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Faith loss in guitar playing


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Hello there. Today I decided to finish my guitar experience forever and ever. It's a bad message for users who expected more CDLCs of Horytnica and many other bands. I believe someone will finish the job alongside game popularity growth. I will also sell my Cort KX5 to someone else who actually plans a career. I still doubt if to sell it or keep in closet for the case I changed my mind. I have been finishing my guitar adventure for 9 months and sometimes I play Rocksmith but no gain. Even a regression!

I couldn't play any chord cleanly, guitar pick was slipping out of my fingers and changing angle, solos almost muted, strings and frets confused commonly. I couldn't even play songs that I performed decently last year. My fingers look like rubble despite guitar abstinence. I had no issues before. There are also some counter-indications. I don't wanna screw up my wrist and cause other health problems by practicing all over time. The other issue is that my time is limited and my roommates would kill me for doing it every evening. Guitar is a low-level instrument (you manipulate strings directly) and needs lots of time-consuming efforts.

Guitar was only an experiment for me. Only few classes on university before bachelor's defence so it's time for writing thesis and... learning guitar basics! Yeah! Moreover, I started to work before Christmas. I couldn't predict it before. Now I have full time job, other projects and master's thesis left. You can think I have a lot of free time. It's an illusion. This is why I must optimize it starting of 2016.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far, away I was playing piano so I'm not a beginner in music. Why guitar? In high school I started to listen to rock and metal music. On student carnival we met in number of 3 guys to discuss about our interests. No1 makes techno and knows FL Studio, No2 wants to play drums and we decided to do something together. After holidays everyone forgot this meeting. Next year I discovered patriotic rock/metal bands. It's better than nihilism put into most modern songs. It became obvious I need guitar. I also thought "ladies love guitar players" but later "ladies hate bad guitar players". What next? I consider continuing my piano experience but no idea what to start of and how to in case of progressive music or symphonic metal.

To sum up, playing Rocksmith was fun but I don't see future in playing guitar for now. I don't say bye because I'm not removing account. I will still discuss with you about guitar, RS, music and other topics.

That's my confession. If you also doubt or threw your guitar away, tell your story 🙂

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Well I can solve your floating pick issues.

 

I've played for near 20 years and I'm by no means competent at it mostly playing on and off throughout the years.

 

Recently after learning of RS and picking it up, I put two and two together after having pick slip.

Try non skid tape. https://www.google.com/search?q=non+skid+tape&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjo08m0wfPJAhXIYyYKHUDqCR8Q_AUICCgC&biw=1200&bih=874

 

Place a small piece on either side of your pick and trim it to pick size with scissors. Pick slippage is far less likely. Leave lower 1/2 inch to 1/4 inch where pick contacts string clear of tape. Otherwise it's essentially sandpaper on your strings.

 

As for noise I play using a laptop and headphones, I live in an apartment and my lease states "no musical instruments". The headphones allow me to hear what I'm doing no matter time of day and my family can't hear so I know neighbors can't hear either.

 

I've never had doubt and never questioned why my playing wasn't progressing, I've always known it was me holding myself back. Too little time to practice, it hurt my hands/fingers, I sound like crap, I'm wasting my time.

 

I ran through each of those, I had to ask why I'm learning what I wanted to do. If your goal was to impress people then failure may be in the cards as those that would be impressed and would want to know you because you play wouldn't be worth my time to know. In the end my playing is mine, it's something I do for me. At 18 my father gave me his guitar and I've had it my entire life now along with his classical I remember playing as a child. When I play I think of him. Though I'm no Steve Vai and doubt I'll ever be, I do enjoy playing. I'm at a wall with a few songs in RS currently and not progressing to where I think I should, I can play the songs and score well on master, but I can not 100% reproduce the song. This bothers me, yet I persist.

 

Hold onto your gear, even if you pull it out once a month it'll always be there and your fingers will always know where they need to be.

 

Few months ago I continued the tradition my father started with me. After my daughter turned 18 and mentioned in passing she always wanted to learn violin, I went and bought her one. Told her if she learns to play it fine, if she only picks it up every so often and plays it's still money well spent as it's something she'll have and hold onto her whole life.

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I just hope that although guitar isn't your future, music is still a powerful tool in your life.

To be able to play, and play with an emotion, thats a powerful thing to do and to have. I have a spiritual bond with one of my guitars, and sometimes, its all I have to get through a bad day.

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Many nice scores on all songs :)

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About the slipping pick, I recommend the Ibanez Sand Grip picks.

I needed some time to get used to them, but now I won't do without. ^_^

They always guarantee a very controlled touch to the strings, in whatever atmosphere you play.

 

About rubble fingers, that's an obvious sign of stress, and this stress is the cause why you loose technique,

and consequently motivation.

 

As a sport coach, I can tell you this : Only playing won't get you absolutely nowhere.

You have to train techniques, and there are more techniques in guitar than meets the eye

The hardest is to erase technique faults, because they tend to get automated.

So this automated process has to be reversed.

Best is to always care strictly about technique and this is where RS sucks. It makes you forget the most important factor in learning.

 

 

Piano compared to Guitar is ... dull. My opinion, except if you leave the rock/pop scene for classic/jazz/blues.

Most Rock Guitar parts, played without the song/group/RS is also ... dull.

 

If you are looking for self-sufficient guitar tracks to play (by memory) outside of RS, with only a beat, 

you may end up with guitar virtuosos, they may be out of reach at 100% speed, but at 80% upwards you can polish technique.

 

And technically the most accessible and versatile I've found is Buckethead. :clap:

 

Of course the master thesis has priority, don't give away your guitar, because when you pick up again in several years,

you will have reached your current level within a month, because most of it has been automated (well or bad) by your brain neurons. :)

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The learning curve is not straight, there's periods of progress, some others without any improvements and some where you think you've regress, it's normal & it's the case for everybody.

 

If you're tired or not motivated you don't progress as quickly.

 

---------------------------------------

 

There's 2 way to play RS with DD only or with Riff R.

 

- Playing only with DD is more fun & show your progress as you'll play % so you can clearly see any improvements.

- Playing only with RR. is more on the technical side, you may be able to play the song but did you really enjoy the song itself or are you bored because you've play sections 10X.

 

I play with DD maybe more like a video game (kind of RB or Guitar Hero) than a learning tool, but i preserve the pleasure witch is the essential for me.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I didn't see your post b4 maybe it's late to comment and lately I 'd seen forums pretty empty but whatever,it's interesting to read.

It's really odd to see somebody quitting after some months of playing but myself isn't nobody to judge.We have to respect your decision.

Playing guitar isn't for anybody is a matter of interests only.

So that guy giving you tips ,simply wasn't listening to your post at all.

In my case I want to say that learning an instrument sucks and sucks bad.With or without Rocksmith or a pro teacher there's always something going on to obstruct you.

I'm impressed of myself still trying,I don't want to give details why but it's pretty hard to keep going on.

 

But in your case you say that was only and experiment so you can't expect something else.

Is well known that some guys want to be musicians because the money, the bitches and the drugs,in your case the bitches ,what is a good thing, but learning guitar for that is useless. Many bands do that and now they are nothing so it's a bad focus and they were fooling themselves.

 

If you are into bitches learn to treat them ,forget about guitar, ask the pros about how to conquer them and do another strategies.

For learning guitar well,you have to convince yourself why you want that,is only you who can motivate yourself about nobody else.

If you change your mind well give it a try but just don't try for the harder stuff you have to learn from the begging those easy hated popular songs and after a while go for your favorite bands. :D

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I think this topic is generally about why somebody may loose interest in guitar playing.

When I do something, I do it with passion. But even passion may get lost.

 

One has to introspect and find the reason. It may often be a detail, like an unhealed injury, or stress at the job or school.

Or even a bad guitar, which doesn't fit. Even a good amp and pedals may wake up the fury.

Since I play with an amp and my own tones, I will never go back to RS tones again. They suck!

 

In my younger days I lost interest because the classic acoustic folk songs, mainly chords, were kitsch.

Nowadays there is a huge choice, a huge pack of crap, which may also get your interest fail.

Maybe time to filter out the many cDLC you never play, and the good ones will jump again to front.

 

Playing guitar (or soccer) for chicks or whatever is a myth. Training to reach that level of attraction is much too hard.

And they care only for your look, not your playing. You better get dressed.

And once you've tried a couple that passion will be faster lost then music. :lol:

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I,ll add something about holding the pick...2008 i nearly cut my right arm off at work,mid fore-arm..Doc said i cut everything there was to cut except the bone..anyway,2 years of therapy to get use of my hand back..Lost feeling in thumb,index and middle finger,,.so as far as holding a pick ,,,don,t know if i,m holding it or not..solution,,, I wrap duct tape around index finger and pick,,but that works pretty good..never drop the pick and always stays pointed the right way..

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  • 7 months later...
  • Rocksmith Championship Organizer

Well maybe for you it is too late but the right thing in that situation would have been to remove the useless pressure.

 

The general agreement you have to find with yourself is only

"I like to play guitar"

Nothing more, nothing less, when you can agree with that you will very soon learn that you don´t try to reach some senseless goal like being able to play like some musician you might know or play a much to hard song you just cannot atm, but that the goal is already achieved: You are playing the guitar at your level - which on RS you luckywise always can.

The route is the goal. (or are you gonna stop when you have achieved a certain level ;) )

Progression is an achievement of time you can in no way effectively force.

From the negative perspective - if playing the guitar at your level is no fun at all then yes it is much too time-consuming and egoistic to carry on, if - like for about all of us here it is go for another 200hours and check back on the songs that did disappoint you right now.

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-= Building a Guitar from Scratch with Absolutely No Woodworking Experience =-
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-=GET RID OF ON DISC SONGS IN THE SONG SELECTION LIST? , FULL SETLIST MANAGEMENT? - YOU NEED A ROADIE !!!=-
-= SPOTIFY Rocksmith CS Playlist =-
-= Use your DLC library on multiple PCs w. autoupdate =-
-= Build your own RS Toneswitch Fb =-

-= Join the Championship - cause the Championship is good for you =-
-= What´s my RANK again??? - check the 10-weeks Leaderboard and PLAYER Level =-
-= Put the Songs you want to be played into SONG SELECTION LIST =-

 

On 11/8/2016 at 8:32 PM, Vodka said:

I hated Royal Republic prev. time. I hate it this time too.

UPD: OK. I hate every song. I guess I need to stop.

 

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Heh. Coming from a background in music as a kid ... 9 months is barely enough time to get past Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. I'm serious. Playing any instrument is not a video game. It's not 40 or 80 or even 200 hours. It's literally thousands of hours of practice. It's not months and often enough its at least a decade or more before an adult, in particular, can hope to gain any kind of proficiency.

 

Even with talent, the best do it for years (many starting at <5-6 years old) before they ever stand on a stage, and even then the vast majority don't do more than play the occasional bar or cover gig. Go listen to some top musicians talking about what it takes to learn to play. Synyster Gates has at least one really good interview out there and he's an incredible musician under the guyliner and ink. 

 

Myself, I get up half an hour to an hour early, every single morning, just to play every day. Even if it's just grabbing a bass off the wall and running through the few songs I have memorized. Ya know, you might want to try bass. It's not easier to master, but it is a lot less frustrating to start out with. Particularly as an adult with limited time and experience. Bass also seems to work better with RS in a lot of ways, I think because there are very few chords. 

 

I'm a huge fan of extremely technical, complex music. A7X, Symphony X, Rush, Dream Theater. Can't play any of it on guitar and can only wave at A7X and Rush on bass. (Don't even ask about Symphony X or Dream Theater). But instead I'm having fun goofing off with folk and old 50s and 60s stuff right now. The advantage of that huge learning curve ... even if the only thing you practice for months is intonation, it still helps and is useful. 

 

But a lot of the very technical players will say, paraphrasing, "It takes time, patience and huge amounts of repetitive, correct practice." Not blasting through songs you can barely play, but slowing things down and doing the same thing over and over and over again until you don't need to think about it. The speed will come ... if you don't push it. But 9 months, eh, grashoppah, yer jus startin.

 

PS: Probably the best exercise you can do when you hit the wall ... ear training. Find a recording of some really simple song, learn the sound by singing it ... then figure out how to play it.

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Some girls like bass players. I'm a sucker for Geddy Lee lookalikes. ( Though my other half looks like Norman Reedus and doesn't play bass. )

 

I "played" guitar for 20 years. I liked it, but it wasn't my passion. I liked the idea of being good, but it wasn't my goal. I didn't think it would impress men, because it doesn't. I had yearned to play bass for that whole time without even concluding that that was what I should be doing, so I quit the guitar.

Best thing I ever did!

 

I picked up my bass 2 years ago and can play almost not too shabbily. I go through phases of competence. Sometimes I'm pants at playing, sometimes I am less pants at playing. Most recently I found I was struggling with everything, thumb slipping off my anchor point, plucking fingers missing strings only to discover what my error was was simply I'd adopted a "technique" and a BAD one at that where I was balancing my thumb on it's tip to anchor... soon as I figured that out I was back to playing less pants and happier and less frustrated for it. Rocksmith didn't show me how to solve that issue, but watching an abundance of youtube videos of other respected bassists hand placements did.

 

Moral is. Sometimes it really is all about that bass. If you have the desire to fix what's making you mess up then you've picked the right instrument to call home.

 

I like the saying "Live like you're gonna die tomorrow. Learn like you're going to live forever!" - Someguy Offtheinternet

 

Also, a change is as good as a rest. :) 

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 Mortalo, on 11 Feb 2015 - 11:36 AM, said:

Ok, because of poor results and overall lack of skill @NoonyDeloony gets downgraded to Advanced. She would be forever remembered as shameful person... and then she'll make another charming video and we'll forget about that.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/NoonyDeloony/videos

Twitching bass unskillfully, here: https://www.twitch.tv/noonydeloony

 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Back to the front

I'm to start a 60-day sprint. My goal is to play a song 100% as intended. This is the last attempt to learn playing the guitar fluently. So I'm back and stuck here. What to begin of? Start learning guitar from scratch? I shall better repeat basics. Then pick an easy song, stand up and play it more and more.

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  • 2 months later...

I've been disheartened at times because I've not been progressing with my strumming patterns and with fast changes of chords and barre chords in a rhythm. Recently I stumped up £12 for the Four Chords app on steam and this seems to really complement Rocksmith in many of the areas where RS fails. I think this is like a very large jigsaw where sometimes you just need to try a different area in order to complete more of the overall puzzle..

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I have been playing Rocksmith for about 3 years, about 3-5 days a week.   I am not great at it, nor do I think I am pathetic.  If your hoping to cut a single and be on VEMO and girls throwing bras at you, then your probably not going to make it by Rocksmith alone.  But if you just want to learn to play, be decent enough to impress non-playing friends, family, GIRLS, then keep on trucking.  

 

I have my Master's degree done and I know that can be trying.   Don't sell your stuff.  Just sit it aside for awhile and hit the books and when your stuck trying to write your thesis, then playing metal, deathcore or whatever, would probably be therapeutic.     Trust me.  I have to kids and playing something like Metallica's Sandman after getting them to bed at last can be quite the calming thing to do.

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