Hi I'm Hook, and I'm a Bad Guitar Player

  • Thread starter Thread starter hookiefree
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hookiefree

hookiefree

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I used to think I was pretty good. I recently got into home recording and after I finally got my set up, set up and cranked out a few grooves I wanted to put some rhythm guitar on a track and it sounded like all my fingers had been broken the day before. The chords were uneven or something, I don't even know how to describe it. Then I tried to throw in a lil lead part to see how it would come out and got a bunch of plucking sounds in a row then a couple notes then a couple more plucks etc. My fretting fingers couldn't keep up with my strumming. It was bad. I've been using a medium grip master every day at work for 6 years! I thought my fingers were like Steve Austin's by now.

I haven't played since our band broke up, about a year ago but somehow I don't think that's all there is to it. I get the feeling that I was never that good. I've never actually heard myself recorded before, not without a whole band behind me. It blew me away. I never had any formal training. I learned from books and CD ROMS so I wonder if I should give it a try. Money is a lil tight with a 4 mo. baby and all so it would have to wait. I definately decided to practice a lot more. I'd appreciate any tips and pointers. I used to have hundreds of website links to guitar tip sites but my hard drive crashed and they're gone so it would be a big help. If somebody were willing to listen to a clip of the track I worked on and maybe diagnose what the problem is, that would be even better. Either way, thanks in andvance.

-Hook
 
Welcome!

LOL! The grip master will help but you need to pick a couple of tunes that you like and just play along with them if you can't sping for some classes.
When I started, I took three years of training, what really helped me tighten up to play with a band and on recordings where the hours of practacing to various tunes on my own.
Don't get me wrong, without the foundation I recieved with the lessons, I don't think I would been able to do it.

You are doing the right thing by practacing more, Drop the grip master and pickup the axe. ;)
 
Hard to tell

The recording is rough, can't hear the guitar that well. Perhaps it's the way you are recording rather than your playing. How does it sound to you when you play live?
 
Re: Hard to tell

gvarko said:
The recording is rough, can't hear the guitar that well. Perhaps it's the way you are recording rather than your playing. How does it sound to you when you play live?
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I hear it loud and clear in my headphones. The guitar part comes it at 0:09.

Thanks DT. I'll check it out.
 
i didnt think the guitar playing sucked but i do think tone was a little cheap and boring. It could have been smoother, less pick sound.
 
Nothing I know of will make you play or sing better than having to listen to recordings of yourself all day long. Best medicine I know...Richie
 
The grip master will help strength, but won't do a thing for speed, fluency, or rythym :)

The best guitar resource I've found is http://www.guitarnoise.com . You'll find exercises on everything from music theory to speed building.

One thing I like to do to build my rythym sense is practice along with a metronome or drum loop. That helps me stay "in the pocket" when I need to.
 
Please be careful about using tools like the grip master. I've see too many people - myself included - hurt themselves because they feel they have to squeeze the shit out of a guitar neck to get good tone.

Richie said it best. Listening to your own playing will reveal the flaws that you couldn't hear before. It makes you more concious of what to pay attention to in the future.
 
Richard Monroe said:
Nothing I know of will make you play or sing better than having to listen to recordings of yourself all day long. Best medicine I know...Richie
Click to expand...
Absolutely true. By yourself or your band. It's like football players watching back tapes of the game. You see your mistakes and it lets you know what you have to work on. With a band, you can see where the holes are and that part you thought was REALLY cool....well it ain't so cool at all. :eek: :D
 
Thanks for all the tips fellas. I'm on a mission now. I'll listen to myself play all day at work and practice all day when I get home.
 
I actually really liked that tune (the first one). It had a nice groove, and I thought the guitar, while raw, sounded very nice over that beat.
 
the 2nd track had a wierd falling/vocal splashout part that made me feel like i was in a Vacuum telephonebooth with Richard Pryor...i mean this in a good way.
 
Phosphene said:
the 2nd track had a wierd falling/vocal splashout part that made me feel like i was in a Vacuum telephonebooth with Richard Pryor...i mean this in a good way.
Click to expand...

Thanks! That's exactly what I was going for!
 
It's like football players watching back tapes of the game. You see your mistakes and it lets you know what you have to work on. With a band, you can see where the holes are and that part you thought was REALLY cool....well it ain't so cool at all.
Click to expand...
I teach composition, and I tell my students to read their rough drafts ALOUD. They are usually surprised at how many more mistakes they can identify this way. Reading silently is like listening as you play; of course it is going to sound good to you at that moment (usually late at night, right?). ;)

The real test is listening to it the next morning. Yuk. That's when you know you need revision.

Hookie, I used to think I was "all that" in my first band. Now, when I listen to our tapes (from 13 years ago), I cringe, then I laugh, then I pick up the guitar. Hey, I can't get much worse.

G
 
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