Jul 09
31
Are there some sort of patterns of notes that you practice to improve your playing/ help your solo or riff writing ability? Ive been playing like 2 months but I played a ton I want to get better and I dont really get anything from simple riffs. If anyone can enlighten me and possibly give me links of stuff to practice or good intermediate songs that will take awhile to learn yet aren’t completely over my head so that i dont even know what the hell im reading that would be awesome. Also the hardest thing I can play so far is some live version of lithium where he uses chords instead of single notes but I can play it perfectly after like a month of practicing it.
There are alot of exercises you can do but it’s too hard to tab them here so check out the beginner lessons section on www.ultimate-guitar.com.
The first step on writing is studying the scales. Minor Pentatonic is the most used for rock music so I suggest studying that one (google search it). Learn them, breath them, eat with them. When you develop them well enough, when you make up a riff in your head, you can easily find them on your fretboard. You should train your ear! Don’t rely on tabs, try to tab them yourself! You can use them once in awhile but challenge yourself to tab a simple song by yourself. This is very hard for a beginner but is vital if you want to be a great guitarist or even a virtuoso. Won’t it be great when you hear a song on tv or anywhere you can play them right away without the help of tabs? Or just make up a riff on your head then play them right away without trying to find out where the notes are.
How can you find the notes on the fretboard? Familiarize yourself with the sound of each note on your guitar. When you familiarize yourself enough with those sounds, you can easily differ them from one another.
Master your scales, their are tons of them start with Minor Pentatonic.
- Don’t expect to master these overnight, it will take years of dedication. Yngwie Malmsteen practiced until his fingers bled when he was younger.
Since you just began playing, I would recommend you work first on your physical ablility to play the guitar. Develop strength, then accuracy, then speed. You can achieve these by doing exercise check out www.ultimate-guitar.com – there are tabs, lessons, videos, etc.
Study some guitar tricks like, bending, slide, etc. then to the more advanced stuff like sweeping etc.
Finally, try to get lessons, it will help you alot. – Their are so much more to learn and only a pro or an experienced guitarist can teach them to you. A teacher will also point out bad habits you do while playing. It’s very very hard to "unlearn" bad habits once you get the hang of them.
It’s also easier to learn with a teacher explaining something to you rather than trying to figure out the mess by yourself. First time I saw a tab, i was like wtf? It was a computer error message with all thos numbers and stuff. Best thing teachers can give you, help you develop your style.
You should also study the notes of the guitar like, an open string is A, fret one is A sharp. It’s even more complicated on the scales so yeah, get lessons!
CHECK OUT www.ultimate-guitar.com it’s your one stop shop on everything related to playing the guitar.
Practice hard, practice everyday, don’t stop until your fingers are sore as hell and most important of all, practice the right way!
