Be honest about your guitar ability...

[cleanbluesky]

Thinking about DmPoole's nice thread I've been wondering what I could do to improve myself as a guitar player, and asking myself what makes a good guitar player...

1) Timing

2) Notes

3) Dynamic

These seem to the be the three most important aspects of being a good guitar player... and the ability to mix them all up...

So lets be honest... here is how I rate myself with regard to improv...

1) Timing. I feel that I have a darn good sense of timing when I play guitar, probably better than anything else - I can pick up on the timing of a piece and play around with it instantly, knowing what is expected and what is unexpected and how to fit what I play into the song

2) Notes. I feel this is my weakest area. I just dont think that I can be original enough with the notes that I play, and when I look at the fretboard it seems confusing to me. I can play a lot of stuff by ear, unless I have to go fast and then I fall back on sticking together various fragments of riffs that i am comfortable with - coming up with nothing I like...

3) Dynamics. I think that this fits in with No1 a lot, and I feel that I can do this fairly well - fitting it into the expression of the piece and find it very instintctive....


DISCUSS

 

[cleanbluesky]

Okay, lets compare notes...

As far as 1) and 3) are concerned, i think that listening to non-guitar music and music you wouldn't usually listen to would do a lot to teach someone about these... I don't think that merely playing with a metronome is somthing that would teach you timing, unless you want to get not more interesting that 4/4... look at Frank Zappa - such a wonderful sense of timing yet nothing conventional...

As far as notes and scales are concerned, could someone recommend me how I could improve?