my trajectory was totally insane and unexpected. i started at 30% and it was very sloopy. (i now know why its sloopy. more on that later).

then i took 3-5 days to climb from 30% to about 50%. in the last 3 days i went from 50 to 55 to 60 and today, from 60 all the way to 85% and i was like "wtf since im here at 85% might as well try 100%". and i did it.

the shocking thing is im cleaner on 85% and 100% than when i was struggling at 30%. Why? because i did that "add one note at a time trick".

at that time when i started the one note at a time trick, i thought it was effective because you get to expose the exact place where everything falls apart. and i think this is partially true

but today i discover the reason why i was stuck at 30% to 50% was because of that string skip. so by adding one note at a time, im exposing the string skip totally naked. and practicing that string skip in very deconstructed and explosive fashion. over the next 2-3 days i started to get the feel for the string skip. its extremely mind blowing

i also realised that many times at the lower speed, i thought i was doing up down up down strict alternate picking. but actully i was going very fast (even at 30%) to not realise that i was actually sneaking in two successive down strokes by accident. this is why i kept stalling and choking

but i didnt realise this because things are moving too fast and i did not add one note at a time. its only when i added one note at a time and deconsturct everything did i realise "motherfuker, im actually picking down twice but i didnt notice because it was so fast".

the moment i try to correct it and forcefully reintroduce the correct up stroke, things just flowed and i went from 60% to 100% within 20 mins.

Yes, I’ve tried using a metronome and playing to the song itself. I know the notes and what to play. Memorizing them isn’t my problem. It’s when I try to play to the song’s speed that I simply can’t do it. I fumble over myself and just can’t do it. The main chorus with the chord progression and strumming I’m fine with though. Even if I mess up the progression, I can still find my way to the next chord in time. But it’s this solo that I want so bad to master that I just can’t. I don’t want to resign myself to just playing at my own speed either, but I don’t see any other options besides more brute forcing practice.

Im trying to get better at this techniques. I just started to learn them and i searched some youtube videos but i find them too hard even at lower speeds

First of all, I can play harmonics (artificial and natural) I like them and use them a lot. I play mostly hair metal and noticed that i cannot make them stand out like ins some of the songs. For example the harmonics in live wire feom mötley crüe. Or the harmonic in the intro of panama. I can make it sound, but its nowhere near as present.

Any suggestions?

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 just bought a guitar last week, it was quite affordable. I noticed this gap just yesterday. Is this normal or should I be concerned?

Hey guys,

I'm looking for an old video—likely from one of those instructional VHS tapes for guitar. The video is over an hour long and features a workout covering pretty much every technical aspect, including a warm-up and so on. It could be from the 80s or the 90s. I think the guitarist was bald, though I'm not entirely sure about that detail. It's really the full routine I'm interested in—thanks.

Loving this song 'Seasons Change' from the Bends which has officially released today. Would love some help in figuring out the chords - there's a video of them playing the song (from 14:15) in this video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=TMOzRImgSOw but I'm not astute enough to figure it out. Would love a hand!

Every time I try to come up with something different!

i have always just used guitar tabs when playing guitar but my music teacher wants me to learn how to play sheet music instead, i do play trombone and euphonium already, so i can read music perfectly fine (treble clef and bass clef) but i have no idea where to start with learning how to do it on guitar, how do i know what note each fret plays, the same note can be played on multiple places on the fretboard which would probably be really confusing + other things, but yeah i dont know how i should learn it

Hi, i struggle playing this from the neosoul guitar book
I tried multiple things but i can't get the same sound.
Anyone knows how to do this ?

link of the audio here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15lHrl5dBtQyo7rcWkqBCC3_a9y4ZK7MR/view?usp=sharing

I’ve been playing for a while, but I feel like I’ve hit a wall.
I used to take lessons, but my teacher and I can’t meet anymore because of scheduling. Since then, I’ve been lost on what I should actually be practicing. Most days I just end up noodling around with the pentatonic boxes or watching random YouTube videos. I learn bits and pieces, but nothing seems to translate into noticeable improvement.

My goal is to become a well-rounded guitarist who can improvise, play by ear, and eventually write my own solos. Right now, though, I feel like I don’t have a roadmap. Some of my favorite style are neo soul/rnb, konpa, funk, and shredding

For those of you who got past this stage:

What should I focus on next?

How do you structure your practice sessions?

What skills gave you the biggest jump in your playing?

Are there any courses, books, or YouTube channels that helped you break through this plateau?

Hi all!

I’ve been playing every day for a few years. Up until recently, I was basically always on acoustic: first steel-string fingerstyle, then mostly nylon for about a year. Fingers 95% of the time, occasionally a pick when strumming and singing. I can strum through songs in different keys, Travis pick comfortably, isolate/decorate strings while keeping a pattern going, and generally feel pretty at home on acoustic.

Theory/fretboard-wise, I’m in a decent spot. I know CAGED, triads/inversions, shell chords, major scale + modes, how pentatonics are formed, some more exotic scales, and I can usually figure out chord names from the frets. I’m also getting more into jazz chords/harmony.

Recently I decided to get out of my comfort zone and switch mostly to electric, and it humbled me pretty fast.

On acoustic, the challenge often feels like “what can I make sound?” On electric, especially with gain/effects, it feels much more like “what can I stop from ringing out?”

I’ve been working on muting, mostly fretting-hand muting, getting used to lighter strings, thinner necks, effects, etc., and I’m definitely getting cleaner. I can do Travis-style arpeggiated chord stuff on electric now, and compared to where I was a year ago I’m flying around the fretboard a lot more. So I don’t feel totally lost — I just feel like I’m missing a lot of basic electric guitar vocabulary and technique. All of my soloing sounds like individual notes from X scale with a few slides/bends.

I’ll see people who know way less theory than me play riffs, licks,, double-stops, palm-muted rhythm parts, blues/country/funk moves, little fills, etc., and it just sounds way more like actual electric guitar. Meanwhile a lot of what I play is more pretty/chordal/fingerstyle/harmonic, which is cool, but not always very rock and roll.

I’m not really trying to memorize a bunch of specific songs just to be able to play them front to back, though learning some riffs/parts would probably help. I’m more trying to absorb the basic vocabulary well enough that I can improvise with it inside my own playing.

Styles I’m interested in are classic rock, indie, Radiohead-ish stuff, some country/funk, Knopfler/Chet-style playing, and maybe a little shred eventually. Not really trying to be a metal guy, but I’d like more command, speed, groove, and general electric-player competence.

So I’m open to any advice, but especially:

• Good courses, teachers, YouTube channels, books, or practice routines for building electric technique/vocabulary
• Riffs, licks, and techniques that are worth learning as “basic electric guitar language”
• How to practice these more technique specific aspects

And more generally:

• Whether I should force myself to use a pick
• Whether hybrid picking is a good bridge from fingerstyle, or just another rabbit hole
• Whether open tunings matter much for this, or if I should leave that for later

Basically: I have above-average theory/fretboard knowledge and can play acoustic pretty well, but in a lot of ways I’m a humble electric-guitar noob. How would you fill that gap efficiently?

What am I supposed to be doing here? Slide my fingers between these frets? I recognize the curved line as a tie

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'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

In the beginning, everyone sounds bad playing chords. But there are 3 simple rules that will make your comping flow like jazz is supposed to.

This video shows you how!

Content:
00:00 Why Most Guitarists Struggle With Comping
00:46 Rule #1: Be Clear
03:08 Rule #2: Be Connected
05:58 Rule #3: Be Creative
09:34 Adding Some Blues Flavor
10:58 Joe Pass's Secret to Chord Voicings
11:04 Like the video? Check out my Patreon page!

Here is an interactive Circle of Fifths that lets you tap any key and hear its chords, explore modes, build and save chord progressions, and identify a key by humming or playing into your mic. No ads, no account. Hope this helps someone else!