 5+ hours on weekend days.

I know I may have jumped into some difficult stuff too soon and that's why i started taking it slower and learning the easy songs more. The toughest thing I learned so far was the solo for "Nobody knows you When you're down and out" from Clapton unplugged and the riffs for "The girl I love shes got long black wavy hair"- by Zeppelin. Other than that it's easy songs like Freebird, No Woman no cry and redemption song and Southern Cross.

Hi dbr,

I just started playing again after a looooooooonnnggg lay off. Started just playing tabs while looking for a teacher. the purpose of the teacher was to make sure I had good technique and fundamental skills. I "taught" myself how to golf. Now I've got some bad habits that are extremely difficult to break. I've picked up some Hal Leonard books to supplement my instrucion. I pay $20 a half hour. Actually I think if you only go 2x a month that gives you plenty of time between lessons to practice.

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2015 Epiphone Casino Goldtop
2011 Taylor 814ce
2009 EC Custom Shop Merc Blue
2008 Schecter ATX
1964 Epi Granada E444T
Fender Super Champ XD

No, that's about right. Usually lessons run anywhere between $20-$30 per half hour. I'd actually recommend you get half hour lessons, because you still get a lot out of it but it's cheaper than hour long lessons.

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Website: http://www.rebeccalaird.com
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JMR and Tex thanks for the info on lessons, I think I'll have to call the guy and see about lessons 2x a month. He said he also has a "lesson plan" he will create based on my goals and I can use that as an outline for my studies.

yeah actually when i first started playing my friend actually gave me some lessons who has been playing since he was in 5th grade and he started teaching me when i was a freshmen for a half an hour which was 10 bucks each time i went and wow you actually really really do learn alot in 30 min, but i only was taught for like a while and i went off from there and self taught myself basically everything else.

_________________
Guitars:
-2008 fender american standard telecaster
-homemade stratocaster (TA guitar)
Amp:
-Fender Deville
effects:
-Boss Md-2
-Vox V847