Quote:
Originally Posted by strat a various
When asked about his practicing habits, Wes Montgomery answered, "I don't practice, I occasionally open the guitar case and throw in a piece of raw meat."
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Yes, but Wes did a bunch of woodshedding (incl. learning all of Charlie Christian's solos note for note by EAR!) and he played 3 or 4 nights a week. Plus, he had perfect pitch I think.....
I think that, along with keeping up your chops through playing scales and arps etc, it's important to be working on
songs. Getting to the point where you can memorize the changes and melody and then, maybe even adding your own 2 cents and making the arrangement more 'you' via substitutions and different voicings.
Standards are great for this.
Not only does this help to keep your interest up, it helps you build up a repertoire which is something that most guitarists are severely lacking in. A few years ago, I couldn't have sat down and played a song for somebody; the best I could've done would be a few chords or riffs here and there.
I think that it was Joe Pass who said that any guitarist worth his salt should be able to sit down and play unaccompanied for at least 15 mins or so.That is, playing 2 or 3 songs straight through - not noodling.
Memorise melody, then memorise chord changes then try and solo over it.
Jim Campilongo said a very insightful thing in the Tone Quest report magazine a few years ago. He was talking about visiting a guitar show somewhere and he noticed that every single guitarist who tried out an instrument just played generic blues licks - not one could carry a tune. It's the same in guitar stores.
Also, try and play with other people as often as you can. Try and hunt out people who are technically more advanced than you if at all possible.
A real book of tunes, a metronome and a looping pedal that's capable of playing back changes for you to solo over, are all great assets for a guitar player.
Lastly, don't forget to have fun, fun fun! - remember why you picked that thing up in the first place?
And try to listen to lots of different music. Just like eating, you should strive for a balanced diet in your listening habits, too.