# How to cure short attention span during lessons?



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Maybe I have ADD, I don't know...but my story is this;

Have been an on and off player, or fairweather player for decades. Early attempts at lessons abruptly ended with mary had a little lamb, and I'm not talking the SRV version...so I learned how to play by ear. learning new stuff has always been a half-assed attempt. I cant stand TAB at all, so until Youtube it has always been figure out the into and being happy with the rhythm or if I cant get the solo, I'd do my own thing. Jamming with people annoys me because most people I know want to play stuff I'm not into, or stick to the song without improv. Jamming to cd's is better, but I always hit a tough spot and play my own thing over it... So the majority of my playing has mainly just been a compilation of my own melodies followed by small runs of leads (back and forth sort of thing) Thinking about the elapsed time that has passed and where I *should be or could have been* by now is frustrating. I'm a total hack compared to what I should be and I get tired of the same old thing over and over..._so is my family_

I tend to learn best by watching, but after a bit of trying to learn a new song, I glaze and take off on a tangent ripping through my own stuff. There's tons and tons of great music I want to play, but I'm so easily side tracked with an idea and I'm gone...lesson aborted.

Does anyone else have these tendencies? If so, how do you keep focus on learning new stuff?


----------



## Mavryk (Dec 29, 2013)

Weird, it's like you have a camera in my house. I don't usually find it frustrating tho. I'll start off going through some new exercises I found online, then go over a bit of a song or 2 I want to learn, then move onto my scales. Learning songs for me isn't my top priority. I want to get my scales down pat, then get faster and faster. I think once I get the scales down, I'll have more of an ear for where the notes are on the fret board. Once there, I'm thinking the songs will come more easily. It also coincides with playing my own thing (solos). I also practice a quick easy little blues riff and try to get specific strings to sing out and not others. I practice palm muting a lot. 

As you can see, my practices are all over the place. All this is done over the course of about 20-30 mins, and I'll do this several times a day. You see, in my eye, if your practices are all over the place like this rather than sticking to one thing for an hour, it keeps the boredom away. Personally, I'm not capable of sticking to one thing for an entire practice. I've never been diagnosed with ADD, but never know. I might have some hint of it. But then, I think most of us do in various degrees.


----------



## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

Scotty said:


> Maybe I have ADD, I don't know...but my story is this;
> 
> Have been an on and off player, or fairweather player for decades. Early attempts at lessons abruptly ended with mary had a little lamb, and I'm not talking the SRV version...so I learned how to play by ear. learning new stuff has always been a half-assed attempt. I cant stand TAB at all, so until Youtube it has always been figure out the into and being happy with the rhythm or if I cant get the solo, I'd do my own thing. Jamming with people annoys me because most people I know want to play stuff I'm not into, or stick to the song without improv. Jamming to cd's is better, but I always hit a tough spot and play my own thing over it... So the majority of my playing has mainly just been a compilation of my own melodies followed by small runs of leads (back and forth sort of thing) Thinking about the elapsed time that has passed and where I *should be or could have been* by now is frustrating. I'm a total hack compared to what I should be and I get tired of the same old thing over and over..._so is my family_
> 
> ...


I noticed one theme running through your post if you can't get a solo you do your own thing, you don't like jamming well how about sitting down with two or three musicians playing a couple of songs the way they like and then saying to them something like this " that last song we did when we get to the middle or wherever why don't we try this" then play some of your stuff and see if you can get some interest and feedback from the others there. Jamming is as much about exchanging ideas as it is about playing a song as it was written or doing your own thing. Jamming with cd's you hit a tough spot and then play your own thing, how about stopping, going back to the song and when you hit that tough spot play some of your stuff then go right back into the song again without stopping, you like to improv. who says you have to play the entire song just like the original that's what jamming is all about. Jamming is experimenting, feeding off the music, feeding off the music in your head and feeding off other musicians not just playing your own stuff. When you're jamming you should be listening to the other people there, talking to them asking questions giving out some of your ideas. To be a complete musician you have to learn to listen, ask, talk, compromise, don't be all about yourself but be yourself and play the way you feel best shows your talent.


----------



## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

Well, sure. Of course people are gonna get upset if you're trying to play a song and then choose to do what you like over top of parts you don't know. Firstly, Is it a skill thing or a memory thing? It's not an ADD thing when you're there.

I think you should try out 'tab pro', since it's much nicer than using strictly tab. You still have to be able to concentrate though. My suggestion for this - and you're not gonna like it - is to do the following for 15 minutes a day:

1) Pick an area in the house where you'll be left a lone
2) Set a timer for 10 minutes
3) get comfortable in a chair
4) don't move a muscle for any reason for 10 minutes
5) Once you master the above, try eliminating any thought that enters your head. best thing to do is focus on the sound of your breathing. 
6) kick it up to 15 minutes

When you're done doing the above, you'll be able to focus on tab for certain. The hardest part is to not have a thought (it may take weeks - but what's 10 minutes a day?). It all sounds crappy, but it works. And, if you really want it bad enough, you'll do it.

Then hit the tab pro - if it frustrates you, then you don't want it bad enough.


----------



## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I don't have any attention span tips, but I have no problem with making up your own parts.

I've done the playing a song the same way as the original, and it has its values, and can be fun, but I have more fun, and learn more when I make up my own arrangements.

Sometimes they're serious and for real, other times they're goofy.

I remember years ago learning Deep Purple's Flight of the Rat.
There's a guitar run in there I could never play correctly, so if I was the only guitar player I would sing the run.
One time I was jamming at a party with a drummer and we played the song, and we both sang the run.

It was fun.

So if you're having fun making up your own parts/arrangements/stuff then good--go for that.

But do try to work on the attention span as well, as that will help when playing with others.


----------



## rcacs (May 4, 2011)

What was the question?

cheers!

rick in mb


----------



## fredyfreeloader (Dec 11, 2010)

rcacs said:


> What was the question?
> 
> cheers!
> 
> rick in mb


The question was "does Prime Minister Harper know how to do the cha cha" do you know the answer?


----------



## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Thanks for your thoughts folks. Adcandor, no issues with your suggestion of a short meditation practice to still the mind is similar to what I've done in martial arts studies


----------



## Guest (Jan 5, 2014)

fredyfreeloader said:


> The question was "does Prime Minister Harper know how to do the cha cha" do you know the answer?


not quite the cha cha

[video=youtube;wxah7dHXbgQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxah7dHXbgQ[/video]


----------



## Robert1950 (Jan 21, 2006)




----------



## astyles (Apr 6, 2009)

You remind me of, well "me" at one time. I think we've all had moments like these... I know I definitely have, for whatever reason. I recall when I was in my first band - we jammed a lot, played shows to small crowds... it was all very fun, and that's all it was meant to be. And we weren't out to make any money either (prolly couldn't have anyway). We all really didn't care to cover songs perfectly, and I would very frequently do what you mentioned - make up my own stuff through the tough parts. If someone questioned it, I'd always tell them that "I liked to change it up" when in reality I just couldn't be bothered to take the time to learn it and/or I really didn't have the "tools" to know "how" to learn it. Resources at the time (or lack thereof) played a part - no internet - and I didn't care to buy the tabs from my local shop. Also, I didn't know as much about my instrument as I really thought I did !

Years later, I joined a cover project that included some fairly serious musicians - older folks, good gear, and an attitude of professionalism that was quite admiring at the time. As a result, there was this new found motivation to learn the material. It was now very simple. Learn it or anything less would have me out of the band. Not a big deal, but I didn't want to let myself down, nor the other musicians, and certainly not the paying customers that would be coming to see us (which there now were). It was then that I took it upon myself to learn more of my instrument. And the single most important, influential, breakthrough I had was learning my scales. I now had the motivation, and the resources and without a doubt I'm now a better player. And it didn't take long either... From the sounds of it. being in the same boat I was roughly, the amount you can accomplish by learning the minor pentatonic and then jamming to some backing tracks could be motivation enough to seek more. PM me if you want a few decent links.

So for whatever it's worth, I hope this helps in some way... it did for me, but my experience was unique. You'll have to make up your own experience and motivation. It's there. ; )

And no case of ADD, IMO.


----------



## jeremy_green (Nov 10, 2010)

Scotty said:


> Maybe I have ADD, I don't know...but my story is this;
> 
> Have been an on and off player, or fairweather player for decades. Early attempts at lessons abruptly ended with mary had a little lamb, and I'm not talking the SRV version...so I learned how to play by ear. learning new stuff has always been a half-assed attempt. I cant stand TAB at all, so until Youtube it has always been figure out the into and being happy with the rhythm or if I cant get the solo, I'd do my own thing. Jamming with people annoys me because most people I know want to play stuff I'm not into, or stick to the song without improv. Jamming to cd's is better, but I always hit a tough spot and play my own thing over it... So the majority of my playing has mainly just been a compilation of my own melodies followed by small runs of leads (back and forth sort of thing) Thinking about the elapsed time that has passed and where I *should be or could have been* by now is frustrating. I'm a total hack compared to what I should be and I get tired of the same old thing over and over..._so is my family_
> 
> ...


From the sounds of it - to be blunt - your work ethic is simply not very good. You also seem to display selfish tendencies. Whenever it gets hard - you dodge it and "make up your own". You describe playing things you "aren't into" (even tho the others in the room are also sacrificing equally). This isn't some attention disorder thing it is simply a "my way or the highway / isn't there an easier way" type attitude. 

The process of learning won't always be fun. Until you learn to stick at something and sacrifice just a bit you may progress. But it sounds like this thread is just another "looking for a shortcut" type thing.

I mean you no disrespect brother - but get to work and stop looking for work-arounds.


----------

