It's good to hear from some of the "old timers" on here. Glad I'm not the only one.

Flashback, I had to laugh when I read your response to Straycat. I don't really consider myself at an "advanced age". However, when I was a young whipper snapper, 43 was definitely WAY over the hill.

Maybe Gravity is a touch too advanced for me and my fingers. That solo is just so hauntingly good it just screams at you to try to learn it. I remember sitting down to learn Wanted Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi on my acoustic and thinking the opening lick was simply too impossible to learn. Now it's my go-to lick when doodling and although it's not quite up to Richie Sambora's speed it still sounds pretty good to my wife's and kids' ears.

I'll just keep practicing and trying to take it in baby steps. I'm never going to play anywhere but my own home anyway.

One thing I lerned early was to take a hard part and play it very slowly, gradually get the timing right and up the tempo until you get there. Some want to play a part fast right away and they end up faking their way through parts. Play the part correctly slow first and speed up.

Also, sometime it helps to exagerate techniques a bit to train your hand.

For speed picking, I got it down from words though, my lessons teacher said its kind of like a nervous twich, but not to let my muscles tighten when doing it. That worked for me, but I was also watching him do it. Now it was down to practicing the scales and getting it up to that speed...still working on that one

_________________
Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

Double post.

You mention Sambora and I wonder if the trade-off's that high profile players make is a good one....

Being able to play guitar really well and be famous and probably wealthy but having a horrible personal life.

I've been blessed with an understanding wife for over 35 years and that is part of the reason I have been able to get back into trying to play guitar and buying guitar after guitar just because they are so cool.

I'll keep the great personal life and celebrate the small guitar milestones that get accomplished when the "impossible" get's learned....it is a truly fortunate person that can honestly say - LIFE IS GOOD.

Yeah, this certainly stung!

Oh man; I'm hitting 45 this year. As Pete Townshend said (when he was younger than that): "Goodbye all you punks, stay young and stay high / Just hand me my checkbook and I'll crawl off to die..."

Oh well... Raf66, one distinct advantage of a teacher is that he can interact with you. See what you're doing wrong and tell you how to go about improving it. I've never found a DVD that can do that...

Still. As has been mentioned, learn a passage very SLOWLY. Once you can play all the notes, switch on the metronome to a SLOW setting and play along with it in strict time. Even though it seems stupidly much slower than the number you are emulating, try to deliver it as if it is real music at that modest tempo - not just an exercise. Play with feeling: it helps your learning.

Then gradually over several days speed the metronome up by small steps. Repeat, repeat, repeat. At our time of life it just plain takes longer to establish the neural pathways in our brains: no way around that.

Starting slow and speeding up will always get you to the destination faster than endlessly failing to pull off a passage at full tempo. It is one of the great keys to musical learning - and one most of us spend our lives failing to live by!

Good luck: we're all in the same boat.

Cheers - C

Ahh Ceri,

The metronome...something I neglected for years. If it seems boring, you might be doing it right...ultimately very rewarding.

My sense of time was a mess, your head insert beats and timings when you don't have something to keep the timing. More times than not the timing in your head is off...at least in my case.

A few years ago I started playing along with a toy drum machine, and it did wonders for my timing and playing. My buddies that have been listening to me play for years have commented on he leaps and bounds my playing has grown since adding the machine. A metronome is boring, but essential if you want to develope a good sense of timing, which in my opinion is more critical to sounding good, than pulling off the most complicated lick out of time. If the metronome sounds too boring to you, get a drum machine, but play in time no matter what, it makes a huge difference....I wish I would have taken this advise early, but I thought I knew better. In my case, I wanted to play everything too fast, and it felt like I was going to slow at actual speed. I could not keep parts in time....don't let this happen to you, especially if you want to play with a band....

_________________
Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst

Hi firstrat: yes, isn't that an interesting point?

In younger days, it wasn't just that I found a metronome boring: for some reason I found it genuinely difficult to lock in with. Yet I could play on my own with a drum machine - weird.

I think it was because the drum track sounds like part of the music so it feels a bit like playing with other guys.

In fact, when I finally did learn to use a metronome it was by performing a mental sleight-of-hand on myself. I kinda kidded myself that the metronome was just a very simple drum line, perhaps being played by a live musician. Treat that click as an element of music, rather than a mechanical task master.

Strange how the human mind can work, ain't it?

Cheers - C

Ya know its also funny, because in my mind, I have not really improved my technical abilities much since high school. But my sense of timing and rythm has increased 10 fold. Everyone that listens to me know thinks that I am a much better player. My buddy said "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you were never much of a rythm player, I thought I was a better rythm player than you, but now I cannot come close to what you can do". I was braced for some criticism, but ended up complimented and honored.

To the original poster, get used to this feeling, because no matter how good you get, you will always find something you can improve upon. I remember reading a interview with Steve Vai. They were asking him about his practice technique and practice time. THe interviewer said something like I bet there is not much you need to practice or can't play. Steve said there was plenty he needed to work on and practice. I think that was surprizing and eye opening. Here is a guy that many consider the best guitar player on the planet, yet he knows of his weaknesses and realizes he needs to practice.

_________________
Guitars:
1. mid 70's Ventura MIJ Gibson l6-s clone (Pre-lawsuit) in Black with Rosewood FB and EMG 81 BR/ 85 Neck
2. ESP KH2 Neck Thru
3. 2008 Am Std Strat in 3 tone sunburst