I see some type of light at the end of the tunnel...

[see you auntie]

Most of the people here seem like avid guitar players, having played for years and years. I'm basically still a newbie, as I only started playing about a year ago.

Besides playing every day (using tabs from here and there...I can recognize a crappy tab when I see it...so I'm not retarded), I've been learning stuff on the net about theory and what not, but I came across something that bothered me. One guy basically said, "Don't become too dependent on tabs...develop your ear."

This seems logical to those who already have "the ear", but to those of us that have basically no background in music...finding this ear seems out of reach, just because I don't know where to reach.

So basically my question is this: How can I become a better guitar player without having to rely on tabs? Should I concentrate on playing scales and chords, while avoiding music that takes advantage of countless effect pedals?

And also...while you practice, how much time do you spend "doodling" and messing around on the guitar (i.e. not playing somebody else's song).
While I'm still in my newbie state I find myself struggling to play anything that sounds good, because I haven't learned which notes work together well (sounds similar to when a player misfrets a note, except it's all the time...is this chord progression?).

Thanks in advance, I'm looking forward to the replies.

[gravedigger]

yeah, I know how you feel. when I first started playing I had know ear for music whatsoever nor did I have a feel for rhtyhm. but I just kept at it, and it seems like a very slow progression in the beginning but believe me, you'll develop an ear over time/practice. if you wanna develop your ear, try to figure out songs on your own. put on a song (preferable acoustic) that sounds relatively easy and try playing along with it. let the song play through and try to figure what chords are being played. even if you get through the song and only figure out one chord. play it over and over again until you get completely frustrated and than go online and get the tab and see where you were going wrong or where you were stumped. it may have been a tough part or capos may have been used or whatever. the point is, your practicing with your ear and your hands. over time you'll be able to pick out the chords to songs much more easily. and knowing some theory does help. knowing what chords go in which key helps a lot. like if you find that a song is in G, than its likely to have C and D which are the other 2 major chords in the key of G. and its likely to have Em or Am in there as well depending on the song. I figure most songs out by ear now but I used to depend on tabs for the most part. for some songs you just have to get the tab for it or your gonna kill yourself trying to figure it out.

anyway, I hope I helped a little bit anyway.

peace

[juineaux]

And also...while you practice, how much time do you spend "doodling" and messing around on the guitar (i.e. not playing somebody else's song).
While I'm still in my newbie state I find myself struggling to play anything that sounds good, because I haven't learned which notes work together well (sounds similar to when a player misfrets a note, except it's all the time...is this chord progression?).

Thanks in advance, I'm looking forward to the replies.

Ive been playing for about 5-6 years and about all I do is "doodle". Ive never been very good about learning other peoples stuff(at least not very acurately), Just play guitar every hour you can

[cave_cricket]

What I would recommend (to go along with what everyone else has said so far) is that you take the time to learn WHY something sounds good. YOu can learn the basic chords but learn what makes that chord. You should also try to learn all the notes on the fretboard (it's not as hard as it seems)

Take your time too. If you love it then you have the rest of your life to learn it. You will always be getting better so just try to learn something new everytime.

Also, you can keep learning through tabs because it does teach you the mechanics of how to play guitar....from that you can teach yourself to apply those mechanics.

I know this seems like a shitload of nonsense but it did make sense when I wrote it.

[DreaminBassMunky]

In my personal opinion the world was a lot better before tab. I mean I use tab incessently. For Phish, for DMB, and other bands as well. But back in my dad's day he bought a guitar and an album and tried to learn the whole thing by ear. Of course now a days that's really hard as guitarists become more and more innovative. But tab has got some people addicted. I have been playing for a year and a half and have just started learning some easy songs by ear. Chords can be really easy to pick out and sometimes not. I suggest when you want to learn a song, try picking out some parts by ear, and then if you really can't get it, resort to tablature. That's my advice.

[fatjack]

you could always learn to read music...

[The Man of The Hour]

you could always learn to read music...

That'd be my recommendation too. Learning to read music, chords, and most of all...scales.