Hello fellow guitarists

[jpw23]

I self taught myself, and I can't teach myself anything new. Im stuck on powerchords

There has been a lot of money made and ladies laid because of power chords.....keep playing what you like! There is room for everyone in this game.
I fail to see why snotty little classical and jazz players look down their noses at everyone else. Party on Garth!!!

 

[TMatt142]

I'm kinda self taught, had teachers for six years but they never taught me how to read music. That and of course all I had to do for the weeks lessons was watch him play it once. Even so, I still take time to learn stuff like modal scales. I may not be able to understand the relationship to chord shapes and stuff on paper with a bunch of letters...but I can HEAR the relationship and how they work. Isn't that all that matters??? Be it power chords (love em!) or jazz stuff....They're all played on a guitar right??? as long as your progressing with your playing all should be good..

Did any of that make a lick of sense???? I'm tired...had a long day

 

[Codmate]

Just do it in short bursts.
Do just twenty minutes of 'hard work' every session and then work on your own stuff as a reward afterwards.

Split it into ten minutes of physical excersises (start slowly though!) and ten minutes of theory (scales/modes/intervals/sightreading/whatever).

After a short while the 'hard work' will start paying off and you start doing more of it of your own accord.

 

[IronFlippy]

Meh, power chords are not chords, and octaves are definitely not chords. I call them power intervals.

What gets me to practice? Knowing that I can do better, and practicing will get me there. I always strive to be the best musician I can be.

 

[dwarf]

OK I'm going to "cram" this sunday as I have not acomplished anything within the last two weeks (holidays) and then do the 20 minute thing.

ALlthough It does get hard to get a designated time as my shift times change alot.

 

[Tadpui]

20 minute sessions are a great idea. Its enough to get warmed up, get into it mentally, build some neural connections around what you're learning, but not long enough to get physically or mentally exhausted. Routine is the key...then there's no "but I don't wanna...". It's just time to practice and that's that.

I self taught myself

As long as you're not self-teaching somebody else...because then you'd need a psychotherapist

 

[mx_mx]

Meh, power chords are not chords, and octaves are definitely not chords. I call them power intervals.

What gets me to practice? Knowing that I can do better, and practicing will get me there. I always strive to be the best musician I can be.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the definition of a chord 2 or more notes played at the same time?

 

[sk8bobby10]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the definition of a chord 2 or more notes played at the same time?

actually i think i read somewhere its 3 notes, but i could be wrong, and just for clarification, a power chord is a note and its 5th right?

 

[Codmate]

actually i think i read somewhere its 3 notes, but i could be wrong, and just for clarification, a power chord is a note and its 5th right?

Root, fifth and octave IME

 

[faderbug]

Root, fifth and octave IME

correct.


according to webster on line a chord is :

Pronunciation: 'kord
Function: noun
Etymology: alteration of Middle English cord, short for accord
: three or more musical tones sounded simultaneously

 

[soundchaser59]

No see I WANT TO PLAY! I know how to play I enjoy it very much. I just can't seem to get myself to practice.

What's the difference?? If you love to play then you love to practice......I dont understand the question....

there is no "make myself" practice. I just feel like playing and experimenting and hearing the guitar..... what are you really asking?

 

[faderbug]

What's the difference?? If you love to play then you love to practice......I dont understand the question....

there is no "make myself" practice. I just feel like playing and experimenting and hearing the guitar..... what are you really asking?

well, maybe playing referes to playing what you already can and praktising to learning what you can't (yet!)

 

[mx_mx]

Root, fifth and octave IME

Yes but a power chord doesn't necessarily mean a lack of skill. When using distortion, the third sounds like poo


EDIT: Quoted wrong person, but you get the idea

EDIT 2: And I usually play the octave, but it isn't needed

 

[dwarf]

well, maybe playing referes to playing what you already can and praktising to learning what you can't (yet!)

B.I.N.G.O

I'm not really learning more by just mucking around I mean you learn some but eventually you have to get down to scales and such.

 

[peritus]

I usually pick out a random chord (from the BIG BOOK lol) and mess with it on the accoustic ...then flip on the electric and go to town, trying to see how to "find a place in the toolbox" for it...

I'm gonna start keeping a list of chords I learn and go through each of them, so many times, before "warm-up" is over...

Scales could easily be the same... Hmm....

Honestly though.. I have problems getting physically comfortable, during my playing sessions...

I'm thinking about trying one of those foot stools..that the smart guys use...lol

Edit: please keep in mind that I'm left handed.. and therefore, automatically an outcast...

 

[mx_mx]

Honestly though.. I have problems getting physically comfortable, during my playing sessions...

I have a MAJOR problem with this. I work long hours and my job is back breaking. I also have a major back condition. I can hardly ever practice because of this, and most of the time if I practice, I have to do it lying down! That can't be good for my playing.

Edit: please keep in mind that I'm left handed.. and therefore, automatically an outcast...

The other guitarist in my band feels your pain. So hard to get the right guitar for you cos they don't always make a left handed model. Its especially bad for him cos he's not actually left handed, but broke his left arm when he was a kid, and now can't move it properly.

 

[peritus]

I have a MAJOR problem with this. I work long hours and my job is back breaking. I also have a major back condition. I can hardly ever practice because of this, and most of the time if I practice, I have to do it lying down! That can't be good for my playing.


The other guitarist in my band feels your pain. So hard to get the right guitar for you cos they don't always make a left handed model. Its especially bad for him cos he's not actually left handed, but broke his left arm when he was a kid, and now can't move it properly.

That sux man.. I would'NT say my back pain is serious.. but it is getting there.. My dad had four back surgeries for ruptured discs... I'm hoping my difficulties don't turn out that bad.. My injury stems from a grade school gym mishap (involving that totally ghey "horse" device).. bascially they wanted me to jump, haha, creatively.. I ended up, on my back, perpendicular, and dead center on the damn thing....

I try to play laying down.. but playing accoustic that way really kills my picking wrist (ya know what I mean?).... Best thing for me is honestly to stand up.. I'm a weakling.. lol.. So If I don't play for a while.. I have to condition my shoulder to take the weight of my unusually heaving, but unpredictably sweet sounding, early 80's, squire strat copy...

It really pisses me off.. My dad tells me that riding a stationary bike and taking lesiurely walks, really helps him..

Good luck, to all..

And hey Dwarf.. STICK WITH IT, BUDDY... If I had kept it up at the age of 16... and met some more people... I wouldn't be trying to catch up right now.. lol

 

[dwarf]

And hey Dwarf.. STICK WITH IT, BUDDY... If I had kept it up at the age of 16... and met some more people... I wouldn't be trying to catch up right now.. lol

Well today wasn't a compleate waste of time I searched some threads and got a program called fretboard warrior. The idea behind the tetrachords is to teach me all the names on the freatboard. I still can't get started though. SO I fucked around with some steve vai "Love of god" and made a punk version of pinball wizard.

I'm, used to being the best at school, mainly as I had no other competition but now some of the mediocer (compared to me which is probably intermeniate to you guys...low intermediate) are catching up. That and there's a guitarist who's younger than me who really is a kick ass soloist. So that's modivated me a little. I think I'm going to have to invest in a V-AMP as I come home from work late at night and I usually get yelled at. ALso schools back tomorrow so I'll work on my theory in maths

 

[cephus]

Practicing scales and other non-fun stuff never did much for me in my development. I don't like hypothetical music. I just always wanted to be able to play what I hear in my head and I've been lucky enough to always have stimulating music going in my head. I have played gigs where I didn't care for the music or it wasn't natural to me that I had to work on to get it down, if that counts as practice. I always liked it, though and it was fun.

One thing about weird scales is that all those notes are also right under your fingers when you play your little blues licks, too. The weird notes are just flatted or raised from the regular old penatonic. The weird scales skip the regular notes in leu of the weird ones. I guess that's the way I think of it. If I want to play something that sounds sinister or chinese or latin, it's not like I play a different pattern. It's more like you skip the square notes and try to play the chinese ones.

That sounds completely retarded. Forget I said anything.

Bottom line is that if you are forcing yourself to play crappy scales and shit that isn't fun, you may just be in need of the inspiration that can come from exposing yourself to different genres and stretching your ears.