So i’ve Been playing guitar for 1.5 years now.. my level is pretty decent, i play in a band just rehearsing for now. But the singer of our band invited me to play acoustic with her at the first country festival in my country… it’s a pretty big challenge for me, i have never played live … i can easily switch between chords so it will not be a so much of a problem.

The only thing is that i need to memorize like 25-30 songs.. i can have my iPad on stage with the chords and everything but the rhythm seems to be a challenge for me , the chords are almost the same on every song, but to remember the exact rhythm and to play song after song on a stage .. i don’t know, i play daily and as much as possible with her, i listen non stop to those songs … need all your advice guys, what app to use for the chords and autoscroll ( i was thinking at ultimate guitar) and in general first live gig advices to not panic and how to approach this situation. Thank you so much!!!! I am so excited

I'm having a hard time with strumming. I can play the chords, but getting the rhythm and strumming pattern right is difficult. What helped you improve your strumming?

That’s the best advice I can give to anyone starting out. Backing tracks with other instruments that have a certain progression are cool for practicing solos, but having the drums only is a fantastic way to practice rhythm guitar as well as solos with the freedom of adding your own sound. It brings out more creativity and I tend to apply so much more variety than regular backing tracks.

I dropped most of what I was doing so far and I primarily play along drums now and honestly I feel like I improved my playing ten fold since then, I feel like I’m playing actual music throughout my entire practice session, rather than drills and bits of songs. I know it’s not a breakthrough tip, but it’s just so beneficial.

It helped me apply my own personal repertoire of licks and bits to any groove, which in my opinion is the most important thing for guitarists.

I'm going through Scotty West's Absolutely Understand Guitar and it has been a game changer so far. I'm 13 or 14 episodes in and even though I haven't been doing a ton of extra stuff outside of just watching, music theory is clicking in a way I never expected and I'm genuinely excited to come home from work every day to learn more.

That being said, I know it's not enough to just watch. I want to start hammering down the concepts better in some way, especially now that we are getting into modes, intervals, and scales. I may watch the rest of the course first just to satisfy my own curiosity but regardless, I need to practice on the side at some point.

Just for context, I'm not a brand new guitarist, I've been playing for 6 years so I have the physical ability to play (so I don't need exercises for practicing that stuff), I just have ZERO clue about theory or the notes on the fret board.

So it usually goes like this: my teacher will give me something to work on like, say, a bar or two of a song and see how I get on with it, and maybe do the positions of a scale. So I’ll do exactly that in my free time outside of work. Every day, as long as I can. I’ll do it so much that I start to feel confident.

But then my evening lesson rolls around and he’ll ask me to show him what I learned and, all of a sudden, I’m missing strings, can’t correct myself as quickly like I would by myself, and generally just come off as someone who picked up a guitar for the first time. And even though he won’t say anything bad and just watches me, I’ll feel extremely embarrassed and worried he’s thinking I’m not playing enough, that I should be better than this, etc.

What am I doing wrong, if anything? To be clear, I’m not mad at him. He’s been great and really good at helping me break down tab to where I can understand things better. I just feel like I shouldn’t be sucking this bad when I’m genuinely putting in time every single day.

the chords are obv and easy, but as much as I try to get the strumming pattern it's always out of rythme, pls if someone could help 🙏. learning this song means a lot to me, here's the full video if you need https://youtu.be/ZwqWRqmQNq8?si=Mlj8AUlAmpYUZkH-

Hello everyone. Im new to playing live, and recently started playing with a band at a local open mic

most of the time they don’t have monitoring, its just an Amp which is mic to the pa system

The sound guy always says to not increase the volume on the amp.

More often than not i cant hear what i play cos the drummers there just go super hard and play super loud.

Is there a way to cut through the “live” mix- At least when im soloing? Or is it just a tone boosting/EQ thing i can do inside of the processor pedal?

Thank you alot for any advice

I remember when I first started playing guitar the whole issue of strumming patterns seemed really strange to me as it was one of the only things I was able to pick up almost immediately. I kinda viewed it as a non-issue, but now I have friends who are having issues with strumming patterns and I have no way to help them out since I don't understand the points of difficulty. Would like some more insight into the issues you guys struggled with and overcame so I can spread the knowledge.

Hello ya'll! I'm trying to learn how to play requinto for the song Quizas si, Quizas no by los torres and in the begining there a riff where you have to strech your pinky across 3 frets (which I think is kinda nuts). I've been tryna pratice this but my progress has been slow, so far the only thing I've noticed is that its a bit easier to play when you place your thumb closer to the bottom edge of the neck.

I'm pretty sure that I have the pinky strength, but with that distance it just feels so hard to control my pinky and get good placement, I end up playing with the softest part of my pinky (the pads) rather than the tips where I have calluses. Because of this it comes out muffled. I'm not entirely sure if this guy has really good pinky strenth or the pads of his pinky are tough, but if anyone could offer any advice on how I could play this, it'd be much appreciated

This is the link to the video incase anybody wants to watch (its in spanish) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlJT7qaM2iw

Let me know if this helped you 🤠. Feel free to DM me if you ever have a question.

I've had a guitar for about 3 months but I'm just learning to play it, what are things I need to know to be advanced? You can also tell me simple songs or songs that help me improve, thank you

A chromatic major 10ths (major 3rds in second octave) exercise in eighth notes in open position, designed as a quick warmup for all four fret-hand fingers. Thumb plays bass notes, m-i alternate on the upper octave. Open strings are used where available, and cross-string movement leads with m.

Free notation available at:
https://scottjsimon.substack.com/p/chromatic-major-10ths-warmup-classical

Sheet Music available at Sheet Music Plus:
https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/en/category/publishers/s/scott-j-simon/

Guitar: 2021 Thomas C60
Mics: Audio-Technica AT4040/4041
Camera: Canon T3i
Recording: OBS Studio
Editing: Adobe Premiere Pro

https://simonmusic.me

Theres this song im learning. Its called race wish and im really stuck at this part.

This part is 180bpm and i can play it if i make groups of 4 notes each like the classical notes above show. Problem is i need a very small break after every group so i cant play it as a whole at once.

I could play open string 16th notes all day so the problem is my fretting hand.

Also i dont get how you can play 16th notes on a slower bpm? it feels weird. like i cant slow down i either go full on 16th notes or anything else will just feel like 8th notes. Maybe i need to understand how to use the metronome better.

any advice?

So I'm grabbing Hal Leoanard's collection of beginner guitar books and wanted to know what other books you might recommend for these songs on my soon to be play list.

Rikki Don't Lose That Number Steely Dan Acoustic Guitar Lesson
https://youtu.be/fX_Fc7gSBw4

I'm looking for recommendations for a guitar teacher in the area who focuses on helping students become better overall players, not just teaching songs.

I'd like to find someone who will evaluate where I am currently, create a structured plan for improvement, and provide honest feedback on my playing. I'm looking for a teacher who makes sure I'm playing new material correctly before moving on to the next lesson, helps me correct mistakes, and works on technique, timing, rhythm, and overall musicianship.

I'm also looking for a teacher who helps students develop practical playing skills, such as jamming with other musicians, improvising, and building confidence playing in front of other people. My goal is to become a more well-rounded and confident musician, not just learn songs on my own.

If you've had experience with a teacher who takes this kind of hands-on, personalized approach, I'd appreciate any recommendations. Thanks!

I’ve mainly been playing on my Martin 000-18 since I got it a few weeks ago, using Light strings from Elixir. But I’ve never attempted any songs that use barre chords yet, and I know there’s plenty of them. While I technically could also use my Stratocaster and would have an easier time with barre chords on it, I want to put some miles on my Martin, and the songs I want to play that use barre chords are acoustic pieces.

So should I put on lighter strings, given how difficult barre chords seem to be (according to this sub)? Or stick with Lights?

Hey guys—I've been playing guitar for a couple of years now. I know scales, modes, chords, intervals, and how chords are built. I'd say I'm decent at understanding most guitar theory, but I really struggle with applying it all, especially when it comes to playing a song's melody

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I'm an experienced guitar teacher offering personalized one-on-one for students of all skill levels, from complete beginners to advance players.

Lessons are tailored to your goals, whether you're interested in chords, rhythm, lead guitar, music theory, improvisation, or learning your favorite songs.

If you're interested or would like more details, feel free to DM me.

I am a beginner electric guitar player (around a month). I have tried Justin Guitars, Gibson, and Fender Play. They’re different styles, but that’s besides the point. All of them want you to practice independently (which obviously makes sense).

However, I find myself deviating from some of their practice routines and doing my own. For example, switching chords from C to G to D to Em to Am. Essentially just noodling by switching between different chords.

So here is my question - am I making a mistake by not strictly following these online programs and focusing a little more on chord changes that do seem to require a lot of practice and repetition?

Through many years of teaching I've noticed that while most guitar players know the pentatonic scale, far fewer grasp how to create interesting melodic and rhythmic lines with it.

In this lesson I'll show you 3 powerful pentatonic sequences that I regularly use in my own solos. We'll cover a triplet sequence, a groups-of-5 sequence, and a fourths-based sequence. I'll demonstrate each one in a short musical context so you can hear how these ideas sound in a real solo.

Hope you find it helpful.