Help with guitar chops and especially musicality

[Manolito Mystiq]

My life routine, goals, and everything has quite changed back from around 2000 onwards, when I was so fascinated by music, that I wanted to play an instrument of my own. I picked up guitar, and progressed fast in terms of understanding terminology, technique, chords, notation, etc. At some jamsessions, several years later, co-jammers noted that I was pretty clean and pretty tight rhythmically, however, I couldn't do a lot more than some Hetfield rhythm guitar. I improvised on what I could do, and that did give pretty decent results as far as I can remember. The more I progressed in understanding music theory, scales, etc., however, the more mechanical I became.

I'm a walking analyser. A lot of my soul, my heart doesn't seem to be there when playing. I studied Flamenco Guitar for four years at the Conservatory, where I learned even more technique, and music theory. However, I feel I just don't improve the good way. It's the reason why I failed at the last exam, and had to leave the school. There definitely is passion and dedication, but it's not getting out. I constantly seem to collect information, and information like a sponge, and try to understand the why, even while playing. To make things worse, my timing is quite bad now. The times that I don't care about that, I'm amazed at the freedom and the superior execution of my playing.

Now, I'm done with the Conservatory, not knowing what to do after. Currently I'm working, and I noticed that I'm pretty disciplined at the gym. Now that I think I can maintain that, I want to start from scratch with guitar. But, I don't know where to start.

I really want to empty my mind, just do, without the analyzing part, I'm fed up with that.

What do you do? How does your practicing schedule look like?
I think it would be a good idea to build up slowly. I will start practicing 45 minutes to an hour a day, every day. But then, what to practice? Scales, runs? I don't really seem to have a goal, so I cannot move forward. I have a lot of time, so that's not the problem.

Any ideas?

p.s.: There are times, that I think, I'm just not capable, with my guitar playing, my singing, everything art related, and that I should just continue with something purely technical and analytical. I still believe that I can change this thought, though.

[LTE]

Play the blues.
And you learn theory to forget it when you're playing.

[antigoon]

I'd say try jamming over real simple stuff like one chord vamps and just try not to think.

[sneakyblueberry]

Play the blues.

/thread.  Its all about emotion with the blues.  Which is why Lennon can play a 2-note guitar solo over 12 bars and IT DOESNT CARE

[Marvellous G]

I third (fourth?) the blues idea. The one problem is it might not look impressive to some people, as I have learnt the hard way. But then it's the most fun to play, so that's what matters.

[LTE]

Anyone who doesn't appreciate good soulful blues playing does not deserve to be called a musician.

[Marvellous G]

My sister hates anything except really quiet clean stuff on the neck pickup, therefore I hate her. Does she want me to play blues on the bridge?!

[sneakyblueberry]

My sister hates anything except really quiet clean stuff on the neck pickup, therefore I hate her. Does she want me to play blues on the bridge?!

blues on the bridge (esp on a strat) is terribad

[antigoon]

terribad, I like that

[LTE]

My sister hates anything except really quiet clean stuff on the neck pickup, therefore I hate her. Does she want me to play blues on the bridge?!

blues on the bridge (esp on a strat) is terribad

Well that's why you have to wire the middle tone pot to the bridge and not the middle pickup. With the tone rolled off a bit you get a nice rounder, less shrill tone.

[Sir GuitarCozmo]

Go buy some old Stevie Ray Vaughan albums and start jamming.  Paul Gilbert once said that after all he learned, technically, at GIT, he became unable to play blues.  So he got some old blues albums to get him back to the basics and was happy with the results.

I've. Found that when I improvise, that I'm pulling out bits and pieces of styles of my favorite players. Ace Frehley, SRV, Satriani, Gilbert, etc. Over time, it's become second nature that these things just pop up in my playing without consciously thinking about it.  Think about the things in your favorite players' styles that you really like. Focus on them and find a way to incorporate them into your playing. Over time, you will adapt those things your own way and they'll appear in your playing and you'll be like "Cool! I know where that came from, but I didn't even have to try to do it.  It just happened!"

[kirbywelch92]

I definitely agree with the blues statements. You could easily learn the blues minor scale (which is just a variation of the minor pentatonic anyway). To get expression, I just merely copied whoever it was I wanted to sound like. Eventually I just recognized the patterns and the styles, and eventually it turned into something I could work with. So, learn the blues, and learn the guitar solo to Time by Pink Floyd, that solo teaches you so much about subtle bending technique and is just awesome.

[Marvellous G]

My progression in blues in a few steps that are easily achievable through practice and time:

1. Listen to loads of SRV, John Mayer (specifically Mayer in fact) Hendrix, Gilmour, and BB King before and during the start of my learning guitar.
2. Learn the minor pentatonic and jam endlessly over those artists' songs without doing anything other than playing incredibly, incredibly simple runs.
3. Start to bend, trill, hammer, etc, keep listening to artists.
4. After a while, you start to get to the point that you can instantly incorporate your favourite artists' licks by ear in the middle of a song. Keep jamming over backing tracks.
5. You've been playing for long enough that you can think of a lick YOU want to play and be able to do it by ear instantly.
6. You get technically good enough that you can play every blues lick you can come up with, and you keep incorporating others' tricks into your playing.

Of course, I'm not actually at 6, but I've just reached the point where I can go outside of the scales really comfortably and basically play everywhere by ear (so 5, I guess.) I'm hoping 6 will come shortly.

[antigoon]

You have any recordings, Marvellous?

[Marvellous G]

You have any recordings, Marvellous?

I've got a few Youtube videos of some improv stuff, basically playing over songs or backing tracks. I'd be interested in seeing other people's improv stuff if anyone in here has videos/recordings, as I find that way more interesting than covers.

[antigoon]

Nice. I'm actually just finishing up a recording of Dreaming With a Broken Heart if you'd be interested in hearing that.  but I suppose I could do a youtube video. Link to your youtube channel?

[Marvellous G]

Nice. I'm actually just finishing up a recording of Dreaming With a Broken Heart if you'd be interested in hearing that.  but I suppose I could do a youtube video. Link to your youtube channel?

https://www.youtube.com/user/MarvellousG

Nice, I love that song, I never realised how much I liked it until listening to that solo section of it again recently.

[antigoon]

Nice. I'm actually just finishing up a recording of Dreaming With a Broken Heart if you'd be interested in hearing that.  but I suppose I could do a youtube video. Link to your youtube channel?

https://www.youtube.com/user/MarvellousG

Nice, I love that song, I never realised how much I liked it until listening to that solo section of it again recently.

Awesome. I liked the Gimme Shelter jam.

I'll probably finish up the song tonight. I'm trying my hand at recording the vocals, but 1. I don't really have the right voice for that song, and 2. I'm crap at recording vocals.  So maybe I'll just leave it bare..

I've been messing around with a really simple two chord vamp all day so I recorded it and played a bit over it. Gonna make a thread once I get it online so we can stop clogging up this one

[Marvellous G]

Yeah, an improv thread or something might be a good idea. DWABH vocals might be pretty tricky, but if you get the breathy delivery down it shouldn't matter too much how good your actual singing is. Especially if you introduce a mindblowing tapping solo to distract from them!

[Manolito Mystiq]

Hey thank you to all, guys.

The thing is, I don't hear what's so special about Steve Ray Vaughn or John Mayer. I do hear they're good musicians, but not what makes them so special.
And I belive it's the problem I have. I feel I'm somewhat locked when it comes to feeling one's soul, maybe even my own.

I may sound pretty deep now, but really, when I see musicians making interesting faces, or posing, or moving around, I understand they are in their thing, they really expose themselves. Times I have recorded myself, I do see that here and there, but there are times it looks I am ashamed of it. I need to overcome that. I'm way too much in the craving of playing good, instead of just relaxing and do whatever I feel like doing.

[LTE]

Hey thank you to all, guys.

The thing is, I don't hear what's so special about Steve Ray Vaughn or John Mayer. I do hear they're good musicians, but not what makes them so special.

Soul.

[Marvellous G]

Watch SRV's Lenny live and tell me you can't feel the soul in their playing.

[Manolito Mystiq]

Hey thank you to all, guys.

The thing is, I don't hear what's so special about Steve Ray Vaughn or John Mayer. I do hear they're good musicians, but not what makes them so special.

Soul.

The thing is, I don't hear what's so special about Steve Ray Vaughn or John Mayer. I do hear they're good musicians, but not what makes them so special.
And I belive it's the problem I have. I feel I'm somewhat locked when it comes to feeling one's soul, maybe even my own.

@Marvellous G:
Well, let me rephrase my first sentence in my previous post (and correct it). I see their soul (when in a live performance on DVD for instance), I also hear their soul, but I don't feel their soul. And that has nothing to do with them, but something with me.