around Christmas, I decided to get a couple of guitars as a present for myself.
The first months of practicing went really smoothly, for for every frustrating and sometimes painful exercise I felt that I was progressing steadily. I then discovered "Fingerstyle", which is a rather pretentious term for a really neat technique to really push your acoustic guitar and I haven't touched my electric guitar ever since.
My problem is that I stopped practicing smart and instead just play - or try playing - fingerstyle songs I find on the internet from tabs (usually from Sungha Jung and Kelly Valleau).
While this is fun, and I notice definitive progression within a single song, I don't feel like I'm progressing as a whole. I really want to move away from simply playing a tune from tabs and towards doing my own stuff. So yeah, I want less imitation and more expression.
How do I move towards that?
My first impulse is this: It would be rather helpful to have a clue about what the fuck I'm doing, so I should learn some theory, right?
But even then, I don't feel like I'm getting better at adding pieces to the puzzle, and the more I learn, the more it becomes apparent that I ain't seen nuttin' yet.
I feel like I'm not doing a good job of explaining myself, maybe somebody who was in a similiar situation has some insight into this.
Take a break. Helps sometimes with guitar playing. I suggest you go to your local library and get all the introductory guitar/music books you can get. The basic music theory is really simple, some books just make it seem way more difficult than it is. So you should just flip through the first few chapters of those books and pick those books that don't make you more confused. I also suggest looking up the right posture early on. It will save you from a lot of hurt.
Practising from tabs really isn't that bad in itself, especially if you can't read notes. There's a lot of techniques that are very hard to learn by ear. I myself aren't really that good at learning stuff by ear, but I sometimes memorize a song from tabs and then while I'm playing I can figure out what exactly is happening. And more often than not I end up making changes to the way I play the song. The worst thing is playing without using your brain at all. Your fingers only need that much practice.
ISBN-13: 978-3795751241 For the most complete theory about music in your mothertoungue I ever encountered, does not really matter if you play jazz or not. Maybe a little too excessiv if it's just a hobby. There also is justin guitar . dot com, lots of good, free, well structured material.
The number one thing though:
On August 05 2013 18:21 Bommes wrote: Learn songs by just listening to them and without looking at tabs at all.
I would recommend starting with relatively easy songs though.
I would reccomend studying a major or minor scale. Pick one that sounds good, and practice it, practice it, after a while you will start freestyling it.
Even if you never studied anything about theory, like others said before me, a little theory can make you go a long way.
There are other ways as well to play the same scale on guitar (wheter you want it more deep or more high) since you into fingerstyle this scale is on the higher chords should suit you
You can do this with any major scale or minor scale (there are many), most important thing imo is choosing something you like.
If you want i have a piece in F minor harmonic i wrote for guitar just pm me
Just memorize these notes on the guitar, play them a couple of times up and down, and they play them however you like, however you want, only rule is use these 7 notes (or whichever 7 notes you use of any scale).
To become good at any instrument, you have to grind hours and hours of boring stuff to get your chops going. After that, the technique is kinda rooted in you and you can just go with the flow of inspiration. It's similar to playing when you are drunk: you don't think about it, you do it, but if you don't have the technique down, you're limited in what you can do.
As Picasso said, (free translation) 'Learn the skill and put it aside until you need it'
I would recommend learning how to read music and play studies. They are pieces that can sound relatively nice and are focused on improving one skill (vibrato/left hand speed, right hand speed etc). They are really the bread and butter of not boring improvement. Much more fun to play than scales but let you improve aswell. As for doing your own stuff, just try to play something. If it sound nice, write it down.
PS you can probably find tab studies but there's probably less than actual notes studies.
There are many ways to get good and constant and continous practice sure is fondamental, but,
It all depends on your objective:
Whats the point of studying a book on music thoery if your objective is to impress a girl and play 1 song for her on an instrument? none, none at all. Like everything else in life have clear what your objective is. Is music something you want to do to gain the faith/trust of someone? is it something you want to do as a hobby in your downtime, to feel happy? is it something you want to do as a profession? In the last case, studying music theory is a must, imo, in the second it greatly helps you get where you want faster simply, in the first case the only thing you should learn is how to correctly (for you) hold and "hit/strum/pick/bash" the instrument.
Its all about your objective. Also, beware of people who want to "appear" as a musician, as opposed to people who are/want to be a musician. There is a fundamental difference. And never obey to anyone telling you, you can' t do something because your not good enough. That is bs. Anything is possible, anything in the world, if you can imagine it to be possible. There are no stupid questions, just stupid answers.
Two small examples here: Jimi Hendrix didn' t know much about music theory. He is however one of the greatest guitar players (personally i' m not mad about him, but i recognize his greatness). How did he get there? by grinding it out doing his own stuff. Stuff he liked.
Adolf Sax, the creator of the well known Saxophone, worked in a music making shop of his father in Belgium. The sax, was refused many times in classic academic instrument approvers. As it turnes out, this is a valid instrument and very popular. He concieved the Saxophone as a military instrument for band marches. Funny how things work out.
Don' t take these examples in the wrong way. I' m not saying fuck academics. What i' m saying is, if anyone tells you you have to study 10+ years to become a good musician; Music theory is an instrument, not a goal (unless you plan on teaching) . Many musicians get lost into technicality.
I am much more interested in the final result, the actual music.
But even then, I don't feel like I'm getting better at adding pieces to the puzzle, and the more I learn, the more it becomes apparent that I ain't seen nuttin' yet.
I'm not sure of how good at guitar you are (if you're playing fingerstyle you're on the right track though ^^) but the best way to improve technically is just to keep practising and learning songs, the better technically you are the better you will be able to express yourself via the guitar.
I think of learning theory as "extra credit" it opens up new ideas and helps you communicate with other musicians but its not an essential skill to have with guitar. If interested you should learn why chords get the names they do and how that relates to a scale. For example it can help if you see a symbol Cmaj7 and aren't sure how to play that, you can look at your C shape chord you do know and figure it out from there. Theory made guitar make a lot more sense for me but I am also pretty academic oriented so your mileage may vary.
Just make sure you keep playing regularly and you'll keep on getting better ^_^
Stop playing for a while, fully if you have some kind of technical issue that is holding you back and you have a mental hurdle in breaking.
With guitar I've done this a few times, with my picking motion on my wrist (3 separate occasions) and once to get rid of real ingrained fingering inefficiencies.
When it comes to being 'creative', write your own stuff. In addition I like to stick on backing tracks, or noodle around over stuff. You get to get a real ingrained sense of tonality and key recognition, and it's also handy in terms of improving your improvisation ability from there.
Theory and learning that will help you rationalise why things work, but it doesn't give you the ear so that you can immediately tell, if that makes sense.
Essentially, no one can answer this for you. It's something you sort of learn as time goes on.
But here are a few tips from someone who writes and plays. I don't do any serious concerts, but I'm doing some writing, and have been for a long time, and have played shows before, and in front of 100+ crowds.
Anyway....
Just do it. Play something someone else did, but change the key. Change the progression a little. Mess around with it. I promise you, you're not original because no one is, and hasn't been for awhile. It's safe to say that thousands of years of music have given us meta-styles so elaborate, there's no way to say that someone is original.
When you start writing, don't be afraid to both stop or keep going. There's no one to tell you when to stop and you'll wear yourself thin playing and writing that you'll get up, but still reminding yourself what you wrote. Just continue doing it. Take someone else's songs, and write a little over it. Keep changing it until you do something you feel like is you. Maybe the song already is you.
When you get sick of writing, start dipping your hand in other things. I read or play a ton of video games. I've gone months without writing, then pick up my guitar and jam out a few tunes. Sometimes it's best to gain inspiration from the world around you - not just music. Try different things. Play a sport, go work out, or just work? Smoke a bowl, a cigarette, mushrooms, watch TV, talk with people, sleep, eat, run.
There's no limit to creativity. There's no rule book, and the best part is that there's no originality so you can be more original in essence due to the loss of unique originality. It sounds crazy, but trust me.
Oh also, you're going to suck big time at first. At least that's what you'll think. You may end up always thinking that. I still do. But people for some fucking weird reason will say you're amazing when you know that you're not. Just smile, nod, and thank them. Also shake their hands and get their name. You have no idea how much people appreciate small shit like that.
EDIT: BIGGEST THING: Write everything you do down or record it. If you don't, do not go crazy over trying to re-create that perfect feeling. You'll never get it back and you must accept the song for what it must become now. If you can't live with that, then don't try to re-write the song.
Double EDIT: Also, look what happens when people try to explain it. Paragraphs of sensless ramblings that say... fucking experiment. It's fun. Trust me.
Theory, 100%. If you can't construct your own chords then there's no way that you'll be able to "progress" into understanding fingerstyle. You need to be able to understand scales to construct chords and you need chords to understand music theory and you need theory to put together songs. It's overwhelming at first but a good teacher will help unless you're a mathematical and conceptual genius who can do it in their head by reading it.
And yeah if you want to feel like you know what you're doing when you play music, don't pick up theory because everyone I know who has like 10+ years of theory is like "I don't know anything compared to people who really understand music" even though they can spout off stuff that would take me a week to figure out just by hearing a piece.
I've been studying theory for about 2 years now on top of 15 years of "just playing" guitar and I know enough to know that I don't know anything about music.
On August 05 2013 20:00 pebble444 wrote: Two small examples here: Jimi Hendrix didn' t know much about music theory. He is however one of the greatest guitar players (personally i' m not mad about him, but i recognize his greatness). How did he get there? by grinding it out doing his own stuff. Stuff he liked.
Why do people always say bullshit like this?
Miles Davis taught Jimi Hendrix jazz theory, he talks about it in his autobiography.
On August 05 2013 20:00 pebble444 wrote: Two small examples here: Jimi Hendrix didn' t know much about music theory. He is however one of the greatest guitar players (personally i' m not mad about him, but i recognize his greatness). How did he get there? by grinding it out doing his own stuff. Stuff he liked.
Why do people always say bullshit like this?
Miles Davis taught Jimi Hendrix jazz theory, he talks about it in his autobiography.
All theory is is a codification of what is pleasing to the ear, and why.
You can easily write great music that conforms to theoretical structures, without knowing the theory itself.
On August 05 2013 20:00 pebble444 wrote: Two small examples here: Jimi Hendrix didn' t know much about music theory. He is however one of the greatest guitar players (personally i' m not mad about him, but i recognize his greatness). How did he get there? by grinding it out doing his own stuff. Stuff he liked.
Why do people always say bullshit like this?
Miles Davis taught Jimi Hendrix jazz theory, he talks about it in his autobiography.
All theory is is a codification of what is pleasing to the ear, and why.
You can easily write great music that conforms to theoretical structures, without knowing the theory itself.
So stop saying bullshit like "Jimi Hendrix didn't know much about music theory" when it's more like "Jimi Hendrix knew more music theory than 99.9999999999% of the people on the planet, he just didn't know what other people called it."
On August 05 2013 20:00 pebble444 wrote: Two small examples here: Jimi Hendrix didn' t know much about music theory. He is however one of the greatest guitar players (personally i' m not mad about him, but i recognize his greatness). How did he get there? by grinding it out doing his own stuff. Stuff he liked.
Why do people always say bullshit like this?
Miles Davis taught Jimi Hendrix jazz theory, he talks about it in his autobiography.
All theory is is a codification of what is pleasing to the ear, and why.
You can easily write great music that conforms to theoretical structures, without knowing the theory itself.
So stop saying bullshit like "Jimi Hendrix didn't know much about music theory" when it's more like "Jimi Hendrix knew more music theory than 99.9999999999% of the people on the planet, he just didn't know what other people called it."
Then he's an exception. Most musicians know jack shit about the theory of what they're playing. And in fact, more music theory does not mean you will write better music, and suggesting that knowing more theory will improve your music is a logical fallacy. While I agree that knowing theory is good and can help when used in the right instances, I would not suggest that theory helps regardless, nor do I suggest that one must study theory to be good or be better at playing music.
I personally know a lot of theory, but experimenting with chords and understanding the theory behind what you're doing is simply one way to get better. There a ton of others. If you just play and write, you will get better. Progress is not linear in that there are always several paths to take.
On August 05 2013 20:00 pebble444 wrote: Two small examples here: Jimi Hendrix didn' t know much about music theory. He is however one of the greatest guitar players (personally i' m not mad about him, but i recognize his greatness). How did he get there? by grinding it out doing his own stuff. Stuff he liked.
Why do people always say bullshit like this?
Miles Davis taught Jimi Hendrix jazz theory, he talks about it in his autobiography.
All theory is is a codification of what is pleasing to the ear, and why.
You can easily write great music that conforms to theoretical structures, without knowing the theory itself.
So stop saying bullshit like "Jimi Hendrix didn't know much about music theory" when it's more like "Jimi Hendrix knew more music theory than 99.9999999999% of the people on the planet, he just didn't know what other people called it."
Then he's an exception. Most musicians know jack shit about the theory of what they're playing. And in fact, more music theory does not mean you will write better music, and suggesting that knowing more theory will improve your music is a logical fallacy. While I agree that knowing theory is good and can help when used in the right instances, I would not suggest that theory helps regardless, nor do I suggest that one must study theory to be good or be better at playing music.
I personally know a lot of theory, but experimenting with chords and understanding the theory behind what you're doing is simply one way to get better. There a ton of others. If you just play and write, you will get better. Progress is not linear in that there are always several paths to take.
Of course he's the fucking exception, he's Jimi Hendrix. That's exactly why you shouldn't say stuff like "Jimi Hendrix didn't know any theory, but he's a great guitarist" implying that you don't have to know any theory to be a good guitar player.
Jesus Christ you're trying to tell me that "learning theory will improve your music playing if you are at a plateau" is a logical fallacy? Come on.
On August 05 2013 20:00 pebble444 wrote: Two small examples here: Jimi Hendrix didn' t know much about music theory. He is however one of the greatest guitar players (personally i' m not mad about him, but i recognize his greatness). How did he get there? by grinding it out doing his own stuff. Stuff he liked.
Why do people always say bullshit like this?
Miles Davis taught Jimi Hendrix jazz theory, he talks about it in his autobiography.
All theory is is a codification of what is pleasing to the ear, and why.
You can easily write great music that conforms to theoretical structures, without knowing the theory itself.
So stop saying bullshit like "Jimi Hendrix didn't know much about music theory" when it's more like "Jimi Hendrix knew more music theory than 99.9999999999% of the people on the planet, he just didn't know what other people called it."
Then he's an exception. Most musicians know jack shit about the theory of what they're playing. And in fact, more music theory does not mean you will write better music, and suggesting that knowing more theory will improve your music is a logical fallacy. While I agree that knowing theory is good and can help when used in the right instances, I would not suggest that theory helps regardless, nor do I suggest that one must study theory to be good or be better at playing music.
I personally know a lot of theory, but experimenting with chords and understanding the theory behind what you're doing is simply one way to get better. There a ton of others. If you just play and write, you will get better. Progress is not linear in that there are always several paths to take.
Of course he's the fucking exception, he's Jimi Hendrix. That's exactly why you shouldn't say stuff like "Jimi Hendrix didn't know any theory, but he's a great guitarist" implying that you don't have to know any theory to be a good guitar player.
Jesus Christ you're trying to tell me that "learning theory will improve your music playing if you are at a plateau" is a logical fallacy? Come on.
If you word it like that it is though, the correct wording would be "learning theory MIGHT improve your music playing if you are at a plateau". Music != Theory, and especially a lot of the artists you find in almost any popular genre nowadays grew up without learning theory at all and many of them still don't know any theory even after selling millions of records. Just because someone's name is Jimi Hendrix doesn't mean he's that godlike figure who isn't human, he had to learn to get behind all of the music he created just like you and I would have to learn the music. He just had that much better of a feeling, passion and imagination for it and that's why his music is so amazing.
There is no direct correlation between knowing theory and being able to express yourself through music. Theory might help to explore new possibilities to express yourself, if you are ready for it. But if you already have problems to have the right feeling for making music I think theory can be a false friend more often than not, it pushes you into this corner of fixed ideas and how music is "supposed" to be. And that's not a nice corner to be in.
The logical fallacy is that you guys think music theory restricts you. How the fuck can knowledge restrict you? The only thing that is restricting you is your own biases and self-imposed limitations.
Seriously, you're telling me "if you learn more about music it will make it harder for you to express yourself through music" with a straight face and calling me out on a logical fallacy?
It CAN (not will) make it harder to express yourself, if you don't get in what way the theory is supposed to help you expressing yourself. You even say it yourself, your own biases and self-imposed limitations can hinder you to learn from theory. So it can be a better choice to learn music in a different way if theory is not for you. Biases and self-imposed limitations are usually way harder to overcome than anything else, that's why we have them, and many people have problems transferring abstract theory into practical uses. Not just in music, but also in math, physics, literature and many other fields.
Basically I'm just dumbfounded that so many people can say stuff like "music theory limits you" when by definition music theory is just understanding why things sound the way they do.
I mean perhaps I had the best teacher of all time or something but two months of jazz theory with practice improved my playing more than anything else I've ever done.
EPT
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