[taylor82]

Alright, ive hit a major slump in guitar. I have been playing for 2 years and know a lot of stuff. I can play barre chords and can learn pretty much any song i want to. I know tons of scales and have all the skills down. Now im having trouble taking all this and taking my playing to the next level. How can i take all this stuff and start to sound like an amazing guitarist?

[evileye]

Yup', i'm there too. What now? Well if you want to progress don't do what I did and step back, but still... What I did was just play general chords, compose pieces, play with diferent tunings. I didn't learn anything, just enjoyed playing a bit. The more you play the better you get then again, you don't actually have to learn something...

[airdog4125]

I guess that's where I am too, but I'm just doing the same thing, just having fun.

[evileye]

I guess that's where I am too, but I'm just doing the same thing, just having fun.

Yeah, no point in doing something if you don't enjoy it ehy...

[airdog4125]

I guess that's where I am too, but I'm just doing the same thing, just having fun.

Yeah, no point in doing something if you don't enjoy it ehy...

too true.

[jshrel24]

i agree, just enjoy knowing all of those things you have learned and someday you will play around enough to know what to do with all the different things.

[goldrush]

Challenge yourself. Learn something that you really like but feel is difficult. The "next level" is always right around the corner....

[acoustic_soul]

Or just jam with your buddies. That's a good way to improve without even knowing it. You learn songs from them, and it gives you some time to have fun and just play.

[drisay]

What I'm doing right now is finding different voicings (i think that's right word) for chords. I'm just looking at the fretboard and telling myself "hey I can play an FMaj7/E like this" and just making up songs with those chords. Things don't always sound great, but it's really helping to get comfortable with the fretboard. And getting used to other chords than major and minor.

Just my 2 cents,
drisay

[wannalearn01]

I'm not there yet, but I know that around the corner will get here...and I have been thinking about it:

Once I get a really good grasp on the basics of playing, I was thinking about taking lessons to learn some new stuff and also have a teacher who would be able to help me to learn theory.

So I would say if you yourself are not able to go further, get someone to push you further. I beleive that, like a lot of things, if you have someone better than you around, it will raise how well you play too...like someone said above, you learn without knowing you're learning.

A couple of my buddies have been playing for years, but I have been too busy with school to jam with them lately, but after I'm done, I'll be jamming a lot more.

T^roy

[okiejohn]

You folks that are pretty far along with your guitar skills and looking for a new challenge......CREATE......Sounds like it's time to do some origional stuff.

[Irishcocacola]

Yeah, if you mix and match what you already know or make your own you can certainly learn a few tricks.

I'd say you should be printing out at least 1 tab every 3 days. How fast you learn depends on how much you practice, but if you practice an hour a day then you should be able to learn the tab you print out before you even get the next one.

One thing as a beginner you should not be doing is playing what you already know, because...theres not much there. Obviously, if your practicing and trying to improve the material that is okay. But once you have perfected it...move on.

[Bobzyk]

Alright, ive hit a major slump in guitar.  I have been playing for 2 years and know a lot of stuff.  I can play barre chords and can learn pretty much any song i want to.  I know tons of scales and have all the skills down.  Now im having trouble taking all this and taking my playing to the next level.  How can i take all this stuff and start to sound like an amazing guitarist?

Some comments:

** How much playing with other musicians do you do??? That is a true test of your abilities.

** Keep in mind: you never stop learning. Or, more correctly, you stop learning if you let yourself.

** Practice makes perfect?? PERFECT practice makes perfect!!

** Maybe you need a little break from guitar?? I do that sometimes, then when I return I feel refreshed and ready for more... don't over do it. You can learn a lot from NOT playing too.......

[HighInfidel]

I played the same BS for 13 years. Once I started playing with others and motivating myself to learn theory, my playing changed. I no longer played the same stuff, I was able to be more creative, and actually do some things that I never thought my fingers could do.

Learn theory, put to use through practice, and play with like minded musicians. Go to a jam session, or if your a singer/songwriter, go to an open mic.

Dadfad has said, "You can learn more in 15 minutes from a knowledgable source than you can from 6 months of online research."

That couldn't be more true. We tend to listen to our favorite styles which can lead to playing the same stuff over and over. New influences really do help. If you listen to a lot of rock or folk, try some blues, country, flamenco, or classical. Change it up a bit. You have to force yourself out of the rut you've created.

And like Bobzyk said, sometimes you just gotta quit playin, to play better.

[deamhain]

All of the above.

and....

We're not all going to be 'amazing'.

Some of us will just get to be 'happy with where we are".

[Jon_Mac]

Me and Murpay take Guitar leasons (same teacher) on top of going here. Our teacher has been playing for... well a really long time 30+ years! He knows a lot of great styles. He plays some stuff for me some times and its cool because that motivates me to try harder. He's also awesome at explaining stuff too.

[murpay]

I guess that's where I am too, but I'm just doing the same thing, just having fun.

Yeah, no point in doing something if you don't enjoy it ehy...

if u meant eh......its spelt like that
i know because I AM CANDAIAN!! yet u wouldnt understand that either.....hmmmmmmm....I gotta go get this beaver bite looked at.....it might be infected...thank god its always snowing and i could ice it rght away....during my job lumberjacking in some snow filled forest.....i just hoped on my ski's and road home to my igloo well LATER

Pat

[jshrel24]

I guess that's where I am too, but I'm just doing the same thing, just having fun.

Yeah, no point in doing something if you don't enjoy it ehy...

if u meant eh......its spelt like that
i know because I AM CANDAIAN!! yet u wouldnt understand that either.....hmmmmmmm....I gotta go get this beaver bite looked at.....it might be infected...thank god its always snowing and i could ice it rght away....during my job lumberjacking in some snow filled forest.....i just hoped on my ski's and road home to my igloo well LATER

Pat

I love how you misspelt canadian, since YOU ARE CANDAIAN!!

[HighInfidel]

I guess that's where I am too, but I'm just doing the same thing, just having fun.

Yeah, no point in doing something if you don't enjoy it ehy...

if u meant eh......its spelt like that
i know because I AM CANDAIAN!! yet u wouldnt understand that either.....hmmmmmmm....I gotta go get this beaver bite looked at.....it might be infected...thank god its always snowing and i could ice it rght away....during my job lumberjacking in some snow filled forest.....i just hoped on my ski's and road home to my igloo well LATER

Pat

That's sooooooo sad. To make fun of someone's typo, when it looks to me you can't type worth a @#$%! So proud to be a CANADIAN! I'm from TEXAS, and I know down here we may not spoke raite, but we can dang sure spell it!

Me thinks the infection has spread to the brain.

btw, for clarification, i'll correct some of your typos for ya.

Right - rght
hopped - hoped which is what you do when waiting for that beaver to call ya.
rode - road which is what you ride home on in the concrete world.

It doesn't always snow in the forested parts of Canada, and I've never seen an igloo in the forest, they are usually in the icy parts further up north.

But hey, what do I know from way down here in Texas.

I think it's apparent!!!

[murpay]

I guess that's where I am too, but I'm just doing the same thing, just having fun.

Yeah, no point in doing something if you don't enjoy it ehy...

if u meant eh......its spelt like that
i know because I AM CANDAIAN!! yet u wouldnt understand that either.....hmmmmmmm....I gotta go get this beaver bite looked at.....it might be infected...thank god its always snowing and i could ice it rght away....during my job lumberjacking in some snow filled forest.....i just hoped on my ski's and road home to my igloo well LATER

Pat

That's sooooooo sad. To make fun of someone's typo, when it looks to me you can't type worth a @#$%! So proud to be a CANADIAN! I'm from TEXAS, and I know down here we may not spoke raite, but we can dang sure spell it!

Me thinks the infection has spread to the brain.

btw, for clarification, i'll correct some of your typos for ya.

Right - rght
hopped - hoped which is what you do when waiting for that beaver to call ya.
rode - road which is what you ride home on in the concrete world.

It doesn't always snow in the forested parts of Canada, and I've never seen an igloo in the forest, they are usually in the icy parts further up north.

But hey, what do I know from way down here in Texas.

I think it's apparent!!!

ahah i was actually tryin to show how ignorant some ppl are in the States, of course not all of em, but thanks for provin me right!!!

and im pretty sure that all of that stuff isnt true CONSIDERING I LIVE IN CANADA but u know i might a blind deaf kid yea never know.........hmmmmm......
and i will try to type everything proplerly for u, or should i say you, next time

Pat