long time learner

question to all, I have been around the guitar for 50 years, I can play most chords, switch between them easily, I know a lot of scales and theory but is it just having no musical brain, I can watch someone use a scale to make fabulous blues and sounds and know exactly where they are playing and the scale beeen used but when I can to do same, still sounds like a boring scale Am I not destined to play, is there such a thing as not a musical bone in my body

Originally Posted by: lee.mynatt52

question to all, I have been around the guitar for 50 years, I can play most chords, switch between them easily, I know a lot of scales and theory but is it just having no musical brain, I can watch someone use a scale to make fabulous blues and sounds and know exactly where they are playing and the scale beeen used but when I can to do same, still sounds like a boring scale Am I not destined to play

I'm not sure exactly what your question is! It seems like you are asking about improvisation. This article discusses that topic in detail & has links to various GT tutorials that teach the process.

https://www.guitartricks.com/blog/how-to-play-a-guitar-solo

If you decide to become a member you can have a look at this collection of tutorials that detail the process in depth!

https://www.guitartricks.com/collection/learning-to-improvise

Hope that helps!

Just wondering is it possible to not ever be musically inclined to sound good

Let's return to your original post.

Originally Posted by: lee.mynatt52

I have been around the guitar for 50 years, I can play most chords, switch between them easily, I know a lot of scales and theory ...[/quote][p]Can you play those chords & scales in time? Can you play any songs?

Most people that can improvise or play well can do so because they've practiced all those separate elements, but they've also practiced applying those skills to playing songs, playing pieces of music in real time.

Do you have a repertoire of songs you can and do regularly play?

Originally Posted by: lee.mynatt52 but is it just having no musical brain, I can watch someone use a scale to make fabulous blues and sounds and know exactly where they are playing and the scale beeen used but when I can to do same, still sounds like a boring scale Am ...

Listening & doing are 2 very different things.

To take an extreme example, I can listen to Art Tatum shred up & down the piano & hear the chords & scales, harmonic progressions, techniques he is using, but I can't actually play that stuff on the piano.

On guitar, I can hear Guthrie Govan or Paul Gilbert shred up the guitar & understand what they are playing. But if I haven't spent any time actually making my fingers do those musical patterns, then I can't play them right away. I would have to spend enough time practicing those things in order to actually play them in real time.

[quote=lee.mynatt52]I not destined to play, is there such a thing as not a musical bone in my body

This is fairly rare, but I have encountered it. Some people do not have enough physical coordination to play notes, chords in time, in rhythm to make it sound musical. Some people don't have a good "ear" or sense of how music works. But typically those people can't play anything. They can't form chords or play scales at all.

I think if you can play most chords, can switch between them, can play scales & understand all these things, then it's probably more a matter of consistently applying all those skills in the right direction to get some music happening!

Does that make sense?

It does and it is very frustrating, and you are probably right, no one around to play with and therefore I rarely egt to learn an entire sone in over 25 years, I have been a free member on here since 2014 but rarely have had a chance to use it

Originally Posted by: lee.mynatt52

It does and it is very frustrating, and you are probably right, no one around to play with and therefore I rarely egt to learn an entire sone in over 25 years, I have been a free member on here since 2014 but rarely have had a chance to use it

I encourage you to learn to play songs. Start by just playing the basic chord progression in time with a backing track.

Do you like classic rock? Play the basic chords along with this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cyokaj3BJU

Or if you know the riff then you can try this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5dv4q6_FGA

Or if you like older classics, try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfmkgQRmmeE

Or if you like blues try this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kRewd_nuR0

Pick a song, learn the chords & play along!