It's that time again. I have picked up the guitar again. For reference, I have played on and off for close to 15 years. And after a hiatus of about 5 or 6 years, I've picked it up again. This time, I'm going to make it stick and improve to be a legit adequate player.
So in my personal crusade to improve myself, which was mostly geared around work/career/business stuff, I came across some spare time. With all of my efforts, I landed a new job. And with this, I've found happiness in that realm and have mostly shelved the idea of starting a business. I ended up doing some part time work right after I started my new job, so this took up a large chunk of my days. When I stopped this, I realized I had time at night. Now that I've always been busy at night, I felt like I needed to fill that time with something other than video games and/or watching video games.
I dusted off the guitar(s) and started that up again. Boy was I horrible when getting going again. But after a few weeks or so, I started to regain and get close to where I was when I put it down. I decided to work on the Guitar Aerobics book I had for years. I never used this book earlier because it has a daily exercise and I was too worried I wouldn't have the time to fulfill that. This time, I'm confident I can and have, as I'm on week 24 (almost half way home). I feel like I'm playing better than I ever have, which is a wonderful feeling. I even traded in my old Ibanez for a Fender Strat (Mexican, not American).
Now I'm running into an impasse. I feel like I've hit a wall as far as improving goes. Most any chord change, progression and simple phrases go, I can hit them without much issue, no matter the speed. Now it's solos that I'm having trouble with. The book has helped with getting the knack for how to handle some of those passages, but it's not enough. I feel like poor technique is the culprit, mostly. I've been pondering getting lessons or going to school to help get me to the next level. I've looked at Berklee online courses, but it seems too expensive. This is the next obstacle I'm trying to work out.
Anyways, that's my story.
So in my personal crusade to improve myself, which was mostly geared around work/career/business stuff, I came across some spare time. With all of my efforts, I landed a new job. And with this, I've found happiness in that realm and have mostly shelved the idea of starting a business. I ended up doing some part time work right after I started my new job, so this took up a large chunk of my days. When I stopped this, I realized I had time at night. Now that I've always been busy at night, I felt like I needed to fill that time with something other than video games and/or watching video games.
I dusted off the guitar(s) and started that up again. Boy was I horrible when getting going again. But after a few weeks or so, I started to regain and get close to where I was when I put it down. I decided to work on the Guitar Aerobics book I had for years. I never used this book earlier because it has a daily exercise and I was too worried I wouldn't have the time to fulfill that. This time, I'm confident I can and have, as I'm on week 24 (almost half way home). I feel like I'm playing better than I ever have, which is a wonderful feeling. I even traded in my old Ibanez for a Fender Strat (Mexican, not American).
Now I'm running into an impasse. I feel like I've hit a wall as far as improving goes. Most any chord change, progression and simple phrases go, I can hit them without much issue, no matter the speed. Now it's solos that I'm having trouble with. The book has helped with getting the knack for how to handle some of those passages, but it's not enough. I feel like poor technique is the culprit, mostly. I've been pondering getting lessons or going to school to help get me to the next level. I've looked at Berklee online courses, but it seems too expensive. This is the next obstacle I'm trying to work out.
Anyways, that's my story.
