General Music Chat

People whom don't make mistakes while playing live have never played live.
Unless you allow a boo boo to get you 'off track' as you called it, the reality is that the vast majority will never know you missed a note or chord.
The BandMix search function is how we built and maintain our band, we have been working together and performing live for > 7 years.
Your on the right track, next step is to find others to practice and play with.
This is the natural course of the matter.

Best wishes
George
Jericho March

Like George says, everyone makes mistakes, but you learn (or better learn) to play through them without a pause. And don't kid yoruself, the pros do it, too. Saw Elvis Costello on Saturday night, playing solo (hiding mistakes with a band is infinitely easier than when playing by yourself) and he made a couple, but played right through them.

As to findng people in your area, look to Meetup.com and facebook musician groups in your area. Look for open mics - even if you're not ready to play at one, there may be others at your level who do play at them. There are several people around my area who play open mics and have only been playing a couple of years. There are many people with profiles here on bandmix who just want to jam and gain experience, as well.

Open mikes.
Go, listen, talk, play, meet . . .

Web site: http://www.all-guitar-chords.com/guitar ... 0&choice=1
Site answers just about any music / guitar question that comes up - what scales go with what chords, what is the name of that weird collection of notes you've been using etc. I found out I'm playing a Ed13(no 5) in one song - never would have guessed that! Very much worth a bit of your time.

Since you have good gear I don't have to tell you that's helpful. Particularly a guitar that sounds good and is easy to play. The most important thing (to me) in an amp is can I make it sound good on 3? I want to be able to play when ever I feel like it - most amps (including mine) can roar on 11 but thanks to master volume, some (but not all) can sound just as good on 2 or 3.

I'll assume you know all the notes on your frets and the basic chord figures based on open E and open A then right on up the neck. You can extrapolate all kinds of cool stuff looking at that from the point of view of a 'chord scale.'

look at modes. Very helpful in the creative dry spells - explains how chords relate to scales and to modes (not quite the same thing) and shows you interesting voicings such as the three types of minor chord scales: minor, harmonic minor and melodic minor. There is a site called Guitarists Online Survival Guide that is pretty helpful for that sort of thing: http://gosk.com/

Most of all though, is your right hand. That's where the music lives, the rhythm that can make an A maj chord into a song without every changing chords. Once you can make or fake the basic chords (don't forget 2 and 3 string 'power chords') it's your right hand that will turn that stuff into music.

Those are just random thoughts from how I've approached it over the last gazillion years.

Good luck

Talbot

Does anyone have some advice for somebody in my particular situation? Advice on how to find some people to play with or even some advice on how to up my game while practicing at home and build my confidence would be very helpful!

Hello Deanproxy!

I'm currently at NEIU here in Chicago finishing up a degree in Composition and Guitar Performance. We have many jam sessions within school grounds and outside of it as well. We usually find sessions through our School of Music bulletin boards or facebook groups. Maybe you should research the musical colleges around your area for events. Just to let you know, these sessions could last whole days, lol. Many styles covered, especially jazz improv. Your skills will most certainly expand.

Good Luck!

look at modes. Very helpful in the creative dry spells - explains how chords relate to scales and to modes (not quite the same thing) and shows you interesting voicings such as the three types of minor chord scales: minor, harmonic minor and melodic minor.

^ good one MT!

To elaborate on this, basic music theory like Intervals and Chord construction should give you plenty of ideas.
Music Theory won't necessarily make you a better player, but it's a way to organize your musical ideas and effectively communicate them to other musicians.

Hey Jerry - always good to hear from you. Those classes sound great. I got a digital piano recently and suddenly I want to be much smarter!

cheers
Talbot

Hey Jerry - always good to hear from you. Those classes sound great. I got a digital piano recently and suddenly I want to be much smarter!

cheers
Talbot

Cool MT! I have a basic Yamaha keyboard for recording and training. Keyboards are great for writing and notation.

I really like what BMix did with the forum. Looks great on my computer, iPhone and Tablet. Also, the topics are becoming more substantial lol. This place was a wreck when I left. What happened to Neanderpaul, SirJamsAlot and Colorsfade? They had some good contributions here.

They tired of the constant back biting and BS Jerry.
I visit with Paul on line quite frequently . . . he and his family are doing well.
He'll be glad to know you asked about him.

If you haven't tried using a capo yet, you may want to try one. You can try different voicings of songs, or transpose them to a different key (to match your vocal range). If you know your open chords (c, d, dm, e, em, f, g, a, am, b7), you can play a lot of songs in the same key that they were written in, and not have to kill yourself with bar chords. I learned classical guitar in high school, as well as music theory. I can't overstate how much the music theory and just knowing the notes, up and down the fretboard have helped me. But just a little advice about that. It's not for everybody. If you can play by ear, that's good enough for a lot of people. I guarantee you listen to quite a few big time musicians, who don't know a single note on the fretboard, don't know the names of chords they're playing, and they do just fine. Was that confusing enough, for you?

If you haven't tried using a capo yet, you may want to try one. You can try different voicings of songs, or transpose them to a different key (to match your vocal range). If you know your open chords (c, d, dm, e, em, f, g, a, am, b7), you can play a lot of songs in the same key that they were written in, and not have to kill yourself with bar chords. I learned classical guitar in high school, as well as music theory. I can't overstate how much the music theory and just knowing the notes, up and down the fretboard have helped me. But just a little advice about that. It's not for everybody. If you can play by ear, that's good enough for a lot of people. I guarantee you listen to quite a few big time musicians, who don't know a single note on the fretboard, don't know the names of chords they're playing, and they do just fine. Was that confusing enough, for you?

Kill yourself with bhars . . .
I find this humorous ( seriously . . . not being rude here )
I'm the guy that gets blasted for bharing everything . . . LOL
Knowing and using single and double bhars at every possible opportunity seemed easier to me.
Movable shapes are a convenience, and depending on how many / which order / direction one strokes or picks can vary the tonal quality tremendously.

I have seen some beginner guitarists lean too much on capos - they learn 5 chords (G, C, D Am, Em) and capo everything. The minute they try to learn a song with a Bm in it, they're stuck!

I have seen some beginner guitarists lean too much on capos - they learn 5 chords (G, C, D Am, Em) and capo everything. The minute they try to learn a song with a Bm in it, they're stuck!

Seen that too . . . the down side for myself is I lose touch with the open shapes too easily.
Need to get back into acoustic work with my man "Floyd".
Yeah, he's our bassist, but he knows more theory ( and guitar ) than most anyone else in the band.
AJ is also VERY good . . . I'm blessed to have ready and willing mentors at hand.