hello, Marty. I need some advice from you..
1. as a medical student, i am very busy studying. And seems that i have no time to play guitar anymore. I have only maybe 5 hours per day for relax. i take 2 hours for playing guitar everyday.. wow, it was exhausting..but it seems that my skill doesn't improve. Do you have any advice to upgrade my skills though i have only a short of time to practice ? i think you have this kind of experience ( when you have the megadeth and solo album..wow you must be very busy in that time)
2. I don't have any effects or even a metronome. I can't afford it ( my parents don't want to spent money for my music too much, cause we need the money for paying my medical school ) but i do have electric and classical guitar ( given by my father's friend ). Do you have any suggestion to guide me to be a good or even great guitar player though i don't really have many instruments ?

3. How and when did you figure out the way to make your guitar talk?..i'm completely frustrated cause i have been playing guitar for 3 years but i still can't figure out a way to make my guitar talk( you know, to translate my feelings through guitar )


Having a solo album someday is a dream to me ( be a doctor also, of course) that i wan't to reach..help please, thanks for reading this very long frustrating fan letter.

Ok, I will answer about 1000 letters with this answer so please read carefully!! There is almost no way you can learn to be a doctor and a professional musician at the same time. Those are both lifetime goals that take everything out of you. There are no excuses like, "I have no money for a metronome" or "I have no time to practice". Would your professor in med school accept something like, "I have no textbook" or I didn't have time to study because I was playing guitar til late last night"? There is no easy way to do either of these things(although I believe becoming a doctor is MUCH more difficult than becoming a guitarist...)To do either of these lofty goals, you must devote your LIFE to them. You must eat, sleep, breathe and live this stuff. No compromises along the way. No excuses. Do you know how silly they sound? While I am on the subject--to those of you who ask for specific amp settings, pickup model numbers, advice on particular guitars,--NONE of these things will help you become a better guitarist. Any decent player can play through a Wal-Mart guitar and Sears amp and sound good. I will sound like me whether I play through my rig or Eric Clapton or Slash's rig. And vice versa. I myself don't know my exact amp settings. Even if you copied them to the letter, they will not help you sound anything like me, and they will not help you become a better guitarist. YOU MUST FIND YOUR OWN VOICE. Stop wasting precious time on boring useless details like rig settings and string guages and pick up ANY guitar and PLAY it. That's it. It's that simple. The more you repeat THAT process, I can guarantee you will improve. Don't worry about the gear. Get what you can afford. Play your guitar and focus on making music. Tone will come. Learn by ear as much as you can. You don't have to learn everything perfectly when you learn it, just get something out of it. Even a little bit is better than nothing. Jam with as many people as humanly possible. Play along with cds all day. Enjoy music by just listening, and enjoy music by playing along. Do it!! Do it!! Stop wasting time, because the guy next to you is working harder than you are. Just keep your hands on a guitar or whatever instrument you play and don't put a time limit on yourself. It may take you 3 years until you think you are any good. It may take 3 months, or 13 years. I still question my own ability constantly. You will never wake up and say-'hey today I'm as good as I wanna be!I'm so happy!'There will just be little feelings of accomplishment along the way. But more important than that, you will be a part of music the whole time. Got it? Good!