Guitar.

[chousenjin]

I freaking suck at guitar. I used to have a teacher, and he made me feel like I was improving, but now that I'm on my own, I realize I can't play anything, and repeating scales all day can be a drag.
How do I unlock the fretboard?

[Perdition City]

Repeating scales all day can be a drag indeed, If you're not having fun, you're not learning. Instead of just playing those, you can use them as warm-ups for say 15-30 minutes.

Playing songs is the main thing. If you really enjoy a song, then try and tab it out yourself, or just try and find a tab for it, which ever you prefer. I prefer trying to tab the songs out myself first, but remember, playing an instrument takes alot of dedication, and you're not going to become Jason Becker over night.

As you know, each song has a different technical level, so always push yourself and try and learn those songs just out of reach of your playing ability. I play mainly metal, so there are lots of songs ranging from easy to extremly difficult. If you play blink 182 and such, then basically all songs are extremly easy and you won't much improve lol.

What style of music do you play? and how long have you been playing for?

Edit: just got to add this: REMEMBER! If you're not having fun, then you're not learning ;) (atleast thats my opinion on the matter of learning to play guitar)

[chousenjin]

Well, I played for a few months, but then I lost my teacher and couldn't find another one, so I stopped playing for a few months. After seeing Miyavi play though, I wanted to start again.
I'm not really particular to any style, really. Flamenco, jazz, classical, rock, it's all good.
My real problem might be that there isn't a guitarist I'm really trying to emulate. I haven't really liked a band since the Chili Peppers, and when I tried playing some of their songs, it just doesn't sound good for some reason. Or the songs are too hard.
Other songs I tried are Johnny B. Goode and Stairway to Heaven, but I got stuck midway.
The only song I could really learned was Tears in Heaven, by Clapton.
Hm, maybe I just haven't tried enough... Thanks for your tips, though.

[Fanservice Alchemist]

Well, I play bass guitar and it was something I took to quickly because I really loved the bass guitar what could be done with it.

Rather than sit with a book and a lot of sheet music, I watched videos of various bass players, studied their techniques, and then spent countless hours trying to reproduce what they did. I wasn't so concerned with trying to duplicate them exactly note for note, but only enough that it sounded close enough. I also didn't worry too much about technique either, because that's something you actually develop on your own anyway.

It took me years to get where I am now.

I can't tell you how many times I played my bass unplugged to my favorite songs. It wasn't uncommon for me to play along to an entire album either. It helped that I listened to a wide range of albums from rock, to pop, to trash, to funk, jazz, and r&b. I even have a few songs that had a strong country western vibe. Playing to such a variety of stuff enables me to play to just about anything, and I really began to learn that playing as many notes as possible is not as important as playing a few notes extremely well...

[chousenjin]

heh, I try to look at good guitarists play, but most MVs don't focus on the fingers.
here's a cool video of Miyavi. Not that I'm a fan yet, but I might become one soon.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3QogVfuENgE&search=miyavi
I wonder how he does that... It's hard to follow.

[Perdition City]

I don't really like his style of playing, it sounds a bit... crappy to me lol. I don't think it's very good trying to replicate that sort of technique on your own either and after such a short period of playing. But looking at videos does motivate me, just do a search on google video or youtube for guitar solo, and watch some of those.

But to be honest, if you've only been playing for a few months, you're not going to be able to play much. Just stick at it, enjoy it, and after a while, you'll start being able to play things you couldn't before. I've been playing for about 5 years, and theres still loads of stuff I need to learn and I still need to refine my technique etc... I'm expecting to be able to call my self a good guitarist after 9 - 10 years playing hehe

[chousenjin]

Whoo! I feel awesome. I got an old high school classmate to teach me guitar again. It feels great to be back in it.

[Perdition City]

Good stuff man. Usually it's just a passing phase when you feel that you can't really do anything good on guitar, it happens to me sometimes and it's frustrating, but that feeling when you can play and you feel your improvment... it's worth it :D

[chousenjin]

Whee, lessons are going great now.
A bit of an off-topic question, but can you train your voice to sing well? Can anyone? Are some people just cursed to not be able to hit certain notes?

[tomselleck69]

most people can be trained to sing decently [not earth-stoppingly wonderful singing, but definitely acceptable throat noise] even if it seems unlikely.

[Perdition City]

Yeah you can - a good excersize that utilises both guitar and voice is: Play a scale, and at each note on the scale hum or sing along to it at the same time.

[Dusty Chalk]

We all have lulls -- stick with it...force yourself if you have to.

I have a book at home, I forget the name, but it has a highly stylized strongman on the front holding up a guitar that's got some good exercises in it.

[Perdition City]

hmm I don't think you should force yourself. If you want to do something enough, then you have motivation to do it... you shouldn't need to have to force yourself.

[Dusty Chalk]

Everyone goes through lulls. In everything. Best thing my mother ever did for me was to foce me to stick with piano through my lull in interest in practising. Music-making has since become my favourite thing in the world to do. Better than sex.

[Stuck_Process]

Yeah, imho, the key is to keep with it, even when you don't really feel like, you don't have to practice a lot, like 30 min a day (when you find it funny again play for as long as you feel like it). I'd also suggest you to not only train scales, that easily becomes boring, if you want some easy stuff that's still fun to play check out most of the rage against the machine tabs :)

[chousenjin]

Daaaayum! I'm learning to play Layla by Eric Clapton right now (the one on the "Unplugged" album), and I've never had this much fun playing before.
Heh, I can't wait until I can play and sing this at the same time.

[chousenjin]

Does anyone know anything about song composition?
I don't know much theory.
I tried building chords that sounded cool from scales I know but my attempt didn't do a lot of good...

[sensei-]

Well I've been playing guitar for some years now and I recomend you to download powertabs, download your favorites songs and Jam with that. You will learn new chords and scales and at the same time you are playing a cool song whats better than that?

[Perdition City]

I hardly know any theory, I do know a few chords, scales and arpeggios though but thats about it. I guess i use subconcious theory - as in when I play a certain note, I kind of know the next note to play to get the sound I want.

When I do build a song from some theory though, I like to use Arpeggios. Scales get a bit boring sometimes unless you know any exotic ones :p and you can kind of keep running into the same riffs that other bands have done, or you can get addicted to the same scale and have all your songs sound similar lol, but be inventive with the way you use scales to, don't play them running straight up or down, use them in conjunction with chords and stuff, and you'll have a few cool riffs in no time that you can shape into your own song.

Another tip is to learn loads of techniques like trill, tapping, vibrato, exotic bending, natural/pinch harmonics, sweep picking, hammer-on's and pull off's, tremolo picking etc... and you can add these little touches to make your songs sound much more exciting, and you solo's will be amazing too.

[chousenjin]

I hardly know any theory, I do know a few chords, scales and arpeggios though but thats about it. I guess i use subconcious theory - as in when I play a certain note, I kind of know the next note to play to get the sound I want.

When I do build a song from some theory though, I like to use Arpeggios. Scales get a bit boring sometimes unless you know any exotic ones :p and you can kind of keep running into the same riffs that other bands have done, or you can get addicted to the same scale and have all your songs sound similar lol, but be inventive with the way you use scales to, don't play them running straight up or down, use them in conjunction with chords and stuff, and you'll have a few cool riffs in no time that you can shape into your own song.

Another tip is to learn loads of techniques like trill, tapping, vibrato, exotic bending, natural/pinch harmonics, sweep picking, hammer-on's and pull off's, tremolo picking etc... and you can add these little touches to make your songs sound much more exciting, and you solo's will be amazing too.

Yeah, I do try to incorporate some of those.
I have no idea what an arpeggio is, but uh... according to my teach, he said what "separates the men from the boys" is going up and down the fretboard, instead of staying within one little box when soloing, so I try to hits keys in all the frets I know...

Man, I really envy that sort of experience you have. When you just know where the next note will be. I guess it just sort of comes with time, ya?

Lol, you sort of remind me of Ryuusuke from Beck, if you've read that...

[Perdition City]

Yeah, don't worry, when you've been playing for a while, it'll just fall into place and you'll have that sort of subconcious theory (which doesn't always go right might I add lol)

And no, i've not read Beck, but I know of it :D

And as for arpeggios, they are like this: |-19-15----------------------------15-17-14---------------------------14-|
|-------17----------------------17----------16---------------------16----|
|----------16----------------16---------------17-14----------14-17-------|
|-------------17----------17------------------------16----16-------------|
|----------------19-14-19------------------------------18----------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|

This is just a little part from an arpeggio song that I like to play, i made it with my old guitar teacher - if you like that bit and want the rest of the arpeggios let me know and I'll post the whole thing. They are pretty useful and you can use them on lower strings too tomake them useful in rhythm playing and not just soloing and lead playing.

[seren-enfys]

In my opinion, if you can read tabs you can play guitar, just search the web 4 tab-sites and find some songs you like, then you'll enjoy it, I've been having lessons for 3 years and all i've really done is lernt tabs and cords and made loads of friends, I can't play any spesific songs, but I feel i can play :) so just keep at it.

[Perdition City]

In my opinion, if you can read tabs you can play guitar

If you think that then you're very much mistaken. It takes alot of dedication, and you can't just read a tab and be magically able to play the song. Some techniques such as sweep picking and legatto I think you need someone to teach you in person, and also when you first start playing guitar, some songs you might not be able to even physically play (but that depends on what kind of music you play really)

[Aratos]

On the other hand, if you can read tabs you're half way to playing bass. The only other thing you require is rythm and speed. Of course that's ignoring the fact that playing bass well takes at least as much skill, if not more, as guitar. Nasty deceptive instrument.

[Manadevil]

Hey, I took lessons for 8 years, and I'm sure that all you need are some good tabs. Go to www.tabrobot.com and get it on!

[sonicxbreed]

What you got to do is mix up differnt scales into a simple pattern that sounds good, this is called a riff. Most modern bands have 2-4 different yet similar riffs in a song. Learn to read tabs and play easy punk songs (Ramones, etc). And realy almost anyone can sing it is just a matter of finding your natural vocal style. Don't try to sing like your favorite singer just project from your gut and get your lips on that mic and don't be afraid to realy go for it and don't talksing into the mic. Print some lyrics to your favorite song and get the cd and try to realy sing to it. Ounce you get good enough at guitar you can to both. Write lyrics that go to the melody of your riff. Don't write lyrics and then the riff it will suck! Then get a bassist and a drummer (if you want you can get a second guitarist if you want). That's how I did it....

[stickmanbob0]

just keep trying. maybe go back to lessons

[sazuka]

i heart people who know how to play really well. im still in that processes of learning lol

[chousenjin]

Heh, perdition city, I have a full body guitar so I can't play that arpeggio :P
Thnx though.

Man, singing and playing is a whole different level of fun. I just need to acquire a decent voice :\

House of the Rising Sun is pretty easy to sing and play simultaneously, for others who are learning. With the exception of a couple of lines... My voice has trouble getting the sound right for the first line of the song.

Does anyone know any site or forum that has a decent collection of anime/j-rock tabs?

Haha, sorry about the extremely incoherent post. :P