How long was it...

This is question is for you guys that are already fully devolped in technique, you guitar gods out there. Like how long did it tak you to notice that you were getting better? I've been playing with a pick for a about a 9 months, and I'm doing pretty well with it. AT about 9 months, what speed were you guys playing at or what kind of songs were you playing? I just want to know how i'm doing compared to you guys, I hope my question was clear. From what I've read usually it takes about 4 years before someone is rippin at 220 bpm. So please give me your feedback.

About as long as it takes for a weight lifter to notice that he's building muscle. Progress doesn't take much to show. I noticed reasonably fast that my fretting was getting better and I wasn't dropping the pick nearly as much pretty early on. As far as anymore, well, when I began sweeping it certainly wasn't what it is now, so the progress was quite blatant. In basic, if you apply yourself and stick with it, the progress won't take long at all to show. And the 4 years to hit 220 bpm? Bull****. If you sit and practice and dedicate time to it, it takes hardly any time. After a shade over 2 years of literally never practicing with a metronome I found I was having a hard time at 100 bpm. So I sat down and dedicated a few hours solely to practicing with a metronome and within 2 days I was crankin 16th notes at 200 bpm. How was this possible? Well, when I found myself having a hard time keeping up, I just slowed the tempo back down to something I was more comfortable with then tried again. When practicing new chords and chord changes, don't just look at the fingering and try to nail it, watch your fingers go where they go vs where you want them to go. The primary thing that takes time is how you do it. If you do it "wrong" then it's going to take more time and probably cause a bad habit or 2. if you do it "right" then it'll come easier and more comfortably as well as permitting other things to come just as easily. How to prevent doing things wrong is as simple as asking a question to an educated person, reading a book or even playing guitar with someone better. Observance would probably be one of the greatest keys to learning. At least I'd think so. Helped me a bundle.

ummm... I dont think it's possible to crank 16ths at 200bpms in two days, whenthe day before you could barely hit 100. Unless it was very sloppy. It also depened on what excercicse but I still cant believe you. But thanks for the insight anway Cryptic.

Originally Posted by: Guitarro777ummm... I dont think it's possible to crank 16ths at 200bpms in two days, whenthe day before you could barely hit 100. Unless it was very sloppy. It also depened on what excercicse but I still cant believe you. But thanks for the insight anway Cryptic.

Why can't you believe that?
It sounds to me like he never really worked on it and when he finally did practice.....good things happened.
About a week ago I did the same thing. I have owned a guitar for only about a month. Got boared with just learning chords and my hand was cramping up like mad from barre chordes so I decided to figure out some scales. Figured out how to play the "G" scale starting on the low E string, 3rd fret. Sat down with metronome and about 2 hours later was playing eighth notes comftorably at 152 bpm, with a top speed of 176. I think the fact that I have played a few other instruments (sax, clarinet, bagpipes) probably helped out.
And just because you can't believe something dosent mean it didn't happen.

Originally Posted by: Guitarro777This is question is for you guys that are already fully devolped in technique, you guitar gods out there. Like how long did it tak you to notice that you were getting better? I've been playing with a pick for a about a 9 months, and I'm doing pretty well with it. AT about 9 months, what speed were you guys playing at or what kind of songs were you playing? I just want to know how i'm doing compared to you guys, I hope my question was clear. From what I've read usually it takes about 4 years before someone is rippin at 220 bpm. So please give me your feedback.

You'll get out of playing exactly what you put into it. If you play for a few minutes a day and expect to shred like nobody's business, you're wrong.

The guitar "greats" you hear about didn't get good by just playing the instrument for 20 years. They practice, 10-16 hours a day.

That's the problem by measuring years. I can say, "Hey, I've been playing for a year and I can play 16th notes at 240bpm." I may have been playing a year, but practice 10 hours a day for that year. While some guy could be playing for 10 years and practice a half an hour a day. He'll be a good player, but not as good as if he'd practiced more.

If you practice and have a routine, you'll advance in greater strides than just sitting down and playing a few songs and diddling on the same licks you've been playing for 3 months. Expand your horizons, challenge yourself, and most of all practice, practice, practice.

Originally Posted by: Cryptic ExcretionsSo I sat down and dedicated a few hours solely to practicing with a metronome and within 2 days I was crankin 16th notes at 200 bpm. How was this possible? Well, when I found myself having a hard time keeping up, I just slowed the tempo back down to something I was more comfortable with then tried again.... Observance would probably be one of the greatest keys to learning. At least I'd think so. Helped me a bundle.

Funny you should say that, because I just started using a metronome tonight. It truly does wonders. Not only does help your mind adjust to higher speeds and play in rhythm, but it really helps you evaluate how much progress you've made in a certain amount of time... Anyways I've calculated I'm at about half speed on Eugene's Trick Bag, but that by no means I'm half-way to reaching my goal :p

Also, You're right on about observance being one of the greatest keys. You can't play what you don't hear ;).

Crazywolf, don't spend time comparing yourself to other guitarists. You are your own musician, evaluate yourself using your own accomplishments. Don't think your worse than anyone else if they happen to have gotten something quicker than you OR better because you got it before them. A general term of time like 2 years isn't exactly very acurrate anyways... Also, what "G" scale? I'm just making sure you realize there is a difference between major and minor scales, as well as pentatonic and whatnot.

200 bpm in two days!!? ha ha, i dont believe that at all!! unless you mean just picking on one string?

Originally Posted by: Pantallica1You'll get out of playing exactly what you put into it. If you play for a few minutes a day and expect to shred like nobody's business, you're wrong.

The guitar "greats" you hear about didn't get good by just playing the instrument for 20 years. They practice, 10-16 hours a day.

That's the problem by measuring years. I can say, "Hey, I've been playing for a year and I can play 16th notes at 240bpm." I may have been playing a year, but practice 10 hours a day for that year. While some guy could be playing for 10 years and practice a half an hour a day. He'll be a good player, but not as good as if he'd practiced more.

If you practice and have a routine, you'll advance in greater strides than just sitting down and playing a few songs and diddling on the same licks you've been playing for 3 months. Expand your horizons, challenge yourself, and most of all practice, practice, practice.

yeah, umm... I actually practice a lot. Sorry pantallicca but you can go from the worst guitarist ever to john petrucci in two days. I know i could play 16ths at 200bpm but that would be if i was doing speed bursts. I can't shredd all the way that fast, right now my top speed is about 140 and i'm getting better. But i know that tommorow I will not be able to make my top speed 200.

And people, please answer my question!!!!!!

Originally Posted by: Guitarro777yeah, umm... I actually practice a lot. Sorry pantallicca but you can go from the worst guitarist ever to john petrucci in two days. I know i could play 16ths at 200bpm but that would be if i was doing speed bursts. I can't shredd all the way that fast, right now my top speed is about 140 and i'm getting better. But i know that tommorow I will not be able to make my top speed 200.

And people, please answer my question!!!!!!

I never said you could go from being bad to being John Petrucci in 2 days. My point was, it takes a lot of practice to be that good.

I've explained this concept many, many times. When playing the guitar, you're using your unconscious mind. Your brain can simply not handle playing the guitar on a conscious level. If you have to sit there and tell your fingers where to go, and when to go, it just won't happen. It's like telling yourself when to breathe and when to exhale.

The case of Cryptic Excretions is a perfect example. Let's say I play a new lick. Now, don't you notice at first that that lick is very difficult to play. So you doodle around for a few hours and go back to the lick. It's not as hard as it was, but still kinda difficult. Then a day or so later, you can nail that lick like it's the easiest lick ever. You're building your unconscious mind and are making muscle memory.

If you don't believe me, try this. Next time, you play guitar, turn on your TV and play your guitar. The key is, don't pay attention to the guitar. Now play a lick your not so familiar with. Keep playing it over and over while you concentrate on the TV. I guarantee that by the next day you can play that lick awesome, or at least tons better than earlier.

And your question about what songs was I playing at 9 months, I don't really remember. But, I was nowhere near hitting 1/16ths at 200bpm. You'll soon realize that once you obtain some speed, it's really useless. No one wants to listen to somebody cranking out 1/16ths at 240bpm for 3 minutes. Don't get me wrong, a speedy lick here and there is fun, but it's not enjoyable over and over again. I would suggest concentrating on melodys and theory before I would worry about speed. Speed comes with time and practice. It's about feeling and about making music that you love.

I'm not meaning to sound rude, but I didn't ask for practice tips. I know all about practicing, I know what to practice. All I'm trying to do is see how fast I am developing my technique, whether I'm too slow or im getting good at a pretty fast rate. If I see that maybe I'm developing slower then there may besome changes I need to make to my practice routine. I just want your feedback, I dont need to be told how to practice, I already know how to do that. And I already know tons of theory and crap so please don't tell me what to improve on I already know.

So I implore once again, please please please please answer my question peoples!

its hard to say cause it varys from person to person. if you can notice improvements then your surly on the right path. maybe alter your routine slightlly and see if it makes a difference, otherwise just keep doin what your doin.
when you practice hours a day it can be hard to notice your improvements cause they are so gradual

I know you don't want to hear this guitarro, but since you pretty much skipped over my post, I don't feel bad stating this : stop focusing on exactly how fast you're developing (or going to develop) in the long run. If you're searching for a cut and dry answer, you're just not gonna find it buddy :p. Just play using a metronome, you can find out your improvement by playing the same lick and upping the tempo.

Also, I couldn't help but be skeptical when whoever said the greats got good by practicing 10-14 hours/day. It's not quantity, it's quality. If you really apply yourself 1-2 hours/day CONSISTENTLY, I think you get as good as anyone.

I didn't skip over your post Scott. I understand that people develope at different speeds. I'm just curious to see what level people are at compared to how long they're playing. And I also understand that just because you've been playing for 50 years and can only play 16ths at 90 , that doesn't mean you're not good (take B.B. King for example). I know at school I can wipe out everyone else technique wise, but there are kids there that I consider to be good guitar players not cause they're fast but becuase they have good groove or can improvise well (man there's this one kid I met that can PLAY the blues) or something like that.

Yeah I agree with you about the person that said the greats practice 10 hours +. John Petrucci for instance would practice 6 to 10 hours a day, not 16 and he's considered to be one of the best in the world.. Yeah it takes discipline, but even if you practice wrong for 18 hours a day straight for 4 years, you'll still be a crappy player. Quality not quantity.

Originally Posted by: ScottMoneyCrazywolf, don't spend time comparing yourself to other guitarists. You are your own musician, evaluate yourself using your own accomplishments. Don't think your worse than anyone else if they happen to have gotten something quicker than you OR better because you got it before them. A general term of time like 2 years isn't exactly very acurrate anyways... Also, what "G" scale? I'm just making sure you realize there is a difference between major and minor scales, as well as pentatonic and whatnot.

Thanks for the encouragement, but I was saying that more or less to validate what Cryptic Excretions said and that it's totaly possible in my book, despite what some people might think. The G scale was just a major scale, i've been figuring out some others since the last post. Guitar is actually the newest instrument in a long list of instruments that I play so I know a little theory, but I appreciate the concern.

That's cool crazywolf. I wish I played a few other instruments. You must have pretty acute hearing. you should pick up the pentatonic scale if you want to play rock/blues.

Originally Posted by: ScottMoneyThat's cool crazywolf. I wish I played a few other instruments. You must have pretty acute hearing. you should pick up the pentatonic scale if you want to play rock/blues.

It is a lot of fun. Once you can play one, it is real easy to learn others, well, I guess that depends on the person though. I don't know about my hearing......did you mean being able to tell pitch?
I'll have to look more into pentanic scales, thanks.

yea, I meant you should be able to distinctly hear the pitches and know what to look for. Also if you've played a string instrument before, you pretty much know how the techniques work and whatnot

Originally Posted by: jptk200 bpm in two days!!? ha ha, i dont believe that at all!! unless you mean just picking on one string?

Ok, yes I actually did do 200 in 2 days, and I used all 6 strings and let us not forget that I had played for 2 years prior and just never practiced. It's not like I did this on my first week of playing, just when I sat down and dedicated time to something I made the progress. It's possible if you know what you're doing.

Ok, Maybe you guys can shed a little light on this for me. When you are talking about how many BBM you can play, Do you mean running through a scale at one note per tick of the metronome? Also what are 1/8s and 1/16s?
Thanx guys.

Originally Posted by: Guitarro777I'm not meaning to sound rude, but I didn't ask for practice tips. I know all about practicing, I know what to practice. All I'm trying to do is see how fast I am developing my technique, whether I'm too slow or im getting good at a pretty fast rate. If I see that maybe I'm developing slower then there may besome changes I need to make to my practice routine. I just want your feedback, I dont need to be told how to practice, I already know how to do that. And I already know tons of theory and crap so please don't tell me what to improve on I already know.

So I implore once again, please please please please answer my question peoples![/QUOTE]

You already got your answer. I said it and someone else spelled it out clear as day. What you put into it is what you get. In my case I spent 5 hours minimum in 2 days solely based on speed practices and it took 2 days to crank out those 16th notes. You chose not to believe that and that's fine. If you just ignore something you won't get good at it. And there's no need to turn down our offers of advice, it could be worse you know. There's that "beginners" thread that turned into a rant about candy and bob's bits or the notorious "yep" thread. Or some of those other threads that turned to poop as the topic.

[QUOTE=Spiritinthesky2k]
Ok, Maybe you guys can shed a little light on this for me. When you are talking about how many BBM you can play, Do you mean running through a scale at one note per tick of the metronome? Also what are 1/8s and 1/16s?
Thanx guys.

It can be a scale, or it can be an etude that's been made up. It can even be someone else's song. In my case it was an etude I made and altered through my practicing procedures. 1 note per tick is 1/4 notes. If you play 2 notes per tick that is 1/8 notes. 2 notes per tick take half the time as 1 note per tick so, y'know, 1/8 note right there. Divide 1/8 in half and you have 1/16 which is 4 notes per tick. Divide that in half and you've got 1/32 which is 8 notes per tick. Half that and you've got 1/64 which is a whopping 16 notes per single tick. I've been a bit intimidated by the 1/64 notes personally.