Hello All, I have a very naive question. I realize that the answer depends on (and is different from one individual to the next) a) one's talent b) committment c) good instructor. d) etc Here is the question: What should I expect in terms of guitar ability in about 5 months of practice? assuming that I have a good instructor, take lessons once a week, practice about 4 hours/week and have mediocre talent when it comes to guitar playing. (not electric guitar but classical "nylon" string). Basically I am trying to gage my progress. Thanks Hello_World
hello helloworld and welcome to IGT , i am sure if you are dedicated enuf to stay on ur routine practise , you can do wonders , if not a pro i am sure you can b com a performer .. good luck and best wishes :beer: wrong forum , thread moved to beginers q & a ...
all i can say is too less... i mean atleast one hour a day should be done... welcome and enjoy your stay on IGT
yup agree with rizaaj... the more you practice the better you'll get..guitar requires time and patience thats all.. but i think you should have a strong sense of music and a grip of theory by the end of 5 months..and you should be fairly comfortable with barre's as well..
4 hours a week? Like dude, that's too low for a beginner man. If you want to emerge a mediocre guitarist at the end of 5 months i suggest you practice more. And i dont understand what people mean by "talent" when it comes to the guitar. According to me you dont need to know a damned thing or have a specific "skill" to start learning the guitar. A good head and two proper working hands are quite enough. So, if you work hard, learn your lessons diligently and practice, i should say that you'll be a fairly good guitarist at the end of 7 months.
I feel you are half way to your distination. In one year , you should be reasonably compitent. Practising daily is a must for beginners!!!!
5 months is enuf to be able to play enuf to impress chicks, u know play simple songs, chords n stuff...but if u practice 7days a week..even 1/2 hr a day.
Thanks to everyone that replied..... I have never finished anything that I started in my life. But, this time it is going to be different. I will keep on practicing until my fingers bleed (may be not, I need my fingers to do other things). I have been told by many in the past "That I have no musical talent". I can't dance, can't sing, and when I tried to learn the "tabla" my instructor told me to pack it up and quit (I have quit tabla). I have no sense of timing etc. But when I decided to give music a last chance, I choose "guitar". Something is different this time.... I feel a connection between the guitar and me... I am just being impatient.... like the saying goes "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step"..
The fact that you've never finished anything you've started just goes to show the lack of confidence in yourself and the lack of commitment. You dont need to "bleed" your fingers to be a competent guitarist. Why does everyone have this notion? As far as i'm concerned you dont need to know a damned thing to learn the guitar. No sense of timing can be corrected by effort. And when your instructor asked you to quit the tabla, you should have gone on. When i started the guitar a teacher told me that i had "fat" fingers and that i'd never learn it. I showed him the finger(sorry for the use of such language) and i went on learning and i can confidently say that i'm a competent guitarist now. The fact is, you need to think that you can do it.
Music is a performing art, there is nothing you can't do if u practise enuf. You need aptitude for mathematics, not to play guitar. Yea, maybe if you wanted to get into composing you need to have a musical inclination (which has stopped being a requirement in the kind of music that comes up these days anyway!) Just practise enuf and u'll get it.
U SUCK !!!....STOP PLAYING THE GUITAR ...U HAVE NO MUSICAL TALENT.. now are u gonna sit in a corner and tell people that i quit bcoz dharmatma said that i suck??many arse holes like me will keep doing that and u are a bigger arse if u stop. u tabla teacher was a di*k..to ask u to pack it up and quit.
^ LOLzz!!..yeah i would agree with dharmatma.... you can make a difference if you really put your heart mind into whatever you do...others are not always right!!
its not about "how good you EXPECT to be" its all about "how good you WANT to be" Ive known people who started guitar late (well they think they started late anyway) and picked up some mad skills in less than a year. For example i bought my friend a Ibanez RG T42 for his birthday (im usually not this nice, it was because he's my girlfriend's little brother...possibly my future brother in law ahem!! anyway) and hooked him up with my former guitar teacher. Beleive it or not in less than one year he's playing songs such as Jason Becker's Perpetua Burn and he can play Speed Metal Symphony 90% accuratley.
Thanks for the encourging words everyone.. My TABLA instructor had a great impact on my musical interests, I believed him because he was and is a great sitarist(very well known). I was very young and gullible. Now I know better. I just wanted to get a general feel for how long it takes to achieve a certain level of competence in guitar. I am not shooting to be the next "Paco de lucia" as I have other responsiblities in life. What I want to do is play and enjoy music with my family. Now that I am expecting my first child it is even more important to have something to contribute to the his/her development. Believe me there is nothing anybody could do or say that would make stop playing now!!! I Thank everyone in advance for their comments and replies to my posts.
just my 10 paisas worth: if u aint doing it for a professional end then dont worry too much about the hrs/week figure..in fact,dont even count the hrs u play per week. U are in no race, this aint a race. If u are just in it to enjoy urself....then enjoi Best Of Luck!
This is just stupid, the man asks a straightforward question and you guys (with the exception of 6string) bombard him with this self-motivational BS. To answer your question sir, it may take about 6 months to a year until you can play the guitar fairly well. Since you mention that you are going to take lessons, regular practice should not be a problem. I would recommend not learning anything more than basic theory because if you are not interested in anything more than playing popular songs, learning music theory will seem like an unnecessary chore. If you feel the need down the road you can always learn later.
dmf..if u havent read his 2nd post he says that he had given up on the tabla cuz his teqacher told him he sucked...thts y we were trying to encourage him to go on with the guitar..it maybe BS to u, may not be to him though!
