What should I practice?

[Kat the metalhead]

I’ve been playing guitar for about 5 years and I’ve never played a solo and I’m beyond disappointed in my self, this is mainly because all the guitar teachers I had doubted me or really had no interest in helping and the one teacher I really liked and bonded with out of know where moved to China. It’s my dream to play metal solos but I have no idea what to practice or where to start. Any suggestions??

 

[Jesse Salmons]

What i did was pick a simple solo. Doesnt even have to be metal. I picked “You shook me all night long.” It has bends, position changes, and its at a good pace so its a good song to get into playing solo’s. Once you start learning solos you’ll start to realize what you need work on. Be it sweep picking, legato, alternate picking, your fretting hand technique, etc. You pretty much gotta jump right in And get your feet wet to find out what you need to work on and build from there. Next thing you know, you’ll Be like “this solo has some fast, alternate picked runs, and im not very good at that so i should practice that.”

Also dont be afraid to upload yourself on here!! There’s many great people on this site who will point out things that you can improve on. Hope i helped man. Cheers

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I’ve been playing guitar for about 5 years and I’ve never played a solo and I’m beyond disappointed in my self, this is mainly because all the guitar teachers I had doubted me or really had no interest in helping and the one teacher I really liked and bonded with out of know where moved to China. It’s my dream to play metal solos but I have no idea what to practice or where to start. Any suggestions??

First of all, I totally relate to you. Secondly, please don't be disappointed in yourself. I couldn't actually really play a solo that well at all until about 2 years ago (15 years of playing and actually trying). And even then it wasn't that good. It wasn't really until I started taking this school very seriously that it seemed like the sky was the limit. If I were you, do the caged lessons in tandem with the etudes. If you are a beginner with lead playing, and you feel overwhelmed taking the etudes on, let me know and I will help you out picking out measures of them. And all honesty doing the lessons with the etudes has shuttle launched my playing beyond belief. And I agree with the aforementioned, pick a solo that is obtainable for you and do it. I actually did a brief video not that long ago about 3 different levels A beginner style solos. All super easy and totally obtainable within a few weeks of good practice for beginners. What would you like to play? What kind of level are you at right now?

 

[Kat the metalhead]

First of all, I totally relate to you. Secondly, please don't be disappointed in yourself. I couldn't actually really play a solo that well at all until about 2 years ago (15 years of playing and actually trying). And even then it wasn't that good. It wasn't really until I started taking this school very seriously that it seemed like the sky was the limit. If I were you, do the caged lessons in tandem with the etudes. If you are a beginner with lead playing, and you feel overwhelmed taking the etudes on, let me know and I will help you out picking out measures of them. And all honesty doing the lessons with the etudes has shuttle launched my playing beyond belief. And I agree with the aforementioned, pick a solo that is obtainable for you and do it. I actually did a brief video not that long ago about 3 different levels A beginner style solos. All super easy and totally obtainable within a few weeks of good practice for beginners. What would you like to play? What kind of level are you at right now?

I don’t even know where I am right now But when I first started playing I was huge on punk and played stuff like green day, Ramones and blink 182 but now that stuff comes so easy for me on average it takes me 5 mins to learn a punk song, after that I played a lot of early 2000s metal like system of a down, three days grace and yet again that has became easy for me also. So I’m guessing I’m not a beginner but I’m not super advanced either

 

[Kat the metalhead]

What i did was pick a simple solo. Doesnt even have to be metal. I picked “You shook me all night long.” It has bends, position changes, and its at a good pace so its a good song to get into playing solo’s. Once you start learning solos you’ll start to realize what you need work on. Be it sweep picking, legato, alternate picking, your fretting hand technique, etc. You pretty much gotta jump right in And get your feet wet to find out what you need to work on and build from there. Next thing you know, you’ll Be like “this solo has some fast, alternate picked runs, and im not very good at that so i should practice that.”

Also dont be afraid to upload yourself on here!! There’s many great people on this site who will point out things that you can improve on. Hope i helped man. Cheers

I will definitely give that shot! Thanks!

 

[Jak Angelescu]

I don’t even know where I am right now But when I first started playing I was huge on punk and played stuff like green day, Ramones and blink 182 but now that stuff comes so easy for me on average it takes me 5 mins to learn a punk song, after that I played a lot of early 2000s metal like system of a down, three days grace and yet again that has became easy for me also. So I’m guessing I’m not a beginner but I’m not super advanced either

Funny you should mention that because Blink 182 and The Ramones are 2 of the bands that I covered in that video! I wrote solos when there weren't any. Those kinds of songs are actually really good to start with writing solos over because they are very simple

 

[Kat the metalhead]

Funny you should mention that because Blink 182 and The Ramones are 2 of the bands that I covered in that video! I wrote solos when there weren't any. Those kinds of songs are actually really good to start with writing solos over because they are very simple

That’s so funny I’ll check out your video.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

Kat where in Ontario are you?

All I can say is get into the lessons. Start from the beginning. Even if you think you know the lesson. Pg has some words of gold that might help you in every lesson. And then syns tips!

 

[Brian Haner Sr.]

Great advice, everyone!.
Hey Kat!
Here's my two cents:
Pick a simple solo you like and work on it. Try to play it by ear. Pick out the notes and play along with the record.
If you simply can't figure out a certain part - tabs are everywhere on the inter web of things.

Suggestions:
The Little Things Give You Away - Linkin Park
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day
Sweet Child Of Mine - G&R (The little section in the middle - NOT the open "riff" or the end solo which are quite difficult)

There are a ton of songs like these that have simple solos.
Get to work and keep us updated!
Cheers!
PG

 

[Kat the metalhead]

Great advice, everyone!.
Hey Kat!
Here's my two cents:
Pick a simple solo you like and work on it. Try to play it by ear. Pick out the notes and play along with the record.
If you simply can't figure out a certain part - tabs are everywhere on the inter web of things.

Suggestions:
The Little Things Give You Away - Linkin Park
Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana
You Shook Me All Night Long - AC/DC
Wake Me Up When September Ends - Green Day
Sweet Child Of Mine - G&R (The little section in the middle - NOT the open "riff" or the end solo which are quite difficult)

There are a ton of songs like these that have simple solos.
Get to work and keep us updated!
Cheers!
PG

Thanks so much! I gotta work on playing by ear because I’ve never done that and I’m not too great with identifying notes, so I’m thinking of just grabbing a note book and writing out all the stuff I need to know until I remember.

 

[Brian Haner Sr.]

Thanks so much! I gotta work on playing by ear because I’ve never done that and I’m not too great with identifying notes, so I’m thinking of just grabbing a note book and writing out all the stuff I need to know until I remember.

Get there HOWEVER you can get there. 100 guitar players will have 100 different ways to do the same thing.
: )

 

[Kat the metalhead]

Get there HOWEVER you can get there. 100 guitar players will have 100 different ways to do the same thing.
: )

I can’t thank you and everyone on this site enough! I was about to give up playing guitar until I found this, it’s basically a huge family helping and encouraging each other! All the guitar teachers I have had have been underestimating what I can do and doubting me and seeing so many people on here having my back has made me so happy and believe I can achieve my goals!

 

[Nocturne]

I can’t thank you and everyone on this site enough! I was about to give up playing guitar until I found this, it’s basically a huge family helping and encouraging each other! All the guitar teachers I have had have been underestimating what I can do and doubting me and seeing so many people on here having my back has made me so happy and believe I can achieve my goals!

This may sound cheesy but I think that as long as you trust yourself and dedicate yourself in learning and practicing, you will achieve your goals. I may be wrong but I truly believe that, in the end, talent is a very small part of what makes a player. The most part is the hard work and the dedication a player puts into its learning.

 

[Kat the metalhead]

This may sound cheesy but I think that as long as you trust yourself and dedicate yourself in learning and practicing, you will achieve your goals. I may be wrong but I truly believe that, in the end, talent is a very small part of what makes a player. The most part is the hard work and the dedication a player puts into its learning.

I totally agree with this, but would have never thought of this when it comes playing guitar if you didn’t mention it. Besides guitar I draw and paint. Ive been drawing my whole life and I’ve always believed that if I draw each day I’ll achieve my goals and I have because I was always confident with my art and not confident in my guitar skills so I’ll guess I’ll have to learn to be more confident when playing and not get angry or uninterested if stuff doesn’t happen as quick as I want it to

 

[Bellah83]

Try to find solos you enjoy that have a video lesson online too. Those helped me being able to see how people pull off some of the licks. Certain bends used to hold me up because I would do them wrong. Once you learn how those tricks are done, learning by ear and improving parts gets easier.