Bunny Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Hello all, I'm pretty new to learning the guitar, about 6 months in, but I did have a previous attempt a few years back which stopped because my progress was so very very slow that I became disheartened and I lost all motivation to continue. Slightly worried the same thing is happening again as I’m just not retaining the information. I remember something one day and by the next its gone, which is really frustrating, so I'm here looking for any and all suggestions and advice as to how to make some steps forward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 Good evening, @Bunny, and ... ... Plenty to read and amuse you here, and lots to learn and share. First question : Do you have a guitar tutor, or are you doing this all alone..? Next : What is your age..? Lastly : How fast did you think that learning to play the guitar would be..? As for 'retaining the information' : what, exactly, is this 'information' that you're losing..? Most of guitar playing, as with other instruments, and, indeed, most skills, such as driving a car, or walking, are a case of 'muscle memory', whereby there is no conscious 'thinking' going on, the muscles (and brain...) have learned, mostly through repetition, what to do. How are you learning..? Looking forward to your answers, after which I'm sure some helpful advice, hints and tips will come forth. Over to you... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Posted February 18 Author Share Posted February 18 Hello, thanks for responding 1: I do have a tutor, 1 hour a week but I'm also using YouTube. 2: Age 37, my memory isn't great but I don't think I'm quite at the point of age related memory loss. At least I hope I'm not. 3: Not sure how fast I thought it would be. I'm not the quickest learner with anything but I was hoping to remember more than a few basic chords by now. Playing like Hendrix by the end of the year might be asking too much, but I was hoping to have learnt a few songs that I can play clearly and in time and without needing to keep stopping to look at tab. I'm forgetting all chords after the major and minor ones (I'm ignoring barre chords for the time being) misplacing finger placement, hitting strings that should be missed and if I can badly strum my way through a song on one day, the next I haven't a clue and I'm back to relearning it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 2 minutes ago, Bunny said: Hello, thanks for responding ... Ah, excellent; well done for replying so clearly. It sounds as if you're on the same track as all of us, when starting out. Obviously you should address these concerns with your tutor; he/she will have doubtless heard much the same from many pupils. Meanwhile, if you're not doing it already, I'd recommend playing for short periods, as often as you can, but regularly. Two 15-minutes sessions, each and every day, no exceptions or excuses, will cement the 'information' very quickly. Far better than an hour once a week. I will assume that you have exercises, routines, to practise, from your tutor..? Do these, religiously, in your practise sessions, plus any other stuff you want to do from other sources (method books, U-tube etc...), but avoid playing for too long at a time, especially for the first few months, as this can seal in bad habits and damage your hands. Depending on the complexity, it's normal to have to refer back to the partition (be it tab, notation or chords charts... whatever...) at first, but much will become 'ingrained' over time, as long as you keep plugging away at it assiduously. There is no 'silver bullet', but be assured that every guitarist, whatever their talent, started out with your level of competence. It's only the practising that makes the difference, and it's not overnight. Speak to your tutor, then, follow their advice and method, and trust me; it will all come together, and all the faster for being patient and doing things slowly. I'll end with my usual tongue-in-cheek encouragement ... It's the first forty years that are the hardest, after which things sometimes tend to get very slightly easier. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted February 18 Share Posted February 18 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musical Mystery Tour Posted February 19 Share Posted February 19 (edited) It's just practice and experience. I can assure you it will all come good if you keep it up. But one very important thing with practicing stuff to remember, is that what you are aiming for, is to have things down so well that you're pretty much on 'autopilot' when playing. The key to this happening with any song, chord shape, picking pattern, strumming pattern or whatever, is to have the thing so ingrained in your muscle memory that you literally could not play it wrong unless you actually made a conscious effort to do it wrong. You won't be surprised to learn that the trick to that, is to practice at a speed which is slow enough for you to become really accurate with your finger placement and movement, then when you are accurate, pick up the tempo a bit, rinse and repeat. If you do that, when you speed it up, your fingers retain the muscle memory of the movements and you remain accurate. Conversely, if you practice sloppily, your muscle memory will then be sloppy and it will be hard to 'undo' that, so in short, concentrate on getting it accurate and worry about the tempo later. Honestly, it's nothing more complicated than accurate repetition which is the key to progress. Edited February 19 by Musical Mystery Tour 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Posted February 19 Author Share Posted February 19 I definitely think practicing in smaller chunks is a good idea. I tend to do an hour a day and then feel bored and frustrated when I still sounds crap and all I've done is end up with sore fingers. 4 hours ago, Musical Mystery Tour said: Conversely, if you practice sloppily, your muscle memory will then be sloppy and it will be hard to 'undo' that, so in short, concentrate on getting it accurate and worry about the tempo later. This is really helpful, I'm focused a lot on being able to play a song that I'm not really working at getting clean sounding chords so practice will never make perfect if I'm practicing so poorly. I need to slow down to baby steps. Thank you for the help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pinky Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 I am a year in to learning and this sounds very familiar to my experience, my tips I would suggest: Take it slowly Don't try to learn too many things at once Muscle memory does come and I find it comes in light bulb moments where I suddenly realise that I have made progress without realising. Use the tab when playing, I am now finding that I am having the tab operand referring to it less and less as I practice and muscle memory takes over. Listen frequently to the tracks you are learning and concentrate on hearing rather than listening, count the beat and listen for the chord changes etc. Record yourself on video every so often and watch it back a few weeks later, you will see improvement that are not always noticeable. Finally enjoy it, take a few minutes out to just "doodle and make some noise rather than formal practice, I find this is helping me think about the fretboard and getting my fingers moving. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunny Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 Thank you. I think my expectations were a little unrealistic, it just feels like the people I watch on fb pages and YouTube are progressing so much faster than me and that's knocked my confidence a lot. Tempted to find someone I can pay to stand behind me and hit me around the back of the head whenever I start losing concentration and motivation! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musical Mystery Tour Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 1 hour ago, Bunny said: the people I watch on fb pages and YouTube are progressing so much faster than me No they are not, they are just not posting clips of them playing badly. For all you know, the clip of them playing it well which they put online, might have been the 400th take. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
