Guitar Players Improvment Timeline

[jabes416]

Hey,

I've been playing the acoustic for about a 15 months now and I can really see the improvement over time. This makes me really excited for the future. I usually get droughts where I don't see steady improvement with what I am doing, but eventually I hit a point in time where I really can see that I've gotten better (whether its a song I can play that earlier I couldn't or im learning new techniques). I'm just curious, for the people who play the guitar everyday, what does the future hold for me. I know everyone is different, but how was your guys progression?

It took me about 1.5-2 months to learn the basic chords and get a feel for the guitar (A,C,D,G,E,Am,Em,Dm)

It took me about 6-7months to comfortably play barre chords.

Right now, at 15 months, I can play most scales by heart and can easily play every chord, mostly every dave song (if not all), ive been working on learning alot of clapton, john mayer, and jimi hendrix but really haven't touched their abilities, ive been working on harmonics, blues riffs, i know most of the notes throughout the neck..

I really am waiting for the day where I become really comfortable with the guitar, build finger speed, and play solo's with ease.. I know it will come with time...

where are you all at?

[JCpatriot66]

I hit a wall as far as improvising a little while ago. Then I bought a JamMan, and am working on developing from a straight rhythm/chord-based player to a more well-rounded player with solid lead abilities. I also got bored of playing straight chords and moved into fingerpicking, which I never did much of when I started. So right now, I've got two pathways...lead improv, and folk fingerstyle, in addition to my rhythm "mastery," for lack of a better term. It's good to have those two options/endeavors, I can practice whichever fits the mood and keep on my toes.

[bila]

i dunno ive been playing on and off for about a year now and i can play some dave songs with ease and others not so well. gota expand outside of dave to get a different sense of styles cuz daves is very unique and u can get stuck in that same pattern of strums. i just always hoping that after a a few more years i would be atleast ok.

[VanHorneDog]

there comes a point where you just get it and it comes naturally. depends on your talent.

this is the big one here, have you starting writing your own stuff?

[jabes416]

there comes a point where you just get it and it comes naturally. depends on your talent.

this is the big one here, have you starting writing your own stuff?


Yes and no. I try to develop my styles, broaden my horizions by playing a mix of different genres.

I wanna get to the point where I can develop my own "sound," so i don't sound to much like everyone else... I'm kinda trying to take a little bit from every artist I like to play... Maybe a JMayer, Jack Johnson, Dave, Jimi influence with BB King, a little of robert johnsons scrappy blues, and Stevie Ray....

Those are most of my influences so I hope I can piece it all together and get my own sound...

But yeah...i've made a couples songs, and a couple with my buddy. I don't think I've found my sound yet.

[VanHorneDog]

Yes and no. I try to develop my styles, broaden my horizions by playing a mix of different genres.

I wanna get to the point where I can develop my own "sound," so i don't sound to much like everyone else... I'm kinda trying to take a little bit from every artist I like to play... Maybe a JMayer, Jack Johnson, Dave, Jimi influence with BB King, a little of robert johnsons scrappy blues, and Stevie Ray....

Those are most of my influences so I hope I can piece it all together and get my own sound...

But yeah...i've made a couples songs, and a couple with my buddy. I don't think I've found my sound yet.

interesting, well honestly truely exploringmusic is when you get creative like that. when you dont care to write your own stuff you will always hit a block IMO. keep writing, keep reading, keep listening and you will always improve.

my favorite thing to do is to hear a song and go, how can i take this concept (musically most of the time) and make it my own?

[Gracey]

Hey,

I've been playing the acoustic for about a 15 months now and I can really see the improvement over time. This makes me really excited for the future. I usually get droughts where I don't see steady improvement with what I am doing, but eventually I hit a point in time where I really can see that I've gotten better (whether its a song I can play that earlier I couldn't or im learning new techniques). I'm just curious, for the people who play the guitar everyday, what does the future hold for me. I know everyone is different, but how was your guys progression?

It took me about 1.5-2 months to learn the basic chords and get a feel for the guitar (A,C,D,G,E,Am,Em,Dm)

It took me about 6-7months to comfortably play barre chords.

Right now, at 15 months, I can play most scales by heart and can easily play every chord, mostly every dave song (if not all), ive been working on learning alot of clapton, john mayer, and jimi hendrix but really haven't touched their abilities, ive been working on harmonics, blues riffs, i know most of the notes throughout the neck..

I really am waiting for the day where I become really comfortable with the guitar, build finger speed, and play solo's with ease.. I know it will come with time...

where are you all at?


Hello,
Thanks for your post after read your post i understand that nothing is impossible if you believe in yourselves. So thanks for your post.

Thanks

[dvalukis]

Pretty sure everyone hits a wall at some point. Just be prepared for it and take necessary steps to push through it. Guitar was definitely more fun for me during the first three years. In my first two years I remember saying "I can't wait until I've been playing for ten years, I'll be so good". Well, I'm in my tenth year now and I'm not quite the guitar god I thought I would be, lol. I mean, I know alot, I can jam with anyone, but I thought I'd be ripping tim reynolds solos by now.

It comes to a point where you get what you put in. You also realize that some people are just natural talents. They've been playing for only a few years and they are just amazing. And then you realize that yes, there are measurements for being a great guitar and a bad guitar player, but at the same time you can only compare how good people are to an extent because each player has his/her own style that can't be replicated. So, I like your approach to finding your own sound. It might be more important than "being great". It took me 8 years to figure that out. Hope that maybe some insight was in there for ya.

[VanHorneDog]

Pretty sure everyone hits a wall at some point. Just be prepared for it and take necessary steps to push through it. Guitar was definitely more fun for me during the first three years. In my first two years I remember saying "I can't wait until I've been playing for ten years, I'll be so good". Well, I'm in my tenth year now and I'm not quite the guitar god I thought I would be, lol. I mean, I know alot, I can jam with anyone, but I thought I'd be ripping tim reynolds solos by now.

It comes to a point where you get what you put in. You also realize that some people are just natural talents. They've been playing for only a few years and they are just amazing. And then you realize that yes, there are measurements for being a great guitar and a bad guitar player, but at the same time you can only compare how good people are to an extent because each player has his/her own style that can't be replicated. So, I like your approach to finding your own sound. It might be more important than "being great". It took me 8 years to figure that out. Hope that maybe some insight was in there for ya.

this is more and more important to me now a days. its not about shredding and blowing people away if you are just copying hendrix or clapton or page or vai or wylde.

if you have your own sound it is much more appealing, even if you are half as good as those guys.

just look at dave, of course he supliments his guitar playing with vocals. but thats is part of how is approaches the guitar.

[41 Step]

I've been playing a little over 6 years. Technique-wise, I'm about as good as I can get, but I think I still have room for improvement with regard to the notes I select for my solos.