Trying really hard to just practice more.

[czlaughinghyena]

No kidding. Just got a band off the ground in '09. Have to catch up with everyone else in the band - those guys are awesome. Could use an extra couple of hours in the day just to practice. http://cityzooband.com

[Humandrivein]

Ive been in the same boat from playing bass in a punk band for like 3 years i never touched my guitar to really practice and now that i quit that and just joined a new band playing guitar again and im really putting my all into it and it feels great.

[iblamesummers]

i want to finally get thru the first Ernie Ball guitar book & maybe start self-teaching myself a bit of keys. next year...

[tuffteef]

im doing all the above back to music school in a months time to work on my degree

i need to practice my theory though and general playing so i dont get owned in class lol

[stjoeonthebus]

I'm practicing a bunch, but that leaves no time to attempt compositions in my spare time as it's used for practicing. My solution: I record my practice sessions and make notes on the recordings of the areas when I come up w/ little riffs or ideas for me to go over at a later time for inspiation when I feel that I'm ready to go into it fully. That way I'm still practicing, but those little moments of inspiration that pop up aren't lost forever...

[cheesecats]

It's difficult to find time, plus I like to play with bass and drums. Keep the tape rolling--you never know when happy accidents or lightning may strike

[zystudios]

I've been trying to work on my jazz chops lately and it's really frustrating. I kinda hate jazz to begin with so that doesn't really help. Drop 2 drop 3... 3 note voicings... chromaticism... caged arpeggios... aaaahhhh suck my balls... I tend to think of jazz using this metaphor --> Riding a bike is fun. Challenging myself is also fun. A steep hill is challenging but trying to ride your bike up an 80 degree grade is not fun. It's pain.

If you're trying to get better at the guitar go buy the "guitar Grimoire Scales and Modes" It's red and black. Flip it to page 21 and learn all 7 modes up and down in the key of F. do variations on every mode like 2 note 3 note and 4 note runs. Then do 3rds or any other variation you can think of. This should pretty much make you able to play over anything you hear almost instantly. Start extremely slowly with a metronome then build up speed as you build dexterity in your fingers. I can't stress technique enough. If you're trying to pedal a bike with your heels you're not going to get very far without getting tired. Its the same with any instrument. Learn the technique first and everything else will fall into place.

As for me I find that I'm mostly lacking motivation... Greens used to be my motivation and now that I don't do that anymore I'm kinda apathetic.

[jrmy]

I'm always in that boat. It's tough to carve out the time... all sorts of little shit keeps getting in the way.

[magiclawnchair]

I'm practicing a bunch, but that leaves no time to attempt compositions in my spare time as it's used for practicing. My solution: I record my practice sessions and make notes on the recordings of the areas when I come up w/ little riffs or ideas for me to go over at a later time for inspiation when I feel that I'm ready to go into it fully. That way I'm still practicing, but those little moments of inspiration that pop up aren't lost forever...

always record everything, always!

Anyone in the same boat.

I've been so consumed with trying to write, or put together a project, recently I realized I just really want to get _better_ at guitar, piano, singing.

I figure I'll give myself 2010 to just PLAY as much as possible and worry about projects and recording next year.

try to carve out time for practice, but please do not abandon the idea of writing for a year. tying yourself to a schedule might become anxiety inducing, but if you can put aside time to practice your piano, guitar, bass, and vocals and stay focused on learning each one separate from the time you put aside to compose you will soon be producing epic RAWRs!!!!

[smile_man]

No, fuck that. I have no interest in learning scales/theory shit.

edit: not saying scales/theory are shit, I just don't care for it.

[in2thegapagain85]

I really wish I was more "accomplished" at the guitar, but whenever I sit down to play, I find that I would much rather just mess around and see what comes out. I guess I prefer writing things much more to actually practicing. So many times I've wished that I understood the instrument better and I know I'm limited as to what I can play because I haven't pushed myself. But oh well haha.

[smile_man]

I really wish I was more "accomplished" at the guitar, but whenever I sit down to play, I find that I would much rather just mess around and see what comes out. I guess I prefer writing things much more to actually practicing. So many times I've wished that I understood the instrument better and I know I'm limited as to what I can play because I haven't pushed myself. But oh well haha.

agreed.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

playing, recording, writing, making songs, etc its all practice. i usually sit down without any ideas of what im going to do, just do it and see what happens, plannin on shit rarely ever works out.

[kvn]

Don't learn guitar theory. Learn classical music theory. Guitar theory (or the way people talk about it) is a weird mish-mash featuring a lot of redundancies and omittances.

[CBGB]

An hour a day would make a massive difference. If I was more disciplined.