Let's see here

Guitar Technique

I've been playing guitar for the last 10 years.  I like figuring out songs and learning how to play new ones.  I love playing and I rock pretty much every day.  But because I haven't had much instruction, I'm definitely lacking in a few areas of guitar technique:

- My rhythm could use some improvement

- My picking isn't as clean and accurate as it could be.  After 10 years of playing, I should really be able to do alternate picking with no sweat, but it's still not easy for me.  

Songwriting

Songwriting is made up of guitar arrangements and words.  I'm happy with a handful of songs that I've written and I think my songwriting has consistently been improving for the last few years.  I'm a little stuck now with both the words part and the guitar parts.  It's time to add new elements.  The last trick I added to my songs was adding more 7th's, especially C7's and D7's.  This was inspired by bluegrass and folk songs.  Now, I'm just starting to feel a little stale and repetitive with chord progressions and voicings and picking patterns and rhythm, so it's time to explore some more.  What I'm goign to do is pick apart some of my favorite songs and see what I like about them, then try to use the parts I like.  Some of the things I like, but don't really know how to use well in songs are:

- I like different rhythms, but I think almost every song I play is in 4:4

- I like it when the guitar parts switch between steady strumming, power chord type stuff, fingerstyle picking and other types of solos

- I like good lyrics, but I can't really define it much better than that, I'll work on that

- I like songs with drums and bass.  There has to be a work around for a guy that doesn't have either, right?

- I like songs with vocal variety.  I don't really know how to use my voice as an instrument very well yet

- I like songs with lyrics about things i like.  right now I like coffee songs.