I"ve been playing for about a decade now and still feel I need to make that 'breakthrough' to play with more precision and 'see the all the notes' on the fretboard , i.e. be able to solo more effectively.

What techniques helped you go from amateur to great?

 

According to the question in title: a defective power cable and some high voltage.

 

check vid above, start jamming i think, but overall unless u plan to be a lead guitarist in a band i think u should not stress too much about this

 

I remember when I used to think I was half decent at playing guitar. Then I started watching other guitarists on Youtube and realized that they are all better than me. There doesn't seem to be any mediocre guitar players on Youtube!

 

three,
originally it was the vocalist on tracks. i didnt know any better so i would mimick what the vocalist was doing.
then later, i got into tabs and spent hours a day doing that.
then later, there was a time with friends, and we pushed each other, new challenge every time we sat down.
which all made me better at drums

 

Technique-wise for me it's strict alternate picking. Took me a hell of a lot of time to get it, but with practice it lead to a more natural and less strained picking motion on my picking hand. Also playing faster and cleaner.

Of course, realistically there are times when you have to break it, say, when doing arpeggios when it's more natural to down- or upstroke the arpeggio and alt pick the last note and take it from there.

 

I think you nailed it. There's nothing really 'pushing me' at the moment. I had a Gtr teacher for a year and he was brutal about practicing scales..eventually I got burned out of that, but miss his drill sergeant discipline.

 

Playing with Jaco Pastorius and Delmar Brown that one time tweaked my soul and after that it was a different, fearless guitar existence.

 

its normal to hit a wall from time to time. you obviously love the music so im sure you'll find a new doorway.
maybe a friend or new jam group? you cant help but play outside your norm

 

For me. it was CAGED , Modes and learning licks and songs from guitar players that I loved their style of playing. Neal Schon, Kee Marcello and many more.

 

I had quite a few guitarist friends that were way better than myself, they showed me techniques, tricks and tips, then I practiced daily for hours on end to build strength, stamina and endurance, went to jams where everyone paticipated for a full 6-8 hours trading solos and ideas with every other instrumentalist playing anything from harmonica to violin, this is where I really honed my skills the most, when you're interacting with up to 20+ other musicians playing various styles you really learn to blend into any genre.

 

I can't say that I am very good at playing guitar yet, as I still have many things to learn... I am only playing for like 6 months and I am self-taught, so I still consider myself an amateur but I can try to share with you what I am currently doing to improve myself... If it means anything and can help you at least... So what I am trying to do, is that I am trying to play songs from metal bands that I really love, as cleanly as possible little by little. I don't move to a different song unless I learn to play a song that I chose as close as possible to the original. I feel like that helps very much. Also you can pick a riff phrase which is similar to a shred phrase and repeating it over and over again. I follow some advice and lessons from Michael Angelo Batio (he is my favourite guitar player from the famous shred Gods and his way of playing is a bit unorthodox like my way of playing, I rest two fingers like he does on the guitar while picking which normally isn't correct from what many people say but it gives tremendous picking speed plus MAB is extremely clean so it doesn't matter. It's just a matter of practice and a very long time practicing every day for years... Everyone is different.) and play some of the things that he suggests practicing them every day for hours. (I only started recently to practice for 3-4 hours straight...) My current problem is that my fretting hand is not as good as my picking hand. I started playing guitar mostly by doing lots of tremolo single notes or power chords because I especially love black metal music and right now I developed a very fast fast picking hand, but my fretting hand sucks in comparison. So lately, I use any vst amp in my DAW with high gain and only using the fret hand to repeat some notes over and over again so I can improve my fretting fingers speed in order for them to catch up with the picking hand, besides the rest that I mentioned before. I also try to play with the tips of my fingers lately because I started the wrong way in the start and I use medium strings to challenge myself. Also, I always play everything with alternate picking, slightly slanting the pick to achieve as fast picking as possible when I hover over strings but without my hand wobbling a lot. So to summarize I try to use economy of movement (not be confused with the economy style of picking) as much as possible. (I am trying to constantly think and learn by muscle memory over many repetitions, how I can play something the most efficient way by making the barely minimum movements required for a note to sound well.) Lastly, I want to say that the electric guitar should matter a lot for speed. And I mean it's action... You need an electric guitar with low action which also won't buzz. I used mostly to play without amp at all for almost 5 months to get used to it. The electric guitar which I am using for practicing is buzzing a bit, (well that doesn't matter much when I play with the amp) it's cheap and has a high action which doesn't help much, but of course that's obviously not an excuse for me to avoid practicing.

 

in my case what helped me recently was learning how to study efficiently and playing more repertoire.

(he has good and simple points on practice if that interests you)

there isn't a single holy technique that will work with anyone at any given point, but I'm hoping you find what works for you!

 

by ear everything

 

Tension and release.

 

A professional guitar setup, and lots of practice.

 

Last edited: Dec 23, 2021

The most important technique is feel and a good way of developing that is to learn many different styles of playing and by playing itself - but not copying another guitarist's technique, which you do when learning their songs; it's impossible to 'nail' somebody else's feel. I got better when I stopped trying to sound like the guitar player in a song I was learning, instead I focused on the feel of the song and expressed that. Then I realised the possibilites of timing, playing behind or ahead of the beat or right on it - all in service of the song.

Of course, it's good to 'steal' ideas and tricks from other guitarists but you have to incorporate what you learn into your own style.

 

Or you could create the world's first DJ guitar with no strings, a play button and a hundred knobs that do nothing and twiddle them in entertaining ways.

 

I always called those moments when shit actually sunk into my noggin enough to REALLY understand what I was doing - "The fretboard exploded in my face." Because to me it just opened up into a much bigger thing than what I figured could ever fit on that little neck! I'm self taught musician, was too poor for lessons, but was blessed with perfect pitch and a love for everything music. I never had an idol or fave musician as I loved to steal from all of them! That being said I always played what I wanted to play how I wanted to play it. In other words, don't let how much 'better' another guitar player is compared to you because nobody really cares, opinions are like assholes and if you can rock people will dig you. Don't worry about what other guitarists do, did, or getting ready to do. Just do you and you will be a 100000 times better musician for it. Bass has been my main instrument since age 5, but picked up guitar, drums, ukulele, mandolin, shit I'll pick up anything and give it a shot short of a skin flute. I didn't pick up those other instruments out of curiosity, but of NECESSITY so I could do everything myself and not have to wait on anyone to get the show on the road including setup and running sound, lights, put together my own studio(s), create webpages, flyers, press releases, you name it. I wanted it seriously bad and nobody was going to slow me down. And that's what it takes to be good at anything. Who does the 'top' guitarist sound like? He didn't get that way by copying an idol, he got that way by playing the shit outta' whatever he plays until he pukes, then plays some more. Well, that's my rambling 2 cents.