Long-ass Guitar Confession/Practice Advice Needed :)

[Jak Angelescu]

Papa Gates had talked about a book called "The War of Art" and it's a book I read before and found quite useful. It's about how the hardest part of creating is not actually creating; it's sitting down to create. To be honest, I'm afraid of guitar. And what I mean is that all day I find some excuse to not play like "oh the dishes need to be done" or "I need to work" or something. In all actuality, sitting down to play was a fear of mine. I was afraid of it. It wasn't anxiety like fear of messing up or self doubt. Rather that the overwhelming aspect of frying my brain on so many things to where playing guitar became more of a chore than fun. Please hear me out...
For a while now (until I got sick) I was playing guitar anywhere from 4-5 hours a day. My growth happened but not like how I wanted it to happen. I got faster with scales, I got more familiar with the neck, my ear training was improving and I was learning songs faster but ask me to improvise or write my own solo? I fell flat. FLAT.
I want to be like Papa Gates. I want to be able to hear chord changes and sit it with a group of guitarists and just know what to play. I want to be able to feel and create melody. I want to be like Papa and write amazing solos with passion and be able to pick up any guitar and play with my eyes closed and people go "Wow, SHE is a GUITARIST. Not just someone who knows scales and songs."
I have big dreams. In my neverending quest for finding out HOW to practice, it came along with (thanks to advice from Syn) also importantly what to practice. With this, I really want to scratch doing covers. I'd rather listen to a song and say "oh wow! I love that melody/lick/riff/progression/etc I'm gonna go home and learn THAT part" than beat my head in for years not being able to get a song right. I really passionately want to be a damn fine classical guitarist. I gained entrance to a great conservatory with an audition and with how I play now you would never know. I've lost it. And it's killing me to get it back. I heard a song called "City of Night" and it's the sexiest song ever. I'll link it below. Latin jazz, bossa nova, flamenco, classical, it's all so sexy and romantic to me. But between wanting to be an established musician with classical and originals, nowhere does my time allot for covers. Nowhere.
So I dug into my newfound passion more. And yet still for 4-5 hours a day I was overwhelmed and then I read an amazing interview with Andre Segovia.
I can't sit still long. It's who I am and I refuse to fight it. It doesn't mean I'm not disciplined or not serious about my work. It means my brain can only process so much at once and I will no longer feel inferior because of it. Andre Segovia practiced for about 5 hours a day but he gave himself a break every FIFTEEN MINUTES. FIFTEEN!!!! He'd focus on one thing, then get up and get a drink, say hello to his wife, whatever and go back to work. Every hour and fifteen minutes he'd give himself a real break. This is what I've been doing and guitar has become fun and adventurous all over again. I don't feel like I'm being disciplined or punished or forced to sit down and let my butt/shoulders go numb for hours.

So after that long endless confession, my question lies in this: Do you think it's okay to drop covers? My idea is that if I really focus on this school and learn licks and tricks instead of just songs, perhaps learning covers down the road will come much easier. Thoughts? Thanks for listening to my ramble

fall in love here...

 

[Ed Seith]

Of course it is! And really, when you segment your practice with breaks, you will learn faster, do better, and you can decide what each session will focus on.

I'll be honest. If I had the absolute freedom to play guitar for 5 hours a day, I would probably stop playing guitar before long. Every now and then, I like to play for a few hours, but there are also some days I don't but noodle for 10 minutes. Sure, that could be my problem, but it's how I stay in love with the instrument, and THAT is the most important thing.

 

[Bellah83]

I'd like to hear song writers opinions on this too. I think I've been stuck in the same pattern as you. Spent years trying to play covers rather than learning technique and theory. I wish this school was around years ago when I started. The direction and focus has helped tremendously.

I think at a certain point you just have to start playing with other musicians and writing. I've learned a lot in the last year dropping the covers and doing improv jams and trying to write songs. Try to spend more time with other musicians. The more you play with groups the more you figure out how to fit in with them musically and start to find your own sound.

 

[Kai C]

As @Steven Bellah just said, a songwriter's opinion would be a valuable asset here. It's been 9 months now since I began playing the instrument and joined the school. Most every day I'm drawn a few minutes at a time to picking up my guitar and having legitimate fun. So a few months into playing, people ask what songs I know. And it's like....3 songs and the intro to Buried Alive. And really only the meat, potatoes, and cheese of the songs at that... not the seasonings or sauce. The response is usually "why haven't you learned more, you're putting a lot of time and money into this right?".

The other question I'm stumped to answer is "what songs do you want to learn?". And it's like maybe another 5 songs. Nobody would really be impressed by the scales or chords I've learned, or the more time I've been spending on a metronome. But those are part of the learning process to build up to bigger ensembles, and quire frankly that's where I get the most enjoyment. There's always something new to learn and always something old to review. So just as you said, there are points where I want to learn THAT, so many hundreds or thousands of points in songs where I want to do THAT. And I don't know if that's the right answer but for now that's how it's going. Unless something bad happens and I'm gone tomorrow, I have a lifetime to enjoy the guitar and there's only so many hours in life to try and do it.

As always, I am so so sorry for writing an essay. I cut it down as I go, but this is a pretty deep question. And from one standpoint you and I aren't far off in age but our experience levels and overall life experiences are so different, yet we're facing similar questions.

 

[Kai C]

So far I've met 3 people who have been playing for years, and they're finger work is phenomenal. They can play some mean covers. I've asked if they can teach me anything and the response has been "dude just look at the tabs". But it's blown their minds that if I took a riff they just played and moved it somewhere else based on a scale/mode/key. Or moved chords down the neck based off the CAGED lessons. So hopefully I'm not letting that go to my head when I make the decision to learn theory over songs, but it's made me confident that what I'm leaning here works. Now I just have overcome fear of songwriting and apply it

 

[Bellah83]

I'd asked other guitarists before "what songs do you know" " do you know this or that" and they would kind of scoff and answer "nah, I do originals."
That used to be really intimidating. I realize now that musicians like that probably had some kind of formal teaching or lessons. Now instead of asking what songs they know, I'll ask if they want to jam. Knowing now how to find the right key, and roots and right scales I feel a little more like a musician. Rather than a perpetual student.

 

[idssdi]

It's fine to drop covers. Usually every guitar player has a couple of tricks up his sleeve he/she uses a lot and to learn those covers help but it's not Necessary. I would advice to get really aquainted with theory if you decide to drop covers too so you know harmony etc.

 

[Mariler]

I've been playing for 2 years and now I can learn a song much faster (it would take me weeks at the beginning to cover one song), also now I can hear a song and figure out the strumming patterns. I think the reason why I'v been making some progress is because I don't actually have much time to sit and practice every day (some days I'll just have 15 minutes and it's ok), and when I do, I focus on the parts I'm having more trouble with, and maybe in a few practice sessions I've put a whole cover together. But my point is that the less time you have to do something, the better you use that time. Short practice sessions seem to be working for me on guitar.
And sometimes when I get tired of covering songs, then I record some chord progression that seems to work in my head, add some bass line and drums, and just jam to it and spend my time exploring the fretboard, trying to find the scales that work and creating my licks, and really chilling out. And it is cool, because the only thing I want to is enjoying while playing whatever.
Like Jak said, I would also be like Papa Gates being able to sit with a group of musicians and just playing, and I hope this will come over time, but there's no rush, I'll keep trying day after day, I have my whole life to keep learning

 

[Firsty Lasty]

Because I am the kind of guy who likes the sound of his own voice I'm gonna go ahead and quote myself from way back in May.

Five hours without a break isn’t going to work. I personally take three kinds of breaks.
First, the quick break: always be willing to put the guitar down for a moment when it feels right. There are times I put the guitar down for probably not even fifteen seconds just to relax, check my posture, and have my hands free. It would probably look silly if you saw me do it, just put the guitar down for no reason and pick it up again a moment later, but it feels great. Depending on how I feel I might not do this once in an hour of practice, or I might do it numerous times.
Second, I try to take a few minutes off every ten or fifteen minutes to clear my head. I try to empty my mind in this time almost like meditation. I started experimenting with this when I learned that it is very popular among bass guitarists to do a 15 minutes on 5 minutes off cycle in the hopes of optimizing learning.
The third kind of break is of course the longer breaks. Within a five hour block of practice there should be at least two long breaks where you get up and walk around or have a snack or something. You don’t need to do something that will destroy your guitar concentration, like playing video games, but you do need to get up so that your body stays healthy.

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Now I don't have a lot of experience, not compared to you Jak, definetly not to Ed and let's not talk about the Kings. And I am not remotely as dedicated as you are. But I could feel all you wrote. Sitting there in a spontaneous situation and handling it, instantly creating music or adding to it with other people, that's a dream we probably all want to achieve.

But I'm gonna hold it with Ed's advice and basicly say it's okay when it's fun. Although I have to say, while really trying to learn theory and using the lessons, I probably got most of my skill from covers. Not from covering songs perfectly but go ahead and do so if you are in the mood for it. Whatever brings you joy. But what I mean is, it's extremely hard to create something from scratch. I also draw and do leather work, so I KNOW. What I am getting at, I find it incredible valuable to learn from preexisting sources. If I cover songs I discover different styles of riffs, get an idea where to go next or how to build an own riff. I tried and failed at some solos, but learned new patterns, ways to stay on a note or go up and down the neck.
So maybe all that stuff gets less important the more years you spent playing, but that is just where I am right now. To quote Chad, the Almighty god of Kings "I am good at being a beginner". Hope I could somehow still help you

 

[carlosmqr]

Im a bit stuck on that pattern too... I think is really important to know how to manage your practice, what to practice and for how long and know yourself... and being a beginner makes it difficult, so I try to see what others do and see if it works for me. The breaks definitely work, if I have that much time to play I always stop for a bit every hour or so. About the covers or just focus on lessons Im not sure as a beginner I try to do a bit of both, I think balance is good but truth is that I see a lot of experienced people say to focus more on lessons and learn theory and stuff... about you writing your own solo or improvising I think with the work you put into it it will come with time for sure. Its probably one if not the most difficult part of it, come with your own stuff or just improv out of nowhere, but Im sure that when you put that work into it it will come...for some people will be easier than to others but we are all different anyway!

 

[Ed Seith]

Grab a generic backing track as part of one practice segment. Force yourself to solo over it. Force yourself to come up with one THEME or MOTIF that you come back to during it. Sure, it will probably suck, but if you hit that same backing track once a day for two weeks, even 5 minutes a day, you WILL notice a difference at the end of two weeks.

Pick something in Em if you tune standard, Dm if you're in drop D tuning. Pick something your guitar is ready for and that fits with a lot of the music you play. That will be challenging enough, at first. Then you can get into the weird shit later.

 

[Rute Rodrigues]

When you feel no motivation, a thing I think you should do is to go listen to your favorite records, songs, artists or performance. What made you pick up the guitar? Who inspired you to want to make a career in music? To me, it happened to me some weeks ago, some of you know, I was feeling really bad, and all I did was to spend some time the things that inspired me the most.
I saw Dream Theater playing the count of Tuscany live again, saw videos of the band touring around the world, saw a7x live in LBC again, heard my favorite records ever and after some time, I was inspired and motivated again. Spent the whole evening playing guitar and I was inspired again

 

[Chris Johnston]

Hey Jak! I can completely relate to where you're at, as I felt this way a couple of years ago.

I can honestly say I cannot remember the last cover I sat down and learned, and I'm the happiest about my playing recently than I've ever been. I'm at the point where improvisation excites me way more than knowing how to play a song.

Improv wise, there are so many ways to get into it, but the way I started to play more authentically was 'practicing concepts'.Rick Beato talks about this alot!

A concept could be anything from using the b5 in a minor jam to super imposing a Major arpeggio over a minor chord. It's basically practicing having to deal with certain musical situations that you could be faced with when improvising. Kinda like being trained to deal with a situation for a job.

However the key to being able to do it instinctively for me comes down to 2 things.
1. Understanding
2. Ears
Both of which can easily be developed

In a nut shell, if you understand why things work and can hear/recognise them, and use them yourself, then you're speaking a language, rather than reciting a song in the language.

It's a long thing to explain, but memorizing/practicing a few things can help with the process.

1. Memorizing all 12 Major Scales without your instrument
2. Memorizing the pattern of Chords in a Major Key without your instrument
3. Knowing how to play the Arpeggios of said chords on your instrument.
4. Knowing all 7 positions of your Major scale on the neck
5. Knowing all 5 positions of the Minor Pentatonic on the neck.
6. Understanding Modes is a big help, but not absolutely essential to start off with.

Basically thinking of all of the above as your starter musical toolbox and committing them to memory will give you a solid foundation for beginning to get the most out of improvisation. You want to be able to recite the information as easily as your phone number, so that it's internalised to begin with.

If there's one uber important thing that made it click with it it was understanding how to think of a Major Key as like a big Musical Watermelon ( ) that I can flesh ideas, licks, arpeggios from to play over a chord in the key, because of the relationship between each chord. The minute you start thinking of things like that, it's like you have more options than you know what to do with. This stuff is really what's made me fall more in love with the instrument & music in general ❤

Feel free to PM me and I can go into it in a less rushed way to help. I genuinely love teaching improv!

 

[Ben Grosskreuz]

Papa Gates had talked about a book called "The War of Art" and it's a book I read before and found quite useful. It's about how the hardest part of creating is not actually creating; it's sitting down to create. To be honest, I'm afraid of guitar. And what I mean is that all day I find some excuse to not play like "oh the dishes need to be done" or "I need to work" or something. In all actuality, sitting down to play was a fear of mine. I was afraid of it. It wasn't anxiety like fear of messing up or self doubt. Rather that the overwhelming aspect of frying my brain on so many things to where playing guitar became more of a chore than fun. Please hear me out...
For a while now (until I got sick) I was playing guitar anywhere from 4-5 hours a day. My growth happened but not like how I wanted it to happen. I got faster with scales, I got more familiar with the neck, my ear training was improving and I was learning songs faster but ask me to improvise or write my own solo? I fell flat. FLAT.
I want to be like Papa Gates. I want to be able to hear chord changes and sit it with a group of guitarists and just know what to play. I want to be able to feel and create melody. I want to be like Papa and write amazing solos with passion and be able to pick up any guitar and play with my eyes closed and people go "Wow, SHE is a GUITARIST. Not just someone who knows scales and songs."
I have big dreams. In my neverending quest for finding out HOW to practice, it came along with (thanks to advice from Syn) also importantly what to practice. With this, I really want to scratch doing covers. I'd rather listen to a song and say "oh wow! I love that melody/lick/riff/progression/etc I'm gonna go home and learn THAT part" than beat my head in for years not being able to get a song right. I really passionately want to be a damn fine classical guitarist. I gained entrance to a great conservatory with an audition and with how I play now you would never know. I've lost it. And it's killing me to get it back. I heard a song called "City of Night" and it's the sexiest song ever. I'll link it below. Latin jazz, bossa nova, flamenco, classical, it's all so sexy and romantic to me. But between wanting to be an established musician with classical and originals, nowhere does my time allot for covers. Nowhere.
So I dug into my newfound passion more. And yet still for 4-5 hours a day I was overwhelmed and then I read an amazing interview with Andre Segovia.
I can't sit still long. It's who I am and I refuse to fight it. It doesn't mean I'm not disciplined or not serious about my work. It means my brain can only process so much at once and I will no longer feel inferior because of it. Andre Segovia practiced for about 5 hours a day but he gave himself a break every FIFTEEN MINUTES. FIFTEEN!!!! He'd focus on one thing, then get up and get a drink, say hello to his wife, whatever and go back to work. Every hour and fifteen minutes he'd give himself a real break. This is what I've been doing and guitar has become fun and adventurous all over again. I don't feel like I'm being disciplined or punished or forced to sit down and let my butt/shoulders go numb for hours.

So after that long endless confession, my question lies in this: Do you think it's okay to drop covers? My idea is that if I really focus on this school and learn licks and tricks instead of just songs, perhaps learning covers down the road will come much easier. Thoughts? Thanks for listening to my ramble

fall in love here...

Adderal my friend. I can play for hours straight. I practiced the afterlife riff for literally an hour straight. I once practiced from 8 pm till 8 am the next day no joke. Worth looking into.