So Ive been playing guitar for awhile now. Im at the point where i can play a bunch of songs and they sound good. The problem now is that im pretty much restricted to tabs. What is it that i should practice that would allow me to play my own music that would sound good. Ive looked this up a lot and i cant seem to find anything. Ive found all kinds of websites and have tried practicing scales and random things but im taking shots in the dark. What i really need right now is to be pointed in a better direction. I may be wrong, but it seems like tabs are almost like the training wheels of guitar, and i think im ready to lose them.

 

ahhh me to, well expcpet the bein ok part... im tryin to treach myself

just tryin to bump this up a little

 

Play from the heart my friend. It will all come to you if it comes from the heart.
That's my best advise.
I am completely self taught since I was 9 years old. That was a very long time ago BTW
Don't know much about tabs, but I do "love" to play.
Good Luck,

 

my bro listens to a song on the radio / puter, then plays it, Play music / songs you want to play,

 

Do have an "ear"? Can you hear something and play it, without using tablature? We call that "Playing by ear" and it's something that some people have and some don't. Those that don't can still learn to play well, but are usually restricted to reading music to learn a song.

A bit of study of music theory, while not absolutely neccessary, can help unlock some doors for you. I've played the guitar since age 9 as well, never really learned to read notation very well and never learned the fingerboard well enough to apply notation to the guitar. But a few years back I took a course in music theory and found that I knew a lot of it already. The class really helped me to understand better just what it was I was doing, and to undestand chord structure and which chords work together, and why. And it was fun, besides. Just playing scales is good excercise, but boring and can be a real turn off for some.

Another thing that helps is to play with others...a lot. Go to festivals and jam sessions that feature your type of music and meet other like-minded people. Pick someone better than you are and watch what they do, and try to play up to their level. After while, you'll find that when you play you find a couple of chords that sound good together, and you can build something around that. For me, I can make up tunes all day, I just can't put lyrics to them very well. But I also like to come up with new arrangements of existing tunes, and often find myself able to build a whole new tune around a particular chord progression that I stumble across during that process.

It's also good to sort of come up with your own style rather than try to sound just like somebody else. Take a little bit of what you like about one artist, and a little of another, and another, and combine them into something that's totally you. It all comes with time and lots of practice.

It's kind of hard to define just what it is that will get you to where you want to be, because it can be something different for everybody. Just play, have fun, and the rest will follow. Your own level of determination will dictate how quickly that happens.

 

get a book of chords. practice alot, and then practice some more. have the guitar with you at all times, even in bathroom....practice! practice! practice!!

 

There are on line chord charts too that are pretty cool. You can find all kinds of new chords by just entering the chord in and it will show you fingure placement to achieve the chord. Kind of a nice feature to use.
Experiment with new sounds and techniques.
Like stated above, learn to play by ear. Listen to a song, then figure out how to play it afterwards. With practice, this will help you to learn to play by ear. Eventually, you can hear a song on the radio while driving down the road, and will be able to determine the chords just by being familiar with the sound. Then pick up your guitar when you get home and play it. Kinda nice feeling when successfull.

 

Learning to read music can be very beneficial but it is not absolutely necessary. There are many guitarists out there who can't read a lick of music. Stevie Ray Vaughn never learned. I think he did alright for himself.

 

Pick 3 basic chords at random.Start changing between them at random. Develope a rythm. When you get comfortable with that, pick three more. After a while , you'll develope your own style sorta speak. Find a buddy to screw around with but dont be too serious though youd be surprised what you can come up with. At least i was