I think it's time to find me a guitar/bass teacher locally.

A couple of years ago when I decided to take playing seriously and actually learn a thing or two, I decided that the best way to go was to learn the basic chords. The method that I developed was to find familiar songs on youtube where posters print the lyrics and chords as the song plays and just strum along.

Playing these chords over and over again seemed like a reasonable place to start.

I've had a bass and/or guitar around forever. In previous days, I'd pick one up and just kinda noodle around with the music that was playing. Learned a few chords, pentatonic scale and some other basics, but never really worked on it. But i did have fun. What I REALLY wanted was to just pick the thing up and have the music just come to me - yeah, I know - it doesn't work that way, but I'd still dream...

After a couple of years of just strumming along, I've gotten a lot better. But I am getting bored. it really is time to get some real teaching. Soon... I'll work on it.

But the other day, I decided to go BACKWARD and grab an old album, put it on ands see how well I could fig it out.

Who's Next. Play the tracks on random. Some go well, some don't. Baba ORiley was fun. Easy bass line that was a pleasure to play. I'd add some entwhistle flourishes, but at the end of the song, there was no bass part... so I played the violin solo and DAMN if I didn't nail it - on bass. It sounded fricking great until I realized what I was doing then it all fell apart. Sometimes I do just feel it and the music comes to me, but usually when I'm only half paying attention.

That put a smile on my face.

But this isn't learning... I still want to learn more and that's gonna require some effort.

That was my experience, being able to pick out chords and passages after I'd been noodling around for a few years, but when I started taking lessons, everything accelerated. My teacher teaches guitar performance at two universities in the area, plus a community college, so he doesn't just know guitar, but know how to teach and inspire, and instill discipline. One of the things I needed was somebody to push me past goofing and noodling around. It's more like work, but my progress exploded.

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Hal, you got the bug! No better time spent than when playing music. Music goes straight in to the lizard part of your brain and will stay with you for life. I've had many mystical experiences playing, some not even drug induced. Find a teacher, they know all the shortcuts. Don't hesitate to shop around until you find someone you can connect with. They're out there.

In grade school I took clarinet lessons from an old guy who had played with John Philips Sousa. His name was George Tyler. I looked him up once later in life. He really did play with Sousa.

Since then I've had several piano teachers, sax teachers and a guitar teacher. Seriously, what better way to spend your time?

thanks Lost and Wags... very encouraging

Also, if there's a community college nearby it's a good way to connect with teachers. Take a music theory class.

....rut.....roh.....

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

I mostly play along with YouTube videos. The ones that are challenging I take to my weekly lesson. I’ve been trying to learn different techniques but it’s slow progress. I used string bending for the first time last week. The music in my sig should work fine for guitar since the chords are the same.

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Ukulele music I couldn't find anywhere else.
[colquhoun.info]

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davemchine
...The music in my sig should work fine for guitar since the chords are the same.

Not sure what you mean. Unless you're using guitar-tuning on your Uke, the chords are not the same.

But try capo on the 5th fret and play only the 1st 4 strings (D, G, B, and E) on the guitar and it sounds like a Uke.

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hal, before you get a teacher, I’d suggest you figure out what you actually want to learn at this point. There are so many different aspects to playing guitar/bass like improvising, sight reading, right hand technique, finger picking, playing favorite songs/ standards, musical genres, etc. That will help the teacher you pick to hone in on lessons that you’ll enjoy and stick with. I’ve seen many people start out with a lot of ambition, get good teachers but then get taught things they aren’t interested in and consequently, stop the lessons.

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JoeM

nice post Joe - thanks.

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JoeM
I’ve seen many people start out with a lot of ambition, get good teachers but then get taught things they aren’t interested in and consequently, stop the lessons.

That happened to me.

After a few years of self-direction, I took weekend lessons for a few months with an otherwise good teacher who unfortunately was focused on showing how to fake tunes that I had no interest in. I suspect it was due to years of work with students looking for nothing more than that.

I wanted to learn new rhythms and arpeggios and some music theory.

He let me choose the direction for awhile, and provided me with valuable guidance at first, but ultimately I stopped getting anything out of our lessons and we ended them.

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About 8 years I had a teacher who played 10 years with Sarah Vaughn. He had stories about “all the cats.” I would rather just sit and listen to him talk or play.

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Dennis S
About 8 years I had a teacher who played 10 years with Sarah Vaughn. He had stories about “all the cats.” I would rather just sit and listen to him talk or play.

lol, that’s exactly how I felt when I studied with Pat Martino when he was living in the village in NYC back in 77. I’d be sitting 2 feet away from him in his living room and he’d be playing all this incredible stuff. I felt like I was getting my own personal concert. We’d be having all these great conversations about all sorts of things and every once in a while he’d ask me to go to lunch with him, where we’d continue talking about all sorts of things besides music and guitar playing.

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JoeM