Lookin for ADVICE

[snafu1963]

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Thanks for the welcome!
My name is Ron, i am 45, have four teenage sons. Reside in a small Ontario town in Canada. Surprisingly enough i think i'm still sane after trying to raise four fine young men. But now that i have persued my life long dream of trying to teach myself guitar, don't quite know about the sanity thing LOL. Still don't know how to play a full song from beginning to end but working on it.
The biggest problem i'm having is developing a practise routine and sticcking with it!!! Does anyone have suggestions for me how to develop the routine and how to STICK to it?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I have 2 guitars Yamaha f310 and a Yamaha G-245s classical

PEACE!

[Strat Rat]

Tell us your short term goals and the long term also if you would.

For example if you simply want to strum chords and sing we might send you
down one path. If you want to shred the neck we would probably take a slightly
different path.

So as much info as you feel like giving will be helpful.

Also what kind of music are you wanting to play.
Eagles, Nirvana, Bach, Elvis???????

[Tingly]

Still don't know how to play a full song from beginning to end but working on it. The biggest problem i'm having is developing a practise routine and sticcking with it!!!

Okay, with the family, etc., you got a real problem.

Try to see where, each day, you have a few less hectic minutes. That might be a spot to shoehorn a 20 minute practice session?

Other than that, the best thing, if you can, is to actually inculcate (sorry for the big word) the guitar INTO your life. Play while watching TV, or while surfing the Internet, maybe start a local group of players that meets once a week, or volunteer to teach a raw beginner for free.

That way, you are just playing more often, and you just get better, even if you resist...

[tryin2play]

Tingly gave you some very usable advice. I work long hours, have a wife and kid, and numerous other things that take up most of my time. I always MAKE time for a little practice session every night. After I get home from work and the kid is doing homework, the wife doing her thing..... I head down to my mancave. Thats what I call my gameroom. It's the place I like to hang out in the most. I turn on a game, drop the volume down to zero on it, and grab the axe. Even if you can only squeeze in 15 or 20 minutes, it's still better than nothing. I've been at it for about 3 years now, and while I'm no Clapton, I can at least play songs that are recognizable. I've never been able to find the time for lessons, so all of my learning has come from books, and the internet. I am however, lucky enough to be able to sit in with a bunch of guys on Tuesday nights and jam. I've learned alot from them but am reluctant sometimes to even bring my guitar with me. They are all so much more advanced than I am and a few of them play out regularly. But thank God they are great guys and encourage me, and even force me to play along.
Just find a little time for yourself in the evenings and you'll start to look forward to it.
BTW, youtube has tons of lessons posted on it.

[Tingly]

Tingly gave you some very usable advice.

:rolleye:

Thank you very much for your kind words, and thanks for writing about your experience.

[rickwilley]

My problem is similar as I drive semi truck 11 days at a time! I usually find time while loading or unloading to play & I do notice some improvement. Just can't seem to get my fingers to to what I want them to!! I find myself missing chords I've known almost my whole life! any advice for this? (let me guess.. slow down to a snails pace and practice being more accurate. but you don't know what an impatient S.O.B I am! lol)

[Mr.Excitement]

Ron, thanks for posting about your difficult time to practice. Through the replies,there have been some suggestions I either will incorporate or have done so. One of the ideas is I wander into a garage band on Monday evenings. A local group(some of whom have been playing together since teenagers) meet at Duane's garage. It does force you to dedicate some time to practice and peer pressure can be a good thing. While these guys are experienced, all have the time to help a fledgling.
I am retired,my family is raised so time to practice is no problem. However, motivation is.
That is where the Garage band is valuable.
So, I echo the advice to find a similar group. They are probably all over, if the search is undertaken.

Jim

[Tingly]

My problem is similar as I drive semi truck 11 days at a time...you don't know what an impatient S.O.B I am! lol)

Try to get into situations where you end up playing for long stretches at once, even if you have to push yourself a little.

That's why band practice is so good. It forces you to play, no matter how you feel at the time and the repetition helps your playing become a little more automatic, freeing you to pay more attention to nuance and anticipate what's coming.

I am not saying practice continuously, but, like, playing for an hour, eat, then play for another hour, maybe make some calls, and then get in another hour, before bed. On a day off, try to double that schedule: 'couple of hours between breakfast and lunch, then do it again between lunch and dinner. Just two or three days like that, in a week, would make a big difference in your playing. You would rarely miss those chords.

But, if there are kids running around, errands to be run, spouses to be picked up, classes, assignments, side jobs, then you have somewhat of a time problem.

Don't you go to motels while on the road, or have a truck cab to sleep in where you could play all night, if you chose to?

[gman6974]

I use to do warm ups, scale runs, chords progressions before even playing anything musical for almost 45 mins to an hour. Until I saw an interview with Tommy Emmanuel and he was giving advice on routine and such. He said if your working on learning songs. Pick a song. Everytime you pick up the guitar, don't practice anything else except that song. Play it over, over, and over again. Do this until the song is complete and is played cleanly and accurately. Thats what I have been doing ever since I saw that interview and it's been working out for me.

[JonR]

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Thanks for the welcome!
My name is Ron, i am 45, have four teenage sons. Reside in a small Ontario town in Canada. Surprisingly enough i think i'm still sane after trying to raise four fine young men. But now that i have persued my life long dream of trying to teach myself guitar, don't quite know about the sanity thing LOL. Still don't know how to play a full song from beginning to end but working on it.
The biggest problem i'm having is developing a practise routine and sticcking with it!!! Does anyone have suggestions for me how to develop the routine and how to STICK to it?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I have 2 guitars Yamaha f310 and a Yamaha G-245s classical

PEACE!Why not get your sons (assuming one or more of them is into what you're doing) to test you? Let them set you a challenge: eg "learn to play this song by this date" - then they have to judge how well you've done.
I can appreciate your job gets in the way more than most, and this doesn't answer the problem of finding enough time (or regular times, which is most important). But if you know you have a deadline coming up... A little pressure like that (good-natured of course) could work wonders.

[little_chick]

I feel your pain, Ron. It's often hard to squeeze in practice time when you have kids (especially since I'm mom), but I do pretty much what gman said. I pick out two songs to work on at a time and only work on those songs until I can play them acceptably, then I move on to two more songs. As a warm up, I'll play the songs that I've already learned.

Other than that, you just have to do what works best for you. Some people like to have a rigid routine and some people don't. Remember.....this is FUN!

[cactusandy]

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Thanks for the welcome!
My name is Ron, i am 45, have four teenage sons. Reside in a small Ontario town in Canada. Surprisingly enough i think i'm still sane after trying to raise four fine young men....
All of the above have given varied but good recommendations... you'll have to try and see what parts of the examples work for you. What I'd like to add is this... talk to your family and get them to understand you need this practice time (maybe 3 or 4 days a week) to yourself... no distractions, phone calls, etc. Improvement will come. Let us know how it progresses, and best of luck.