# Where were you at 16?



## groovemasta (Jul 30, 2011)

I dont know where this would belong but:

I've recently been interested in developing some shred technique, before this I've been more of a riffer. 

I am a left handed player who plays a right hand guitar and for not really being interested in playing fast until now, I think my legato is not bad but my picking hand accuracy is terrible and its discouraging.So I ask you, where were you technically at age 16? after one year of practice how much did you improve? I feel like alot of shredders start at a relatively young age.


----------



## danieluber1337 (Jul 30, 2011)

I think this was when I was 15... maybe one and a half years ago.

http://soundcloud.com/insideblackmesa/mariah-is-awesome

I don't shred. I go for chords, progressions, grooves and layers. I would like to get into more lead playing - scales, modes et cetera. I would also REALLY like to get into the workings of chords to get specific sounds out.

Your best friend is a metronome - now matter how cliché it sounds. I need to start using mine more as well.


----------



## Stealthdjentstic (Jul 30, 2011)

I am just as sucky as I was at 16 as I am now


----------



## groovemasta (Jul 30, 2011)

Quick replies! I don't usually go for shred either and i still dont want to i just want to be proficient enough to express whatever i want with out a barrier (realistically of course) and yes I understand metronomes are key i was just wondering how long it would take on average to develop a picking hand for shred type stuff.

Also not bad song  Stealth do you have any recordings I'd like to hear how sucky you are


----------



## Fiction (Jul 30, 2011)

At 16 I was;







Now, at 18.. I am.. Refer to above picture.


----------



## troyguitar (Jul 31, 2011)

I started playing when I was 18.


----------



## groovemasta (Jul 31, 2011)

I started playing metallica and all the basic stuff when i was 11 and I still regret not starting earlier, I did lose interest for a few years and am just getting back into it though.


----------



## Oceans (Jul 31, 2011)

I was sweeping and learning how to be more technical with my music


----------



## SirMyghin (Jul 31, 2011)

Rocking out to Rush in my bedroom with my bass and having fun with music. Don't ever forget the fun.


----------



## ittoa666 (Jul 31, 2011)

I was just figuring out how to not suck.


----------



## The Reverend (Jul 31, 2011)

I only learned the very minimum basics in passing at band practices. I mostly just palm muted breakdowns so that we could have fun switching instruments at the end of practice.

I didn't take it seriously until I got my own guitar on my 22nd birthday. I'm a decent riff-destroyer, and I'm starting to become fast and clean enough to start doing lead work @ about 10 months of serious practice. I think it really boils down to how hard you practice, and also how smartly you practice. I'm also really good at picking things up, so results may vary, I guess.


----------



## Waelstrum (Jul 31, 2011)

I had decided at around 16 that I wanted to shred, but was sloppy as hell. I decided that alternate picking was dumb (for some reason) and was terrible at economy. In hindsight, I wish I had started out with alternate, as it is much cleaner (for me at least). Also, I hadn't figured out that in order to play fast, you have to be able to get it damn near flawless every time slowly first. I'm not much better now, but at least I'm practising properly.


----------



## natspotats (Jul 31, 2011)

thats when i got my first lessons and my playing skyrocketed after i learned proper picking techniques and left hand fretting techniques


----------



## Stealthdjentstic (Jul 31, 2011)

groovemasta said:


> Quick replies! I don't usually go for shred either and i still dont want to i just want to be proficient enough to express whatever i want with out a barrier (realistically of course) and yes I understand metronomes are key i was just wondering how long it would take on average to develop a picking hand for shred type stuff.
> 
> Also not bad song  Stealth do you have any recordings I'd like to hear how sucky you are



I have a youtube channel but it only goes back about 10 months :\


----------



## groovemasta (Jul 31, 2011)

Stealthtastic said:


> I have a youtube channel but it only goes back about 10 months :\



haha its alright link me, i'll check it out anyway.


----------



## Winspear (Jul 31, 2011)

I started playing at 13. I played very regularly until about 16 or so - but I only ever played along with tabs at full speed sloppily and with bad technique. I could kinda sound ok in the mix but (as I recently realised) I was just doing everything wrong and did not sound good. 
I then went just over 2 years spending almost all my time on World of Warcraft, just with the occasional playalong here and there. I played in a band, too, which also did no good for my technique because I would just play to the tabs to learn it. My ability to sight read most things very easily did not help because I never used to actually _practice_ stuff.
Coming up for 2 years ago now I began to completely relearn, playing with a metronome, paying attention to technique etc. 
I often get incredibly down when I see videos of guys like Jakub Zytecki at 15 years old and wondering where I could've been if I put more time and effort into music. 
As it is, I feel like I've only started to play guitar at 18, and am _still_ making slow progress because I can't play like some of the guys you see who have only been playing 2-3 years.
It all serves as motivation though, and I'm progressing slowly but surely to where I want to be


----------



## toiletstand (Jul 31, 2011)

at 16 i was learning as many weezer and korn songs as possible.


----------



## thedarkoceans (Jul 31, 2011)

i'm not even 14....but i practice tapping.


----------



## samu (Jul 31, 2011)

Just starting to learn sweeping properly. I had some pretty intense sessions with Steve Vai's 12h workout thing, which I sometimes practiced for 6h. 12h just wasn't too reasonable.


----------



## Daggorath (Jul 31, 2011)

I think I was better technically when I was 16/17 than I am now. Having way more real world commitments does that to your technique. Then again, I consider myself a better, more rounded player despite this.


----------



## Dayn (Jul 31, 2011)

I had started just after turning 16, so I was terrible, but having a _lot_ of fucking fun.

I guess after nearly a year though since first starting, I had discovered The Living End, and moved beyond simple power chords and melodies and my technique started to skyrocket. Nowhere near as good as I am now, but that was a pretty good stage in my learning.


----------



## C2Aye (Jul 31, 2011)

By 16 I was decent at alternate picking and legato as well starting to try out sweeping and stuff. I also had a good knowledge of modes and such. I think anyway, that was 5 years ago...scary stuff


----------



## Harry (Jul 31, 2011)

When I was 16, I re-learned to play from scratch, after having spent a good year and a bit prior to that developing terrible habits with both my left and right hands.
I quickly built up my shredding technique.
Learnt a ton of stuff like 4 note per string alternate picking patterns, 3 octave sweep picked arpeggios and all these ridiculous legato patterns.
If I could turn back time now, I wouldn't have wasted half the time I did learning half the shit I did.
I mean, it's great to have alt picking , legato and sweep picking skills, don't get me wrong, but some of the shit I learned to do, like the 3 octave arpeggios and the super wide stretch legato patterns, were really just technical exercises that at the end of the day were just party tricks for impressing friends, but had no real use musically.

These days I don't even really practice sweep picking anymore.
I still practice picking and legato though since I feel they are really fundamental to my style, whether it be rhythm or lead playing.
As far as tapping does, never really bothered to learn anything other than those simple EVH/Randy Rhoads type licks. It just never interested me enough to develop the technique further than that.


----------



## Sikthness (Jul 31, 2011)

At 16 I was learnin all my favorite melodic death songs, as well as shit from Manson, Fear Factory, and KoRn etc. Also, I was doing all that quite sloppily.


----------



## Jzbass25 (Jul 31, 2011)

I was about 1.5-2 years into guitar, it was basically SRV, Hendrix and Zappa all the time. Now it is them + paul gilbert, steve vai, petrucci/dt, guthrie and other assorted awesome. 

I wasn't very good and lately I've been realizing I should be better since I've been playing for like 6 years. People always claim I'm amazing but I don't commit to heavy practice since I'm so busy in college so I hardly ever learn full songs and I'm not a riff mime but I haven't practiced my theory since I stopped playing upright bass and piano for philharmonics. 

I hope to find time to practice all my techniques better and theory, it just sucks to sort of feel "behind" where I should be in my playing.


----------



## Guamskyy (Jul 31, 2011)

Ugh from when I started when I was 12 years old I started off playing songs off of guitar hero (that's what inspired me to pick up the guitar anyway!) and killswitch engage covers. I hated chords when I first started playing because I couldn't get the finger positions right. 2 years in, I started learning sweep picking because of We Bow In It's Aura by Veil of Maya (that 5 string sweep inspired me!) and then 3 years in, I started listening to Periphery and started to embrace chords and such. I had no knowledge of any basic theory AT ALL until I started listening to Periphery.

16 years old (how old I am right now), I can do 7 string sweeps and all in between, 7 string economy picking exercises(like Tosin), 3 note per string alternate picking runs both ascending and descending, and my legato is decent, but not as good as I want it to be. I usually mix legato and alternate picking when doing pretty fast runs. I have a good year and a half knowledge of music theory as well, which REALLY helps when trying to analyze what you hear and what you want to play. Don't skimp out on it, I did, and I now realize I should've learned theory when I first started playing, I would've been futher than where I am now.

I try to practice with a metronome, but it's kind of hard with AAL songs and progressive metal songs in general when the time signature changes every few bars  but I can say when I jam with other people, I can keep my time pretty well, it's the people I jam with that can't keep time(my drummer....not good).

I can shred to a fair extent, but not like Petrucci or Rusty Cooley shred.


----------



## fwd0120 (Jul 31, 2011)

ehh. check my sig, I'm 16, been playing about 3 years

EDIT: Post #111... yayyy!


----------



## Tomo009 (Jul 31, 2011)

I'd basically only been playing for half a year, still getting my hands around playing Metallica songs with down picking. Could play System of a Down but not a whole lot else. Hadn't even considered more than 6 strings at that point either and could barely get my hands around a chord.


----------



## Alimination (Jul 31, 2011)

I just started pickup guitar then. So the typical newbie songs like Cream's sunshine of your love, or smoke on a water lol

oh and enrique iglesias's infamous song "hero" ahahaha


----------



## Solodini (Jul 31, 2011)

Daggorath said:


> I think I was better technically when I was 16/17 than I am now. Having way more real world commitments does that to your technique. Then again, I consider myself a better, more rounded player despite this.



This and, for the most part, this.



Harry said:


> When I was 16, I re-learned to play from scratch, after having spent a good year and a bit prior to that developing terrible habits with both my left and right hands.
> I quickly built up my shredding technique.
> Learnt a ton of stuff like 4 note per string alternate picking patterns, 3 octave sweep picked arpeggios and all these ridiculous legato patterns.
> If I could turn back time now, I wouldn't have wasted half the time I did learning half the shit I did.
> ...



I was a wannabe shredder. I was pretty sloppy at any speed but I could cover it up by playing fast. I wouldn't condone that, though. I'm still sloppy now but that's because I don't practise enough. I used to practise all the time back then but that was really just speed training to get every note sounding and then speed it up. I'm much better for practising slowly and cleanly now, just most of my recordings have been rushed for deadlines so the playing is sloppy as hell as I'd learn it basically and then record straight away, before cleaning anything up.

At 17 I went to uni to study composition and basically just didn't play guitar in that time, other than to work out how a chord would sound and whether something was technically playable. The chords were what I'd split between 4/5 instruments so that rounded my playing out for knowing notes around the fingerboard and finding chords quickly but my technique plummeted.

Now I do tapping and some sweep things here and there but mostly to facilitate certain chords and melodies. I do lots of fingerstyle stuff so sweeps aren't a big deal for me but I think the tapping is more difficult to learn initially than EVH stuff as there's more going on across the neck.


----------



## groovemasta (Jul 31, 2011)

All very interesting,

I feel most of the problem with my technique is i need alot better syncronization between picking and fretting hands, does this mean completely relearning?


----------



## Infamous Impact (Jul 31, 2011)

When I was 16... I'm not 16 yet. Though right now I'm in a tech death band and making decent progress.


----------



## shreddanson (Jul 31, 2011)

For the first couple years of my playing, I was in this pentatonic rut; all I would play were pentatonic-based leads. So I guess around 16 I started teaching myself more scales and started working on sweeped arpeggios as well. Now I'm more well-versed when it comes to my playing but there's still lots I would like to master.


----------



## Solodini (Jul 31, 2011)

groovemasta said:


> All very interesting,
> 
> I feel most of the problem with my technique is i need alot better syncronization between picking and fretting hands, does this mean completely relearning?



Nor relearning; refining and applying. Using in realistic situations outside of just exercises. I joined a band when I was nearly 17 and tried to use the things I had practised in my bedroom while performing and that was a whole new learning curve.


----------



## thatguy87 (Jul 31, 2011)

hm at 16 I'd been playing for two years.. the same shit over and over. which I did for about another 8 years and then decided to stop fucking around lol. So I can honestly say I have learned more in the past six months than I did in the 10 years previous to that.... pretty damn sad. And sweeps are still kicking my ass but I'm getting better ever so slowly. I still hate using a metronome with a passion though... can't really hear a sweep and the metronome at the same time. i focus on one or the other and it all sounds wrong. blah.


----------



## rchrd_le (Jul 31, 2011)

At 16? I'm 18 and I started at 15 so I could kind of sweep and can do really simple taps. It was always chugs and no notes farther than the 5th fret.

I was in a death metal band.......you guys know how it is...


----------



## brutalwizard (Jul 31, 2011)

i started playing summer of 2008 and 1 year later when i was 16 this is where i was


----------



## Shogun (Jul 31, 2011)

I was just figuring out the concept of pressing down on the strings to make different notes sound out, instead of just slapping at the open strings like i had been doing ...


----------



## Tomo009 (Aug 1, 2011)

brutalwizard said:


> i started playing summer of 2008 and 1 year later when i was 16 this is where i was




1 year? Seriously?


----------



## Neogospel (Aug 1, 2011)

I was in a Dream Theater hype

I spent one whole year nailing some SFAM songs


----------



## brutalwizard (Aug 1, 2011)

Tomo009 said:


> 1 year? Seriously?



i played lots of guitar hero before, and have like 97% no life.

and i already had a guitar from the christmas beforehand


----------



## carnagereap (Aug 2, 2011)

I'm not sixteen yet, I'm only thirteen but I can play a decent amount of tech-death. I'm working mostly on theory right not. I imagine when I'm sixteen I'll be the best guitarist in the world.


----------



## troyguitar (Aug 2, 2011)

Also, we are all inferior:


----------



## the red rocket (Aug 2, 2011)

i got my first guitar when i was 16, i'm 19 now, here's a vid, it's amazing what three years of practice can do for you, but i had an extensive musical background already when i started playing guitar
&#x202a;Test&#x202c;&rlm; - YouTube


----------



## SirMyghin (Aug 2, 2011)

carnagereap said:


> I'm not sixteen yet, I'm only thirteen but I can play a decent amount of tech-death. I'm working mostly on theory right not. I imagine when I'm sixteen I'll be the best guitarist in the world.





It is amazing how humble a lot of you youngsters are


----------



## Black_Sheep (Aug 2, 2011)

I started playing at 16. Well 15 technically, but my birthday was just two months away, so  

And i believe i learned fast and was quite good. Then i started to suck. Leaving guitar lessons and thinkin that i could play the guitar now. And for two years i never truly practised my techniques or anything, i just played songs with my band and that's it. Years later i realised "oh man, i totally suck at guitar" and started practising like hell. Also my musical tastes changed. I went from heavy and death metal to progressive metal and rock, learned some DT and Steve Vai songs and that really opened my eyes, or ears, haha


----------



## StratoJazz (Aug 2, 2011)

It'd been a year since i had started playing. I was really into Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, and all 70s rock. I started taking guitar lessons, yada yada.

Now it's 5 years later, and for the most part, alot of my skills have developed more in the range of fretboard concepts. False fingerings, playing the same lick in multiple places, triad over bass note chord voicings.

I was and still am more of a legato player. I started out playing viola, which meant i had a really good left hand from the start. As i got older, i developed a better picking technique, and now i primarily pick every note through economic picking.

I would recommend you practice your shred licks and get a band together. Play what you like and you will get to where you want to go.


----------



## brootalboo (Aug 3, 2011)

Started playing when I was 19 sooooo.. not even listening to metal. Actually I only exclusively listened to rap. Haha


----------



## carnagereap (Aug 5, 2011)

SirMyghin said:


> It is amazing how humble a lot of you youngsters are



I know, right? But seriously, I feel that I'll probably stuck in a rut where I can't develop my technique anymore, I've learned all I can about music theory, and need to wait to go to Berklee for formal music education. My school's music education isn't very advance. The only place where I learned anything was in Jazz Band which was after school. When I went in, I thought it was going to be easy and I'd just have to play some chords and some notes here and there. But it was much harder than that. I was able to keep up pretty easily once I learned some more jazz theory. But this summer I have been making theory my number one priority. When I go back to Jazz Band, I set my self up to make things easy. This summer was very important one to me, simply because my knowledge of theory has increased 10x. My goal is to have that happen every summer. By the time that I'm sixteen, I will be a well-rounded player.


----------



## SirMyghin (Aug 5, 2011)

^ Sounds like a good plan, up until the going to college for music part. Can't say I recommend that.


----------



## carnagereap (Aug 6, 2011)

SirMyghin said:


> ^ Sounds like a good plan, up until the going to college for music part. Can't say I recommend that.



Why not? Music is my passion. My goal is to get a job in music. I'll probably major in Musical Education and Composition. And I don't know what I'll minor in. I have back-up plans. I have a knowledge of programming (albeit, not much.) I also can animate. I have things to fall back on, should I not succeed in music.


----------



## Mordacain (Aug 6, 2011)

I was playing 3-4 hours daily when I was 16. I had a full-time band and was running sound on the weekends for brother-in-law's band.

However, I was fully into classic rock, funk, blues and jamrock then and hadn't discovered any desire to listen to anything heavier. As a general rule at the time, technicality was bad, groove & vibe was everything. So, while I hardly developed any good technical prowess, I did develop a keen rhythmic sense and learned how to groove like a mofo.

Oddly enough, when I started trying to develop some technical chops a couple of years back, I found my previous skillset very helpful in progressing further.


----------



## bostjan (Aug 6, 2011)

16 was probably the age where I practiced the most technique. It was also the age when I started playing out regularly. After I was licensed to drive, my first trip was to band practice.

I really didn't have any gear suitable for gigging, though. I had a 1992 Washburn MG24 with EMG's and a little single 12" combo amp, which I typically connected to a 60 Watt Laney for additional power.


----------



## SirMyghin (Aug 6, 2011)

carnagereap said:


> Why not? Music is my passion. My goal is to get a job in music. I'll probably major in Musical Education and Composition. And I don't know what I'll minor in. I have back-up plans. I have a knowledge of programming (albeit, not much.) I also can animate. I have things to fall back on, should I not succeed in music.



Because getting a job that is actually sustaining music is not exactly feasible. The other side of the coin is studying your passion may rob you of it. If you don't have the papers that go with that knowledge it won't help you much at the end of the day as they take the guy who does for the day job. If you plan to have a quality life, or one where you even stand a chance at eking by with anyone aside from yourself, music doesn't really do that for more than .01% (and that is probably high balled) or so of folks. Yeah we all have dreams of how great it will be in our teens, and how much it is the only thing we would like to do but it isn't terribly realistic. Music can still be something you cherish in life without being the forefront to boot, so in the end, the guy with a real job likely has a lot more overall. He didn't have to give up music, but can grab any piece of gear he feels like and still rock out.


----------



## carnagereap (Aug 6, 2011)

SirMyghin said:


> Because getting a job that is actually sustaining music is not exactly feasible. The other side of the coin is studying your passion may rob you of it. If you don't have the papers that go with that knowledge it won't help you much at the end of the day as they take the guy who does for the day job. If you plan to have a quality life, or one where you even stand a chance at eking by with anyone aside from yourself, music doesn't really do that for more than .01% (and that is probably high balled) or so of folks. Yeah we all have dreams of how great it will be in our teens, and how much it is the only thing we would like to do but it isn't terribly realistic. Music can still be something you cherish in life without being the forefront to boot, so in the end, the guy with a real job likely has a lot more overall. He didn't have to give up music, but can grab any piece of gear he feels like and still rock out.



Think about a teacher. Let's say they make about $40,000 a year. I'm not sure how much they make, but I think it's around that number. To be honest, I'll probably live in my parent's house for awhile. I'll probably attempt to release albums, let's say $10 per CD. Let's say I self-produce it and it sells 1000 copies. $10 x 1000= $10,000. Obviously, I don't get $10,000. With fees and other things, I'll probably get around $3000-$7000.
That's not a bad amount of money. I won't have to pay a mortgage or anything like that, I'll be with my parents. So while you work a job that you might not necessarily like, I'm doing everything I enjoy and I'm getting paid for it. Clearly, things are not going to work out like that because I'll have student loans, tuition, and stuff like that. But I think I'll be alright.


----------



## Jzbass25 (Aug 6, 2011)

SirMyghin said:


> Because getting a job that is actually sustaining music is not exactly feasible. The other side of the coin is studying your passion may rob you of it. If you don't have the papers that go with that knowledge it won't help you much at the end of the day as they take the guy who does for the day job. If you plan to have a quality life, or one where you even stand a chance at eking by with anyone aside from yourself, music doesn't really do that for more than .01% (and that is probably high balled) or so of folks. Yeah we all have dreams of how great it will be in our teens, and how much it is the only thing we would like to do but it isn't terribly realistic. Music can still be something you cherish in life without being the forefront to boot, so in the end, the guy with a real job likely has a lot more overall. He didn't have to give up music, but can grab any piece of gear he feels like and still rock out.




+100000

I've studied music since I was 3 (20 going on 21 now) and I've always loved it and loved learning tons of theory and new techniques but you have to be realistic, a job as a musician is usually just scraping by or low pay. To be a star doesn't really matter how good you are, it's connections and luck. Also I agree with your comment on how it may be unsatisfying or you might lose our passion. Gigging and playing with the philharmonic orch sorta killed me on upright bass/violin. I had to take a year break to get the passion again. You can't really do that if playing is where you get your income.

I'd never give up majors for music because of the gamble and I am friends with many people in the business and I have 2 close family friends that are Grammy award winners but even with those connections it's a gamble. Sure after I finish my 2 majors maybe I'll try and take a music major halftime while working but it's all about having a solid plan, just because you study say engineering doesn't mean you can't study music in your freetime or even as a double major. Look at Brian may, he has a degree in astrophysics but still became a widely known famous guitarist.

Also sidenote, I like to view music theory as something you will never fully understand, then I can continually learn about it easier. (learned that from martial arts and kung fu movies probably lol)


----------



## carnagereap (Aug 6, 2011)

New Hampshire - May 2010 OES State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates


Try and find the Art,Drama,and Music section of this. Mean Annual is 70,000. Not bad if you ask me. Haha.


----------



## Pooluke41 (Aug 6, 2011)

carnagereap said:


> New Hampshire - May 2010 OES State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
> 
> 
> Try and find the Art,Drama,and Music section of this. Mean Annual is 70,000. Not bad if you ask me. Haha.



And the Possibility of getting that job over More experienced People?


----------



## groovemasta (Aug 6, 2011)

carnagereap said:


> New Hampshire - May 2010 OES State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates
> 
> 
> Try and find the Art,Drama,and Music section of this. Mean Annual is 70,000. Not bad if you ask me. Haha.



Not to hate on you, especially on a forum but saying you're 13 and going to be the best guitarist in the world renders everything else you say invalid.... could be just me though.


----------



## Mordacain (Aug 6, 2011)

carnagereap said:


> Think about a teacher. Let's say they make about $40,000 a year. I'm not sure how much they make, but I think it's around that number. To be honest, I'll probably live in my parent's house for awhile. I'll probably attempt to release albums, let's say $10 per CD. Let's say I self-produce it and it sells 1000 copies. $10 x 1000= $10,000. Obviously, I don't get $10,000. With fees and other things, I'll probably get around $3000-$7000.
> That's not a bad amount of money. I won't have to pay a mortgage or anything like that, I'll be with my parents. So while you work a job that you might not necessarily like, I'm doing everything I enjoy and I'm getting paid for it. Clearly, things are not going to work out like that because I'll have student loans, tuition, and stuff like that. But I think I'll be alright.



That number depends on where you live. Here in SC, one of my wife's best friends was a High school english teacher and only made $25K. Arts & Music pay even less here.

I would check out the salaries where you want to live, perhaps see of some teachers will agree to meet with you and discuss the job before you make it your life goal. 

Just saying, its much easier to decide what to do before you start college. Going back is much more difficult once you are out from under your parents wings.


----------



## Enselmis (Aug 6, 2011)

Robert_H's sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

I am not yet 17, so everything here is a mediocre idea of how well I can play at the moment. Recordings probably aren't the best way to judge that though seeing as you have an infinite amount of takes to practice and get things perfect.


----------



## carnagereap (Aug 6, 2011)

groovemasta said:


> Not to hate on you, especially on a forum but saying you're 13 and going to be the best guitarist in the world renders everything else you say invalid.... could be just me though.



... I don't think you got the joke.



> And the Possibility of getting that job over More experienced People?



Is high once I go to college and get a degree. There aren't many people interested in music around here that I know of, so it might be open if I apply for the job. Again, all jobs are susceptable to chance. I could go and get the job, I could go and not get the job. It depends.


----------



## Pengu (Aug 6, 2011)

Well I'm 15, I've been playing for around 2 years now. I know no theory what so ever but I have been meaning to get my head around it since it will improve my playing and composing a lot. My playing on the other hand is not to shabby , I can play some AAL, Periphery, Chon and other prog stuff but not to the full extent. 
Metronome helps A LOT 
Sweeping isn't to bad either. My alternate picking is pretty sweet, but definitely the one thing I need to improve on is timing. I've also never had a musical lesson in my life, but then again I guess neither have a lot of amazing players.


----------



## Pooluke41 (Aug 7, 2011)

carnagereap said:


> ... I don't think you got the joke.
> 
> 
> 
> Is high once I go to college and get a degree. There aren't many people interested in music around here that I know of, so it might be open if I apply for the job. Again, all jobs are susceptable to chance. I could go and get the job, I could go and not get the job. It depends.




I'm sorry to Put you down, And I mean this Purely as Truth,

But that Is Bullshit.

I would Hire an Experienced Luthier over a new one for instance,
Hire an Experienced Carpenter or Guitar Tech or Teacher or anything over a New one, 

And That is what most people do,

You have to Work your way up.

Again this is no dig at you personally.


----------



## carnagereap (Aug 7, 2011)

Pooluke41 said:


> I'm sorry to Put you down, And I mean this Purely as Truth,
> 
> But that Is Bullshit.
> 
> ...



You are not putting me down, I don't feel offended at all. You are simply stating what you think the reality is. But going to college is what is going to get me experience. Any teacher you've ever seen had to start as new teacher. They didn't just become a teacher, they went to college, applied for the job, and got it. That's what I'm trying to do. I'm aware that my dreams are big, that's why I have back-up plans. I have books on programming, and I have people that can teach me. My guitar teacher went to Berklee, a local drum teacher went to Berklee, and I know someone else who went to Berklee. If I can get all three to write me a recommendation letter, plus my knowledge of music and good grades, my chances will be better. But again, I have back-up plans.


----------



## Waelstrum (Aug 7, 2011)

This thread is fairly derailed, and I know this is further off topic, so I apologise in advance.

If you want you job to be musical, you may very well have a fun job you love, but you will being almost certainly sacrificing a nice house, expensive car, holidays abroad, and other stuff like that. If you decide that's what you want, then fine, but if you feel a stronger attachment to material things than music and the pursuit thereof, turn back. I am slightly further down a similar path that you explained, and everyone in my course is fully aware that they'll have fun, low-paying jobs at best. My justification is that if I get a job in which I partake in music for a living, why would I need a holiday? (Although that may well come back and bight me in the arse in twenty years.)


----------



## powergroover (Aug 7, 2011)

me ?? i played greenday's songs almost exclusively when i was 16


----------



## Stealthdjentstic (Aug 7, 2011)

Tomo009 said:


> 1 year? Seriously?



I believe it, a lot of people just practice like fuck and are lucky enough to not have too many other obligations.


----------



## Tomo009 (Aug 7, 2011)

Stealthtastic said:


> I believe it, a lot of people just practice like fuck and are lucky enough to not have too many other obligations.



I did too, in the first 2 years when I had not much on I would usually practice 5-8 hours a day. I was nowhere near that good after 1 year 

But yeah I started just before I turned 16, so at 16 I was terrible


----------



## TheFerryMan (Aug 7, 2011)

at 16 i was...doing vocals for an alt rock band. 

I didn't really pick up a guitar until i was about 19.

and i didn't take it seriously until 22....
though now i'm writing progressive post sludge and, for lack of a better word, Djent.


----------



## infernalservice (Aug 7, 2011)

Playing in my first band. I remember really digging in on alt picking technique around 16. Probably took close to a year to get it where I wanted in terms of speed AND control. Speed is easy, but controlling your picking is a whole different level. I used to make up weird syncopated gallops and play triplets with "holes" in them against a metronome. Started sweeping around that time too.


----------



## carnagereap (Aug 7, 2011)

Waelstrum said:


> This thread is fairly derailed, and I know this is further off topic, so I apologise in advance.
> 
> If you want you job to be musical, you may very well have a fun job you love, but you will being almost certainly sacrificing a nice house, expensive car, holidays abroad, and other stuff like that. If you decide that's what you want, then fine, but if you feel a stronger attachment to material things than music and the pursuit thereof, turn back. I am slightly further down a similar path that you explained, and everyone in my course is fully aware that they'll have fun, low-paying jobs at best. My justification is that if I get a job in which I partake in music for a living, why would I need a holiday? (Although that may well come back and bight me in the arse in twenty years.)



Material items like a fancy shmancy car and a large house are useless to me. I live within a 3 mile radius of an elementary school, middle school, high school, and college. Sure, I'd love to have a gigantic mansion with a Lamborghini and 97 guitars, but that's not what I'm aiming for. I don't really care about going on holidays abroad. I haven't been out of Massachusetts or New Hampshire in all thirteen years of my life. I don't plan on having music being my only source of income, I'll do some other stuff as well. Music is my passion. There's no turning back now.


----------



## SirMyghin (Aug 7, 2011)

carnagereap said:


> Think about a teacher. Let's say they make about $40,000 a year.



Everyone else with arts degrees already had that idea, that is why A) we don't need all the teachers we have and B) we have a lot of inneffectual teachers as it was nothing but a fall back. 

I am sure your perspective is going to change a lot in the next oh, 5-8 years of your life. Your plan has more holes than swiss cheese but that is alright, because at least you are trying to plan at your age. You won't be the same person you are in 3 years, then again when you are an adult (implying on your own, not 18).


----------



## sytraxiplague (Aug 7, 2011)

Wow. There's a lot of hate for a future music major. I plan on doing the same thing. Teaching music, that is. Who cares how much it pays? If you have a wife and you both have jobs that pay decent so you can make a good living for yourselves, and you're able to do what you've dreamed of doing, do it! I'd be happy making minimum wage if I could do something I love. There's a huge difference making 8 bucks an hour working in a hot and sweaty fast food restaurant and making 8 bucks an hour doing something you've dreamed of doing since you were a little guy.


----------



## SirMyghin (Aug 7, 2011)

Not hate, just cautionary advice. There are music teachers lined up around the block for a chance at an interview, all in the same boat. Then they fill the 1 , maybe 2 positions at the school and for the next 25 years that teacher works there til they retire. It isn't exactly a big demand position. I suppose I am not a common individual, as I have polymathic tendancies and love everything I do.


----------



## Shadowspecced (Aug 7, 2011)

Not very good, alright chops but a very immature sense of melody and phrasing.. Which I still have today, not much improvement.

I like a whole lot of just about everything, and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post this but here's a video of me at 16.



EDIT: Also, fascinatingly bad bends and vibrato, in this video even more so than usual


----------



## Ginsu (Aug 7, 2011)

I've only been playing 10 months, and I started quite literally ON my 18th birthday...I can play a lot of Periphery-type djent stuff, and professionals (I went to a music camp with professional musicians as teachers) have told me my tapping is "unreal" (I don't believe it, there wasn't one metal player in the bunch! XD) but I'm quite literally limited to just djenty stuff, and the only reason I'm any good at tapping is from 6 years of prior piano experience.


----------



## Aevolve (Aug 7, 2011)

At 16, which was a year ago... I had been playing more or less 3 years, played a ton of metalcore, focused on string-skipping patterns a lot. Pretty stale year as far as learning things though.
Um, I could sweep decently, basic knowledge of scales and modes but nothing extensive, anddd I could tap whatever I liked.
Also ended up playing in a band where members couldn't show up and ended up quitting it after a few shows.


----------



## danieluber1337 (Aug 7, 2011)

tltstand said:


> at 16 i was learning as many weezer and korn songs as possible.



That was me at... 11 or 12


----------



## JoeOsoDopke (Aug 8, 2011)

I'm 16 right now, and right now I think that if you are looking for a good way to improve technique, yes a metronome helps, however... As Guthrie Govan put it best, it's best to be practicing along with jam tracks or with your friends. A metronome offers you a cold, ticking path to insanity if stayed on for too long (in my view at least) where as playing over a track makes you feel more into the music. It's important to remember to not just practice every scale and arpeggio you find without understanding what they are for. If you can't apply them to your own music, then what's the point?


----------



## Varcolac (Aug 10, 2011)

Hmm. 

I was taking lessons, and being rather bad at everything. I'd started learning 3-chord punk shit, then some Van Halen and G'n'R songs, thought I was the baddest-assed mo'fo' in the universe when I got the final solo from November Rain down.

Didn't know shit about theory, but I knew all my chords. I think at 16 I'd just bought a bass, but I wouldn't start lessons until I was 17. Those bass lessons would be what'd lock my rhythmic and harmonic chops in place, so I guess at 16 I was pretty piss-poor.


----------



## jymellis (Aug 10, 2011)

where was i at 16? on WAAAYYYY to much LSD. i have since changed my ways


----------



## MatthewK (Aug 10, 2011)

I quite honestly learned pretty much everything that I know in terms of technique and theory at 16. I've been a lazy asshole ever since. I went from not even knowing what a scale was and thinking playing solos or any kind of lead on guitar was just something impossible that I would never understand to a semi-decent wannabe Yngwie Malmsteen in that time.


----------



## asher (Aug 11, 2011)

Started playing at 18. Self taught easy Metallica stuff mostly, off tabs. The next two semesters I took lessons which have gotten me into straight alt-picking basically everything, and knowing how to practice things properly though that's something I don't do. I have the barest of theory knowledge from this, and three years later mostly just try to learn things by tab that I feel like. Doesn't help me much when I want to try writing stuff though. I've noticed slow improvement just from general playing, though most is still pretty sloppy; if I actually practiced, I think it could sharpen up reasonably quickly for rhythm playing. Lead is an entirely different matter.


----------



## CrownofWorms (Aug 12, 2011)

I'm 16 right now lol. Right now I'm focusing more on dissonance and atonality, atmosphere ala Gorguts and Immolation when it comes to some parts of rhythm mixing in with black metal and defeated sanity type riffs(thats not all of it though). I'm getting a band going and practicing vocals and lead guitar since I'm fronting. I'm trying to focus on more tasteful shredding like shawn lane and Fredrick Thordendal while still improving on technique and stamina. Its kinda hard to describe since I've only been this age at what...3 months. So it feels like there isn't much difference then my 15 year old self


----------



## rvoteary (Aug 15, 2011)

at 16 I was spending way WAYYY too much time trying to learn all of unearths "in the eyes of fire" albeit extremely poorly XD I like to think I've progressed at least a little bit


----------



## Konfyouzd (Aug 15, 2011)

16? Nirvana covers... "I need an easy friend..."

Well Nirvana and Korn.


----------



## XEN (Aug 15, 2011)

At 16 all I wanted to do was tap like Eddie Van Halen, but we're talking 1985 so I was not alone. Now 26 years later I sound like I've been playing for about 6 months.

I write left-handed and play right-handed guitar as well. I can definitely sympathize with your issues. Training my right hand had been a major issue.


----------



## Blood Ghost (Aug 15, 2011)

At 16, I had just discovered Devin Townsend and this prompted me to switch from bass to guitar for good. I was watching Dimebag guitar lessons on youtube, the only remotely impressive thing I knew how to play was the outro fill of We Will Rise by Arch Enemy, and I established in myself that drop C is *my* tuning and I will always be the most comfortable in it, no matter how many breakdowncore bands give it a bad name or how many haters say that it requires no talent. It's my standard to this day.


----------



## EcoliUVA (Aug 15, 2011)

You're never too old to learn. I started really learning how to practice effectively at 25 (1.5 years ago) and made more leaps and bounds than ever in my life. I'm not exactly Rusty Cooley or Jeff Loomis, but in 1.5 years I went from about 300 notes per minute max continuous scale/sequence running to about 700. Not sure what my burst max is, something higher . Tapping and sweeping are higher.

For comparison, the run towards the end of the first bit of Technical Difficulties (the descending E minor sequence) is ~750 npm, and I have no issues playing that.

If I can do it at 25, you can certainly do it at 16. It takes dedication, self-motivation, and knowing what and how to practice. I can point you in the same direction I took if you'd like to send me a PM...but never, ever think you're too old! Point your brainpower towards figuring out the best way to get where you want to be.

Edit: Ugh, that first bit sounds braggy. Not the intent here...just trying to say that AGE DOESN'T MATTER! How and what you practice matters.


----------



## SirMyghin (Aug 15, 2011)

EcoliUVA said:


> Edit: Ugh, that first bit sounds braggy. Not the intent here...just trying to say that AGE DOESN'T MATTER! How and what you practice matters.



Age does matter though, you are too old to be cool while doing it, you old, old man.  (I am 25 )


----------



## JPMike (Aug 15, 2011)

At 16, 7-8 hours a day practising alternate picking, scales, patterns and runs mostly. Was a Petrucci fanboy to the bone back then, also practising the exercises from the Rock Discipline DvD. Good times, tbh I am happy I did that back then, cause I don't have to go through it again. 

Plus I had Theodore Ziras as my teacher, he is a speed freak, so kinda learned a lot of patterns from him back then but he has no musicianship or sense of melody.


----------



## groovemasta (Aug 15, 2011)

urklvt said:


> At 16 all I wanted to do was tap like Eddie Van Halen, but we're talking 1985 so I was not alone. Now 26 years later I sound like I've been playing for about 6 months.
> 
> I write left-handed and play right-handed guitar as well. I can definitely sympathize with your issues. Training my right hand had been a major issue.



Can you recommend exercises to focus on right hand technique?


----------



## Saber_777 (Aug 15, 2011)

I started playing when I was 8 acousticly. I didnt even remember what had given me the idea of getting a guitar but I knew I had wanted one. So Christmas roles around and I get an acoustic. A couple years later I decided I wanted an electric but my mom decides I have to learn how to play acoustic before I start electric. Sooo, I started out learning some songs from my neighbor. Old rock shit(swear one of those were smoke on the water and stairway to heaven) , but of course I thought Iwas a badass. But she wasnt satisfied. So she met a friend who played better than most people around here and he taugh me how to play harder things. I grew up learning Bluegrass a huge majority of my childhood. I had no concept of theory or anything. But it wasnt until my neighbor passed away that I had gotten my first guitar. They sent a crew to clean up the house and I knew the head guy and he offered to pay me for some help. I was about 12 when that was and I found some old Teiscos and I thought they were badass. So I asked and recieved. Eventually I end up getting better shit. But by 16 I was playing some of the Faceless, whitechapel, burning the masses. Stuff like that. I just turned 17 in june. Thats my story. 







I'll go ahead and post this to/at myself.


----------



## Bloody_Inferno (Aug 15, 2011)

At 16, I was basically playing nothing but the Big 4 (namely EVERYTHING by Metallica and whatver Megadeth album had Marty Friedman in it sans Cryptic Writings onwards) note perfect rhythm on a small classical guitar. 

That was also the year that I discovered Joe Satriani's The Extremist album and got my first electric guitar. Both events changed my life.


----------



## Church2224 (Aug 15, 2011)

When I was 16 I was a lonely kid who just sat in his basement with a really nice RG550 and RG1527 plugged into a Line 6 and though that by tremolo picking fast and just randomly moving my fingers around the fretboard would actually be true alternate picking. And I would slam my guitars around all over the place and got pissed when the paint would chip off when I hit it. I was pissed at Ibanez for the paint coming off when I was being a dumbass! LOL

I have since sold the RG1527 unfortunately, my playing is much better and I still got that line 6.


----------



## JP Universe (Aug 31, 2011)

When I was 16 I had been playing for a year, I detuned my strat copy to B flat tuning and tried to play Meshuggah type stuff with the gain way too high! And randomly tapped everywhere on the fretboard to sound like Fredrik. Along with that I was jamming with my mate to Korn, Deftones and Marilyn Manson.


----------



## drgamble (Aug 31, 2011)

I was playing gigs with my first band Infant Slug. I didn't have a whole lot of shredder lead parts, but it was Death Metal. If I remember correctly, I was playing stuff by Megadeth, Slayer, Metallica, Testament and was moving into the Obituary, Death, Napalm Death stuff. I started playing at 9 though and come from a family of guitar players. http://www.myspace.com/infantslug We recorded this when I was 17. At the time I was also getting heavily into Steve Passion and Warfare and a bunch of Joe Satriani stuff.


----------



## Captain Shoggoth (Sep 2, 2011)

My current biggest influences on my music are BTBAM, Devin Townsend, Mastodon, Cynic, Jeff Loomis and Opeth.
I can sweep sixteenth triplets comfortably at 140bpm, and 160bpm if I try incredibly hard.
My alternate picking goes up to maybe 220-230bpm, 240 at a stretch (that's a pretty generous stretch though )

I'm 15, haters gonna hate.



Church2224 said:


> I though that by tremolo picking fast and just randomly moving my fingers around the fretboard would actually be true alternate picking



Oh, I remember those days


----------



## CRaul87 (Sep 4, 2011)

EcoliUVA said:


> You're never too old to learn. I started really learning how to practice effectively at 25 (1.5 years ago) and made more leaps and bounds than ever in my life. I'm not exactly Rusty Cooley or Jeff Loomis, but in 1.5 years I went from about 300 notes per minute max continuous scale/sequence running to about 700. Not sure what my burst max is, something higher . Tapping and sweeping are higher.
> 
> For comparison, the run towards the end of the first bit of Technical Difficulties (the descending E minor sequence) is ~750 npm, and I have no issues playing that.
> 
> ...


TOTALLY TOTALLY AGREE!


----------



## CRaul87 (Sep 4, 2011)

Captain Shoggoth said:


> My current biggest influences on my music are BTBAM, Devin Townsend, Mastodon, Cynic, Jeff Loomis and Opeth.
> I can sweep sixteenth triplets comfortably at 140bpm, and 160bpm if I try incredibly hard.
> My alternate picking goes up to maybe 220-230bpm, 240 at a stretch (that's a pretty generous stretch though )
> 
> ...


what kind of alt picking at 220bpm m8? 3note per string 16th note patterns or just straight triplets?
sixteenth triplets? u mean sextuplets?(6 notes per beat at 140bpm?)


----------



## Sikthness (Sep 4, 2011)

At 16 I was playing Killswitch Engage and Fear factory songs sloppily and being quite pleased with myself. Shit that was only 9 years ago, and 16 year olds these days are playin AAL and whatnot like it's nothin. Motherfuckers!


----------



## jrg828 (Sep 4, 2011)

still 16, but tryin to write better progressive music

Jigaboo Jive by drbreakfast on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

still mis-using the double bass


----------



## skeels (Sep 4, 2011)

At 16 I was.. was.... wait, what was the question again?


----------



## Jake (Sep 4, 2011)

at 16 which would be 2 years ago i was on some sort of confused mainstream kick, nickelback, hinder, papa roach, but then i got into more technical stuff and began to progress alot faster soon after that


----------



## syndrone (Sep 5, 2011)

i started at the age of 7 and with 16 my technique was very good already, playing e.g. all COB stuff + solos nicely with ease (playing 4-6 hours almost every day..)
today im 24 and pretty much can play anything that`s on the market, but i didn`t improve my technique A LOT since then. I guess I just fine tuned it and became a much better musician (tone, quality of music, stage performance etc)
because becoming a good guitarist is different from becoming a good shredder..!
that`s two pairs of shoes. and it`s never too late to become anything of the two! you can always improve whatever you want, it`s just up to you i guess..
have fun and always enjoy the way to become better! : )


----------



## Augury (Sep 5, 2011)

I'm 16 right now, playing for 1yr with something, I play alot Lamb of God, AOAA and other songs I like. I'm developing my technique alot for some weeks. I just thought "hey, I know everything about gear, alot of music theory but I suck at guitar!". So I just started to make lots excercises with metronome. I feel I'm getting much better.


----------



## Dan_Vacant (Sep 12, 2011)

Where I am now but that is because I'm still 16 woot for the youthfulness, but my dad says my guitar playing has greatly improved recently so I went from crap to okay lmao


----------



## Tranquilliser (Sep 12, 2011)

At 16 I'd barely begun playing.


----------



## TheBotquax (Sep 12, 2011)

At 16 (a.k.a 3 months ago) I was getting OK at sweeping+alternate/economy picking and still knew fuck-all about writing a half decent song. After practicing a stupid amount recently and recording a ton of stuff, I've gotten a lot better. There's still a long ways to go though


----------

