Anyone remember when they first started playing guitar?
How long did it take you to actually sound decent?

I've been playing for four months, and I can't say I'm very good.
I know it's something that takes years to master, but I'm just wondering when most people start getting used to it.

It'll take at least three years before you start sounding good. You can be proficient at playing scales and everything and it'll still be a while before you can sound fluid. Practice a lot. I've been out of practice for months now and I'm starting to sound like shit.

It depends on three things:

1) How often you practice.
2) How well you practice.
3) How naturally suited to the instrument you are (i.e. long, flexible fingers; perfect pitch; etc.).

Some people it takes less than a year, others just never sound good no matter how many years they put into it.

I started maybe 2 and a half years ago-ish.

I sound alright, I'm not terrible, but I know how to play the thing, and I can play a few impressive things.

[quote="sheerheartattack"]It depends on three things:

1) How often you practice.
Every day
2) How well you practice.
a good extent
3) How naturally suited to the instrument you are (i.e. long, flexible fingers; perfect pitch; etc.).
I have big hands with long fingers but dexterity can sometimes be a problem.

Some people it takes less than a year, others just never sound good no matter how many years they put into it.[/quote]

This is me playing the intros to Carnival and Scarecrow.
It's awful.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/sdte5a

one week.

ok that's a lie, but for the first week of playing guitar it was a full time job. my fingers hurt so much. you could recognize the songs after that week though. i've always had a pretty easy time with tempo, and that's the largest problem with people trying to play music generally.

i probably sounded decent after a couple months (this is just fingerpicking and block chords, mind you). a lot of people said i was a surprisingly fast learner. my first songs were what... sometimes and places by ours and uhm... american pie? some neil young. yadda yadda.

painfultoears.mp3

I don't think you have much to worry about if you've only been at it for four months. But my best advice would be to never really acknowledge that you're "good." Good is the enemy of great.

It's sort of difficult to talk about my own skills, but meh. I have some stuff on youtube which you've probably seen, and I've been playing for...bout a year and a half. A bit more.

Yeah. If you're learning the song, the most important thing to do, (other than getting the notes right, looking at the tab), is to actually LISTEN to it. Get the timing right. That's the problem with all of the shitty ROSS covers on Youtube. The riff is wrong because they never took the time to actually get the key right, and get the actual notes correct.

The main problem I'm having right now is that I think I've hit a plateau, learning-wise. I'm dropping lessons with my guitar instructor cause I have a lot of school work coming up, and...well...he's a great guy, but I'm just not learning much with him now. Been taking lessons with him since November of '05. I feel like I'm in a slump. I know some scales and can do alright improvising over generic pop-rock song X, Y, and Z, but...I dunno. I haven't really gotten into song-writing, which I really should. And as of yet, I haven't gotten a band together, or joined one. I don't really what I need to work on. I think my technical skill for right now is just fine. I mean, I still want to be able to play the end-solo for Good Morning Good News, but...yeah. Do I go into theory? More scales? Do I really just need to get together with some people and jam? The thing is, I do mess around on the guitar a lot, but so much of that is unstructured practice. Either just playing along with songs, or learning new ones. I feel like I need to just sit down and learn...more. Not songs, but...new...stuff.

Hm. So yeah, just keep going at it, and remember - everyone starts at point zero. From Herman Li of DragonForce, to the most hardcore of Japanese DDR players.

It's really hard to say when someone's "good". Is it when they can fully play the lead guitar or Hybrid Rainbow...or Naked Shuffle? Little Busters, or I Think I Can? Meh. Just play. And turn your distortion down a bit.

I think I got too into songwriting, and that took a lot of time away from me developing my technique and learning songs. However, to me, songwriting is one of my favorite things to do, so I have no regrets.

But I think I know exactly what GR is talking about. What I'm doing is basically trying to get a band together to actually put all my hard work to use. I think that will open up several avenues for development.

Of course I've seen your videos on youtube, they're great.
You[and Overburn] make following along with Manabe look rediculously easy.

I'm not very good at reading tab and actually putting it together.
I can, however, come up with lyrics easily once I hear a tune I like.
So maybe I'm a better lyricist.

As far as learning goes, I'm sure I have much more to learn, but you should probably just find an even more professional teacher, someone who can show you even more.

Joining a band isn't difficult, but composing one that has skill and a connection is.
Do any of your friends play an instument?
That's always an easy way to form a band.

Since I can never say I'm "good",
I'll keep practicing.


[quote="GoldenRhino"]And turn your distortion down a bit[/quote]
Can't, I have a cheapo amp that came with the Fender Starter pack.

Just practice every day. If you can't do that, try three times a week or something, as long as you do it regularly. And when you practice, spend some of the time REALLY working, not just goofing off, playing songs. Scales, finger exercises, etc. You're never good, either. There's always more you can learn and you can always get better at what you know.

That said, I suck too lololol.

Truthfully, I stopped caring about being "good", probably about a year ago. Right now I'm just doing whatever the hell I want. But for two years or so i worked on other songs and things of that sort. I just got tired of it. I started trying to make up my own chords, and working on my improv skills. I never practiced a scale on a guitar in my life, or never applied music theory (extensively) to song writing, and probably never will. I just try to be as expressive and creative to my own standards. I'm playing for myself, I'm not trying to impress anyone. I've been listening to Steve Albini's work with Big Black and Yoshimura's (bloodthirsty butchers) stuff a lot lately, two examples of guitarists that nullify the notion that you have to be the most technical guitarist on earth to make good music.

[quote="Marekenshin"]There's always more you can learn and you can always get better at what you know.
[/quote]

truth. and you'll eventually hit walls... then you start thinking about real lessons. yadda yadda.

I started about 2 and a half years ago... I made a decision not to learn any songs but make up my own the whole time, so it was a little trickier for me to really master it, but I think I'm better for it and can say I've only learned(barely) three songs from other bands. I've been meaning to go back and listen to the songs I recorded when I was just starting(yeah, i started recording the same week I picked up guitar).

i started three years ago (i practice every day of course). i never took any lessons... i learned to play tablature first, read various books, and had help from people i knew who already knew how to play guitar. i learned to play classical music first, so obviously that really helped me improve a lot (i bought an electric guitar after about a year of playing). it probably took me a few months from when i started before i actually started to sound decent.

i can play any pillows song, and i can learn to play songs by ear fairly well. maybe not something like naked shuffle, but i've learned a few number girl songs(日常に生きる少女, wave of mutilation, IGGY POP FANCLUB). i've also learned how to use max/msp/my laptop with my guitar...

and i've written a few songs (minus lyrics)...