Hey y'all I just watched IMGL last night and had an epiphany of sorts while watching it. I hope you get what I mean when I explain but either way I just have to tell people who understand guitar better than my wife who gave me this look when I tried to explain to her what I had "discovered".

Here I've been learning now for approx a year and a half. I'm getting a good foundation and all that and I feel like I'm close to taking that next step in my playing. I've been watching DVD's and Youtube clips of people playing since I started and the one thing that always gets me is how amazingly these players get sounds out of their guitars as easily as if they were humming a tune to themselves. They think the note and it's at their fingertips.

That's when it hit me that they're beyond chords and scales and strum patterns it's all about creating the sound in your head and using those chords and scales as a vehicle to get what you want out of your guitar. Some of the coolest songs and players aren't exactly prolific but the emotion and sound that they wrench out of their instrument is what makes it great. It's all about figuring out what sounds are where on the fretboard and how to get to them when you want them. Some people want clean and crisp notes and sounds, some want dirty, sloppy sounds. The point is that it's coming out of them and it's their sound.

Even someone like myself who's just at the beginning of the road has their own sound and their own versions of their favorite songs that they can play. Is it note for note of the original? Is it missing a piece of the solo? Is it very good? Not necessarily but I'm putting in my practice time and then trying to play it like I wrote it. Music is supposed played not practiced. While proper form is important I think I need to spend equal time just playing and trying different things and figuring out what's on all the different parts of the neck and what sounds I can create with my set up at home.

I know this is quite a rambling post but I hope you at least appreciate my enthusiasm

Play well my friends!

Right on.
you learn the language so you can say whatever you want - not so you can recite Shakespeare.

_________________
"...Compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees, I am an Apeman."

sounds about right mate i used to be not too bad , used to play lead in a band doing mostly covers of old rock songs and a lot of jammin , we could play for hours however the band broke up (we used to jam in joes garage , no kidding ) and i stopped playing for about 9 years only picking a guitar up now and then 9usually drunk) but luckily my daughter had grabbed my gear and learned to play herself so i didn't sell my stuff . fast forward to a few months ago i had slipped a disc in my kneck and couldn't really move much for about a month and lost all feeling in my left hand ,so i decided to get the strat out of retirement WOW it's amazing how much you forget ,i wasn't quite back at square one could still remember a few hendrix tunes along with some others but my soloing is a bit mince just now , but it is getting better so yes it's all about having fun and if you hit a bum note just carry on , you learn from mistakes . also stick on your fav e band and play along trying to pick out the solo as well , there are a few goo sites to get tabs of solos from as well , once you learn a few of your fave bands lead parts others will fall into place .
I'll be doing the same trying to get the brain and fingers working again

Oooohh, i like that.

_________________
Rated "M" for meaty.

Or in my case, recite Caddyshack.

_________________
2008 MIA Telecaster Crimson Red
2009 Highway 1 Telecaster Sunburst Maple
2010 Martin D-1
Vox Pathfinder 15R
Vox Night Train 15W
WhiteBox Cab w/12in Eminence Man O' War

It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive...

ha ha ha. you made me laugh.
... or in my case, recite Spinal Tap.

_________________
"...Compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees, I am an Apeman."

Good post, I enjoyed your insights. I know a few people who can only play an instrument with sheet music in front of them... take away the page and their fingers stop.

_________________

I can't wait to see this movie...gotta order it on DVD.

_________________
"There is more to life than increasing its speed." Mahatma Gandhi

Owner of:
-2008 American Standard Strat in Candy Cola Red
-Vibro-Champ XD
-Fender CD-60 Acoustic (Sunburst)

Good vibes Bro! You now have ,the, connection to your guitar. You+your guitar=You. Welcome to the "players club".

_________________
you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

good post man. i'm kinda like you in the sense that my unsuccessful search for good and accurate tabs for some of the songs I want to play lead me to start really concentrating on improvising and finding my own sound. I'm getting better at it, taking pieces of solos I know from different genres and blending them together with my own licks I came up with. I still like to learn songs and play them the right way, but from there I try to personalize them as much as possible so I can add my own spin on them. Congrats and have fun!

btw IMGL was a great movie!

_________________
Blues with a feeling.

GUILD GUITARS: MADE TO BE PLAYED!

I gotta see IMGL now.
I like this thread a lot.

_________________
"...Compared to the flowers and the birds and the trees, I am an Apeman."

You must see it. For whatever reason I got so pulled into the show. I found it quite emotional actually and I'm generally not like that. It was amazing. I'm not even a fan of The Edge or Jack White but seeing how and why they play the way they do was the coolest. I don't want to ruin it for you but there's some scenes that take these rock gods and make them look like pure guitar junkies like the rest of us and it's the coolest thing to see. Enjoy!

Nice Zappa ref!

_________________
I really like all them "Aster" guitars. You know, like the Stratoc, Telec and Jazzm.

thanks

couldnt have put better myself nick

_________________


I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk...