lifespan of a guitarist

[A7x]

out of curiosity, how far along should you be before you learn certain things? like say maybe stayin at it a few hours a day, by a week you should know all your major chords, a month maybe should be fluent with em and maybe have a good song and a half down. by the time the average career rockers been playin for 4 or 5 years, he's found a couple people he likes playin with and plays at local places.

If you feel like it, what was your first song or some of your favorite techniques you feel are/were the most valuable tricks you picked up(simple tough or maybe just sounded cool at the time).

I personally couldn't get enough of the blues scale when i first learned it and every time i found a new way to integrate tapping, i'd probably play around with it at least the rest of the day lol. figured it'd be a fun little topic to bring up.

[RatedZ]

I think some people are gifted with a talent for playing a guitar more than others, hence the reason there are Steve Vais and Joe Satrianis on one hand, and Kerry Kings and Rivers Cuomos on the other.

That doesn't mean people who aren't "gifted" can't become excellent musicians, it just means it's harder for them.

I'm not what I would call a good guitarist. I have no understanding of theory, and I have a Hell of a way finding my way around a fretboard. I need some serious direction. Then, on the other hand, I just watched a video of this guy playing "Smooth Criminal" in the "Showcase" section, and I was floored by how smooth, quick, and accurate his technique was. He clearly had a knowledge for the fretboard and theory.

Like with anything else, I think some people "get it," and some people don't.

[bdoml]

Don't worry so much about how you compare to others. Set goals for what you want to accomplish and measure where you are in meeting those goals, making adjustments as necessary.

Learning any skill is a personal thing and different people learn at different rates.

Enjoy the ride.

[MobBarley]

I'd say .. it's up to you. If you want to set goals, then go for it. If you just want to strum open chords all the time... go ahead.

The skills I'd missed out on after playing for many years was simple guitar maintenance... like cleaning your fretboard, throwing that dunlop junk on it, lubing things right, and that kind of stuff. Not that it takes much skill, but, I find I'm much happier now that I do it a good way.

[RatedZ]

Originally Posted by MobBarley

I'd say .. it's up to you. If you want to set goals, then go for it. If you just want to strum open chords all the time... go ahead.

The skills I'd missed out on after playing for many years was simple guitar maintenance... like cleaning your fretboard, throwing that dunlop junk on it, lubing things right, and that kind of stuff. Not that it takes much skill, but, I find I'm much happier now that I do it a good way.

Yeah, and it's like washing and waxing your sports car. After you finish, you take a few steps back and say to yourself, "Wow, now that's hot." Just a sense of accomplishment out of fixing something up right...

...dare I even say that I've "protected" my guitars' finishes (except the acoustic) with a coat of Meguiar's high-gloss wax?

[Eclectifish]

When I was in my teens and 20s, I didn't have near the skills of a Satriani, Vai or Malmsteen. Was I not "gifted" enough? I don't think so. I was regarded as one of the better players in my state (Louisiana). Back in those days (the 70s) we just didn't have the resources to draw on to learn more. The teachers weren't up to what they are now. There was no Internet, of course (no YouTube, JamSession, online lessons, etc.). All we really had was albums to pick tunes and solos off of. Of course, all I wanted to do was play rock, too, so I didn't really delve into the other styles which would have increased my fluency - so I bear some of the blame.

But I really blossomed in my 20s and continued my growth as a player in my 30s. Why? Better teachers (and I was smart enough to take lessons when I felt I needed to). Better books to work from. And, probably most importantly, the emergence of players, who were great examples, to steal from (Van Halen, Beck, Dimeola, Johnson, Vai, Malmsteen, Satriani, etc.). Why couldn't I have been like that in the 70s? Maybe I didn't have the experimental gene that guys like EVH had. The drive to try out new things and make them my own. Oh well.

But the real point is that learning never stops. I'm 50 now and still learning new things. Is 50 too old? Satch is 52. Vai is 48. Andy Timmons and Malmsteen are both 45. Eric Johnson is 55! All excellent musicians who still make music for a living!

No. It's never too late.

[A7x]

Sorry for being gone so long. visited my friends house. WOW this site is incredible. full of poeple with insight that are happy to help. I wasn't expecting much response. You guys are incredible. no hateful comments or anything.

I guess you're right. Rivers is one of my favorite Artists and yet he's no Kirk or Joe skillwise.

What about songwriting. Are there any ways to go about it that may be easier? Is It something you can practice and get better at? I can come up with riffs all day and i'm starting to get the hang of coming up with solos on the spot but lyrics is just one thing that doesn't come easy for me.

BTW. Asking for my drummer and for future reference, and maybe some of this should go in a different thread, but whats the theory for bass and drums (if any for drums)? I know that bass can just hit lower octave note of a guitarists note or chord but when he ventures off to something else, do you just kinda have to hear the harmony? As far as i know about drums it's just what you can fit in a measure and what will complete the feeling for that part of the song.

[JonR]

Originally Posted by A7x

What about songwriting. Are there any ways to go about it that may be easier? Is It something you can practice and get better at? I can come up with riffs all day and i'm starting to get the hang of coming up with solos on the spot but lyrics is just one thing that doesn't come easy for me.

Most people can learn to be good guitarists, but not everyone makes a good songwriter.
For lyrics, especially, you need to have something you want to say, that sounds good as music.
It's usually easier to come up with lyrics if you're a singer, because you're used to handling words musically.
For this reason, a lot of songwriters work in pairs, one person - usually the singer - doing the words, the other handling the chords. The melody could be created by either. With classic tin-pan alley pop songwriters, a lyricist would handle words alone. In modern rock, it's quite common for a singer to come up with both words and tune; either before bringing it to the band to work on chords, or while improvising over some chords the band have written. Quite often it's a mixture of the two: a singer might have an initial idea (incomplete) that he/she and the band then develop together.

The best way to learn songwriting (as with all music!) is just to analyse good songs. ("Good" just means songs you like, of the kind you want to write.) Get the chords, look at the structure (verse/chorus/etc), play the vocal melody and check how it fits the chords, etc.
Remember a song is the tune and the words (melody and lyrics). Not the chords, or even the riffs; they're secondary.

Originally Posted by A7x

BTW. Asking for my drummer and for future reference, and maybe some of this should go in a different thread, but whats the theory for bass and drums (if any for drums)? I know that bass can just hit lower octave note of a guitarists note or chord but when he ventures off to something else, do you just kinda have to hear the harmony? As far as i know about drums it's just what you can fit in a measure and what will complete the feeling for that part of the song.

Drums are the foundation, the bedrock.
There's very little that's complicated about rock drums - little that's worth making theory from. Drummers usually know instinctively (or rather from listening to plenty of rock drumming) what to do: snare on beats 2 and 4, kick on 1 and 3, hi-hat in between, maybe more cymbals in the chorus, various fills to lead in and out of different sections, etc, etc.

Bass guitar generally needs to play the chord roots, at least on beat 1 of a bar, or the 1st beat of a chord. They can then just bang away on the root until the next chord, or do something more interesting.
A common exception is when there's a descending or ascending bass line, ie, running up or (more likely) down the scale, or down in half-steps. Then you will get slash chords, such as: G - D/F# - Em - G/D - C... etc. The guitars just play the chords (G-D-Em-G-C), while the bass runs down the scale (G-F#-E-D-C).
Another exception (common in heavy rock and metal) is when the bass plays a riff, sometimes in octaves or unison with the guitar.
The bass can also play "walking" lines, around the chord arpeggios, with passing scale notes or chromatics - but still hitting the chord root on the 1st beat. This is what happens most of the time in blues and jazz.

And equally important - the bass is a rhythm instrument. It has to lock in with the drums (specifically the kick drum) to create the rhythmic groove, the foundation of the music. So bass players (once they know the chords) should work more closely with drummers than with guitarists.

[RatedZ]

Originally Posted by A7x

Sorry for being gone so long. visited my friends house. WOW this site is incredible. full of poeple with insight that are happy to help. I wasn't expecting much response. You guys are incredible. no hateful comments or anything.

Yeah, we're pretty awesome.

[Measles]

Originally Posted by A7x

WOW this site is incredible. full of poeple with insight that are happy to help. I wasn't expecting much response. You guys are incredible. no hateful comments or anything.

I agree I'm new here, and a refugee from the forums over at ultimate-guitar.

I definitely think a guitarists 'path' is a personal one. We all have different reasons for picking up the instrument, different influences, and different resources available.

I've always had an affinity for music, tapping out melodies on a keyboard as a child and so forth, but when I started 7 years ago I remember thinking this is a very difficult instrument and I will probably never get good at it. Now, I'm still at it and my wife prefers I play without headphones now.

I've never had the patience for learning complicated theory or learning songs, I always just pick it up and go. I play guitar for myself, I can express myself in ways I find impossible to do with words.

My guitar is my therapist lol

[RatedZ]

I've never really much liked learning other artists' material. First and foremost, I've always wanted to be original and play my own stuff. Unfortunately, sometimes learning other material is helpful, and learning to play a guitar is one of those things. There are always new techniques and styles to learn.

[Measles]

Originally Posted by RatedZ

I've never really much liked learning other artists' material. First and foremost, I've always wanted to be original and play my own stuff.

That's basically how I am. Many times I have sat down to learn a song and just give up on it.

I can play 99 Red Balloons by Goldfinger and American Jesus by Bad Religion. Both very easy.

One of my friends who has been playing only a couple years says he can't understand how I got as good as I am without learning theory or playing songs. I dont know how to answer that, I always tell him I'm not that good.

I think not learning songs has kind of helped me into my own sound though.

[RatedZ]

Originally Posted by Measles

That's basically how I am. Many times I have sat down to learn a song and just give up on it.

I can play 99 Red Balloons by Goldfinger and American Jesus by Bad Religion. Both very easy.

One of my friends who has been playing only a couple years says he can't understand how I got as good as I am without learning theory or playing songs. I dont know how to answer that, I always tell him I'm not that good.

I think not learning songs has kind of helped me into my own sound though.

That's what I'm saying.

Recently I posted a clip of a "song" I "wrote" in the Showcase and Scott (Powell) made the comment it was a sound he's never heard; not that Scott's the "expert" on music, but I was real happy to hear that it was an original sound that someone who shares close to the same musical tastes hadn't really heard before.

When I write something, I want it to be original, not someone else's regurgitated sound.