@Herm, thats good stuff man, I always had an interest in tabla, such a far out sound, then again, I suppose being exposed to nothing but diatonic music for most of my life, the eastern music sounds so exotic and far out. As far the as the video goes, jazz violin? Sold. Incredible.

I will have to check that out. While we are talking about acoustic guitarists, Tommy Emmanuel deserves a mention, if not his own thread! :P

I am actually holding the pick at a backwards angle rather than a forward one, I can do it both ways but I prefer to angle the pick toward me and then about 30 degree angle. I think the pinky thing is one of those natural habits you get into as a beginner because it steady's your hand, and I had a few short term guitar lessons here and there and it was never corrected so I just stuck with it, it feels comfortable to me and I am starting to pick my speed up a little bit, though I don't practice nearly as much as I should be. If I cap out at a certain speed, I may try changing my picking style, but honestly I don't think I have a musical NEED at this point to play 16th notes at 200 bpm. Right now I want to focus on progressions, theory, playing the right notes at the right time, being capable of playing rhythm but also busting out a decent solo.

Big inspirations for me are at the moment are David Gilmour and Alex Lifeson, I just like the fact that they are well rounded guitarists who can write interesting songs and can also play a mean lead (which in Alex's case he has to being the only guitarist, I mean how great is Rush!?) The back pain started earlier this year and just progressed and got worse and worse, I failed a nerve conduction study so my nerves are being compressed somehow in my lumbar spine, but a cat scan showed I have no major herniation in any of my discs, so right now I'm out of work and going through some physical therapy, hopefully it does the trick.

Thanks so much for the feedback.

Edit: The pain isn't guitar related, but strapping on a guitar for a period of time doesn't feel too great. I'm sure its something hereditary, the men in my families have horrible backs, and scoliosis is common with us. Thank you genes! :/

I am probably not the best person to be giving you advice on practicing, but it sounds to me like you are stuck in a rut. Try to find something to motivate you, you might need to step away from the material you are trying to practice and try a different approach, look into something else that interests you and then come back to the material. On the other hand, some people might suggest you grit your teeth through the boredom and really try hard to get a grip on the material you are trying to practice, it is through this tedium that you will feel greatly rewarded when you see your progress.

Maybe take a break and do something fun, look at some 12-bar blues backing tracks or other styles you might enjoy and practice your scales and soloing with them. Listen to music that inspires you, nothing has motivated me more to practice than listening to something that truly moves and inspires you. My two cents anyways, good luck brother.

Thanks, but that is pretty ambiguous, I did read the "how to upload a video" and it never specifically states you have to cut out http:// part. Perhaps the sticky should be updated, and less people will be asking this question. I am going to copy and paste the sticky so you can see, no where in the steps does give you this information. Closer at the bottom it is written without the http:// part but I don't see how you can assume that this is the reason for the error. I think it will just be more helpful. Maybe a step 5? :)

"How To Upload Video To Forum

Step 1: Upload video to youtube
Step 2: On forum click "Create New Topic" or "Reply."
Step 3: Click "Video Einfugen"
Step 4: Copy and past youtube URL into box

You can also simply copy and paste the link to your video.

Sometimes there may be problems with posting a video. This is usually a server problem and not an issue with your video."