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Topic: I seem to have hit a wall |
Gary Cooper
From:
Atmore, Alabama
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Posted 31 Jan 2015 5:36 pm |
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Ive been playing 13 months, practice at least 2 hours per day, weekends at least 4 hours per day. seems i reached a plateau. Suggestions please.
_________________
GFI Ultra SD-10; Nashville 112; Hilton pedal, George L Cables; Pearse bar; Live Stings;Walker seat by Billy Knowles. |
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Tom Gorr
From:
Three Hills, Alberta
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Posted 31 Jan 2015 6:46 pm
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Good time to take a break. Let it sink in. That first plateau is so frustrating its hard to move forward.
When you come back...it shouldnt be primarily about technical skills...it should be about making music. This is the right brain left brain shift break. |
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Butch Mullen
From:
North Carolina, USA 28681
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Posted 31 Jan 2015 7:03 pm
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| Tune in to KEQX Dublin TX and play along. Butch in NC |
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Dan Robinson
From:
Colorado, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2015 7:21 pm
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| You aren't alone, it happens to everyone. Inspiration is a great remedy. Get together with some other players, they don't have to be steel players, just folks who can improvise and you can relate to. Go out and jam. Sit in somewhere. Listen to a band. |
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Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Posted 31 Jan 2015 8:36 pm
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It's very normal - learning is like a flight of stairs, your progress will come in a leap, then you'll stay flat for a while and then hit the next step up.
Everyone is different. I was concerned that I would drift away if I stopped so I set a minimum of 1/2 hour a day. Usually I do closer to 2, but MAKE myself do at least a half so I stay familiar. Only exception is if we're on vacation out of town.
Find something different to do - if you have been working a lot on technical repetition, do like Butch said and find a good on-line station to play with. "Hank 96.1" in Kentucky is another good one. If you have been playing with CD's, look on line for European country bands - they have more real country music there than we do here. Bakersfield Tribute Band, Diesel Cowboys, White Falcon, Cash On Delivery, Ian Highland Band....the list is endless. If you've been doing that, work on scales and blocking a while.
Your mileage may vary - but stay with it. |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 31 Jan 2015 9:26 pm
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Depending on your musical goals I would suggest taking lessons from some sort of bad ass. Maybe a jazz player. Learn where the notes are and work your way through the jamey Abersold stuff.
Pick a pleyer and transcribe enough of his music by ear until you get it. Trying to figure out how john Hughey gets at his harmonies will take 2 lifetimes.
Find a great steel player to go over your hands and tone.
Get to know your metronome !
More than that do not slack off with practice. The guys that can play better than me practice more than me. It is all about practicing.
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Bob |
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W. Van Horn
From:
Houston, texas
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Posted 31 Jan 2015 10:31 pm
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As always, bob's advice is spot on. As Bob suggests, pick a player and start transcribing. Sometimes I like to focus on one aspect of a player - only ballads, or focusing on their tone, etc. I'll go after a single aspect of their playing and then try to put all of it together. Jimmy day is great for this. Try to learn his instrumental records, it's a real workout. Also gig as much as possible, it will give you drive as you see where your shortcomings are.
Listening can be great, inspirational practice as well. A jazzer once told me that "active listening" is one of the foundations of well rounded practice. I have found it to be true.
Gigging is best for this though. If gigs are not an option, play to tracks or biab. |
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Rich Peterson
From:
Moorhead, MN
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 12:59 am
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One thing that gets me through a plateau is learning new material, of a sort that is new and challenging. Because it's new, I find I am just trying to learn new chords, new melody, without becoming obsessed with perfect execution. Remember, technique is only a means to the end, and the end is music.
Another "trick" is to plaster a big smile on your face as you practice. You develop the habit of smiling as you play, and when you perform it looks like it is fun rather than a chore. And you learn faster when you are smiling. |
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Jason Lynch
From:
Essex, United Kingdom
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 1:11 am
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| I'm with Tom Gorr. Take a break, even if it's just a day or two. Then come back refreshed. |
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Frank De Vincenzo
From:
The Garden State
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 6:21 am
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[quote="Rich Peterson"
Another "trick" is to plaster a big smile on your face as you practice. You develop the habit of smiling as you play, and when you perform it looks like it is fun rather than a chore. And you learn faster when you are smiling.[/quote]
That is great advice! I'm starting this today.
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JusticeJudge |
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Don R Brown
From:
Rochester, New York, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 6:47 am
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| Rich Peterson wrote: |
| Another "trick" is to plaster a big smile on your face as you practice. |
Rich, that only works until my fingers refuse to do what the brain says it wants to hear, which usually does not take very long. At that point I'm too busy gritting my teeth or cussing to smile!  |
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George Buechley
From:
Indiana, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 7:35 am
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Try William Litaker for a few weeks. He's a good teach and the price is great.
http://www.williamlitaker.com/LiveInfo.html
George
_________________
Pre WWII Dobro, Sho~Bud Pro II Custom, Peavey Session 115, GFI Expo, Roland Cube XL80, Lil Izzy |
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Dave Diehl
From:
Mechanicsville, MD, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 7:48 am
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| Jeff Newman always told me to take practice in small chunks, 30 minutes to an hour a night and if you don't, the result would be exactly as you described Gary. He always said you retain more when you keep it to small chunks. |
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Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 7:59 am
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my2cents:
Get a teacher...a real live one, even if it's only a lesson a month. A live person can do what no video, book, DVD, or YouTube clip ever could. You can't learn to play in a vacuum - go out and see other steelers. Play with other musicians, even if it's juat a guitar player. Learn to interact with other players, to follow them, and to play something you haven't practiced. Once you've got the basics down, you need someone to push you and pull you, and you can't get that by playing alone in your home.  |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Rich Peterson
From:
Moorhead, MN
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 9:32 am
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| Don R Brown wrote: |
| Rich Peterson wrote: |
| Another "trick" is to plaster a big smile on your face as you practice. |
Rich, that only works until my fingers refuse to do what the brain says it wants to hear, which usually does not take very long. At that point I'm too busy gritting my teeth or cussing to smile! |
We are multiple personalities; both Musician and Fan, enjoying the action of creating the music and also just enjoying the sound. But..... three is a crowd, and The Critic crashes the party. Pushes the Fan into the background. The Fan needs to reassert himself. Just let yourself get caught up in the beauty of the simple things that make steel a magical instrument. One chord sliding and/or pedaling into another. Keeping volume constant with the pedal.
Let the fingers play. Don't try to force them. |
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Will Cowell
From:
Cambridgeshire, UK
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 12:08 pm
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Pick a single piece, and work on it until you think you can't improve. Then set it down and work on another piece. Do that with a few songs then come back to the first one - walaaa, you can suddenly play it better in some way, more fluency, better "feel", different choice of inversions... you get the idea. And round and round she goes.
"Aggregation of marginal gains". Works for me!
_________________
Williams 700 series keyless U12,
Sierra keyless U14, Eezzee-Slide & BJS bars
Moth-eaten old Marshall 150 combo
Roland Cube 80XL, Peterson Strobo+HD,
EarthQuaker Despatch Master for reverb / delay |
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Gordy Rex
From:
Southport, NC
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 2:39 pm
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couple things that always worked for me.....
buy or bowrrow a new learning course, add a knee lever, or get another guitar.......
_________________
Gordy Rex
Current guitar '78 Rosewood Emmons PP 8 X 6, La Grande II..8X8... |
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Dana Shaw
From:
Maine, USA
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Posted 1 Feb 2015 5:27 pm Steel Guitar Shows
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| Everyone gets this...more than once. I read that one player in an effort to combat this, always went to a Steel Guitar Show, got the inspiration needed and soldiered on. I tried that several years ago and found that the hot playing I saw and heard and tips gleaned inspired me for years. It's my opinion that if your obsessed enough with this contraption you will stay with it long enough to get through and become an accomplished player. It sounds to me as though you are devoting about 20 hours a week to the guitar...probably at the chagrin of your partner...I'd say your likely infected. This level of devotion should take you there. There is something to be said for 10,000 hours. |
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