Do u feel like ur not improving?

at this point im actualy feeling that crap.. been practicing like almost everyday for bout 2 hrs at most and yet i feel like im not going anywhere.. like everytime i learn new stuff, say a new song, after a week or two of praticicing and getting the song nailed 100%, once i stopped playing the song for like a week i always tend to forget how i play the song which will make me go back and relearn the song again.. that really sucks! does that ever happened to you? what do u guys do if u feel like ur not improving?

well i think we all kinda have that feeling , at those moments it's tempting to just put the guitar away cuz it seems pointless , but try to find new stuff , other things when you have this and try not to be focused about improving... sometimes it's just impossible to play some things at certain points but when you try to pick this up after a long time of play you can see that it suddenly is working and you can play it...

turn your guitar around and play with your right hand on the frets instead of the left and feel how cramped it feels , just how it felt like the first time you played , you can then surely see you've improved a lot since you first played..

The remedy for this is lessons. You could be developing and practicing "bad habits." A good teacher will put you on a path that has you develop. Everyone gets and has had lessons. Also, I think a good remedy for "remembering" songs is to write them yourself. haahaa!YOur brain is your most important possession. DO NOT DRINK or take drugs. I hope one of these helped.

appreciate it guys! turning my guitar around really helps! LOL! hmm... u got a point there avisprobob.. havent really considered getting into music lessons cuz im just a plain hobbyist but i might get into that this summer.. O Man.. not drinking.. cant give that up! LOL!

Not everyone has lessons or needs them. i am entirely self taught using books, magazines and lessons online, although you do need a lot of perserverance. I recommend subscribing to a magazine. Not only do they provide you with decent video lessons, but it also introduces you to music that you probably wouldnt otherwise consider to learn or listen. Also, with a website like this, you can ask a question and more often than not get the answer you want. And it cost much less than lessons. I'm not sure how expensive they are - my piano lessons used to be £10 for 30 minutes.

Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine and Audioslave) had one guitar lesson and didnt like it so he gave up, and then picked up the guitar a few years later, and as solos such as "Take The Power Back" on the first RATM album show, he aint no sloth when it comes to soloing - triplet 16th notes at 108 BPM.

Oh, and what do people think about a possible permanent reunion of Rage Against The Machine?

dude which magazine did u sign up to? i used to buy copies of guitar one before, but i realized that much of the stuff within that magazine are all online so i stopped buyin it. wow thats like 15 or 20$/ half an hr here in states, i dunno but i might give lessons a shot this summer after I change my sucky pickups. LOL!

speaking of pups, do u guys think dimarzio pup can handle metallica tones? i mean the 1980's metallica era not the latest one.

RATM.. not really much of a fan here but surely its gonna be cool to see them back again giggin! m/

Total Guitar, £5/month which is a lot cheaper than guitar lessons! It's got a good mixture of beginner and advanced lessons, and guest lessons with videos. Here it costs £12.95 i think to subscribe for 3 issues. To subscribe from the States go to www.imsnews.com/totalguitar. You might be able to find individual issues in shops.

i agree totally with blackholesun, i learnt everything i know exactly like he did, subscribing to magazines is an awesome way to keep you motivated, especially if they have monthly lesson pages and stuff.
i have a few different magazines, including total guitar, guitar world, guitar techniques(thats a good one) and a few others.
guitar techniques i got from my mum for one of my birthdays, the issue i have has 98 pages and about 70 of them are all different lessons for rock, blues, shred, acoustic, pop, jazz, and slide guitar.
i really suggest you go to a good magazine retailer or your local music store and find yourself a good quality mag and get a subscription, cause getting a magazine each month with new stuff to learn always gets me motivated.

as you can see i just joined this forum a few minutes ago. i am also self taught using the afformentioned methods (magazines, books, e-books, online lessons, etc.) i haven't been playing for an incredibly long time, but anyways, one thing i like to do is record videos of myself playing. sometimes i don't feel like i'm improving but when i watch my videos, there's an obvious improvement each time. i also try to watch videos of highly skilled/experienced guitar players. i try to soak up every sound and sight. to keep myself motivated i constantly picture myself as skilled as jimmy page, or hendrix, etc. learning the guitar is quite a task to take on, and people learn at different speeds depending on certain environments/situations. but everybody who sticks with it gets there eventually.

you certainly got a point there iceman.. it makes me wonder, genes do have an effect on how you play right? i mean if your parents are music lovers, like they play something like a guitar or piano while they were young.. its more likely that you be good at instruments too right?

yeah, zmazz, i'd say so. my father was a very good guitarist and musician in general. he played other instruments, but the guitar was his focus and passion and he started playing when he was a kid. i think watching/listening to him play when i was a kid helped me to learn. i don't know if you can pass on the skill genetically, but i'm certain you can pass on the ability to learn.

That could be one of the reasons why i dont learn as fast as the others.. I dont really have a musician's genes in me. my mom used to sing before but just for fun and my dad.. lol, i barely hear him whistle.. and both of 'em dont play guitar too..

i know exactly what you mean zmazz,ive also been playing for just over 2 years.seem to learn a little bit get stuck,get through that,learn a little bit more get stuck.......but i never give up.this site has been really helpfull especially reverse scales and all the on to it players on here.i suppose as long as we're better than we were 6 months ago we're heading in the right direction,wish i had started years ago,one of the most expressional instruments i reckon.when im good enough to do it justice a les paul is on my shopping list.

good luck adamske

Do it ALL, man. Lessons, online, other players, books, vids. Take on a couple students, I guarantee you'll learn something from them. I've been playing 53 years, went all over the world playing my guitar, and my life still revolves around it, and always will. The one thing I can tell you is one lifetime isn't enough time to learn all there is, so don't limit yourself. You will always go through periods when you're sick of listening to yourself play...that's a good time to check out someone better than you, and snipe one of his licks...lol. learn something new and fit it into your playing. It'll also help you a lot if you can find a couple other folks to play with. Nothing like interactive music to stir up the juices.