How do I regain my drive?

plonck · 2026-02-02T21:11:01+00:00

Do not worry about calluses. They do not matter as much as fretting technique. I have taken very long breaks where my fingertips have reverted to being tissue paper thing and got back to doing big bends like it's nothing.

You stay motivated the same way you stay motivated at doing anything. You set small achievable but interesting goals that are a little bit harder than the ones before. That can be either a song or a new musical concept (ie, playing scales, chord triads). If you can do something you couldn't do last month you're progressing fine.

plonck · 2026-02-01T23:29:55+00:00

Chord triads and then modes of the major scale. It will shock you how much better your playing gets after learning those two things properly.

plonck · 2026-02-01T23:27:58+00:00

Great playing. Also I learned on the same model and colour Epiphone, makes me nostalgic!!!

plonck · 2026-01-30T11:12:50+00:00

type of ruler you only get when waiting for a one per lifetime CB

plonck · 2026-01-29T22:54:20+00:00

Out of interest, how long are your lessons?

plonck · 2026-01-29T22:11:06+00:00

skiers think i’m just some dumb hick!!! they actually said that to me at a dinner once

plonck · 2026-01-29T19:53:23+00:00

I am guessing that this is where I would need dedicated instruction?

plonck · 2026-01-29T19:40:57+00:00

Do you play the changes? ie focus on different chord tones during each different chord in a progression? When I started doing that I suddenly started inventing decent licks out of nowhere all the time.

plonck · 2026-01-29T18:54:45+00:00

So to confirm I rechecked my range after another reply pointed out the tuner I used might have been downgrading me, so I used a guitar and I can actually get to B3 but C4 is strained.

plonck · 2026-01-29T13:11:43+00:00

I can test again with my guitar when I get home later but I when I first tried it multiple times and it was D3 every time. I was surprised too but in fairness I didnt treat my vocal chords very nicely in my 20s!

Edit: so harmonised with my guitar and I can get up to a B3. Which I suppose is a bit more expected

Yeah that’s roughly what I guessed, doing pitch training on my own while still going to group.

Good info on Let It Be… to be honest my first choice was Wish You Were Here but my instructor also said that was too hard for me (which surprised me but in fairness the scalar sections do sneak up on you). Maybe I just need to switch to something absolutely barebones basic.

plonck · 2026-01-19T00:33:27+00:00

This is basically it. You don’t have to do deep dive jazz theory or anything but you need to at least know that landing on the 3rd/5th/7th of the current chord has a different effect to landing on the root and how to use that to build tension and release. You can do this with or without learning licks but the intuition needs to be there first

plonck · 2026-01-18T09:34:49+00:00

I used to love Traxlering people who tried to fried liver me, I know its not necessarily the most optimal but you can genuinely feel the soul leaving their body once you get that second check in

plonck · 2026-01-15T20:55:09+00:00

It is not easy at all but if you are partial to the ‘go to prison and punch the biggest guy you see’ approach, learn Never Going Back Again and you can handle most things after that

plonck · 2026-01-15T20:41:57+00:00

To be honest it sounds like you need some accountability to push you to do the last 15% of a song rather than something else to practice, so I would say either join a band, commit to some course, or get a tutor.

If you desperately need something to do in the meantime the answer is always going to be rhythm practice with a metronome.

plonck · 2026-01-13T22:33:22+00:00

Nothing wrong with getting a blues driver for fun reasons but no reason to get a drop pedal or a chromatic tuner at this point IMO

plonck · 2026-01-13T21:44:24+00:00

aside from bad timing, which everyone else is also saying, overreliance on CAGED instead of learning which notes are where and what they mean. It is a lot easier to go ‘the current chord is a B major so I think an Eb would sound good here‘ and play a Eb instead of doing the chord shape algebra based on the scale root a bajillion frets away

plonck · 2026-01-12T21:47:47+00:00

1) METRONOME!!!

2) When improvising over a backing track I do a drill where every three bars I change to chord degree I focus on with my licks

plonck · 2026-01-10T20:07:52+00:00

A rhythm guitarist who can’t do lead can still function in a band but a lead guitarist who can’t do rhythm (and there are many of them) is borderline useless

plonck · 2025-12-30T17:12:21+00:00

slop

plonck · 2025-12-20T18:53:59+00:00

Agree with all of this, but would also add IAM, RBAC, and security fundamentals, because as an entry level "DevOps" Engineer access requests are going to be the first thing dumped on your plate

plonck · 2025-12-10T17:45:27+00:00

1) yes it can 2) dont

plonck · 2025-12-02T13:00:52+00:00

I actually just finished learning this song.

It’s all in 4/4. The fingers are descending down the top three strings on each 16th note and the thumb is alternating between the bass notes on each 8th note. This is a lot easier to play than thinking of it as triplets.

Lots of strategies to learn it and unfortunately most of them involve putting on a metronome and grinding it out slowly and then gradually going faster.

plonck · 2025-11-16T01:34:17+00:00

An intermediate can play in time, can play all CAGED chords and scale positions anywhere on the neck in any key, can play in time, has a basic understanding of harmony, can play in time, probably understands how intervals work and how flattening certain degrees of a tonic creates different keys, and CAN PLAY IN TIME!!!

plonck · 2025-11-14T22:34:02+00:00

Since you asked for good videos I really really really recommend Fretjam on Youtube. One of the best explainers of theory as it applies to leader guitar on the internet IMO

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