# Let Me Help YOU Get Great At Guitar



## HaydenMusic (May 2, 2013)

Hello y'all!

I decided to start this thread in an effort to help You get answers and solutions to your Guitar related issues. 

A little about me....

I am the founder of Hayden Music & Daisy Dog Music Productions. 

I've written music for MTV, NBC, HBO, FOX, Discovery, CBC, TLC, and others.

I've performed & toured in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Cuba, the USA and Canada.

I studied at Berklee College of Music (Contemporary Writing & Production; BA) & Selkirk College (Performance; A.Mus). Both Guitar principal, of course : )

I've been teaching & coaching music & Guitar since 2004.

I've started blogging free Guitar lessons / tips, on here: http://hayden-music.com/fr_blog.cfm

And I think music is essential for an overall rich life. 

Let me help YOU! Feel free to ask my anything via this thread. You can also contact me via email at [email protected] or on twitter @hayden_music
In addition, feel free to make a suggestion of what you'd like to see me Blog about. 

Looking forward to answer your questions. Cheers!


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## dodgechargerfan (Mar 22, 2006)

Blog link isn't correct in your post above. (Missed the '-')

http://hayden-music.com/fr_blog.cfm

The web site looks great. I'll be checking it out some more.

Good luck!


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## HaydenMusic (May 2, 2013)

dodgechargerfan said:


> Blog link isn't correct in your post above. (Missed the '-')
> 
> http://hayden-music.com/fr_blog.cfm
> 
> ...


Oops! Fixed the typo - Thanks for pointing that out dodgechargrfan. Much appreciated!

Cheers


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I took a quick look and will take a closer look later on.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

Awesome, I went to Selkirk College as well, I was there 03-04. Use to run jam nights at the Civic and Savoy Pub. Had a few friends in the music class (I for whatever reason thought ski resort management was a better choice, DOH! WRONG!). Selkirk has a great music program and Nelson is THE coolest town in BC. And yea i lived in Whistler and can still say that.

Sooo my question is I've been playing for a long time now (close to 20 years). I hit a peak at 19 or so and while im a better player now im nowhere as good technically. and generally feel in a rut, tried to teach myself some jazz and generally go back to the same sounding licks, just not progressing. Get frustrated when things arent flowing which in turn leads to less time playing and more time looking at gear and getting my 2 cents in in the political forum. 

Music Background: Know most of my theory(did half the elementary rudiments book), took lessons for the first 4 years, played some classical guitar, have a good ear.
I play all things rock and used to be into metal back in my teens (now 33). I'd like to get into jazz to add to my funk infused improvised stuff. When I jam my right hand generally takes over with a good rhythm and my left hand tries to keep up. Even back in my metal days I was never a very fast player (left hand) and I've played many finger exercises. Never aspired to be a shredder but i'd like to be able to play faster. After playing and practicing for 20 years almost I just struggle to get my hand speed up and feel if I havent got there yet im not going to. Tried learning the intro solo to rock you like a hurricane and the end of the intro solo is just a decending blues scale but he rips it. I cant. Yet. I've done the metronome thing but get to a point where no more progress is made, or if it is its sloppy. 

So I guess there are 2 issues, hand speed/co-ordination and reinvigorating my playing. 

We'll get to why i "lose it" sometimes in solo's later lol.


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## Guest (May 8, 2013)

you need a new muse to inspire. you have the technical of it all, but, 
are you having fun? do you jam out with anyone? 
I do that twice a year at riff wrath's. gives one a chance to flex your
fingers and learn/show stuff with the other players. 
being in a rut for a bit not's so bad either. the itch will come back.


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## HaydenMusic (May 2, 2013)

Moosehead said:


> Awesome, I went to Selkirk College as well, I was there 03-04. Use to run jam nights at the Civic and Savoy Pub. Had a few friends in the music class (I for whatever reason thought ski resort management was a better choice, DOH! WRONG!). Selkirk has a great music program and Nelson is THE coolest town in BC. And yea i lived in Whistler and can still say that.
> 
> Sooo my question is I've been playing for a long time now (close to 20 years). I hit a peak at 19 or so and while im a better player now im nowhere as good technically. and generally feel in a rut, tried to teach myself some jazz and generally go back to the same sounding licks, just not progressing. Get frustrated when things arent flowing which in turn leads to less time playing and more time looking at gear and getting my 2 cents in in the political forum.
> 
> ...


Hey Moosehead,

Great to hear from another Selkirkian! Definitely at great school and program - probably the best bang for your buck you'll find anywhere!

Here's what I recommend for you:

From your description with your speed problems, it sounds like your mostly having an issue with your legato playing. (Just in case you don't know, legato is when you use techniques like hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides, etc.). Try this is an exercise:

Take any scale, such as the major scale, and go up and down it, but instead of plucking every note, _only hit the string one time_. This will mean in order to make it through the scale, you'll have to use hammer-ons going up, and a hammer-on / pull-off combo going down. Aim for slow and smooth. If you can do it smoothly, then you'll be able to graduate up to higher speeds. In addition, keep your pick flowing the same direction - always moving down when going down (6th to 1st string) and up when going up (1st to 6th string). Once your getting a nice consistent smooth flow and good click, you can start changing up rhythms from say 8th notes to triplets. 

In terms of "reinvigorating your playing" - this usually stems from frustration that comes from:

a.) Being stuck on a plateau. Try this: http://hayden-music.com/blog.cfm?feature=4316798&postid=4059075

b.) Doing the same old things, such as the same licks - a problem that you mentioned. A simple way you can come up with new licks is "flip" the ones you already know. For example, why not try doing your favourite licks backwards? Or how about starting with the back-half, and ending with the front half? How about doing the same lick but incorporating open strings? Thinking like this is a quick, fun, and easy way to expand upon your current lick repertoire and discover some new ideas. 

In addition, here's some more tips for you: http://hayden-music.com/blog.cfm?feature=4316798&postid=3974080

Hope this helps! Keep the questions coming Moosehead! :wave:

Talk soon,

- Sean


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## HaydenMusic (May 2, 2013)

laristotle said:


> you need a new muse to inspire. you have the technical of it all, but,
> are you having fun? do you jam out with anyone?
> I do that twice a year at riff wrath's. gives one a chance to flex your
> fingers and learn/show stuff with the other players.
> being in a rut for a bit not's so bad either. the itch will come back.


Some good points laristotle! It's especially great to try and jam with cats who are better than you - it's inspiring and a kick in the ass at the same time.


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## stringer (Jun 17, 2009)

Hello Hayden. Thanks for offering your time and expertise. I have been playing somewhat regularly now for about 5 or 6 years. I consider myself to be a novice at best. I started on acoustic and only recently moved to electric. I try to play at least 20 minutes per day, every day but work prevents this sometimes. My progress is slow but there is some progress. My musical tastes are all over the map. I enjoy blues / rock the most but also like classical, ragtime, rockabilly, etc... Now I am trying to learn lead and for me it's almost like learning a new instrument. I've only jammed once and I guess I sucked pretty bad because I was never invited back. I would describe myself as one of those guys that has learned a few songs off youtube and know bits and pieces of a bunch of stuff. Like the poster above I would like to improve my speed but I'm sure my skill level is far below that of his. Like Johnny Cash said, " If I could play faster I would". I'm not talking shredding here, I mean I have difficulty following BB King. I will check all the links you provided above but I was wondering if you had any other advice for a novice player with little to no experience playing lead. One of my biggest problems is finding the right string with confidence. Sometimes it feels like the string I'm trying to strike has fallen into a hole and I can't find it. Thanks again and I look forward to your reply.


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