Any advice for getting better

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jake-owa

jake-owa

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Anyone want to share tips for improving guitar technique? I've been playing for a few years but I seem to be slowing progress-wise. Anyone have any favorite links to scales (in tab) or favorite progressions to jam solo with. I mostly play fast rock but any style will be considered. Primarily I'd like to improve my solo technique.

Thanx in advance
 
Hey Jake,

You might want to check out the books, Fretboard Logic I,II,III. Not much in the lick or technique dept., but they really show you a different and logical approach to the fretboard. I"ve been playing for almost 20 years and picked up those books recently and my playing has improved. Another thing that really helped me, was to get out of the soloing dept. all together and spend a few years diving into acoustic fingerstyle and alternate/open tunings. That really opened up my ears to using open strings and arpeggios in my solos.
 
check out guitar.com and check out their forums section. their music theory section is by far the best i've found on the internet. you won't even have to post to learn stuff because so many questions have been asked already. try the search link and keyword "improvise" or something like that. they will be able to help you immensly in finding out better ways to improvise.
 
OstiaMan said:
quit work or school and practice
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Shit, I wish. I'd never leave the studio (except to crack out on this forum).

Thanx for the suggestions guy's, I'll check out that site.
 
DUH !!!
we all know the quickest way to get good FAST is to spend a summer in wisconsin or wherever

!@#$ cheater Nick
 
Hey, don't try to turn it around, Aaron. You'll always be better than me! LOL!
 
I agree with the "forget soloing" quote, get into chords, there are thousands of people out there who can shred "faster than a speeding bullet" but don't know the basics about chords.
You want an interesting solo, play it in chords, it'll make you think and make you into a rounded player. my 2 cents worth.
 
my suggestion is to get a couple of albert king CD's and learn some of his solo's by ear. That style is a whole different world from shread but in its own way just as difficult. when you listen to his work you will probably at first think "this is really simple basic stuff" but....when you actually try and learn some of his solos you come to realize that its REALLY tuff to get this style down.

Albert King invented a style that is tasty and has alot of feeling. Also you can play the same licks over a minor chord progession or a major chord progression and they work either way.

if you could incorprate that into a shread style it would really be unique.
 
jimistone said:
my suggestion is to get a couple of albert king CD's and learn some of his solo's by ear. That style is a whole different world from shread but in its own way just as difficult. when you listen to his work you will probably at first think "this is really simple basic stuff" but....when you actually try and learn some of his solos you come to realize that its REALLY tuff to get this style down.

Albert King invented a style that is tasty and has alot of feeling. Also you can play the same licks over a minor chord progession or a major chord progression and they work either way.

if you could incorprate that into a shread style it would really be unique.
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Amen to that...

Also, here are some ideas to get you thinking "outside the box" a bit...

I started by just learning gutar parts and solos from my favorite artists...

I started playing drums first, and played for 5 years before switching to guitar, so I had a lot of music in my head already...I guess that might have helped...

But, aside from just picking up the guitar, beyond that, I got books of modes, scales, chords, theory...and just drilled the stuff...

Meanwhile, I was listening to as much music as possible....and as much different kinds of music as possible...

So, as time passed, I could identify what I was hearing and apply it to the guitar...eventually, the broad listening habits I had, empowered me to apply theoretical knowledge from different instruments to my playing, composing, arranging...

While I began by learning solos from other players, I eventually got to a point where I didn't have to actually learn the solos, but by intensive listening, I could just go to my guitar and play what I was hearing, with little practice...this is unusual, so I don't recommend it...I would recommend that you transcribe, learn, play solos from other players, but do so with the intention of branching away from the language of their solos and make an individual language out of them...

Listen to EVERYTHING...

This means not just Yngwie and Clapton...

This means Turkish village music; New Viennese Composers of the early 20th Century: Schoenberg, Alban Berg, Webern; Miles Davis; Tibet Chant; American Folk songs; Free Jazz; Punk; Pop; Bluegrass; French Impressionist Composers Debussy and Ravel; Bach; Shred; ........you get the idea....if you haven't heard it, listen to it...

Absorb all of this and it will find a way out of you, through your own music...

Make sure you learn as much theory as you can...buy books, take a class, browse the web, there are many resources...

Learn your chordal theory, but don't just rely on guitar-based books....buy chordal and harmony books written for piano players...

Learn your linear theory or solo theory....but buy books written for sax players, bass players, trombone players....

Learn how to read both treble clef and bass clef...and learn to write in the varying keys of different instruments...

Play with C.D.s, play with other players....play in totally different bands with styles that are completely opposite of what you would normally play in...if you are a punk rocker, take a blues gig for several months...if you are a country player, take a metal gig...

I played in a punk/alternative band for half a year, and countless varying rock bands, blues bands, jazz gigs, funk, disco, country...

Become as well-rounded as possible...

Play along with music you wouldn't expect to play along with, such as James Brown, Parliment Funk, Ohio Players...then play along with those Turkish Village C.D.s....improvise over Stravinsky, Prokofiev, and John Cage...you'd be surprised where your mind will take you...

Change your practice time....if you normally play in the evening from 7-9 pm, then switch for a week to 4 am to 7 am; or 1 am to 3 am...your mind may access different parts of creative brain waves, and arrive at different results at different times...

I hope this has helped,

Scott

--------------------------------------------------

My Fusion C.D. on Holdsworth's label, Gnarly Geezer-w/soundclips

My Fusion C.D., to be re-released on Progressive Arts this winter-w/partial soundclips


My VIDEO page-clips of me playing
 
First and foremost is the love of the instrument... if thats not there.. you wont become better.
practice is the second most important key to becoming a good player of any kind.
just sit down with your instrument and really listen to the notes... which ones sound mean, which ones sound nice... stretch your fingers everyday... listen to the techniqe of your fav. players and try to incorporate that into your style

practice...
 
Holy crap! I have been practicing. This thing came back from the dead.
Thanx for the suggestions everyone. I guess I've never been one to play anyone else's stuff. I mean I play a rather unique (to my uneducated mind) style. I'm sure 'Fugazi' and 'His Name Is Alive' influence me but if I notice a similarity I usually try to go the other direction. Maybe this is the problem.

I don't really play with too many chords, I don't know all their names. I guess I'm just running into a progression hump. I tend to do alot with keyboards instead. My salvation lately has been chromatic power chord progressions (in threes)thrown into an otherwise boring pattern.
Well this should let you know where I'm at, if this makes any sense.

Thanks for all the food for thought.
 
pipelineaudio said:
DUH !!!
we all know the quickest way to get good FAST is to spend a summer in wisconsin or wherever
Click to expand...

Huh?

Bastard! :)

Don't you mean a winter in Wisconsin?
 
JR#97 said:
Hey Jake,

You might want to check out the books, Fretboard Logic I,II,III. Not much in the lick or technique dept., but they really show you a different and logical approach to the fretboard. I"ve been playing for almost 20 years and picked up those books recently and my playing has improved. Another thing that really helped me, was to get out of the soloing dept. all together and spend a few years diving into acoustic fingerstyle and alternate/open tunings. That really opened up my ears to using open strings and arpeggios in my solos.
Click to expand...

I'll second the Fretboard Logic series. I picked up the SE book and it is pretty cool. I couldn't solo to save my live a few months ago but now and I can finally rip it up a little.
 
jake-owa said:


inside joke
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I thought there was a homerecording.com BBS rule about there not being any inside jokes with repect to Wisconsin without passing them by the Lopp clearance committee. ;) :cool:
 
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