Oh, the frustration!

[Astral Traveler]

I'm really trying to pull myself together to improve. I've identified a number of weak areas I have to work on, I even have a plan for some of them.

I need ear training - I'm thinking that transcribing whatever I need to learn rather than using some yout00b lesson is a good way.

I need to change how I view the fretboard - triads.

I need to work on my rhythmical chops - I'll work on my phrasing and a lot on my rhytm playing.

The goal is to be able to play solos as well as improvised rhythm over chord changes. Today I need to prepare, a lot, before pulling it off if it' soutside the one key fits all pentatonic scale. I'd rather feel like a prouncing lion than a rabbit in the headlights when someone calls for a solo.

The frustration: I think my plam makes sense, but I'm not noticing any improvements towards the goal. I pick up the technical and theoretical stuff pretty quick, and my transcribing powers are improving rapidly. I seem no closer to being able move effortlessly between the changes. I know what chord is coming up, I know that I want to target the new chord tones but by the time I get there, the next chord is already up.

I need to automate the process of navigating this stuff but I'm not seeing a clear path. Maybe I just need to put in a few more years of working on it.

Rant over.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

I'm really trying to pull myself together to improve. I've identified a number of weak areas I have to work on, I even have a plan for some of them.

I need ear training - I'm thinking that transcribing whatever I need to learn rather than using some yout00b lesson is a good way.

I need to change how I view the fretboard - triads.

I need to work on my rhythmical chops - I'll work on my phrasing and a lot on my rhytm playing.

The goal is to be able to play solos as well as improvised rhythm over chord changes. Today I need to prepare, a lot, before pulling it off if it' soutside the one key fits all pentatonic scale. I'd rather feel like a prouncing lion than a rabbit in the headlights when someone calls for a solo.

The frustration: I think my plam makes sense, but I'm not noticing any improvements towards the goal. I pick up the technical and theoretical stuff pretty quick, and my transcribing powers are improving rapidly. I seem no closer to being able move effortlessly between the changes. I know what chord is coming up, I know that I want to target the new chord tones but by the time I get there, the next chord is already up.

I need to automate the process of navigating this stuff but I'm not seeing a clear path. Maybe I just need to put in a few more years of working on it.

Rant over.

AT, No Rant bro. To me it is a clear assessment of where you are and where you want to be. That is a good start.

 

[Beagle]

I seem no closer to being able move effortlessly between the changes. I know what chord is coming up, I know that I want to target the new chord tones but by the time I get there, the next chord is already up.

Then slow it down and practice the changes until you can. It's a pain in the rear, but like our friend always says, "you have to do the work"...

 

[RVA]

I find improvement moves like a log jam. All the practice and studying seems to be for nothing, and then all of a sudden, you sit down one day and say "Hey, it all seems to be clicking". It always seems like it happened overnight, but the truth is that it was happening all along. It just takes time for your mind and fingers to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. Just like a puzzle actually - so many seemingly irrelevant pieces are assembled and then seemingly "all of a sudden", a picture emerges.

I always tell myself that I will not get any worse by practicing, and that I am unlikely to be the FIRST one to get NO benefit from it.

My cousin introduced me to the concept when I was younger. I was trying to ice skate backward, and she said "Just keep trying, and then all of a sudden, you will just be able to do it." Whenever I get frustrated, I just remind myself that I am skating backward

Persistence is what separates the achievers from the lingerers. Stick to the plan brother!

 

[Astral Traveler]

Then slow it down and practice the changes until you can. It's a pain in the rear, but like our friend always says, "you have to do the work"...

Yeah, I can do it if I get to practice it first, but just seeing a chord progression and figuring out how to solo over the changes on the fly is beyond me. Maybe it is time that is the missing link.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Are you playing to backing tracks? Because of the pandemic I’ve been playing to backing tracks. Almost two years into the pandemic I found myself in the position you describe. A month ago I tried to form a band with vaccinated musicians. It hasn’t worked out so far. Starting a band is very much like herding cats. I have however started a weekly jam with another guitar player. He has really been pushing me to play lead. Our last two jams I have been exclusively playing lead to his singing and rhythm. Suddenly it happened. All that work playing to backing tracks fell into place. With backing tracks you are the song, the whole song. Playing a song with someone else you are the complement to the singer. It’s only about you for maybe a verse and a chorus. You can think about the song and figure out where the chord tones are. Simplicity is the key. Complement the song, don’t try to take over the song. Without all the playing to backing tracks I wouldn’t be able to do this but at the same time I still think I suck at improvising to backing tracks. All that sucky playing has somehow made me a better musician.

 

[Astral Traveler]

Are you playing to backing tracks? Because of the pandemic I’ve been playing to backing tracks. Almost two years into the pandemic I found myself in the position you describe. A month ago I tried to form a band with vaccinated musicians. It hasn’t worked out so far. Starting a band is very much like herding cats. I have however started a weekly jam with another guitar player. He has really been pushing me to play lead. Our last two jams I have been exclusively playing lead to his singing and rhythm. Suddenly it happened. All that work playing to backing tracks fell into place. With backing tracks you are the song, the whole song. Playing a song with someone else you are the complement to the singer. It’s only about you for maybe a verse and a chorus. You can think about the song and figure out where the chord tones are. Simplicity is the key. Complement the song, don’t try to take over the song. Without all the playing to backing tracks I wouldn’t be able to do this but at the same time I still think I suck at improvising to backing tracks. All that sucky playing has somehow made me a better musician.

Yeah, I do play to backing tracks. I should try to make more of it though, it quickly turns into noodling.

Lately I've been playing to the songs I need to learn for the band.

 

[Ramo]

Yeah, I do play to backing tracks. I should try to make more of it though, it quickly turns into noodling.

Lately I've been playing to the songs I need to learn for the band.

there is no short cut, you need to do the work. For guys like me its more work as I pick up things slower with music. Some songs I learn fast some take me forever.

bottom line keep practicing and try to go outside of your comfort zone.

 

[Beagle]

Yeah, I can do it if I get to practice it first, but just seeing a chord progression and figuring out how to solo over the changes on the fly is beyond me. Maybe it is time that is the missing link.

If you know the key and where the progression is going next, you have a scale to fall back on. Where's the bass going?

If that fails you can always fall back on widdly-widdly-weeee-wooo-widdly-schreeech-eeech-eech

 

[aon]

I'm by no means a great player or improviser on any instrument, but here's what I've picked up over the last couple of years since I started looking at this stuff more (and in a calmer state of mind than 15 - 20 years ago).

I think time and focus is what it essentially boils down to...

Yeah, I can do it if I get to practice it first, but just seeing a chord progression and figuring out how to solo over the changes on the fly is beyond me. Maybe it is time that is the missing link.

Yes, it definitely takes time. The more time you actually spend on working on music and listening to it, the more you notice how few and far the really good players are who can strike a balance between familiar licks and more free-flowing improvisation. Jeff Healey has been one of my absolute favourites in this regard lately. And you also might start noticing how monotonous the playing of some of the widely recognized "guitar gods" is. Not going to name any names...

I need ear training - I'm thinking that transcribing whatever I need to learn rather than using some yout00b lesson is a good way.

I need to change how I view the fretboard - triads.

I need to work on my rhythmical chops - I'll work on my phrasing and a lot on my rhytm playing.

What do you transcribe to?

I've been practicing reading sheet music on the bass for a couple of months now. It seems to help in all of the above points, as it detaches the pitch from the physical location on the fretboard so you have to know where each tone is rather than thinking about the physical location first and the tone second. Also the rhytmical information is more strongly conveyed than in a lot of tab notation.

But oh man is it boring sometimes and the progress feels so slow. So I try to balance it by playing along to some blues records. Also helps that I'm doing it on the bass - there's just too much emotional baggage and past failures attached to guitar to do slow learning like this. For now at least.

Focusing on the music has also dropped my interest in gear by probably 95% (although I am planning a pickup swap on my strat...), and the time I spend practising has became more well defined. I spend maybe two hours a day playing and do completely other stuff for the rest of the time.

 

[Astral Traveler]

What do you transcribe to?

You mean what music, or where the transcribed product ends up?

 

[Astral Traveler]

I found that I made my most improvement over the years by listening rather than playing so much. Once I was able to correctly predict the intervals between the notes I was hearing, the easier it was to get there. Hearing the interval first in my head and, then, second knowing whether to go up or down the scale was a major step. Then realizing that nearly every interval was generally within reach of my current position, assuming I was in key, and I began to link chord shapes together in an interlocking fashion where notes in that chord overlap notes in another chord. Then I began to arpeggiate thru those chords, then I learned to skip notes in those arpeggios and then things really starting cooking with Crisco.

Hearing the melody in my head is the key ingredient to knowing what to play next. It's very much like what Jimi would do when he hummed along to his guitar parts as he was improvising - that used to blow me away. Now, I just hear each successive note in the melody and I simply play that note...then the next note and so on. After a while, you can do this in real-time and hum along with improvisational parts just like Jimi did. As a bonus, this consequently also made my bends more musical.

The most musical melodies are simple and flow naturally from note to note, so you're almost always already in the neighborhood for the next note. Sliding your hand into the best position to play that melody as an arpeggio is the only real trick that took me a while. I had to learn where the next note in my head lies in the chord shape that I am playing and how can I get to the note after that easiest and quickest.

That's what I want to achieve.

 

[aon]

You mean what music, or where the transcribed product ends up?

I mean that are you transcribing to tabs or sheet music. I think both are beneficial but sheet music seems like it might have additional benefits, as it forces you to think about the notes and not the physical location on the fretboard.

But oh man is it tedious to transcribe to sheet music as a less-than-mediocre reader... and the sheet music probably ends up being horrible (as long as it plays OK as MIDI it's enough for me). Musescore makes the task a bit less daunting..

 

[Astral Traveler]

I mean that are you transcribing to tabs or sheet music. I think both are beneficial but sheet music seems like it might have additional benefits, as it forces you to think about the notes and not the physical location on the fretboard.

But oh man is it tedious to transcribe to sheet music as a less-than-mediocre reader... and the sheet music probably ends up being horrible (as long as it plays OK as MIDI it's enough for me). Musescore makes the task a bit less daunting..

Ah! No, I transcribe it to memory. My musical memory is another thing I need to work on. I figure that if I can recall it from memory and play it, I'm half way there.