Why does practicing not benefit me? Seriously, I can practice a song for hours and days on end, and no matter how simple it is, I almost always manage to mess it up. No matter how well I know it. I have no consistency in my playing, I guess.

WHY!?

*cries*

Do what I do for the last 15 years: Practice everything there is to know about guitar for AT LEAST 10 HOURS A DAY ---> NO LESS , and pick up any lesson you can, and always, always play with someone. Trust me. It works wonders.

Because you have no confidence. Get confident, stupid!

10 hours a day? Not possible.

8 hour work
1.5 hour drive
8 hour sleep

Although I've been known to occasionally play for days on end in the past.

I play every day and I never get better. I should get myself some exercices or take lessons or something. I suck at teh guitarzorz.

Maybe you worry about it too much while you're playing?

Play harder stuff. Also, try playing the easier stuff faster than it's supposed to be. When you go back to the real tempo, it'll be better.

Ding ding ding! I haven't played music in years, but lessons were invaluable.

Yeah.. I play for atleast an hour a day.

I always challenge myself to learn tough guitar riffs from bands like Lamb of God and Chimaira.. fast, heavy and very complex. Learning solo's are fun too.

I always try to learn one technique(SP???) at a time, first is was palm muting, then tremlo picking, palm muted speed stuff.. pinched harmonics.. learning all these and playing all the time my pick accuracy also increased but I'm tring to get it better by learning songs that move up and down the finger board. Once I get that down... I will shred on some local young bands.

I don't have the pleasure of playing with other people... except my cousin who was the best guitar player around here but he left for the marines.. and nobody else around is really good enough.

I nevet got lessons either.. I suppose my 8 years of playing violin helped my learning curve in playing the guitar.. cause I've only been seriously playing it for about 2 years now.

i just randomly jam, can't explain it but i don't bother learning real songs much... i can always feel myself slowly improving though.

Well, all I know is when I was in my band last year I was *ok*

Everyone else was too (except for the bassest.. he sucked)

But, when I went out on my own and learned new songs I learned new techniques. And got about 100% better. In about a years time.

Cool, play my song :p

Challenging yourself with harder music is the only way to get better. Classical music (e.g., Paganini's Caprices) is good for this

It's not learning new & harder things that presents a problem. There is only like one solo that I play on a song that I almost never mess up (and can never remember messing it up live), and it's one I made up for a song that wasn't mine. It's really odd that I can't play stuff simpler than it. It just doesn't make sense.

Sell your soul to the devil for guitar skillz

How about I sell your soul instead? :p

No, he wouldn't buy that. You can try giving him this as a present though: http://www.goantiques.com/search/it...&source=VYZ4474

I recall he is an avid trekkie.

But wait, who am I kidding? He sucks at guitar anyway. Just go supplicate before the Great Diety Yngwie Malmsteen or some other god of the guitar pantheon.

(Aren't my posts awesome? ;))