Why learning guitar solo is so hard for me?

Question

I have learn guitar for like 8 months. I can pretty much play most of the chords now. Except a little difficulty on bar code. I cant play the guitar just by listening the rythm of the song.

Now i have a problem to advance myself to the next level, such as guitar solo part/finger picking, songs like dust in the wind and greensleeves still seems so hard for me on my acoustic guitar.

What i can do is just strumming, also my strumming pattern is not very creative, kind of using same pattern most of the time.

Could that because i dont read music and that is the reason why i cant learn as fast as others, do you think learn guitar blindly is fine, by just remember the chords? What should i do to adjust myself.

I really hope someday i can play canon in D, tears in heaven, stairway to heaven, and hotel california with my acoustic guitar.

Please advice, your advice will be appreciated !!

Answer 1

First of all, learning to read music is a genuine shortcut into the mind of another player. That player may be a thousand miles away, dead and buried, or may speak a completely different language than you do, but if you can read notation, you can comprehend what he or she is trying to show you.

Second, learning to read music is like learning to read. You may be the greatest story teller int he world, but only a few thousand people are going to hear your stories while you are alive and as soon as you die, even the ones who remember your stories will begin to change them to suit thier needs, or because they can't quite remember them exactly the way you told them. If you learn to read and write however, you can jot those stories down and they will last as long as there is a published copy of a book that you wrote. It worked pretty well for Willie Shakespeare, and it worked pretty well for Woodie Guthrie and Stephen Foster.

I used to get invited to sit in with garage bands when I was young. The first few times I would show up, all eager to jam with musicians who cared enough about their craft to invest that much time in it. A few nights of pouring over three or four songs, or rehearsing the same mistakes over and over again an I was a little less enthusiastic. Then I got asked to sub for a keyboard player in a working band. We went through the entire book, and hit the problem areas during the mike check. Every time this band got together they would go through at least twenty or thirty tunes and they were fussy.

The bandleader dropped the book off for me to look through and told me which songs would give me the most trouble. When I showed up for the rehearsal, I was given a few more tips and then we got into it. The other members were polite, but you could tell that I had made a couple of stupid mistakes right away. I tightened up my focus and dug in. By the end of the evening we were good freinds and when I did the gig with them it was a little hairy, but I really felt like they had my back.

I got a chance to see them a few weeks later and they called me up to sit in during a set. It was a real honor, even though it was probably because the original keyboard player wanted a chance to dance with one of the patrons.

When I got hired to play for the Army Band, it wasn't because I was the next Clapton! It was because I could read music and get through a rehearsal without wasting any time. Notation is the language of music and if you really want to be a well rounded musician, it would do you a great service if you were to explore this accessible and very international language.

No matter what you decide, I wish you well and hope you realize all of your ambitions.

Answer 2

I've been playing guitar for over 20 years and I've never learned to read music. It can be helpful for learning other people's songs, but it won't make a difference in your technique.

One thing to consider is your instrument. If you have an inexpensive acoustic (or electric for that matter), they are generally harder to play. The strings are usually higher off of the frets than they are on better guitars. Many beginners get inexpensive instruments and become frustrated trying to play them.

Taking your guitar in to a professional to get it "set up" can help. This means they'll adjust the neck and bridge for optimum playability. The guitar factories usually only give a guitar a rough set-up which can almost always be improved upon. Also, use light strings when you are learning to play. Most pros use heavier strings because they sound better, break less often, and stay in tune longer. However, lighter strings are definately easier to play. You don't have to fight with them as much.

As for strumming patterns etc., that just takes practice. Find some songs that you think have interesting strumming patterns and try to emulate them. It doesn't matter so much what chords you are plaing when learning that particular technique. Play chords you are comfortable with and try strumming them different ways until you are comfortable with it. The same can be said for fingerpicking techniques. Start with basic patterns and work your way up. A teacher can be a tremendous help for guidance.

The learning curve for playing guitar is pretty steep, but hang in there. If you are dedicated, you'll get it. Just don't try to take on songs that are too difficult for you at first. You'll only get frustrated. It's better to play a simple song well than to play a hard song badly. Master the basics before you move on to the intermediate stuff.

Answer 3

These days you can learn how to play guitar over the internet. Check out Mark McKenzie's guitar video lessons here: http://www.jamoramaguitar.com The videos are very easy to follow and to my surprise extremely helpful even for advanced guitar players. For beginners I would have to say this is a gold mine.

I was able to improve my skills in just under 4 weeks and I am an intermediate-to-advanced guitar player; I've been playing guitar for the past 6 years and I was on stage with my band a lot of times.

I live in New York City, I wanted to go to a pro guitar teacher but that would have cost me over $1400 per month. Good thing with this internet, $1400 it's a lot of money for me. Good luck!

Answer 4

Reading music isn't actually going to help much. Start by practsing finger patterns with chord sequences. Eg. Play the chord sequence of "Greensleeves" through. It's in 3/4 time so try first of all a simple clawhammer style .Put you right hand 3 fingrs into a loose fist, rest the 3rd on the top string, middle on the second, and 1st finger on the g string. Curl them up so that all 3 strings sound together.Next play a bass string with your thumb. Get into the rhythm of 1 thumb stroke and 2 finger strokes. 1-2-3.1-2-3. When you're happy with that. try individual finger strokes instead of all 3 at once.
From there, you can work out finger patterns. This is what I did, and I now play fingerstyle guitar, lute banjo etc. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Try learning to read music. It can really help you to play better. Some people are really good at playing by ear but for others it is really hard to do. I myself can do both ,play by ear and read music. I think that learning to read music actually helped me to be able to learn to play by ear. I had a better understanding of the music notes and therefore it was easier for me to pick out the melodies in different tunes. When you are trying to learn a new song you should break it into pieces. If you try to learn the whole thing at first this will get frustrating when you dont get it as fast as you want to. So try just playing the first few notes or bars over and over again until you have it down perfectly and then add a few more notes or bars. Just remember practice makes perfect. I also want to let you know that it might be hard to pick on reading music since you have already started teaching yourself a different way but just keep at it and keep practicing and eventually you will get it.
One last thing, I just want you to know from my own experience that guitar is one of the harder instruments to learn. In fact all strings are a bit harder than the others. I play many different woodwond and brass instruments and caught on to them fairly quickly but guitar was definitely the hardest. Just keep at it and you can do it!
I hope this helps and Good Luck!

Answer 6

OK, step by step:

First--go get a teacher! You probably don't realize it, but beginners make mistakes--and because they're beginners, they don't know they're mistakes, and they keep making them, and eventually they become bad habits. Bad habits, at BEST, will slow you down horribly--and at worst, they can lead to repetitive motion injuries. I've known many self-taught guitarists who wound up needing carpal tunnel surgery, including a good friend who had both wrists repaired last summer. So get at least a few lessons to ensure that you're holding the guitar right, pressing the strings right, keeping your wrists right.

After maybe 12 lessons, you can keep up with your teacher if you wish--or you can learn on your own. But if on your own, don't just learn to play songs. You need instructional videos and cds and books to polish your basic skills. You can find lots of them cheaply on ebay or at used book shops and similar places--buy 'em all; if you try one and it's too difficult, put it aside and try it again in a few months.

One that I recommend for everyone is "Major and Minor Scales for the Guitar" by Andres Segovia--play through those (takes a while to figure them out the first time) and you'll be playing scales the way all the guitar gods do them.

And "Guitar Player" magazine is a rich source of tabs, special techniques, equipment reviews, and other useful information.

Answer 7

There is another way of learning songs on a guitar, or any other stringed instrument with frets. Tabliture is how I learned. I have been playing for 5 years, and all those songs are like second nature to me, and have been since my second year. Just google the names of the songs you want to learn, (try something at a intermediate level, like the beginning of stairway to heaven) for example: tabs for stairway to heaven.....duh, and you'll get several different tab sites. All the numbers represent the frets on the guitar, and the 6 lines represent the strings. What ever line the number is on is what fret you play. It takes a little getting use to, but is 100 times easier than learning music. Good luck!

Answer 8

Long ago I learned that to play lead guitar I associated the melody notes with the supporting chords. For example, forming a C chord anywhere on the fretboard, and maintaining the formation, you can use the little finger to pick out the melody line while strumming part or all of the chord in accompaniment.

As another poster suggested, don't overlook the use of the thumb in bringing out the bass melody lines. What's important to know is the chord progression in the melody and use those chords while playing one or two strings.

Another example: Form the F chord and dance your little finger all over the frets while keeping the chord in place. This takes some getting used to doing so, but with practice you'll be surprised at your growth in expertise.

Answer 9

You're only in it 8 months. You will learn as time goes by.

It is not a race, and you do not have to be as fast as anyoe else.

Get a private teacher, it will help a lot.

YOu don't have to learn how to read - but it SURE IS A GOOD IDEA.

Practice. Practice the things that will help you learn the techniques you want to learn.

Play. Play on your guitar. Explore the sounds, enjoy the instrument.

Answer 10

You dont need to read music at all. Ive bin playin for 6 years, can play classical and spanish as well as being in a rock band and cant read a note. Wat ur best of doing to improve your soloing is learning the minor pentatonic and blues scales, once you have mastered these soloing in the correct key and without hitting bum notes comes much more naturally.

In addition, learning these scales will allow you to see how other guitarists implement these scales in thier solos. Allowing you to pick up more ideas. I'd say after you've mastered thse 2 simple scales move onto more complex ones and search for tabs on the net. If you dont know how to read tabs type 'how to read tabs' in google. Good luck!!