So in the last 2 nights, I've averaged 4 hours of tinkering per night. I have some songs that I thought sounded simple to play, but couldn't ever make them recognizable to friends family, and my poor girlfriend...
I can't believe just how easy those "easy" songs really were to play. I slowed them down to 70% speed, and wow, I get it now! I spent $200 on lessons which were a complete waste, and $206 getting everything I needed for the MBR. After comparing lessons/MBR, I have this urge to drive to the music store, and body slam the instructor.
the guy was apparently used to instructing "young" musicians, and I'm a rather large, somewhat intimidating person, so we never clicked on any level. He would look at the clock 5 minutes into the lesson, giving me the impression he wanted nothing to do with me. Going in to lessons, I had all the common chords on lock, I practiced transitions religiously, so it certainly wasn't starting from scratch.
I eventually gave up on lessons, and nearly quit trying to play. The only comparison I can make between what I could do on a guitar last week to today is the first Matrix movie. "I know Kung Foo"
Thank you MBR, and thanks to the helpful users on this forum!
**EDIT** Just a little update, but I've spent about 4 hours listening to several pages worth of "post your own" I'm so incredibly impressed with everyone! This board is run amuck with talent!
You will love it here when you get to now everyone. They are so helpful. Just have patience and it will all come.
Anyone have any luck with guitar instruction DVDs? Yesterday, I picked up "Guitar World Presents How To Play The Best Of The Jimi Hendrix Experience's Electric Ladyland". I had a quick look at it last night and it looks pretty good. Although, I don't know when I'll ever find time to learn the songs. I bought their "How To Play Axis: Bold As Love" DVD over a year ago and I still haven't got around to learning any of the songs. I spend too much time in this forum. :)
I've also seen many of the DVDs from Lick Library (http://www.licklibrary.com/) and I think they're quite good. I actually learned a few songs from those videos.
Beginning guitarists have it so much easier today with excellent instructional DVDs and tools such as the BR's Phrase Trainer. When I was starting out, the instruction books were childish rubbish and sheet music was always wrong. The best way I found of learning songs was to record them on my reel-to-reel recorder so I could easily stop and rewind to play a section as many times as necessary without scratching my vinyl records. And I could slow difficult lead solos to half speed to make them a bit easier to figure out. I wish I had a BR back then!
I agree with you about the strength of the MBR as a learning tool. I go so far as to record a short section (what I want to learn) from my iPod (because it is typically as I'm walking and listening to music that I find something I want to be able to do), save as an mp3 and play it over and over. I still think that is preferable to learning from lead sheets. You learn so much more when you do it with your ears. If I learn something from a lead sheet, I forget it much quicker than if I figure it out from the record/mp3.
Quote from: 64Guitars on April 04, 2009, 10:55:52 AMI've also seen many of the DVDs from Lick Library (http://www.licklibrary.com/) and I think they're quite good. I actually learned a few songs from those videos.
I've learned SO MUCH from lick library! :)
Interesting stuff. In life, I've found in anything I do, if I want to excel, I surround myself at people who are better than me. That philosophy works from snowboarding to carpentry (I've never applied this to open heart surgery though). This is a slightly more difficult thing to do with guitar, since I don't know that many people who play, or people who make time to sit around and have a jam session.
Since I'm stuck learning by myself, I often tend to throw money at my inability to play. I have 3 books that are filled with song that I don't care to play, and can't read or understand anyway. I've never branched into the DVD's to learn because I believed they would be over my head like every other approach I've tried.
The one sure fire method I've found for advancing is a combination of http://www.e-chords.com and loading up the MBR with those tunes. I have been pleasantly surprised at the progress made in just under 2 weeks.
I've tinkered with "other peoples" guitars for a few years. I purchased a guitar in May of 2008, and have not had significant progress until the MBR. Now I am completely open to other mediums for success.