What do i do?

hey fellow guitarists
i'm really frustrated
allow me to explain why ; i started playing guitar 7 months ago and
many of my friends started to play as well. they all use TABS while i
started to learn about musical notation and playing by ear. at this point, many of my friends seem to be getting really good by paying from tabs, and when we jam i feel that even though i have ben playing longer, i'm less experienced. i'm looking for suggestions for a practice routine that will help me improve my accuracy and all around playing skills so that i dont feel ashamed. sorry for running on and on, but does can anyone help?

what makes u feel less experianced, what ther plaaying may sound better, but may not be right. also do they have teachers? it helps...my friend started playing a year ad a half ago and i just started 6 months ago, im much better then him all around, as in like doing a chord for may take 20 seconds and still come out wrong, reason?

1)just got a teach a month ago
2)prob didnt practice a lot
3)his fingers are very small
4)his guitar sucks
5)doesnt have right tequechnique
6)doesnt realize he sucks and should practice more
7)plays too much rock band
8)doesnt know much of anything aabout guitar or the music he plays
9)running outta reasons...some 1 help
10)...idk..

if u want a practice routine, i suggest if u need speed and have accuracy then play a song like mr.crowley a fast song but doesnt need too much accuracy, if u need accuracy nd have speed play a fster more accurae song, like rainbow in the dark by dio. what im saying is tht excersizes are boring and u lose intrest many songs have types of excersizes in them, many 70s songs use pentatonics, so if u need to get ur hands used to the shape of the scale play those, if u need the maj scales ionian aolian ect play more 80s (not sayn 80s doesnt haave pentatonics and 70s doesnt have maj scales u get the drift) if u need to work on sweep picking practice a song tht uses slow sweeps then gradualy go up in speed.

to sum it up...instead of practicing boring excersizes play songs with those in it. and get a teacher. remmeber practicing doesnt mean sitting and playing for 10 mins, as in hourse, minutes will get u no where.

also songs tht u like, play them constantly if ur gettn bored and u dont think the song will help u at all, it will ur still practicing. dont plaay songs u dont like...what music do u like i could maybe try to find some songs for u, name some bands, ands songs, ill give u what they have and practice sections.

hey thanks emb5490
but i also do have a teacher
he tells me that i have to stick with it and i'll progress
but my friends all play rock, and since i cant just pull out a piece of sheet music and play that, i dont know how to improvise rock that well
i admit that my guitar sucks and i try to practice alot, but i just dont know how to incorporate those kinds of exercises.
and do answer your question, im open to anything, from yngwie malmsteen and judas priest, to eric johnson and metallica
i really appreciate this,thats some really great advice man, thanks =)

Don't worry about it. You should get the tab to a couple of songs that you play with your friends just so you can keep up, but you should still keep play and working songs out by ear. 7 months seems like a long time, but for learning to play guitar it really isn't. If you keep practicing and using your ear to learn music you will be better off because you are training your ear. In a couple of years if you and your friends hear a song you like, you will be able to work it out by ear before they can get logged into their computer to look for the tab on the net.

kk man, ill give u an example of take these chains by judas preist. the solo starts useing an a aeolian scale what id do then is search on this .com in scales, a maj, look at the aeolian (a mode of the maj scale, ionian) play the solo and get used to it, another song tht uses aeolian is mr.crowley, the high part of the solos, not the part where he uses bm pentatonic, look up those 2 types of scales nd incorparate them. i happen to love skynyrd, they use mainly pentatonics, but there are like 5 modes of pentatonic, so by playing those songs i learn the scale, all u have to do, or for me, i go find out the scale they use, look up the shape then play the solo, the more u play the solo, the more u learn the shape. u like classic rock? ozzys guitarists randy and jake e lee, wylde doesnt count his writing sucks, write gr8 solos, check out, mr.crowley uses dm pentatonics, i belive d aeolian so check tht he also used c mixolidian b flat lylian which is f ionian or maj. it helps a lot, scales do merorizing them is boring but if u play a song with the scale in front of u, it will come and ull memorize it.

You maybe progress slower, but you progress better. As you get to the limit, you beat them with improvisation and pure technique. Ear practise over limit of boredom gives you great benefit later on when you becoming better.

You are on right track and try to get over from frustration. Ofc its hard sometimes. No pain, No gain... works for guitar playin also.

It is better to progress slow with good technique than progress fast with sloppy technique. In the end you may surpass your buddies because the basics that they neglected will become your foundation.

I can admit that it is easier to learn it the right way that it is to fix a devolved problem or habit.

you are more experienced than those who learn from tab. those who learn by tab are weaker at determining and figuring out music out by themselves. if you feel ashamed next time, ask your friends what key they are playing in. if they cant answer you, then you are doing more to help your skill, practice and technique than they are.

I'm not sure if this is true for others, but I made the mistake of starting later on and being too stubborn to get a teacher. But somewhere in the 6 months to a little over a year of playing, I got frustrated b/c I struggled with timing, playing cleanly, and irritated at the lack of progress I made.

I think that was a key time b/c I kept at it (although I would put it away for times). Some of my friends that tried to pick it up at the same time as me just gave up after the euphoric newness period wore out. Then, (it seemed out of nowhere) I just got it. Stick with it and it'll come to you. You have an incredible advantage of learning the instrument properly. If I could do it over, I'd do what you are doing.

every one goes through times of frustration, it's really part of being a musician.

Two things occur to me about you from what you've written a) you're in a rush to go places and b)you're a bit of a perfectionist!
Don't be in a rush, be great instead! All the great guitarists are perfectionists, and I'm sure they felt frustration at the slowness of their progress at times. It's the need to get it right you see.
Just keep plodding on. You'll get there!

Answer... learn TAB as well as what you are doing. Many guitar songbooks have both in them. TAB will take you all of 10 minutes to learn, and you can follow along with your friends.

Paul McCartney never learned to read standard notation, and I hear he went pretty far anyway. Don't let a music teacher brow beat you into a slw and tedious classical approach to learning if it isn't what you want.

If you are planning on pursueing a professional career in music, sight reading standard notation will certainly be important... but if you just want to rock out, then go with whatever works... and TAB gets you up and running fast.

wow guys, this is really amazing
its really great and meaningful to me that you took time to help me out
i promise i'll try to incorporate all of your suggestions into my playing

les_paul, empirism, telecrater : thanks for the encouragement, and i hope you can relate when i say that things like that mean more to you when people you DONT know are telling them to you, so thanks guys.

emb5490: you gave me some in depth advice, and i'll be sure to get around to looking that up.

marsdemartini: thanks for that suggestion, i'll be sure to use it in the future.

CTown: you are ABSOLUTELY correct. when i started playing i was so excited because there was that whole "new guitar experience" feeling and i kind of put it away for maybe a month or two. i didnt feel right without music so i picked it up again.

deefa: you hit the nail on the head. i am the perfect example of A and B and hopefully with time, i will see some improvement.

davo: thanks for that advice, it helps when looking to the future

i guess my main problem is that i WANT to pursue music as a career, but i dont know if i should since i am sort of "stagnant" with my playing, but thanks guys, this has helped IMMENSELY

also guys, im wondering what is a good amount of practice time
because i hear of all the greats practicing around 8 - 10 hours a day, so i'm also looking for suggestions for that
thanks =)

as much as u want, some days i dont get round to it, some days thts all i do. i of coursre use the internet, but i just dont think about it , if u are at the point wer u r forcing urself to practice then u shouldnt play guitar any more, u should enjoy it, not force it.

Guitar is something that cannot be rushed. If you understand what you are playing and why you are playing it, it is better than being able to just play it.

I would say that I get at least some basic fingerstyle exercises, a few songs that I know/am working on at that time, and a little bit of improvisation with new original material. Sometimes I have really good days, other times I have really bad days. I try to get at least a half hour a day in, anywhere from a half hour - 3 hours. Anymore than 3, i get bored and start repeating myself.

Just keep at it. I know I didn't click into it until i was about 9 months down the road. Everything just came together and I started understanding a lot more.

About the teacher thing: It's not THAT important to get a teacher. I'm completely self taught, and although I really don't have a full understanding if what I am doing is right or not to traditional standards, I know that it looks close to what everyone else is doing.

My only opinion: Get a metronome. Those things are fucking life savers and a half. Don't underestimate the power of the metronome.

I think that you should start out and dedicate at least 1 hour to practice. I break mine into 5 or 10 min sections, I would also recommend keeping a journal of your progress and metronome settings.

Remember there is a difference between practicing and playing. Practicing is for improving, playing is the fun part. but your playing will not improve if you don't practice.