NorioDS
As a guitarist, what matters more to you?
- Learning to be a better musician?
This means learning to write songs and perform and "fit in" a band and focus on the music, not the instrument.
- Learning to be a better guitarist?
This means perfecting the techniques in guitar like sliding, scales, alternate picking, finger-picking, fast & clear chord changes, etc.
- Having better gear?
This means focusing on having the right guitar, the right amp, the right pedals, the right picks, the right speaker inside your amp, the right tubes powering your amp, the right strings on your guitar, the right tuning pegs, the right bridge, the right knobs, etc. Everything tuned for a better physical (and aural) experience.
...
These are not mutually exclusive. You may be interested in all 3 but that's NOT what we're talking about here.
Which one do you find really drives your progress in guitar and on this forum?
For me, it's the first one. I also want to be good at playing guitar and have gear that does a great job but it's all in service of option 1 - being a better musician.
So I normally find myself more interested in chords and progressions and rhythm and lyrics and melody than anything else and I dabble in other instruments and would love to learn to sing well.
Whenever I've focused on the other 2 aspects, I get emptier wins. Not because they're inferior in any way - they're not - but because I just get a better "kick" out of improving as a musician.
What's your poison? Why? How does it make you feel?
Lu22
Great topic Norio.
I'd rate my goal is to be a better musician, while mastering my instruments. The problem these days though is balancing time/motivation. I'm currently focussing on my vocal skills but as a result my guitar and bass have taken the back burner, and nowadays when I try pick up my guitar and play I'm so demotivated by how bad I sound that it just ends up back on the stand.
dojedagonzalez
Very very Good question, and funny enough I have been in similar things for the past months.
In my case, I try to be more focus in becoming a better musician, but I get really distracted in the other 2 things and totally agree all about empty wins. I think is about steps becoming a better musicians will lead you to become a better guitarrist ( bassist, drummer, violinst, Triangle player, etc) That eventually you could justify ( or ever been endorsed ) having better Gear. Again all this IMHO.
G-Man
When I joined a band all three things happened to me but not in that order.
- I found myself having to learn lots of new songs and a lot faster than what I was used to.
- I had to play standing up which I hadn't really done much of before
- I had to buy better equipment to be heard in the mix (bigger amp, pointier guitar, hehehe)
- I then got involved in the arrangements of the songs and eventually became the bassist when we reshuffled members a few times.
So for me I would say that playing live did all three things for me.
daveo1977
Hello!
Thank you Norio for encouraging some introspection. My first thought is "learning to become a better guitarist". I really want to comfortably and spontaneously play this instrument, eventually. I don't know the fretboard near well enough, and I find that I overthink my playing. I too am in a band, where I sing and play guitar, and with that my feeling is that the more experienced a player I become, the easier it will be to both sing and play guitar.
The beauty is that each player's journey is different, and because there are so many aspects to guitar, mastering any of it could be a lifelong thing. I like that idea.
ezietsman
I think, in a way it depends on the circumstances. When I didn't play in a band context, I was focussing on the instrument and even more, the gear aspect (lots of forum evidence for that). Now that I'm playing in a band again, it just so happens that the gear aspect has slowed down a bit barring one or two smaller things (lol) and the focus is on songs (arrangements etc) and performance (playing and theatrical aspects).
However, that said, my playing is improving MUCH faster now than when I wasn't playing in a band. For those of you who want to perform, don't wait until you think you're good enough. Go out and play with others, find people, start a band. Its the best thing you can do for your playing.
A lot of these things matters less for other kinds of guitar owners. The kind who aren't players in a performance sense. They like having the gear and using it at home, maybe vicariously living rock and roll through others. Hobbyist is maybe the correct term. I'm not sure. You can indentify them as the players with the highly tuned gear, nice amps, carefully thought out pedalboards, but they have no real desire to perform on stage. My guess is that just having nice gear to play around with makes these people happy and that some other factors you mention don't count as highly.
So I you'll find a spectrum of people, some who are very much into the music and the gear is just tools, right through to the people who have showpieces and won't gig them at all.
KavoKJK
Lu22 wrote:
The problem these days though is balancing time/motivation. I'm currently focussing on my vocal skills but as a result my guitar and bass have taken the back burner, and nowadays when I try pick up my guitar and play I'm so demotivated by how bad I sound that it just ends up back on the stand.
I'm in the exact same boat, I'm focusing so much on singing these days, that my guitar playing has suffered But I've started making more time for guitar - it is after all how I got into music hahahaha. How's your singing coming?
But as for the question posted, I'm not really in a band, just a group friends that play together every now and then. So I'm more for being a better guitarist at this stage - like EZ said, I think it depends on the circumstances.
Lu22
KavoKJK wrote:
I'm in the exact same boat, I'm focusing so much on singing these days, that my guitar playing has suffered But I've started making more time for guitar - it is after all how I got into music hahahaha. How's your singing coming?
Started forcing myself to play guitar now and it's getting better gain. Vocally I'm at the point where I can start recording some stuff now, but there's always room for improvement. When I'm satisfied with my recordings I'll open a thread for the forum peeps to judge me ?.
I also only get together with friends once a week to jam, but the growth atmosphere is definitely different from the times I was in dedicated bands.
V8
Norio wrote:
Which one do you find really drives your progress in guitar and on this forum?
What's your poison? Why? How does it make you feel?
I'm approaching it slightly differently - what makes me happy?
So far -for me- it's integrating music into my life. It's a very, very unusual day when I don't think, play or work on something musical.
So on any day I could be working on musicianship, technical skills or fiddling with gear. These activities all fall under the hierarchy of the simple question..."what makes me happy?"
24 years after the first guitar, I can only answer "music".
NorioDS
Love that answer Meron ? Great replies so far. Makes for an interesting read.
Squonk
Good Questions!
I am kind of embracing all three at the moment which is quite a task.
My problem is that I have no clue about Theory which I have tried to address so many times but am just lazy!
I play by ear and can do a lot of things but don't know what the freak I am doing.
So recently I have started slowly learning Jazz and started with the 2 5 1 progression, chords and soloing and it's good stuff
Have started a bit of duo with my daughter so embracing the first point!
I have two good acoustics, Top of the Range Takamine Nylon and Steel string, So that area is sorted. On the electric front I need to get a decent guitar. My head says Strat but my heart says Tele! I have tried with cheaper instruments but need to acquire a decent guitar!
ezietsman
Tele. The answer is Tele, Squonk.
Stoffeltoo
Thanks Norio, very thought provoking and introspective question.
I am trying to embrace all three at the same time but face many hurdles. The first being Family then employer then lastly my music passion
Better musicianship requires discipline and time on both theory and technique. That being said, it does not make a better guitarist.
A better guitarist in my view is the result of applying the taught and learnt musicianship in an extended sound pallet either live or home recorded. Good guitar skill develops with interaction and playing with other musicians where feedback is given and you can enhance musicianship by watching and listening.
As to the last. Good guitars are not essential but nice to have. I treat mine as special bonuses and rewards for certain achievements in my life's work, love and music journey
Don't have a Tele yet but my mind will get to work on it some time.
IceCreamMan
Ii guess the answer lies in where you are on the musical circle of life. Right now I am aiming to be a better guitarist, at some point I will move into wanting to be a better musician and then into the gear phase and back into the guitarist phase.
Still have a long way to go and wish I had more time but when my hands move over my les Paul, it's a form of self actualization.
Hasie
This is a great topic. I've done some introspection after reading it. Technique takes time to develop. I've pushed too hard previously and injured myself. So although I do want to be a better guitarist, I can only practice as much as my arm and hand allows. This has left me feeling like I am stagnating and practicing the same things over and over to build muscle memory and technique, is just too dull. So at some point I went on to a better gear phase, to try and compensate. But actually being a better musician overall, while working on technique may be a more rewarding way to do it. So for now I am going to take vocal lessons. I used to sing back in my schooldays.
Shibbibilybob
I think 1 and 2 are the same?
Scales certainly belong in being a better musician as well as being a better guitar player?
I play pretty much exclusively acoustic guitar, and I own my dream acoustic for sure, so gear has taken a bit of a backseat of late (if you wanna beat GAS, switch to acoustic). That said, I am working consistently on a harp guitar that should be strung up in a year or two.
Right now I am focussing on chords (which is scales) and working slowly and methodically through Ted Greene's Chord Chemistry. Been going at it for a year or two now and I am finally at the point where I know my fretboard well enough that I am able to think about the note I am playing(when improvising slowly) and think about what I wanna play next and why.
So I think a mix between 1 and 2?
