Originally Posted By: Bernier
I'd like get peoples opinions on a concept I am contemplating.
I have been playing guitar for over 50 years. I've left it for long periods of time and then come back. The biggest thing I've noticed is that is have never seemed to have gotten any better.
It took me 10 years to realize this with golf. No matter how much time i put in, how much I played/practiced, I got to a certain level and could NOT progress any further. Has anyone found this to true with guitar?
Thanks for your input!
Bernie


I've been playing for 40+ years. I would think that if you are spending a lot of time playing and practicing and you are not seeing any improvement, it would suggest that maybe you are not practicing the right thing? What aspect of your playing needs work?

In my case I don't practice very often anymore, and by "practice" I mean going over scales etc., however I do play a lot. I have a folder full of BIAB files that I use for this, different grooves, chord progressions, tempos, and keys. I'll bring up a track, highlight a section, then loop it and play over it. Doing this allows me to maintain my chops and sometimes come up with new licks. I do that almost every day, probably for an hour or so.

If I come up with a new lick that I can't play very well, I then go into practice mode. I use a metronome and set it to a slow tempo, a tempo where I can play the lick cleanly, and play it over and over again. Then, gradually over the course of maybe days, slowly increase the tempo on the metronome.

But, as babarton said: "the better you become at a skill, the harder it becomes to improve that skill", and this is very true.

For me I'm happy with the way I play, I'm not interested in being the best guitarist out there. Playing wise I just want maintain what I have and to keep it fresh so I'm not playing the same licks all the time.

Dave

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