Frustration!

there's just one big blues pentatonic scale, but you can move it up and down the fretboard depending on the key. it's 12 frets long and repeats, so it's basically cyclic. if you learn it and are able to play around in it, you should be most of the way there.

you may also need to get a metronome, or download some kind of beat or drum loop program to play against if you have bad rhythm problems, or just play along with recordings a lot.

I was right where you are not too long ago. Maybe 2007. The only thing I can offer is some encouragement. I've had this guitar thing come to me bit by bit over the last few years.

One year ago is about when I first "got it" internally about playing some lead. Now that's coming to me slowly, but surely.

A few years ago is when I first understood doing the single guitar arrangement thing when playing songs. I decided to sing while playing, in private, and that has helped me keep time and develop a better singing voice. I still stink, but to a lesser degree.

There was the one day when I finally got barre chords. I don't recall exactly when. I do remember having a sleep related trigger point injury prevent me from barre chords right after I got it. It delayed me for months. Really strange.

OK, maybe a few things I do. One of them might fit you?

#1: Keep your song sheets handy.
#2: Keep the song sheets even on the ones you really cannot do yet. Go back to them once every few months. You might surprise yourself and all of a sudden be able to play one that has given you fits.
#3: Of course, keep practicing the scales.
#4: practice different lead techniques. (Vibrato, hammer ons, hammer offs, slides, bends (varying degrees of pitch increases) and the trill thing.
#5: Keep playing the songs you do already know. Remember, the songs you know are going through your head as you're playing. It sounds right to you. Others are not in your head listening to what you are. In effect, you're either playing to a backing band in your head or you're replacing an entire band with a single guitar. It's tough.
#6: Record what you do sometimes, and play it back. It sounds different sometimes. It might trigger an ah-ha moment once in a while.
#7: Stop the "off" part of your "off and on". heck, even if you're just kicking back in a chair watching your favorite sport, you can do it with a guitar in your hands. Noodle during commercials, lower the TV volume and play songs while watching the games, whatever. Breaks are fine, but I found with me, a constant stretch of playing with only small breaks, like a few days or a week max, will help you keep going forward. This might have been my biggest obstacle in '04 thru '06. I finally stopped doing that and felt it's reward after a few months.
#8: Bite off more than you can chew. I do it all the time. it helps me to know exactly what it is that I need to learn. Nothing worse than learning something when you don't know what you need to learn.
#9: Break things up. Maybe work on doing a scale to a backing track one session, and then do rhythm of a song the next session, etc. I wish I had done more of this.
#10: Have fun.

And finally, my sure-fire way to learn a song that I intend to play and sing as a single guitar arrangement. This may or may not work for you, and I bet it's not "proper", but it's how I learn songs sometimes. I copied this from a recent post I made elsewhere.

Learn The Song Wrong Tips.

#1: Listen to the song a couple of times.
#2: Sing (or whisper silently if you must)
#3: Strum the chord at each place indicated while still singing.
#4: Soon, an urge to strum more than one chord will hit you. Don't resist it. Strum it. Try it out.
#5: Keep going, and whatever your mind tells you to play by staying with the beat or rhythm of the song, do it. Just remember your chord changes.

I've picked up so many songs doing this method. It's not note for note, but note for note would stink in a single guitar arrangement of so many songs. This makes it tollerable for all around.

Well, that's all I can think of. I hope one or two things help. Best of luck, and keep playing!

Thanks Roy, I've just read your posting - I'm feeling a bit 3 steps back one forwards at the moment, so will definitely try some of these :-)

I hope that bluesman takes heart and goes ahead too to reach is goal. It's great to jam. Good instructions Roy, Jason! 8)

Great post, Roy!

I particularly likes the #10.

:oops: :oops: Aw, garsh! Now I'm embarrassed. :oops: :oops:

It was just a couple things that helped me and still help me. If you've gone to hear here and heard anything I've done, you can hear some of what I say come to life. Alternatvively, you can hear the faultiness in some of what I say. :lol: :lol:

uno, I like #10 the best, too. Edit: Nuno, I see you're sporting what appears to be a trophy of some sort. A Participation award of some sort, I suppose? :twisted: :twisted:

Blues Jam?

All you need is the blues scale on the 6th string and some variations and some suffering inside... :wink:

Nuno, I see you're sporting what appears to be a trophy of some sort. A Participation award of some sort, I suppose? :twisted: :twisted:
LMAO! Exactly, a participation award!

And don't be embarrassed, it is a nice post. Everybody should read it and follows those advices. Each one is great. For example, the recording. Probably, you learn more when you listen yourself with critic ears than when you are playing.

And don't be embarrassed, it is a nice post. Everybody should read it and follows those advices. Each one is great.

Yeah, I'll drink to that - full of good, plain commonsense. Sometimes, when you're wondering what to do next or where to go from here, it's good to see someone state the obvious and say what NEEDS to be said.

Bluesman, I've been playing since the mid-70's - on and off - and it's only the last six years or so (coincidentally, about the time I found Guitarnoise....) that I've actually put some serious learning time in. Before that, it was the same old, same old three or four chords.....when I realised how much I DIDN'T know, it came as a shock at first - so I asked a lot of questions, got a lot of good advice, and worked hard at my playing. Blues jams? Hah, you should've heard my first efforts!

In fact - there was one jam around 2005, the first one I ever had a go at - it was a slow Led Zep style blues, and I hated the fact I couldn't come up with anything good for it, just a few totally cliched licks....about 3 years later, the same track was used for another jam. This time I played slide guitar in standard tuning, I knew exactly the sound I wanted, and, after about two-three quick run-throughs, sent in the first recorded take. Huge improvement.

So, stick around - feel free to ask questions, even if you feel a bit stupid asking 'em. The only stupid question is the one you don't ask when you could really do with a good answer......no one here's going to laugh at you, because we've all been through exactly the same thing! You'll probably ask a lot of questions that I've asked, or other people who've been round here for a while have asked....and we'll pass the same good advice we got on to you. That's the way this site works, really...

So, don't be discouraged - you'll be surprised how much you can pick up in a relatively short time. Work hard, play hard - but don't forget to have fun, as a wise man once said!

:D :D :D

Vic

Thank you for all your support and good advice. I plan on using the suggestions in spades. You guys are the best! Love Guitarnoise!

Really great advice here. #10 does seem like the most important one to me. Anyway, a few tips in a different way than the ones before me:

- See someone with a guitar? Talk to him/her. You share a common interest and you can very often learn something. You might even find yourself someone to play with that way, not to mention that sudden urge to run back home and grab your own guitar. Met lots of interesting people this way, got loads of advice, had a lot of fun and got some private advice from Herman Li.

- Play in public. Sit on a bench somewhere and just play a bit in the sun. It'll feel very uncomfortable at first because you will feel very silly. Doing it, however, will make you a bit more relaxed when you finally want to show your friends/family/colleagues what you can play, or even on an open mic night. You'll also find people to be a lot less judging than you might think, it'll boost your esteem a bit when you find yourself to be a bit better than you think!

- Sing! It'll make you feel the rhythm better, make you get a better flow with the music, it makes the songs more recognisable and you of course learn to sing better. You'll sound like a professional in no time!

- You're making music. Even if you can only play a single chord you can make music with it. Try to be creative with what you can do, you don't have to know everything to start. Learn the E minor pentatonic scale and try to play it properly. It shouldn't be too hard, but if you do struggle with it a bit in the beginning just keep going at it. In no time you'll be able to quickly switch between the notes, and with only that you can already play blues.

Great post, Roy. #7 is the one that hits home for me. After going through a patch where I didn't play for a couple months I lost a lot of ground. Just picking up my guitar and messing around on scales for 5 minutes every couple of days while watching TV with my kids is enough to keep me from losing everything I've practiced before.