I’ve been slowly….very slowly….working my way back into practicing my guitar.
For no apparent reason, I listened to the Guitar Zero audiobook a week or two ago. I think I caught a few interesting points, but since I haven’t been a “beginner” in about 20 or so years, a lot of it I couldn’t relate to. I did pick up on the notion that as you age, learning is easier to absorb in smaller bite-sized-chunks. I can relate to that.
I picked up a DVD a few weeks ago that has a bunch of licks played out. I’m extremely lucky in the sense that it really doesn’t take me long to pick up the lick (good ear) and I usually just skip past the slow version of the lick – my issues always fit into, “How can I push this lick into a solo when I’m jamming with somebody?”. That part I’ve never been very good at.
As my time is definitely more constrained (amazing how yard and house work can eat up spare time), sitting down and learning a solo note-for-note isn’t that appealing. Every once in a while I get a hair up my ass and do it anyway.
The first time I met Unknown Hinson, I asked him what I needed to do to be a better guitar player. He said, “Play an hour a day. Hyeah, hyeah.” The inner me would LOVE to play an hour a day, although I need to find a teacher that can correctly guide me.
My noodling is just that, noodling. There’s something to be said for concentrated, focused practice.
Although, noodling has been good for coming up for some riffs for recording. Time to get back into that groove.
