So Near Yet So Far

In my head I have this notion - a vague idea of a level I want to get to that I feel I could build off of and until then all my work is building up to it.  More than likely once I get there I'll see a new level but I think in all fairness while that may be true it will be fundamentally different.

Why?

Because this level I'm trying to get to is where I have the skills I need to build songs at a basic level, regularly and easily.  Once that is in place every idea can be quickly thrown down and then it's a case of improving, learning, developing and building on skills to make them better and stronger.  As I learn the songs I lay down will get better and then we'll build off of that.

But until I get to that stage I'm stuck in frustration land.  Up until now I felt so very far away from that goal but I think with the steps I've taken recently and the improvements I've seen now it's within my grasp.  However... isn't there always an annoying however with these things!

However, there are three things I need to do, three walls I need to get past in order to achieve this.  The first is to take my ideas and be able to pull out the melodies for verse and chorus and structure the song properly.  The second is to be able to solo properly so that I can lay down intelligent solos in the songs instead of random poor noodling and the third is to be able to construct songs on the guitar.  The third requires the first two and has it`s own issues in that I need to know my chord shapes, arpeggios and I need to improve on rhythms and speed.

All of these have been things I`ve been working on for the last few months and to be fair I`m happy that I`ve seen progress in all three which is why we`re here now.  But if I can finally get past this - IF I can get to that level it`s a game changer.  The first of many I hope but it will be the very first step to being the musician I want to be.

Que immense frustration especially as I feel that by now I should actually already be there.  The last step is the hardest for me because I can`t get my head around it but it should have been the easiest.  We`ve visited this subject before so I won`t harp on but song structure and melody was one of my first lessons with Tom and Zak has tried to cover it with me too but my brain is not computing.  I`ve no choice but to get through this so it`s head banging time again and this time it`s going to HURT.  And I`m taking my perceived failure to get past this very personally.

On the positive side though ideas are flowing thick and fast and I am starting to build them up quicker and quicker.  I`ve also seen a little progress on the structure side although it still takes wayyyyy too long to get from the endless noodle stage to begin to piece it together.

Tomorrow I`ll do the underdogs post so you can enjoy some cool new music!  Today I`m working on the electric solo and probably pounding away at that wall - depends if I get distracted by another idea.