[jbhyers]

I don't know anything and have only really seriously been playing since last November but learned the CAGED system and now have been going around the internet looking for lessons how to play these songs. It seems impossible to find correct and complete tabs for GD songs unless you pay for instruction. How did you guys get so good at these songs?

[strumminsix]

I don't know anything and have only really seriously been playing since last November but learned the CAGED system and now have been going around the internet looking for lessons how to play these songs. It seems impossible to find correct and complete tabs for GD songs unless you pay for instruction. How did you guys get so good at these songs?

Many hear have been playing for 20+ years myself included. My first 5 years of playing guitar I put in no less than 20 hours a weeks of playing, every week. And still a student of the instrument today.

Keep playing, learning, and listening. Finding tabs isn't the key.

[jbhyers]

I agree and I do practice every night for an hour if I can. My mind tends to wander however and I find myself looking for new things to learn. Will be a journey.

[MattMan]

Here you go. Accurate tabs. Good lessons. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSqUU4 ... NvKtNIWKOQ

[Gr8fulCadi]

Practice, practice and yep, more practice. It’s never to late to start playing an instrument, it just takes longer to do it as we get older, finding time to put towards practicing (job, wife, kids, life etc)

I’ve been playing for over 30 yrs, I’m 42 now. I started playing pre-teen and fortunately I could dedicate several hours a day for years. I would occasionally buy a magazine for its tab of a tune I liked, but for me it was more about getting the basics down, making tons of mistakes which is where you learn the most. Stick with it whatever you do, and learn the basics and core. Trust me!!

[brianb]

Good info on this site too. http://www.jdarks.com/

[brianb]

Here's a huge PDF I came across a few years ago that keeps getting updated. https://deadstein.files.wordpress.com/2 ... online.pdf

[strumminsix]

I agree and I do practice every night for an hour if I can. My mind tends to wander however and I find myself looking for new things to learn. Will be a journey.

Well, that's the problem. An hour is a good start!! But without focus that hour won't yield results. Spend that hour on one song. Listen to the right hand of Jerry, the left hand of Bobby, the point and counterpoint of Phil. Going from song to song or twisting knobs on your guitar or amp or pedals is the worst thing for studying. IMO, the best way to get good at learning songs is on an acoustic.

[tcsned]

You can get a lot done in an hour. Depending on your life situation that might be all you can manage. I've been playing in a Dead band for almost 33 years. I have taught guitar for 15 or so years. There is a theory that it takes 10,000 hours of dedicated work to master a task. While this theory has holes in it, there is truth to it. The CEO at the company I worked for when this concept was making the rounds convinced himself that if he played golf for 10,000 hours he would be as good as Tiger Woods. I tried to tell him that 10,000 hours of golf might make him as good as the golf pro at the local country club but he ain't never winning the Masters. An hour a day would take about 27 years to reach that 10,000 hours.

In my day job I work as an instructional designer and I mostly teach our university's professors how to teach. I start everything with defining goals and objectives. So the real question is, what are your goals as a guitar player? Do you want to play in a working band? Do want to play with your friends in a garage band? Take John Mayer's spot in Dead & Co? Once you have a goal defined then setting some objectives that are measurable. I have found this to be the most difficult part next to doing the hard work required to achieve the goals and objectives. If an hour a day is what you have you can certainly keep getting better. If you can squeeze more in that is always better. I had a good 15 year stretch where I could play at least 4-5 hours a day. I more or less peaked out at being able to play in a working band. Mr Mayer doesn't have to look over his shoulder for me taking his job So my advice is to think about your goals and start to look to develop some doable and measurable objectives and get to work!

[bcresci]

Great point about goals tcsned. I have recently been thinking about playing into two ways - dexterity and sound. I spent way too much time as I grew up focusing on the physical aspects of playing - making my fingers move like I wanted. And while I improved, I have been frustrated at times now by my inability to say with my hands what's in my head / soul. So my goals have now changed from being about the physical side of playing to making sure that the barrier between mind and fingers is diminished - when I feel or think something in my head, I want that to be what comes out of my fingers in an effortless way. For me this is all about understanding how the physical side of playing manifests itself into sound. And deliberately practicing thinking up phrases to see if I can immediately play them with fumbling around. Long way to go. Still need to stay limber for sure. But beautiful music doesn't have to be complex - it just needs to say something.

[wabisabied]

… But beautiful music doesn't have to be complex - it just needs to say something.

It took me a good portion of my nearly 30 years of playing guitar to fully realize this.

One thing that’s helped me “say” more is to actually verbalize notes in a scale as I practice them. Finger bias/memory gets out of the way and the voice in my head takes over. All of a sudden I am expressing phrases instead of exercising scales. And I feel the time/meter internally. Rhythm is key: I’d rather hit a sour note in time, than a “correct” note out of time. A harmonic mistake can more easily be made “correct” by how it’s responded to than a rhythmic mistake, in my experience.

You can milk a hell of a lot out of bending up and down between the 4th and 5th notes, with lots of wavering around that blue note in between. Don’t hurry to the next note, get as much out of each and every one that you can.

[Jeff S]

I don't know anything and have only really seriously been playing since last November but learned the CAGED system and now have been going around the internet looking for lessons how to play these songs. It seems impossible to find correct and complete tabs for GD songs unless you pay for instruction. How did you guys get so good at these songs?

Check out Steel Yer Face or Steal Yer Face (can't remember how to spell it) on you tube. He gives a great example of caged in his Touch of Grey lesson. Also greatfulguitarlessons.com has cheap video lessons.

Most of all this is a must watch for CAGED system:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR1TgDAiCFU