How good should I be at electric guitar after 3 months?

Question

I'll give a list of what I can do..

One - Metallica Intro, first solo, verse riffs, second solo but no where near not as fast as they do it.

Suck My Kiss - Chili Peppers Intro and verse riffs.

Song of Joy.

Basically can play White Unicorn by Wolf Mother

Know power chords and hammer ons and pull offs but not a hammer on/pull off combination on an open string.

I know the basic chords, but can't switch between them because I haven't been focused on them as much.

Im better at one fingered stuff more then chord stuff but still can do power chord stuff pretty decently.

Can play some of the much more simple stuff such as one fingered stuff and power chords. note that i said CAN play, not that I know them because I've been too lazy to try much.

But basically yeah. Thats that, as well as major appriego, major scale and a bunch of finger exercises.

Probably a few other things i forgot too, but mostly minor things

I also have a few simple riffs I made up myself

Am I doing good at all?!

Answer 1

Hey it sounds like your putting in your time! I teach guitar for a living and most of my students are beginners. It sounds like your getting a good mix of techniques, chords, and melodies under your fingers.  

  As for moving the chords here's what i suggest doing: Lets say your practicing moving from an open G chord to and open E chord.  After you have both shapes memorized what you should do is use a basic strum pattern in your right hand to play on the G chord. Whenever your ready move to the E chord BUT DO NOT STOP YOUR RIGHT HAND! It will sound bad at first because the chord won't be in place yet.  What this will do is it will force your left hand to move quicker and get into place.  What i see every student do is play one chord, stop their right hand while their left hand changes position and left start their right hand again.  The problem with this is that is puts you behind the beat.  Practice keeping both hands going and it will make the whole thing work smoother.

   One last thing, you should be working on The Minor Pentatonic Scale as well.  This is the most basic scale to learn and it is also the most widely used scale for soloing, improvising, and creating melodies in rock music. It's pretty simple but you can do some really awesome stuff with it.

  I hope that helps. I have a website with some free lessons on it so check it out when you get a chance. There is also a video of a 10 year old kid who is insanely good for his age. Check it out here http://www.rockguitarpower.com

   Keep practicing, playing, and rockin!

Answer 2

Calm down.

Answer 3

Well I could play "Stairway To Heaven" when I was 19 and Jimmi Page didn't even write it untill he was 21 so I think that says a lot.

Answer 4

Hey, for 3 months your doing pretty well. Keep it up and you'll be playing like a pro soon.

Have a look on www.ultimate-guitar.com for their lessons and tutorials, it will teach you new techniques and the correct way to do them. Just keep and eye on your fretboard fingering (I know people who play solos with 2 fingers, bad practice, learn to use all your fingers)

Keep it up, mate.

Jay

Answer 5

First of all SLOW DOWN, I tell all my students that at the first lesson, they come in expecting to leave playing Zepplin......the first three months you should be learning how to hold the guitar, keeping your fingers perpendicular to the fingerboard, with the thumb in the back or the neck, not over it, know a few chords, and then learn how to change them smoothly and with ease....then work on a few scales....all this helps your muscels to adjust to playing.....your hands and fingers need training just like an athelte !!!!!!!!! I wish that I had a dollar for every student that I've had that is just like you.....in a big hurry to know it all, well I'm not being smart, but it doesn't happen that way....all of the students that I've seen work the way you are go on to know only the intros to a lot of popular rock songs, none can play a complete song. I know you were in trouble when you said, " I know the basic chords, but cannot change them smoothly", well that's because your doing it all wrong, sorry. I teach classical and acoustic, and I see this all the time, no one wants to start as they should, learning a few chords and then working on how to change them smoothly and with ease, knowing the correct fingers to use, because later on your going to have big problem if you don't.......knowing scales, this also helps with getting your fingers and muscels ready for later on when your going to need strength for making barre chords. I'll be your not reading music either, right ? Your using those tabs, am I right ? And can you play one song from beginning to end ??? I bet not !! I'm not trying to be mean, it's just that I've been there and seen it all, and very few learn to play well doing it the way that you are, you'll see that a year from now. Why not check around your local music stores, most have guitar lessons and they are not as expensive as everyone thinks, get a few estimates. Well I wish you luck, and after a year of playing the way that you are now you'll see that I'm right, then go back to the beginning either with a teacher or one of the paying teaching sites online, some of them are very very good !!!!!!!! When you decide to do this e-mail me and I'll give you some great links !!!!!!!!!