Give Me Some Inspiration, Baby!

GSMetal · Sea Monkey Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 12

OK, so I've had my guitar less then a week - things are going well.

I can play a D Chord no problem, I'm finding lots of resources on the Internet and my finger tips hurt. Very Happy

But I know I'm going to lose faith at some point #evil

so I would like to ask all of you to give me a story of "BREAK THROUGH" or "INSPIRATION" story on your guitar experience that I can refer back to.

Thanks in advance!

jamesron41 · Lion Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 945 Location: Waco,TX

Ok, there is a term we use on the net for our cravings for new instruments and it is called G.A.S(Gear[or guitar] Acquisition Syndrome. I always find it exciting to go out and buy a new guitar book, straps, picks, or just anything that will keep me excited to play(I prefer to buy new guitars, but I'm poor Wink

. You will learn how to do this. And the internet keeps it really fun! Just read up on all guitars and learn about the Legendary players and it will make you want to play. Also, listen to the master's of guitar or try to watch a video. They'll get you pumped, but sometimes it will make you think you can never play like that particular legend, but don't get down, let their playing inspire you. I used to watch SRV and I thought I would never play like that. Well now I can play pretty well(certianly not in SRV's category), but I can play and it is fun for me to just learn a new tune everyday, or just have a jam session.

Now right now, I assume you are a beginner because you said your fingers hurt. Well, PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! Trust me, the pain will go away, you will develop callous' and you'll be as good as you want depending how much you practice.

But seriously I think buying new accessories and pedals 'n stuff keeps it intersting for me.

Also, visit us over at: www.fender-talk.com

It's a forum for mainly guys with Fender products, but we don't care what you have, I didn't even have a Fender when I joined the forum. And they are great people and will help with questions like this. And alot of them are members here as well.

markm2553 · Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:52 am Post subject:

I can remember the first time I put two chords together in a song. The song had three chords in it, but I had only learned two of them at that point, it was happening!

I think my first big bench mark came after I had been playing a few months, maybe a year, it was on New Years Eve. I took my guitar to a party at someones house, and we set around and sang together with me playing. Maybe 15 people, it went on for a couple of hours, it was a dream come true, I missed up most of the songs, but no one noticed or cared, it was a great time. I knew at that point this was something I HAD to do.

My best advise:

1) Don't wait to start singing when you play. Start now, it will cure many timing issues others struggle with.

2) Don't wait to play infront of others. Even if you miss up, it is good to work all that out from the start. I know at least two people that are very good but will never play infront of anyone. Start playing out of the house right away, Church is a great place to cut your teeth.

Anything worth doing in life takes some work. Learning to walk, to run, to read and write, wish I had learned to spell better. Embarassed

jamesron41 · Lion Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 945 Location: Waco,TX

Yes, it is AWESOME to play at church and at my Friends parties. I let it all out! My pastor actually majored in music in college and has a degree. He can play the keys pretty well!

Also at parties, I enjoy the crowd singing along 'n stuff. And I also like the attention from the ladies! Wink

BTW, Mark is correct, start singing now because I can't sing and play at the same time very well because I never practiced it when I started out.

PunkStar · Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:57 pm Post subject:

Another good piece of advice is to have a goal in playing. Maybe to write and perform your own songs as an expression of your ideas and creativity, or to play a song you love by a great artist, or maybe even just for love of the game. Whatever reason you have is great, as long as you really care about achieving that goal.

Once you have that goal, prioritize it in comparison to other things in your life. Look at what time you have to dedicate to learning and choose how much of that time you want to dedicate to your learning. I can gaurentee learning to play will take some consistent practice. Keeping that end goal in mind is what helps push through those boring times when we get discouraged.

It also helps to find some music that you find particularly inspiring. For example, I quite enjoy "The Hardest Button To Button" by The White Stripes. It's such a simple song. 4/4 time, drums, vocals, and a guitar part with a rhythm that hardly ever changes. Not a bad one to learn to sing and play either because of that.

Try a few of those when you get discouraged. But realistically, using any inspiration like we've posted will only help if you have the will and self control to actually use it and stay dedicated.

jamesron41 · Lion Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 945 Location: Waco,TX

That's good advice Punk! Wink