What made you a good guitar player?

[steviejr92]

For improving rhythm, I have two suggestions.

First: play a steady stream of slow quarter notes in sync to a long delay with one repeat (ie, each time you play a note, it should line up perfectly with the repeat of the previous note) and just chill there for a minute. Then try to slowly (over a course of a minute or two) and gradually speed up until you’re playing at double the rate of the delay; you want your tempo to smoothly increase so you go out of sync with the delay, and then sync back in— not to flip straight from quarter notes to eight notes. Chill out there for a bit just metronomically locked into the delay for a few minutes, and then repeat that process until you’re at triple the delay time (triplets) and finally 4 times the delay time (16th notes), and then work back down, slowly falling behind back into triplets, then eights and then quarters. I can try to record an example of this at a later point if it doesn’t quite make sense, but it helps to both lock in tempo steadiness and strengthen your independence from a metronomic beat. It’s sorta like an exercise on the concept of phasing as popularized by Steve Reich, though that’s purely coincidental and something I realized much after I came up with this exercise.

The second exercise is more deliberately Steve Reich based, and it’s one I started doing for fun after I realized the Reich connection to my first exercise. It’s simply this: take a looper pedal, and play an ascending whole tone scale from a note of your choice, to the rhythm of Steve Reich’s ‘Clapping Music’ and just get that loop going. Now, over that loop, play through all of the clapper 2 permutations of the rhythm from a whole tone scale a minor third up.

I like your approachable steps. I think I’ll take it easy like this for a bit. My brother told me the same almost.

Also being present in what im doing…not just throwing myself at it but paying attention as to why I’m messing up.

 

[Laundryroom David]

learning how to use midrange

 

[Barry]

I’ll let you know when I get there!

 

[Feral Feline]

... my timing sucks ...

Mine too.

Not so good when bass is responsible for tying the rhythm, harmony and melody together.



Practicing along with tracks and playing with others will of course help, but I'm thinking of sharpening up my timing by practicing subdivisions.


There are lots of great metronome exercises to explore online:
- things like practicing to a metronome click and then shifting the focus such as playing on the "and" of beat four and NOT the metronomes beat one;
- play 4/4 to the metronome then slow the metronome down to only beat on the one of every second bar while you continue to play in 4/4. Of course I would work my way to that in increments, slowing the metronome from every beat to every other to once per bar ...
- play triplets in place of one quarter note beat 3 for every other bar and between those bars playing a dotted half
- etc.



Drum rudiment books.
- clapping along
- practicing a scale to a drum pattern
- assigning different strings to different drums and then trying to play the patterns/timing on the correct string... (maybe easier for me as I only have 4 strings to worry about)



One thing that's hopefully helping my timing is joining a community band. I'm learning to read notation again and playing with others and coming up against timing-challenges that I would simply not be exposed to otherwise.


I'm going to check out some rhythm exercises and maybe try to learn a little guitar, too.

 

[steviejr92]

Mine too.

Not so good when bass is responsible for tying the rhythm, harmony and melody together.



Practicing along with tracks and playing with others will of course help, but I'm thinking of sharpening up my timing by practicing subdivisions.


There are lots of great metronome exercises to explore online:
- things like practicing to a metronome click and then shifting the focus such as playing on the "and" of beat four and NOT the metronomes beat one;
- play 4/4 to the metronome then slow the metronome down to only beat on the one of every second bar while you continue to play in 4/4. Of course I would work my way to that in increments, slowing the metronome from every beat to every other to once per bar ...
- play triplets in place of one quarter note beat 3 for every other bar and between those bars playing a dotted half
- etc.



Drum rudiment books.
- clapping along
- practicing a scale to a drum pattern
- assigning different strings to different drums and then trying to play the patterns/timing on the correct string... (maybe easier for me as I only have 4 strings to worry about)



One thing that's hopefully helping my timing is joining a community band. I'm learning to read notation again and playing with others and coming up against timing-challenges that I would simply not be exposed to otherwise.


I'm going to check out some rhythm exercises and maybe try to learn a little guitar, too.

Yeah the metronome is what im going to start practicing with, being able to hold a rhythm is my biggest problem. Im going to mix in some kind of memory exorcise to learn the fretboard as well!

 

[Harry Klippton]

Drum rudiment books.
- clapping along
- practicing a scale to a drum pattern
- assigning different strings to different drums and then trying to play the patterns/timing on the correct string... (maybe easier for me as I only have 4 strings to worry about)

 

[JTEX]

I don't think I'm a good player, but here are several things that I think greatly improved my playing:

- practicing in headphones when alone. It allowed me to hear every little detail of my playing, warts and all, a lot clearer than through an amp. Added benefit: neighbors, family life etc.

- playing along tunes I like, instead of just doing boring exercises. Much more motivating.

- like someone else said, playing with a delay set to single repeat to improve timing. Beats the hell out of following a metronome in fun factor. If it's not fun, why do it? It really helps that my delay is on-board, as easy to change delay time as to turn a tone knob.

- playing non-guitar specific melodies, such as vocal or synth or horn lines, as solos. Helps me get outside the box.

 

[Joben Magooch]

A few quick things that come to mind:

Get in a band somewhere, somehow. I had the good fortune of spending a couple years touring all over the place and can comfortably say nothing advanced my playing quite like that time.

Learn your inversions and how to play the same chord(s) in every position.

Play more styles/genres you wouldn’t typically play or don’t enjoy so much. For instance I don’t typically care for much country music but learning country guitar helped me grow a lot.

And not exactly a way to get “better” but I remember the first time I played a nice, high-end tube amp. It was a Matchless Spitfire… and I remember thinking “this amp sounds great… and I sound terrible” and I don’t know if it’s something inherent to Matchless or high-end amps or something with the circuit type but it was a SUPER unforgiving amp, a very “get out what you put in” type of thing. And at first I felt really “exposed” playing it but it forced me to clean up my playing and once I got a feel for it, it sounded so so nice. So I’m not saying “go buy a matchless” (but wouldn’t say to NOT, either….) but more broadly speaking there’s some value in playing styles or thru gear that “exposes” your playing.

 

[Harry Klippton]

Yeah go buy a matchless

 

[Feral Feline]

Buy?

ARE WE NOT DIYers?


BUILD a Matchless, in fact build a BETTER MATCHLESS.

 

[DeadAirMD]

The 1st looping pedal I bought. My playing exponentially got massively better once I bought one. Now I use the boss rc300 and having 3 separate tracks has taken me to another new level, of confidence, and POWER!

 

[Barry]

Making a lot of sense. I think I want to work on my guitar skills overall but since you said I think my timing needs to be worked on immensely.

I find myself learning where my hands need to be quickly but staying in tempo is always my downfall…

Learn to count out the song, then count out loud as you play it, soon you'll internalize the count. Helped me immensely.

 

[Feral Feline]

Join a church choir...

...as the organist.

 

[Mentaltossflycoon]

Metronome metronome metronome erreday. Ear training? Try a very slow metronome + drone the root of the the key you're working with on a looper or signal generator. Play painfully slow scales and arpeggios and simple etudes with a slide. Then close your eyes and imagine a world in which both major and minor thirds were played in tune. I used to have this nerdy ear training book of etudes that came with a cd of drones to play along with. Wish I could remember the name. Something stupid like Tuneitup.. Tunetime??

Learn music you don't like and/or have no experience with. You could make "Jellical Cats" sound good if you try.... Actually i take that back. F@#% Andrew Lloyd Webber. I've never enjoyed country but I have learned quite a bit over the years. I once met a former girlfriend because she heard me playing "Hello" by Lionel Ritchie through my dorm room window.

Jam with real people in person a lot but most importantly, jam with those who are better than you. Honestly, my fastest period of growth was when I sat next to crazy talented mfers who don't have patience for half assery. Striving to receive no side eye.

 

[Barry]

Learn to count out the song, then count out loud as you play it, soon you'll internalize the count. Helped me immensely.

When I learn a new song, I listen to it over and over again figure out the count and get that in my head, figure out the chords and count them in time, even if slowly, then play along to the tune or metronome at speed. I used to count everything I listened to while driving around for my job, still do on occasion, it helped my internal clock tremendously.

 

[steviejr92]

When I learn a new song, I listen to it over and over again figure out the count and get that in my head, figure out the chords and count them in time, even if slowly, then play along to the tune or metronome at speed. I used to count everything I listened to while driving around for my job, still do on occasion, it helped my internal clock tremendously.

That’s what I’m going to start doing, yesterday I started practicing with a metronome and counting along with it! It’s incredible how simple but effective this is!

 

[MattG]

I've read a lot of threads similar to this on other forums, so a lot of these suggestions aren't new to me, but this...

I started crafting more and working out ways to integrate them into my playing more— I worked on transcribing snippets of sounds like bird calls and squeaky doors, as well as interesting melody fragments from Glenn Campbell and Jerry Reed records, and I would rearrange them, alter their rhythms and tonalities, and then I would play a few of them in a series, then record myself humming back what I remembered them as sounding like— they’d wind up simplified when I’d hum them due to me forgetting bits and pieces, and what I’d be left with was the most memorable bits to interpolate into new melodic fragments and licks. Exercises like that open you up to creative ideas you might have never had otherwise, and primes your mind for thinking with not only a broader palette, but also new brushes to paint with. Creativity is key, and improvements to your creative mind will be the most dramatic improvement when all else fails.

...strikes me as absolute brilliance.

Lots of suggestions that practice is key, and I agree. But it has to be deliberate, mindful practice. I think back to when I was in college, so many times I'd be "reading" a textbook. And after several pages, I realized I wasn't reading at all, but merely looking at a series of words, while basically daydreaming. Learning and skill progression in just about any discipline requires your brain to be actively engaged. Mechanically going through rote drills is probably better than nothing, but is nothing compared to something that has enough challenge to force more neurons to activate.

That's why I think @Bricksnbeatles's idea above is so profound: none of what he said is really possible to do in a mechanical or rote way - the brain has to be activated. But it also crosses numerous "brain domains", i.e. interval and tone recognition both with guitar and vocals (humming), memory, listening - and all glued together through creativity.

 

[steviejr92]

I've read a lot of threads similar to this on other forums, so a lot of these suggestions aren't new to me, but this...



...strikes me as absolute brilliance.

Lots of suggestions that practice is key, and I agree. But it has to be deliberate, mindful practice. I think back to when I was in college, so many times I'd be "reading" a textbook. And after several pages, I realized I wasn't reading at all, but merely looking at a series of words, while basically daydreaming. Learning and skill progression in just about any discipline requires your brain to be actively engaged. Mechanically going through rote drills is probably better than nothing, but is nothing compared to something that has enough challenge to force more neurons to activate.

That's why I think @Bricksnbeatles's idea above is so profound: none of what he said is really possible to do in a mechanical or rote way - the brain has to be activated. But it also crosses numerous "brain domains", i.e. interval and tone recognition both with guitar and vocals (humming), memory, listening - and all glued together through creativity.

Just reading your post was enough to make me start practicing right away. Im going to be putting some of these tips into practice. I feel like my brain already wants hum along with songs! I just need to be present more in those areas when practicing.

 

[spi]

I recorded myself yesterday. It was pretty humbling.

Funny also how when the recording is off I feel like I play better, but as soon as I hit record I forget how to play. I get the same thing when I know somebody is listening or watching me.

 

[fig]

...a vivid imagination