will I ever be able to realy play?

[kydog]

Ive been playen around for awhile now so I started to take lessons on the internet. yet I wonder if I will ever realy be able to play. I figure that if I keep working on it it will come . But there are times when I have my doubt's. Finger are a little sore but I realy like trying to play.

 

[southernGuild]

YOU BET!!!!! keep up a good attitude, and a thoughtful and focused practice regine...and HAVE FUN!!! Challenge yourself all the time to improve and Bit by Bit and YOU WILL!!!! Then, like a snowball.....Youll get rolling along, and you accumulate a good learning speed and things come a bit faster and easier.....then , BAM! you hit a new wall. Dont get discouraged......STRUM ON! Apply the same diligence and that one too shall fall....the cycle just goes on and on.....But, All the time you are improving. HOW GOOD is "TO REALLY PLAY" ? It All depends, but, Next year at this time, if you keep at it, you should suprise yourself...........Youll be doing HEAPS of stuff you cant do NOW!!! Thing that right now you WISH you could! Hang in there!

 

[Ian]

You only need to look back to when you started and think of the chords and the songs you can do now that you couldn't do then. One of the things that helped me was getting together with a bunch of guys and playing together. Then instead of just struggling along by myself it became a lot more fun.

Keep at it and remember how far you've come !!

 

[taabru45]

i saw Doyle Dykes, and while neither of us will likely ever be in his league, he mentioned the best way to improve your playing is to play in front of people, your kids, your mother, friends, whatever. There are many people who will just love to hear music, without judging, one of my favorites is my 4 year old granddaughter...play with people and ask how do you do that? Try to identify the chords and the key a song in the radio is playing. Watch youtube videos, If you see one thing that you can try, do it. it adds up, Don't beat yourself up, lots of rock and roll only has 3 or 4 chords in it, learn a song then learn it in other keys....Post here for questions, or frustration....we all are on different places on the same path, in a way...give yourself a congrats, when you do any new thing.....remember little strokes fell big oaks.....and stay healthy and grateful.... Steffan

 

[alpep]

I think what happens is that we all get to a level where we are good at what we do. whatever style or type of music or playing that may be. and everyone else is good at what they do. If you aspire to be someone else all the time you will never explore or develop your own style

 

[Bikerdoc]

I've been playing "at" guitar a long time and I say that to myself all the time. I know you DO have to practice more than I practice. You DO have to focus on learning more than I. I don't play as well as I'd like to play but to paraphrase Taab, there are people who listen and enjoy what I can do. Heck, there are venues where I've been asked to return. Now THAT's funny.
But you DO have to let yourself go, just do it, and make note of all the advise you'll get here at LTG. It's all good.

Peace

 

[killdeer43]

"Degree of difficulty is determined by desire."
That was always my personal mantra.

Persevere if you really want it and never compare yourself to anyone else; that's a real joy killer!
Just take your time, practice a lot, and play with others as often as you can. Your fingers will come around and just like everyone else might say, you'll always know more than you did when you first started. Expose yourself to the music and let it in. :wink:

Keep going,
Joe

 

[fronobulax]

Ive been playen around for awhile now so I started to take lessons on the internet. yet I wonder if I will ever realy be able to play. I figure that if I keep working on it it will come . But there are times when I have my doubt's. Finger are a little sore but I realy like trying to play.

Hang in there. Nothing worth doing ever comes easy. I second the advice to practice and to play with others. Wish I could do more of the latter myself.

 

[dapmdave]

Don't let it get you down! Just keep working at it, and you'll just get a little better every day.

Dave

 

[Ross]

i saw Doyle Dykes, and while neither of us will likely ever be in his league, he mentioned the best way to improve your playing is to play in front of people, your kids, your mother, friends, whatever. There are many people who will just love to hear music, without judging, one of my favorites is my 4 year old granddaughter...play with people and ask how do you do that? Try to identify the chords and the key a song in the radio is playing. Watch youtube videos, If you see one thing that you can try, do it. it adds up, Don't beat yourself up, lots of rock and roll only has 3 or 4 chords in it, learn a song then learn it in other keys....Post here for questions, or frustration....we all are on different places on the same path, in a way...give yourself a congrats, when you do any new thing.....remember little strokes fell big oaks.....and stay healthy and grateful.... Steffan

Good advice here.
For me, it's playing with others that really spurs me on to improve. And it's fun

 

[JerryR]

After 30 years I ask myself the same question - but I keep plugging on, trying to learn new things once I felt were too difficult to do, and slowly at time I think I notice an improvement :roll: As said by others - keep practising, play in front of others - just keep going on

 

[taabru45]

I keep seeing the word 'Practice' here....just play...and challenge yourself to learn a bit more each time you play, speed will come on its own, enjoy the learning...Practice is a loaded word for me...discipline....approval of others, all kinds of stuff...probably more appropriate for a band rehersal, or professional concertist ...hey I just made a word up...Sometimes I just fool around with the guitar to appreciate the sounds it can make. i.e. slide which I don't do well. tapping the strings with chopsticks, tapping the top, sides or/and bottom to hear the different sounds.....I don't have a girlfriend/wife, so maybe that explains something. :lol: :lol: Steffan

 

[fronobulax]

I keep seeing the word 'Practice' here....just play

Sorry to disagree with you but the reason I am a mediocre, at best, bassist is because all I ever did was "just play". I'm lazy but I know what practice is and what it can do. If someone wants to get better then it is not going to happen without some real work. Perhaps you call that work "just play" or perhaps people are having so much fun that they don't realize it is work but "just play" won't cut it without some discipline and focus.

 

[coastie99]

Well Kydog, if you're lazy like me, the sad answer is a resounding NO !!

 

[chazmo]

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Practice.



Frono, kydog, I think that Steffan was just saying that you have to avoid the bad aspects of "practice" that turn a challenge into a chore. I struggle with this concept on a daily basis with my kids. Of course it's true that "just play" is not gonna' make a great player out of anybody.

I plateaued many, many years ago at essentially an intermediate level. Yeah, sure, I've learned new songs in the intervening decades, but I have no illusions that I will ever be a master of the guitar. I think it all depends on your own expectations for yourself. I was brought up in a very competitive music environment, and my trumpet has always remained the outlet for that -- but as an adult I've accepted my skill plateau there as well.

If I had chosen the professional route, I'm sure I'd have a different attitude, and many of you guys are far closer to that than I'll ever be.

 

[taabru45]

.just play...and challenge yourself to learn a bit more each time you play, speed will come on its own, enjoy the learning...

Hi Frono...maybe my terminology is confusing....there is obviously dicipline here.... but constantly learning something new, and getting better at it to get results is what I'm meaning...practice will benefit for sure, but always be moving forward....one could spend years playing the same thing. and be really good at it, but movement brings accomplishment, and more fun to explore new horizons and music...there is fooling around maybe while watching TV, and there is more focused playing with learning attached, then I guess comes the 'practice...the doing....there is the joke about why Doctors practice mecicine....they just haven't gotten it right yet... :lol: Steffan

 

[JerryR]

When I say 'practice' I'm meaning different and new things - constant use of chord shapes gets them into the instinctive mode so you find it easier to play new stuff - but keep the old stuff in play as well - or it goes off - and then you will find yourself using my favorite phrase or lyric :mrgreen:

 

[fronobulax]

We may be in violent agreement and separated by a common language.

You won't get better playing the same songs over and over again, the same way you played them yesterday. But you will get better if you play them over and over and try to play faster, or have them sound cleaner. You will get better if you try and learn a new song and work until it sounds better than those other songs that you "just play". When that happens you can go back and revisit the old songs and bring them up to the new standard.

I do maintain, however, that the best way to get results is to have a good, human, teacher. Not only will the teacher hold you accountable for progress but there is something highly motivating about paying hard cash for lessons. Clearly that isn't possible for everyone :wink:

 

[Ross]

It seems like the word "practice" has different connotations. To many of us it conjures up (for example) the enforced practice of childhood piano lessons. For me "playing" includes practicing the basics as well as working up new things.

My first instrument was the banjo (no tomatoes, please). At the same time as I bought the banjo (back in the Ice Age) I also bought Pete Seeger's "How to play the 5-string banjo" (it was the only banjo book in the store :lol: ). It turned out to be one of the best purchases that I've ever made; clearly written, articulate & funny, it made me want to get better. The thing I remember best was Pete's statement; "Don't think of it as practice, think of it as playing a lot". That thought still drives my learning processes. The book also contained a wealth of information on chord structure, note relationships etc that I still use, although the book itself has long disappeared.

So keep pluggin', Ky. And enjoy yourself while you do it!

 

[dapmdave]

How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

Practice.



Frono, kydog, I think that Steffan was just saying that you have to avoid the bad aspects of "practice" that turn a challenge into a chore. I struggle with this concept on a daily basis with my kids. Of course it's true that "just play" is not gonna' make a great player out of anybody.

I plateaued many, many years ago at essentially an intermediate level. Yeah, sure, I've learned new songs in the intervening decades, but I have no illusions that I will ever be a master of the guitar. I think it all depends on your own expectations for yourself. I was brought up in a very competitive music environment, and my trumpet has always remained the outlet for that -- but as an adult I've accepted my skill plateau there as well.

If I had chosen the professional route, I'm sure I'd have a different attitude, and many of you guys are far closer to that than I'll ever be.

Chazmo, you are wise.