Guitar-playing style: Jack of all trades, master of none. I feel like I'm horrible.

[Number Of The Priest]

I've been playing guitar as a hobby since I was 17, and now I'm 23.

For as long as I can remember, I don't retain many things I learn.

I feel like a parasite with ADD when it comes to approaching learning guitar; I find something shiny and new that catches my interest, I learn what I like from it, absorb it or throw it away, and move on. The cycle repeats.

I used to keep a binder full of tabs/lyrics to songs I learned at the time. Lately, when I look through that old binder, I hardly believe I actually learned those songs at one point, and have now forgotten how to play them.

It's like I can't recall, at will, my built-up repertoire of material as I learn new things. I could learn one new song with either a half-assed effort or complete dedication, only to forget many more old songs I probably used to love playing.

Does anyone else here have trouble retaining material?

Looking back, it feels like I've learned virtually nothing about using the guitar to express my creativity. That's what I originally wanted to do. It falls in line with a previous topic I made:

http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67616

In my quest to portray myself as an individual on guitar, I end up being a pastiche of random players/songs, catching myself in the process, and sabotaging myself because I feel like I'm too closely ripping off their fundamentals that I had previously absorbed.

[thetroy]

When I don't continuously practice things I forget them. It takes a lot of dedication to keep things fresh in your mind and also learn new things

[Soap]

Lay off the drugs...joking.

Hmmn. Sounds like your definitely aware of your short comings.
As much as awareness you have about your short coming, apply that same enthusiasm to your guitar playing. You know what I mean?
Pin point your weaknesses and work on them and you'll be surprised how much you improve. Commit and stick to challenging yourself.
Don't forget to make it fun.

[SlasZ]

I don't really have a problem retaining how to play a song, but more to remember what songs i know.
When someone asks me to play something, i have to think long and hard to think of a song i know (i think i know about 30-40 songs), so i mostly end up playing things i play almost daily...

[Newc]

I usually end up merging two songs, especially Iron Maiden, Sabbath, or old Metallica. I'll get to a break/change in the solo of one song and come out into a completely different one. It's a PITA

It takes time to find "your voice" on guitar, especially if you have many influences and learn a lot of songs. At one time I could play 98 songs from memory, though 95 of them were rhythm-only.
I knew 3 solos: Living After Midnight, Iron Man, and Heading Out To The Highway

Finally I gave up trying to learn everyone else's solos note-for-note and focused more on the scales they were using, then started playing around with those scales - skipping notes, playing the entire scale with various phrasings (try a C Major scale in a Swing type of phrasing instead of with a metronome).

[Robert Burns]

5 years huh? Wait till you have been playing for 35 years, and your old!
I think you are normal. Maybe you are not retaining quite what you
should, but all of us forget material that is not practiced every week at
least.
I tell my friends that it amazes me, that i remember having a set list
of 45 songs (in the late 70's) and could note for note play 5 or 6 Chicago
tunes. Cant remember anything except "Pickin up the Pieces"... "Get
down tonight" (KC) and "Tighten Up"! (Archie bell & the Drells Booey!)
So i know that i can retain, with constant muscle memory and mental
training, but if 3 years goes by (without playing a certain
song) ...then its BYE BYE! Its only going to get
worse! This is why most of us practice everyday! I once did not play
the guitar more than 5 minutes at a sitting for 8 years in the late 90's.
(into Watches on Timezone) That can get expensive too!
I was surprised that my chops came back in just 3 months of daily
playing. (of course Mellisa Etheridge Chops are not hard to master! LOL
So relax, dont get frustrated... its just all the chemicals we eat, that
is making our memory fade nowadays! Keep on shreddin

[missionguitars1]

I could of written that, except I'm 40 now!

The one thing that stands out as a "how could have I gotten out of that trap"-solution is setting goals and sticking to them, ala "I'm going to learn a song a day", and then lay a out a couple months worth of songs to learn in a calender journal and STICK TO IT! It will take a LOT of time, which is a commodity that shrinks as you get a job, get married, buy a house, have kids, etc, so do it now!

The one other thing that comes to mind is joining a band - there's nothing like the thought of letting your bandmates down that will drive you forward as a player...not to mention make you practice more that you thought possible...

Figure I can take my own advice when my youngest goes off to college...in 13 years...

[T@rgetDrone]

You're still young! Once you get to be my age (almost 46) you'll have a pile of songs you've forgotten how to play. I began pissin around w/guitar at age 16/17. Didn't do much w/it until we formed a band at age 17. Then it hits you. Gotta work like a dog to get good enough to get paying gigs. Lots of competition to nudge out. We got gigs. I played every day and didn't play at all for spells along the way. I took it for granted that I could always just pick it right back up. No sweat.

I had a second back surgery in 1995. 5 level titanium rod fusion. I recovered but it left me with a useless pinky finger and a very weak and lazy ring finger on my fretting hand. No amount of professional rehabilitation worked. I gave up playing for years. Eventually I decided to putz around w/it again. I taped my 2 useless fingers together to keep them out of my way and worked til my 2 good fingers bled. I didn't get to be very good, obviously. But I could run the neck and play some rhythm. It built up the hands and speed of the good fingers. Eventually I removed the tape and started pushing myself w/the bad fingers. Eventually the ring finger came around some and the pinky wasn't totally useless. Eventually I got to where I could play a little, play well w/others, even if just rhythm, filler and a simple lead run or two. Maybe I should have gotten a refund from my therapists?

Last June I underwent spinal cord surgery. Had a mass growing inside my spinal cord pushing it apart and causing paralysis. It was life threatening. Was told IF I live I may not walk. IF I walk I may not have good use of any limbs. I purchased a DK2M from Matt @ Online Stage Gear and also did a gig shortly before going under the knife. Inspiration.... TO PLAY - Even if it is to play badly. I walk a little now. Not to far and not fast at all. I'm apt to fall. But I still play.... badly most of the time.

Why am I bothering you w/all of these off subject details? To drive home some important points. It doesn't matter, in the grand scheme of things, if you play like Glenn Tipton or suck like a 2 dollar crack ho. It only matters that you play. You will get better if it is important enough to you. People are hardwired like that. Necessity, urgency, etc. And if not, no biggie. Not the end of the world. Playing in your bedroom only because it makes you happy is just as significant as playing in front of a packed arena. One just pays more money than the other.

Just Play Dammit! You never know when the last grain of sand will drop from the upper half of your hourglass. Until then, just have some fun!

[VitaminG]

NOTP, I completely hear ya! I'm the same, and I've been playing 20-odd years.

T@rgetDrone: great post, man. Some real food for thought there.

[Bert]

Nothing will make you retain things better and improve your playing more than playing in a band. Something about the fear of screwing up in front of a live crowd that really gets you motivated!

In absense of that, it's all about practice. Practice the songs you are learning *every day* until they are second nature. You can't expect to learn a song one day and just remember it from then on. That's not realistic except for the exceptionally talented (and that crowd usually started playing guitar at a much younger age.)

Sadly this often feels like work rather than fun, and I admit I'm not great at following my own advice. But in the end the improvement in your playing makes it all worth it.

[metalhead28]

Shit, when I was learning guitar I played along to albums all the time, I had a handful of albums I could more or less play along to front to back, maybe 30 or 40 songs. Years later, I was playing in a cover band playing all sorts of varied stuff....we had about a 75 song set list.

Now it is years later still and I can only even name off maybe thirty of those songs and I probably couldn't play a dozen of 'em....however, the abilities that I picked up while learning those songs are still with me. Who cares if you forget the song - you can always re-learn it if you want to. What's important is that you retain the techniques and skill you picked up in the process.

Oh yeah, and don't worry about thievery. Everybody does that. Eventually you'll mix all of those things up into your own style and you won't even realize you did it.

[jgcable]

So.. you have been playing for 6 years??

Dude... I have picks that are older than that!!

Keep practicing and remaining true to your craft and see how you feel in 4 or 5 years.
I am still learning and practicing every day and I have been playing for 30 years.

[tseegert]

What he said.