Hey guys, I've been practicing a lot lately, and obviously the efforts that I've put in has helped me improved. But every time I see a friend or some famous guitarists who play guitar far better than I am. I can't avoid thinking how many more steps to take till I can play as good as them. Even not looking at others, I would think to myself when will I be able to play this difficult solo or song that I like fluently. Then I would start to lose motivation. Once in a while, I would start practicing really hard! But after a while, the energy would fade and I lose motivation of practicing again... I was wondering, how do you guys keep yourself motivated in playing/practicing guitar? oh and, yes, I do have a band. The "friend" I mentioned above is our lead guitarist lol : )

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best motivation i ever had was being in a band, or even just jamming with some mates in a rented room. however once that stopped, i found myself in the same predicament as you, stopped playing as much, lost interest a bit. no easy way, just practice, practice i guess.

Moochy speaks sense. Everything i learnt was by jumping in the deep end. Id recommend playing with as many different bands/people as possible in as many different styles as possible. Can be daunting at first, but well worth it in the long run. If you respect your lead guitarist then im sure a great deal can be learnt from him, but dont allow yourself to be intimidated, work at it and put the time in behind the scenes and you`ll soon improve on your weak areas. The trap i think some people fall into is just working on their strengths, which obviously has to be done, but until you have a good grounding in all styles and feels of music it can limit you to do this too early.

Aside from that, the radio is a great tool. Even most pop stations nowadays will have hints of jazz, RnB, Hip Hop, Rock etc in most of the lame chart songs they run. Try playing along to each and every one and you`ll soon start hearing where the guitar line sits and whats called for in styles that are out of your comfort zone. Will soon open doors. Behind doors sometimes jewels can be found. Before you know it you`ll be a happy pirate sitting on a pile of swag. Arrggggh.

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`I prefer not to listen to music that I can't rip off or improve on` - Ian Dury

I always try and pick up a guitar at least once a day, even if it's only for a few minutes. That being said, I do find it very difficult to keep a regimented practice schedule if I'm not jamming on a regular basis. Right now I'm in that situation so it's hard to keep going but every now and again I will hear a song, or part of a song, that I want to learn and I'm back on track for another while.

I am in a similar situation where I go up and down in practicing. I have not played in a band for a few years now and I found it so hard to motivate myself. But I recently changed the pickups in my mim strat, had a service done on it and bought a deluxe Tele. This has given me the get up and go to practice. I am now though making sure I do work on scales before playing songs. Even if its 15 minutes of a scale. This is working for me and I have now got into it that I'm doing an hour or two of it.

Whether it will continue I don't know but at the moment I feel as though I want to learn scales/theory to make me a better player. But until I jam again I know it will be hard to put the theory into practice but its all I can do at the moment.

This forum keeps me motivated too.

Good luck and keep doing what you are doing but most of all enjoy it whatever your playing and it will all come together.

Tom

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Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

I am currently engaged in the fight of a lifetime with a neuro-muscular-skeletal condition that has taken away almost all my ability to play and I can't understand for the life of me how someone with the God given ability to play can think about ditching it all just because they see someone better.That kind of situation always inspired me to try even harder to be a great guitarist and in no way should it ever have the opposite effect.

These days when I start feeling discouraged I have to look no further than Les Paul for inspiration.Les loved the guitar so much that he persevered despite horrendous pain and that's what I endeavour to do also even though sometimes after just one minute my hands cramp up and become atrophied.So I'd advise anyone who gets discouraged with their playing to think of Les and then think of my situation as I would gladly give up the use of both legs rather than loose the use of just one finger,but now both my hands are totally involved despite getting Remicade treatments.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Sorry to hear about your condition. I have a Problem with my back (i broke it ten years ago) so I have trouble standing and playing for any period of time. I think you have made a great point and playing should be great anytime whether its playing basic chords or doing Clapton like solos.

We often take things for granted and don't realise how good we have it until its gone myself included.

I hope that your condition gets better and you are playing again soon.

Tom

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Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

The best motivation I have found when I find myself losing interest is to buy a new guitar! Doesn't need to be an expensive one either. Even just a new accessory will motivate me to play. If I'm broke then I settle for learning a new song. Got to keep things fresh.

I think I'd get divorced if I buy more gear! Although I fancy a 65 Princeton reissue. I might just buy it and hope she doesn't see it!

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Fender MIM 1995 Standard Stratocaster
Fender USA 2012 Deluxe Telecaster

I have the perfect hiding place for you.......my house

When I feel like I'm going nowhere (trying to emulate Howe or Petrucci...not gonna happen, but...),
I'll go grab some tabs for nicey-nice easy-cheesy oldies...
...then...MMMBHUHUWAHAHAhaha...
...apply some really obnoxious overdrive or some other out-of-context effect to it
...and just have fun with it...and have a lot of laughs in the process.

Then, once you're worn out on that, re-visit your plateau and bring what you've learned to the experience.

We all go through the same thing. When I was in the band I played 4-6 hours almost everyday. Now it's just me and I find it hard to get motivated enough to at least get back to where I was. And that's why I have a recording studio coming tomorrow. I figure laying down some drum and bass tracks will keep my interest pretty high. Then I can record my acoustic, the Strat and the fake Tele. I might even try and sing!

Just my opinion but I think playing the guitar isn't all that hard, but playing MUSIC is a whole different level. I mean, what do we practice for? To play guitar, or to play music?

I have a friend that I taught the basics to several years ago. He got extremely good at playing lead with all that speed metal high distortion crap, but he can't play MUSIC! I never learned lead, but I can play a song that people can sing to. That's called MUSIC!

Hopefully this recording set up will motivate me to play better MUSIC.

Gary

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Gary

this forum.

So, I was on my way back from the shop and heard a cool song with a decent solo in it....I will learn that solo now. I have always liked it..so WTF!! Back on track

I look up videos on youtube. Learn new licks and songs. See what others are doing. Also, get a backing track going and try to solo with scales you don't normally use. That is a great way to expand your sound. Sometimes I just try playing songs with cord voicing that I don't use much. I have been working on the D shaped E in the 2nd position for what feels like forever. I can grab it without the 3rd on the high e string, but hitting it with that 3rd is driving me crazy. So I play songs I know with E in them and try using that voicing in order to frustrate myself. So Fun!!!

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My ability to spell is in direct proportion to the amount of coffee I've had.