Help: I'M Stuck With My Electric Guitar And Doesn'T Know What To Learn Next...?

[Jimmy1877]

I'm an intermediate electric guitar player who doesn't know what to learn next...

In terms of my ability & knowledge on the electric guitar, what I know so far are simply:

- All the notes on the guitar. (The open strings and the 12th fret notes are identical, the low E-string and the high E-string notes are identical, Octaves.)

- Basic Barre Chords & Power Chords + Palm Muting.

- Five positions of minor pentatonic scale.

- A major pentatonic scale is just 3 frets lower from Am pentatonic scale, same shape.

Due to the limited knowledge I have with an electric guitar, my practice range is always quite limited. Over the past few month, it would always be the same things I'm practicing repeatedly, which are:

1) playing simple chords on a song I like with different strumming patterns.

2) Improvising using the minor/major pentatonic scale with a backing track, figuring out different licks and ways of playing.

3) TAB Intro of some songs, and part of the solo on Hotel California, but never really can play through a whole song perfectly with solo and everything.LOL.

With that said, those are pretty much the things I'll do or the only things I know how to do when I have an electric guitar on my hands, which is kinda sad, b/c I felt like I'm not improving at all, and I'm just running around in circle. I'm in a band, but I've always been the rhythm guitar playing simple chords through the whole song, unlike the lead guitar in our band who can hear a song and simply figure out the solo without reading tab or do a improvise that's close to the solo. I really admire that, and I wonder what it takes to be able to do that. But I feel like I'm stuck and doesn't know what to learn next.. and I can't just go find a guitar teacher due to my limited budget. However, I've been doing self-learning and until now I already can do things I can't do before, so I think what's most important is just knowing what to learn next...

SO MY POINT IS...

Looking at where I am right now, what do you guys think I should learn next? I really need some suggestions.. perhaps your ways and steps from before on how to become a guitarist, or could be links to a video that you find helpful learning from it, anything that could help me out would be highly appreciated. THANK YOU. =D

[chonabot]

I would suggest speaking to your lead guitarist and jamming with him to pick up improvisation tips.

After a while ask if you can take the lead on some tracks - unless he is pig headed he should let you express yourself.

Are you in Thailand?

What style of Music does your band play?

I've played for over 30 years ( Christ has it been that long? )and currently live in Isaan - thinking of teaching Blues/Rock guitar to some locals who have overheard me wailing away over a Zeppelin backing track.

It's great to learn on the net but ultimately nothing beats live interaction - try some new scales / progressions and reversing the major and minor pents over blues tracks.

[rgs2001uk]

Google, guitars101, choose the option guitar forum.

The bootleg forum is a treasure trove of bootlegs, lost count of how many I have d/l from there.

[itishothere]

What an interesting discussion. Sounds to me like you know all the technical details.

But you can't just learn this stuff, you have to feel it. Try taking some tracks you are not familiar with or ones that you don't know inside out. Listen to the harmonies, copy them. Listen to background vocals and copy them. 70's and 80's (cr#p!) is great for pointing out the obvious backing material, which can be adapted to become the lead. Learning the lead vocal has always been a great way to start, and then making minor alterations with your technical knowledge should really help.

[chonabot]

Some good points and link(s) already mentioned - as well as the pentatonic scales try using the Natural major and minor scales - extend these into full progressions - across the fretboard to avoid being stuck in a 5 note box.

Also the lydian/mixolydian and phrygrian modes are great.

Essentially a good lead player needs to be able to improvise as well as copy breaks/solos and riffs.

All of these are availabel via google but you need to find your own style.

In the early days I used to pick a guitarist and mimic his style - this way you find bits that you like, and some you don't like - weave these nuances into your own trademark sound.

Practice vibrato/hammer ons/bends/octave slides/shredding and any other technique that you feel useful.

But ultimately you should jam with the lead player and glean whatever you can - as mentioned previously.

PM me if you would like specific details - above all have fun

[Kilgore Trout]

unlike the lead guitar in our band who can hear a song and simply figure out the solo without reading tab or do a improvise that's close to the solo. I really admire that, and I wonder what it takes to be able to do that

Knowledge of the chord shapes and ths scales that go with them is of utmost importance. Think about the shape of a D chord for example and work on transposing that shape to other chords on the fretboard; up and down.

[bannork]

Buy an acoustic guitar and widen your musical horizons. listen to songs by the Grateful Dead, 'Ripple'' Loser', etc,Roy Harper-' South Africa','Me and my woman', etc, Rory Gallagher, Pink Floyd, Neil Young,Beatles,Stones etc. Then find guitar lessons on youtube and tabs from the net, all for free. Get into flatpicking- there are some great tutorials for bluegrass, fingerpicking styles, open tunings like DADGAD as loved by Roy Harper, blues like Mississippi John Hart, Big Bill Broonzy there are so many tutorials for free it's a guitar player's paradise!

[tutsiwarrior]

I lost it about 35 years ago and put the guitar down...maybe like the OP I ran out of things to play but to this day I regret being stupid...if you have any ability at all with an instrument keep it going even if it means playing scales forever...when the ability is lost it's like an amputation, you can still feel the limb but it's not there..

[f1ve]

The hardest part of playing guitar is transitioning. Practice moving from different chords to different chords. ie: C to D, G to A, E to whatever. You can do this playing a steady downstrum and picking up the speed, changing every "bar". You can then have fun with it, changing on random beats of each 4/4 bar. ie:

1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4

C E G A E D

Just wrote you a song....no idea what it sounds like. As you mentioned, you can try different strumming patterns between the transitions and also trying different picking patterns. Something I wish I did before my brain decided "YOU PLAY GUITAR THIS WAY" is learn how to independently control different fingers to different patterns. Listen to "This is the thing" by Fink. Steady thumb strum on the low notes, complete different timing on the high. Same guy...same guitar....i've been trying for months to do this. My brain physically hurts after a while of trying.

good luck

[chonabot]

lots of helpful advice here - has the OP gone away to practice like crazy or just forgotten he posted

[modafinil]

Getting a cheap acoustic to practise on is good advice. If it sounds good on the acoustic, chances are it will be even better on the electric. With an electric it is always tempting to use effects etc to add "meatiness" to the sound, but these can mask deficiencies in your playing. An acoustic gives you instant feedback when a string buzzes or you don't strum exactly the right strings.

This would surely qualify as an advanced guitar lesson, but I was able do a decent copy of Gabriela's rhythm techniques after practicing for 12 hours or so, and I'm barely intermediate:

Their album Rodrigo y Gabriela comes with a bonus DVD, featuring a series of lessons from the pair - I bought it and found it very inspiring,

Edited December 23, 2011 by modafinil

[bannork]

Wow! What a way to play the guitar. There's a guy on youtube who plays 'Come together', doing the Ringo rolls round the guitar at the beginning of the verse, it adds a nice spice to the song, but this lady is on another planet.

Fantastic.