I've run out of somethinfg. I dont work at practiceing, I just play around. I cant put a finger on it but something is gone. Shold I put it back in the box for a while, or what? I play till my hands hurt and I'm not learning anything. HELP

It's called a "plateau"...you'll hit them and life sucks and you'll want to quit, but then one day a new epiphany will occur and life is good again. I've hit about five of them in my playing, and I'm currently in one right now. It will get better.

I'm sorry, because it is horrible to get through.

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Good Vibes To Y'all!



Screamin' Armadillos
Texas Roadhouse Music
Guitar/Slide Guitar/Harp/Vocals

I say stop "just playing around" and get some material to work on, be it a new song, some theory, some technique-anything new. You can't learn by just playing what you know. It will never appear out of nowhere. You must study this stuff.

get inspired...

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

The last couple posts nail it.

Set a goal.

You'd be amazed how much difference having a specific target can make to your motivation.

For me I have just set myself a goal to actually become a proficient "Chicken Picker" it's a style i have long admired, but I haven't ever put in the work to do more than "kind of fake it"

Modern Country tends to leave me flat, but I have always loved the Jerry Reed/Chet Atkins kind of stuff. there was so much good music being made across so many genres.

But I guess back to topic. I have a couple specific songs I want to get good enough at it to play, so it actually makes it easy for me to sit through some exercises i would probably have found tedious otherwise. kind of neat to be back in the woodshed, like I did when i first started playing.

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I'm not an expert, but I play one on the internet.

Thanks guys, all good advice. I've been working on my Harp/Singing/Guitar and my Keyboard, maby too much at once. I think maby I will work on my Guitar and Singing and do some Theary study. Any good book recomendations?

I used to practice, but I didn't practice smart. I never really progressed very much. Now I practice smart, I constantly identify what needs work in my playing, whether it's part of a particular song or just general technique and I work on that over and over. I can really see slow but steady progress in my playing ability and it keeps me motivated. Someday, I'm going to be the best guitarist on my block!

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Noone became amazing at guitar simply by doodling around (well OK, there are a few gifted people that come to mind), but most of us are not gifted.

Correct practice is the only way to achieve results. It's true and it should be good motivation.

Go take a lesson or two on something you don,t normally play. This helps me when I get hung up or board.

yep, me too. i'm too damn lazy to practice correctly. lately i've been playing for hours on just the foo fighters new and old material. is it making me a better guitar player? maybe not. i don't really care. i've put at least 6 more cool tunes under my belt and thats fine by me.

Take it easy, it's not a constant climb. Also, there's a point in learning any musical instrument when you realize you're making it a lot harder than it is. You might just be entering that level.

Play what you know, write music for your skill level, explore the plateau you've encountered. It's part of the journey.

Guitar playing (or music in general) is not a journey through knowledge that ends in graduation, where the student is finally certified to play the guitar. It's a journey through discovery, where the player finds some sort of jewel or nugget of certainty at all levels.

The stagnation you're experiencing may not be stagnation at all, but rather you skills have developed to the point where you need to start listening to phrasing and voicings. Note choices as opposed to names of scales. Things like Bend Speed, and Expressive Vibrato. Chord Substitutions and how they apply to improvisation. Listening to other musicians and gelling with them.

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"Persistence Is The Father Of Invention"
-Crazy Old Man In Training

exactly.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

where do you stand now with theory?

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."

I'm not much of a "practicer"...usually sit down, flip on a CD (Ronnie Earl is on now) and jam along. I am getting better, probably slower than most, but I am ok with that...too old to worry about being great. I do know that the more I play, the more I "run into" riffs and song parts that I have heard - that is kind of fun and exciting.

I sure do love playing though, even if only for a few minutes after work, or a bit before supper or for a while before bed. I am not, nor will I be a superstar, but every once in a while I fire off a riff or hit a series of chords that sound pretty good!!!

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I Can't Explain

i hardly progress at all, my right hands restricting me. at the moment i'm not on as plateau, but i can see one coming.

well said

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riley