Stalling Out in Practice

[devideva]

cool, i feel like what i know is the bottom of the wheel of knowledge which is where it contacts the ground, but the hugest amount of the guitar is up above me, and the bit i know keeps changing while the major portion remains above

i want an electroacoustic 12 string
not that that will make me feel more together, prolly less

those guy's grid books are great

[devideva]

i consider a decent song like
wind crys mary
nobodys fault but mine
spaced
diary of a madman
or anything cat stevens

[FoggyRock]

ASSUME (CORRECTLY) THAT THERE IS NO PROPER WAY 2 PLAY THE GUITAR

agreed!!

[AxAxSxS]

You are WAY ahead of the game in realizing that you have much to learn. That right there puts you on the right track. I would suggest a different strategy approaching learning new music. (this is not suggesting your current approach is flawed, it is not.) Put away the books. Put away the thoughts of "what scale is this?" "what key is this in?"
find a song you like. Ensure that your guitar is tuned to the same tuning as the song was recorded in ie: E, Eflat, whatev. then put the song on repeat and try to play along. get it so the first note sounds good to you, then the first riff, etc. Learn the whole song by listening to it, and playing what naturally fits. When you have it down, look up the tabs or sheet music for it. I bet what you end up playing is different, and IMO thats a good thing. Learn to be a part of the conversation that is happening between the musicians and before you know it you'll be able to play whatever song you like. We tried out a couple new guys the other night and they wanted to do a sabbath song that i don't "know'. Using this method, I played it and they all agreed I was playing it "right". I pretty much garuntee you I was not playing what Iommi did, but what I did play made sense in the context of the song.
I hope this helps.

[psychedelicrelic]

I MAKE myself practice for ATLEAST an hour a day, if I skip a day, it's two hours the next. Sometimes I'm not having fun. Usually I stop thinking about playing while playing letting muscle memory do its thing and new wonderful patterns emerge. I've only looked up tabs to three songs ever in my life (182's dammit, Cloud Cult's washed your car, and Beatles black bird.) any song I know by anyone, I made myself go through the motions of figuring it out on my own. In fact, I can't stop playing the Beverly Hills 90210 theme song since I figured out...it's getting annoying but I got so stoked when I figured it out in like a day. It's so rewarding. It's like "I did that! Fuck everyone! On my fucking own!" I can't read music, tabs piss me off, chord charts taught me very little. I've only been playing for five years but I surprise myself more than a few times a week. The first two or three years were brutal and irritating for me. I almost gave up a few times. Never give up. It takes awhile homie. Persevere!

This might not be an option for you, but a few times a week, I smoke alittle weed before I practice. It's really taken me to places I wouldn't have found otherwise. Psychedelics are your friend. As of late, I only smoke when I'm about to practice. Then I take a nap.

[devideva]

Thanks - I have been doing some scales up and down the neck like Blues in E and Lydian in G. I also got a great book for learning sight reading by William Leavitt - what you guys said helped. And I also have gotten out my musical scores my Alice in Chains and dropped the tuning and have been fucking around alot. Thanks for the replies. De Guiter is gud.