10 COMMON MISTAKES Beginner Guitarists Make
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
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When I was a teen guitarist I was known as the guy who could play the beginning riff of almost any song.
Only the beginning though.
...and he probably no longer plays guitar...
"That was just a phase."
"Cool bro. I'll give you $100 for your neglected MIM Tele covered in shitty band stickers."
Same
The other day I was playing and "re-remembered" 15 Metallica intros lol. Never could make it to the solos tho, let alone play them hahaha
That would be me :/
I'm still known as that. It had nothing to do with guitar though.
Advice that is just as relevant to someone who has been playing for 40 years as it is for the newbie...
Well done...
Indeed Jello. Hi buddy, how crazy to see you at the top of the comments
@@terrylwc Hey Rev...yeah, not sure how that happened...
Good advice even for someone who's been playing for 50 years. Thanks!
@@carlcraig3974 Celebrating my 50th year as a guitar player also. Sometimes it is hard to admit I have been playing that long.
Slap bass !
When i was learning Chinese, my teacher told me there would be a day that i would not progress at all, that I would spend several years without noticing anything new. Those years would be years people quit learning, because it wasn’t worth the effort to them with regards to rewards. But my teacher told me it is in those plateaus that you actually make the most headway, the reward seems small, but actually people working through those plateaus vs people who have settled on them is the difference between fluency and non-fluency. I believe the math is true for learning anything. When you feel you aren’t learning, that is the moment of greatest learning.
Thanks for the adwise! Its true, most of learning happens in the pauses of studying. The subconscious brain works the best
一切都太好了，我敢肯定你是个好学生，但是没有票。 没有洗衣。
Inspiring. THanks
Same with martial arts or probably any difficult endeavor.
Stay the course.
Play with other musicians. It's fine to be a bedroom solo superstar but you have to be able to play with others. Also, learn to play through your mistakes. If you stop each time you make a mistake you will never be able to play music. Every player makes mistakes (and often!), they just keep going, learn to do that.
best comment out there to add to an already good list ^^
jppagetoo My guitar instructor stresses playing through mistakes (and the importance of rhythm). By doing this, I've seen my accuracy improve a great deal.
Yeah, I definitely have to agree on playing through mistakes. When I practice I fuck it up really bad for the first 20+ times but with every repetition it becomes more accurate, cleaner, and all around better.
I am a beginner guitar and know like 4 cords and started a song. I texted my pastor (who plays guitar)and told him i wanted to practice but wasnt in the mood to play by myself. (Cause i got into guitar wanted to create music with other people) i came to his house and i have never had as much fun playing my beloved instrument as i did that day. And on top of that some of my mistake was "fixed" better said i know how to fix them just need to practice. This is for sure one of the greatest part of music
[Stevie T left the chat]
My biggest struggle was finding my own voice as a guitarist. I did it by stopping playing guitar for two years... i focused on singing, mandolin, and piano. When I came back to guitar, I had a whole new outlook that wasn't flavoured by the old Sabbath and Hendrix licks I used to jam
I agree that breaks can be good for your voice. When I came back from a month long trip without my guitar I felt that when I came back I had more appreciation for what I have. It made me stay away from the gear websites for a few weeks
I'm 35 years old right now and stopped playing guitar about 6 years ago. I started playing at 13 and used to practice a lot... In my 20's I used to practice progressive rock songs (Dream Theater, King Crimson, Rush, and many others). Here in my country is really hard to find people that liked that sort of music so I was a bedroom player until someone approached me and asked me to join their band. It was a band that covered Janis Joplin's songs and man... blues, soul and R&B are no joke! I could play the quintuplets from erotomania almost backwards but playing blues??? I couldn't do it without sounding like a robot!!... My point being, I don't know where guitar started in history, but man, you gotta learn how to play the blues... Now I'm a dad and I don't know if I could ever get to that skill again, or even play guitar again, but something is certain, if my kid wants to learn how to play guitar, I'll make an effort and buy him the best guitar I can buy, because learning with a good guitar and getting your parents' support also matters and a huge lot.
I stopped playing for around 10 years and then got back into it. I was surprised how quickly I got it back. It some ways I was really rusty, but in other ways I was better - as if my brain was practicing even when I wasn't touching the instrument.
Tolonso definitely check out Harley Benton if you want a good quality starter guitar dude, I think your kid will easily get acclimated and start to love the guitar!
Stopped playing 10 years ago, cause band issues and being ripped off... But I started playing again a couple years ago, got me a new much better band, and its just fun now. So give it a shot and see what happens
When I turned 13 my Dad bought me an Epiphone LP100 and a Fender Mustang amp for my birthday, because he knew I was saving up for the guitar. It wasn't set up very well but after the first few years I learned how to setup, intonate etc and now I find myself more satisfied with how it plays for its price.
Tolonso, get yourselves back into it. I gave it up at age 20, started again at 35, kept then playing on and off, now at 54 I play as much as never before, not being a great player, but the greatest I ever was. Just do it.
Dont get a floyd in the beginning... just changing strings is uninspiring
My first electric was a floyd rose. It taught me a lot just by being a pain in the ass. But yeah, they can be a bit of a nightmare.
Don't get a floyd rose ever, no one wants to hear a guitar mocking a dying chicken and every palm mute you play sounds out of tune.
MrGabbo97 depends how u palm mute
@@LoosegripGR That'd be the quote made by someone who is incapable of palm muting with just the right pressure. Expert Floyd users are capable of palm muting without getting their guitar out of tune.
My first electric guitar has a Floyd and it taught me a lot on how to utilize it without suffering from whatever the haters keep on saying.
I ignored the piano; big mistake. It helps one "see" chord voicings and harmonic progressions; contrary motion.
Yup. I took music theory to learn more about playing guitar and the focus was always on the piano. Finally when we had to compose 12 measures on the piano without using a piano, it all made sense!
I feel like if anyone is serious about composing music they gotta pick up some piano too. It's just such a helpful tool to understanding music.
We had a piano in the house when I was a kid. My mother actually banned me from playing the piano because I was supposed to be playing the guitar. 😩
I'd also include learning to play a little bass. Not a 'little' bass, I mean some bass, learn some bass.
Bass definitely. I think learning other instruments in general is a great idea, for that matter. Of course it's a little daunting to learn multiple instruments at the same time, but it opens up a world of possibilities in terms of how you approach each instrument.
Or some drumming. Playing the drums is an excellent exercise for any musician because it gets you to totally focus on rhythm for a while.
@ You can also develop your internal metronome when learning drums and I can safely say that it greatly helps, no matter what music/instruments you play.
Bass is great! with the fewer note choices, it really allows you to be more mindful with your choices. And I don’t speak for everyone but after playing the bass for a while, my guitar felt like a toy (in a good way)
@@justinchoijcjc Bass doesn't give you fewer note choices (it doesn't make you unable to play the entire major scale), it just gives you less room to move about. It also serves a different purpose so it isn't exactly fair to put it in the same category as a guitar.
The moment you mentioned Paul Jackson Jr., I subscribed to your channel. He is one of the main reasons why I decided to start learning guitar. He can play multiple styles. What I love is not the solos he does or lead stuff, but rather how he can add so much to a such while still playing behind a keyboardist or another guitarist. When you really listen in, he is doing some really awesome stuff.
He’s such a monster player. Thanks for the sub!
Tabs ruied most of my friends when I was a teen. That and Percocets.
😂😂
Where can I get Percocet though?...
Dank
Funny
Tabs are safe, if they’re real
Once learning how to play, I would listen to Prince's vocal lines and follow them on my guitar to learn how to solo. Helps IMMENSELY when it comes to note inflection.
Not a Prince fan but one of my favorite bands, Social Distortion, the lead lines are very fluid like a singer. It is something that I strive for on single note runs.
I started studying guitar at university recently and everything hit me at once. I had so many different styles of music, different types of chords and other ways to play minor and major pentatonic scales thrown at me that it was so overwhelming. I had an idea about all three of those things but nothing like this. Was very close to calling it quits as I got extremely bored with it and didn’t even pick my guitar for a solid 2-3 weeks. I picked it up today and jammed some Metallica and I’m inspired again, thrash riffs are the ones that get me going “I wanna learn that when I get home”. I’d say if you’re ever stuck in a rut for whatever reason, go back to what made you want to pick up a guitar. Does wonders, now I’m back to playing daily while concentrating in my theory on the side, all about finding that balance.
Great vid as usual. Regarding point 10, as a pro commercial photographer, I used to beat myself up by comparing myself to the very best in the industry. I only got good when I learned to live with my vision, not theirs.
Anyway, back to music, I have decided to throw out tabs and focus on music theory. Like photo....I want to do my thing, not copy. I never gonna be a pro player, but I don't want to just play covers.
I think the hardest thing to do is dedicated practice. Is all to easy to just pick up guitar and 'noodle'. Am now setting aside time each day to learn scales and modes. And then take that into making lyrical solos.
Playing in time is so important. I think biggest mistake beginners make is 'plodding' trying to find the correct note. Few listeners will notice a flub, but they will get when it drags.
Playing funk rhythm parts is fun
Yes, good gear will not make you a better player, but decent stuff can inspire. I have so much more fun now that I have an amp that has the sound I want.
I'm not kidding you, that is one of the best instructional vids on guitar I've seen. Why? Because I've been guilty of every single one of those mistakes. Every. Single. One. I bought a new rig two years ago (Ibanez through a Fender) that replaced a PRS through a Vox, and it transformed what I play and how I play it. I now have a little book of tunes that I've noted down that include everything from Abba to ELO to Tony Bennett to Casey Musgraves. I have another book that notes music theory, which includes notes on negative harmony and the definitive songwriting process. I spent 20 years in a blues / rock rut. Exposure to other guitar tones and genres led me to solo performances of "Fly Me To The Moon" and "Dream a Little Dream of Me".
All very good points & as everyone is adding to this. My addition would be: when you find yourself in a plateau that you can’t break out of & you keep doing the same thing. Take more lessons - one on one - with someone who impresses you as a guitarist. Each time I took lessons for a few years - I improved greatly. Currently - I’ve been taking advanced lessons for about 6 years now. My guitar teacher is my mentor, friend. I’m 64 & love playing guitar, I’ve been playing since I was 13! IMHO!
Whenever I get into a rut, I always try to break out of it by learning something that is different from the type of music I usually play. It helps a lot. When I was totally bored with playing the usual classic rock & blues stuff, I ventured off and started to learn to play some country music. It has certainly broadened my ability as a guitarist and given me a fun change of pace at the time.
My favorite mistake was a guy who brought his guitar into my shop because it stopped working. First thing I did was pull the jack. Nope. Pulled out the multimeter. Nope. Finally, I noticed the fucking volume knob was turned all the way down! We both felt like idiots.
Rhett, the bit about only you can play your voice, I think, is the most important thing you said. I’m a drummer who gigs just about every weekend. But, I play guitar and write my own compositions. The kicker to the story is; I only have my right hand. I’m missing my left since birth. Now on drums, I’m fairly well versed and unlimited to a degree. But, playing guitar I’ve realized that I’ll never be a finger picker, or a shredder. But what I play on guitar, I don’t hear others do. It’s what I can do, and is my voice on the instrument!
This is a great list. Biggest mistake I made as a beginner and intermediate player is relying on tab and not developing my ear. When I finally starting transcribing my ear improved dramatically. Now it almost feels like cheating. It's like- Wow you listen to some music and then you play THAT. Why wouldn't you want to do it that way?
Sounds good I’ll do it... oh look! A new fuzz demo!
My exact thought ...lol
That "stepping out of your comfort zone" one kinda hit home. For years I was just slightly better than beginner. Then I put down the guitar for 6 years. Came back a year a go and brushed myself up with what I already knew. Decided this was the time I needed to do something different. That something was fingerpicking. I really sucked at it at first and now 8 months later I'm not too bad at it. Still suck compared to others, but I'm scores better than where I was.
The only things I really struggle with are the six strings and 22 frets 😳
Just think.. it could be worse
You will get it ! Practice every day a new note and in a few weeks you have a nice overlook over your fretboard
Seriously, this is some of the best guitar advice I have seen on RUclips. It really resonated with me, I made all these mistakes (and likely many more) when I started playing and and had to learn from them the hard way as I progressed (try going to a band audition or jam session and not being able to keep time cause you never thought about rhythm or never played an entire song before... Not fun...). If you want to progress as a player, advice like this is priceless, thanks for sharing.
Solid advice! I've been playing for 43 years now (38 years professionally). I agree with everything you said. Finding your own voice is the most important. Playing good rhythm guitar is also very important. Always learn the rhythm parts to any solo you play.
I'd like to add to common mistakes:
1) Getting a shit first guitar. I couldn't get into playing, because most of "beginner" guitars are just terrible. Get a good guitar at the very beginning. With brands such as Harley Benton out there, it isn't hard to get great guitars for a low price.
2) Don't, DON'T start off with a modeller in the beginning. I thought it would be easier for me to learn the guitar, if I had a modeller plugged into my PC. I didn't even realize I was just tweaking the sounds instead of playing. So, I just kept buying modellers until one day I had a Line6 Helix on my desk. While being barely able to hold a guitar. But on the bright side, the modellers helped me realize I loved Vox amps the most. When the realization hit me, I sold the Helix, used the money to buy a Vox, and now I actually practice daily :3
Hell yes on the rhythm guitar thing! I used to focus on rock, rock, rock, and then I got 'I'm Coming Out' by Diana Ross stuck in my head for a couple of days and decided to learn the into. Learned all about Nile Rodgers, and realized how much of that funky sound is in left-hand muting, a technique I had never messed with! Made my rhythm better, made my hands better at working together, and it's a shitload of fun! Rhythm guitar can be amazing.
So much inspirational info here. Much of this I have tried to pass on to my oldest son as he developed as a guitarist. I find that when I “hit a wall” it’s always good to take some lessons. Years ago I took a few years of jazz/improvisation lessons. I don’t play jazz, but my “swing time” improved exponentially. 👍
Playing rhythm is criminally underrated when it comes to guitar, at least IMO, especially the usage of dynamics. I started following this channel cause of this video, enjoyed the odd guitars you tried out!
Malcolm Young of AC/DC...great rhythm guitar ...RIP Malcom.
Eddie van halen was over looked by his lead but his rhythm playing was amazing maybe even better than his lead
Rhett, I am a guitar and harmony teacher. these kind of videos really help me to fine tune my methods. I love your honesty and damn, you are a great guitar player. keep up with the good work bro!
I try to stay away from Gear Page, but then I watch your videos and think I need a Hoof Reaper or a Lightspeed lol
Tablature is great. You get the feel of how to play it by listening to the song. I have never had an issue with that. I have played for five years now. I learned from tablature so much in the past, and though not nearly as much now, I still do. You get the feeling of how to play by playing along to the song.
Well yeah but learning a song by ear or by sheet music is so much more rewarding
@@jimgreen8476 yeah
@@jimgreen8476 Unfortunately, many public schools can't be bothered teaching kids to read music. This was true in the 70's and it's still true today. So, for many of us, tab is all we have if money is limited.
Its a great way to learn a song, yeah, 100% agree. Tab plus playing along with your track is great, but it very much limits how much you learn the instrument itself. There are no shortcuts to having great ears
Love the list. Paul David's intro to guitar class does a good job attacking a lot of this as well! He teaches several styles, every piece has backing tracks, tabs, and music, etc.
You nailed it with putting off learning theory. For years I thought I was too cool for it but I'll never forget the mind bomb moment I had when learned why exactly a G,C, and D chord sound good together. First piece of advice I give my students is too relax and understand learning guitar is literally learning to speak another language.
I first picked up a guitar in 1982, and I'm still making these mistakes now and then. Thanks for the kick in the butt, Rhett!
I would add one more mistake that I made that links in to your last point - thinking I just needed to be a little bit better before I could try joining or setting up a band. Of course I never really got there because I was too self critical. A huge part of my development came from taking that leap and playing with other musicians. They pushed me out of my comfort zone (the solo on Number of the Beast being Exhibit A), that drove me to improve my technique and every aspect of my playing has improved - technical ability, playing by ear, appreciating music that otherwise I may not have listened to and generally feeling good about my own playing so that I could and do care less about how many other guitarist there are out there who are way better than me. Oh, and it is huge fun as well. Don't wait. Join a band. Form a band. Ram raid one if you have to. JFDI
This is probably the best advice. You have to get out of your comfort zone, because there is never a perfect time to do something :)
I tinkered a lot with the guitar in high school and a lot of these rang true of me then. I'm finally getting back to it almost 30 years later and this video couldn't have hit my playlist at a better time. Thanks for putting this out and helping the new comers look out for easy pitfalls to fall in when unaware.
this just made me fall back in love with guitar
Regarding playing to a metronome or drumtrack, what I would recommend to anyone (and what I personally do) is make a list of songs that are fun to jam over and their bpm. Learning to play a lick five bpm faster can feel worthless without a musical context, but if you can look at a list and see that the extra 5 bpm gives you several new songs, that's an undeniable accomplishment. It also gives you the experience of seeing how well can make different licks work over ten or twenty or thirty completely different songs as you bring them up to speed.
Great advice
I hit that plateau and I stayed in my comfort zone. I put down the guitar and didnt pick it up for years. But recently I've started again and this video is inspiring. Thank you, Rhett
I learned folk/acoustic guitar when I was 20 or so, I've been playing rhythm/chords for nearly 15 years. Learned enough on my own to figure out most tabs on the free internet are just garbage, so I tried to fix them as best as I could. But a few things really changed my playing in the last year or so:
- youtube, I only recently realized all the great content there, with lessons and tutorials, I really dig what Paul Davids and Justin Guitar do, Rick's channel is awesome but usually way too advanced for me (I still watch it though, hoping some of knowledge will trickle into me)
- actually learning some theory (bought a book last year, I'll probably buy Rick's book at some point), this has unlocked a LOT of new possibilities, and helped me understand stuff I intuitively found but could not really grasp/explain/build on.
- started playing guitar with a few coworkers, we're not really a band but we play together and even though I'm the most experienced player of the bunch, I learned a lot from interacting with others, and it gets me to actually practice and play
- borrowing an electric guitar from a friend, it's easier to play than my acoustic, and I can play it anytime I want. Bought a Boss Katana Mini, lots of tones I could never get with an acoustic, with a headphones jack!
- seeing professional musicians, such as yourself, on youtube is actually really helpful because now I know for a fact that "talent" is 99.99% "hard work" and not some miraculous genetic ability. So I know that I need to put in the hours if I want to get better
Rhett,
Your first guitar is the exact same as mine, except mine was a black Starcaster with white pickguard. I have since replaced the neck and have done some cosmetic changes, but kept the original parts. Someday I plan on putting it all back together. I’ve looked everywhere and have had a very hard time finding those guitars with the triangular headstock. The sentimental value of a players first guitar is not measurable. Glad to see you still have yours just like I still have mine. Keep up the great work!
I found my first guitar and reassembled it (an off brand "ion" 3 tone sunburst strat) and turned it into a coodercaster. It originally has a big neck that I love. I put a Goldfoil Teisco in the neck, and lowoutput clean humbucker in the bridge, with a no load pot and 3 selector switch. It's tuned to Open D with 12-56s, the action is naturally a little high but not too bad. It's turned into one of my favorite guitars. It resonates so well. The headstock just rumbles when you strum it.
Thanks for this. I'm happy to be reminded of these key factors as I continue my guitar exploration/expansion. I will say that I am grateful for the "great gear crusade", as it gave me something to do when I had to rest from guitar playing due to a strain in my arm. It's also a nice form of productive entertainment after my arms are too tired to play more, and my brain is too full of music theory. There's gold in them there hills, and there is gold right here.
Wish I had seen this video 20 years ago.
Came across your channel a few weeks ago. Really appreciate what you’re doing. Good stuff all around that everyone should know. Not just another gear review channel, but a guitar and music lifestyle channel. Very inspiring and I look forward to more!
Awesome video, and the tips in the comments are great too.
My biggest mistake was not understanding how the songs that I was learning applied to music theory. It took me years before I finally realized that Hendrix and SRV were playing in the pentatonic scale. I won't say how many years it was before I connected the dots between the key of Em, Metallica, and the pentatonic scale. Now I feel like I was copying someones sentences without ever learning the words or much less the alphabet. Part of this came about because I wasted a lot of time on tabs instead of ear training and theory.
I'd also recommend not setting your standards too high for the other people you play with. It's easy to see awesome people online and think you shouldn't start a band until you find people like that. In reality, you're probably just as deficient in your ability to play with others/sing/handle a mic/perform/etc. as the next guy that you think you're wasting your time jamming with.
Kudo’s to you on impressing that everyone has a “voice” on their instrument! Too often it’s easy to compare oneself to others players and get discouraged by their ability. Music is not a sport. As a guitarist, you shouldn’t feel like you’re competing with greater or lesser players. Just strive to be the player you want to be because of yourself, not someone else. It only took me 30+ yrs. to figure this out! 🤗
This is GREAT advice. I started playing piano at @ 10 yrs. old and always stuck to the same few songs. Naturally, it got boring, so I stopped. I just recently started playing again and learning more songs and more techniques and came to realize, every time I learn something new, it's exciting and wanna keep playing and learning more. (...and no matter how good you are, or think you are, you can ALWAYS learn something new)
I owe you a thank you for your many pointers and advice over the years, so, thank you.
Ok, I have been learning to play for two years and six months and the only bad thing I fell into on your list is number four, trying to build speed too quickly.
Thank goodness I have life experience and I not a dumb kid wasting my time.
You, Rick Beato, Guthrie Trap, Josh Smith, Kirk Fletcher, Brian Sherrill, joe Bonnamasa and others, all give the kind of advice that has helped me avoid mistakes or correct my training before I go too deep in the wrong direction.
Thanks again.
++Rhett Shull - thank you for pointing out my personal top ten weaknesses. This video is so appropriate for me. When I started out, I bought some decent equipment and went nuts trying to learn songs. Then I went on this crazy tangent collecting expensive guitars. Now I have three Gibson Les Pauls and other stuff. Never made me a better player. I got way over-focused on the gear. Awesome video segment. I really appreciate your instruction and sharing your personal experience. Thanks again!
After learning what a power chord was, I picked up alot of chord progressions and intervals real fast. By the time I was able to read tabliture I could tell when a tab was totally wrong. So that would be my advice, Learn as much as you can by ear.
One of the best massages on this topic.. very honest and real..
One lesson I wish I'd learned: *Make sure you learn proper posture and hand positioning from the beginning.*
I'm self taught, so I got into a really bad habit of curling my fret hand and bending my wrist. After only a year of playing, I'm suffering from tendonitis _and_ carpal tunnel. I'm using wrist straightening straps and having to re-learn proper positioning so I hopefully won't have to take a break from the instrument. If you have a good teacher, they should spot this early on; but if you're self taught, take the time to look up videos about proper hand positioning and posture. It'll save you a load of pain and anxiety down the road.
I think you may have some issues beyond just playing guitar
@@DatBoi-mo9vc Unfortunately, you might be right.
Great list! I'm a 45yo guitar beginner, and while I have no ambitions past just having fun learning something new I've always wanted to try, these tips are fantastic. I struggle especially with #10! Here I am with my first 6 chords, just starting to get in a groove, and watching these guitar virtuoso's is hard! Thanks for sharing this video!
Thank you for the video. Stopped playing at 20 then started playing guitar again at 57 years old been pretty consistent for two years now, Its good to know I only did 6 of these mistakes this time, I knew at the start it would be hard at my age with no real direction but I enjoy the challenge
When I teach my students, I do use tabs. However, I have the score above it. Primarily for them to see the lengths of the notes, but also to make them aware of vocings in sheets. Of course I instruct them in the general theory of sheet music. I find the fusion important - at least to make the most of the short 1 to 1 lesson. They learn the parts quicker and go home and still able to explore the sheet or other by themselves. The best thing of course having them completely able to just read sheet music, but I find the technical abilities and progression important and motivational.
Tabs were all us older guys had, that, and the song. Theory was skipped in most public school music programs so difficult to find a resource until college. I find that most people are scared of lead and actually focus on Rhythm/riffs, me included. Plateauing is a thing for sure and most of us hit the wall at some point, to me, the most difficult thing to overcome.
Learning inversions of 7th and 9th chords has got me outa ruts most times, like funk comping
Thank you so much for mentioning “riffitis”! People go to see and hear music that moves them not some ego shredder. Learning this one thing is the difference between being an instrumentalist vs being a complete musician.
I would add one more: not listening to and focusing on the OTHER parts: Bass, drums, vocals, horns, etc. Seeing how your one part fits into the tapestry of others’ parts is an epiphany in any player’s life.
I used to learn EVERYTHING with tabs. However, Many of the tabs were wrong, and I had to learn a specific part by ear(these were usually the hardest riffs). Today I just learn everything by ear, and sometimes looking at the guitarist’s fingers when he plays live
i've never felt so targeted in my life lmao
As a piano then keyboard player first, your points 9 and 10 really hit home. I was focusing on classical piano then on sacred music. Theory was integral to each lesson I ever took, and there were hundreds of them. But I had stagnated and had cut way back on practice because I knew I would never play grand concert. Two things got me past the hump. First, I bought a guitar ... not a high dollar one but a nice all wood Yamaha that sounded like I wanted it to sound. Second, I discovered John Prine. That guy does not have a great voice, in classical terms, but his songs are remarkable because of his lack of emphasizing one facet of music. His lyrics can make you forget a froggy voice. His chord patterns are not particularly difficult to play but when all of that is put together, you have a song that will make you laugh, or cry or give you chill bumps. I'll never play like Carlos Santana, I'll never sing like Don Henley but I will be able to make MUSIC and learning that has improved ALL areas of making that music. I enjoy jamming with some other old geezers who have been at it for 50 years or more. We have fun and we play good music that is almost out of our reach talentwise and we all PRACTICE.
Good points in your video. Thanks.
I have been playing guitar for 5 years now and I completely agree with your points. I still remember those days when I jammed alone in my bedroom and I was pretty confident but as soon as someone asked me to play something I played everything wrong and sloppy. After that I used to put myself in the most awful and awkward positions like performing on stage forcefully. That really helped me to overcome my fear and now I can fully focus on my playing without being concerned about other people watching me.
Ive been playing for centuries. Iam confident enough on bass.. Not flashy.. But got no problem getting stuck in... GUITAR.. i suffer from just about everything you spoke about.... This video has gave me the kick on the arse i needed
So...onward and upwards
Rhett, thanks so much for your wise statements at such a young age, you got it right. I went to a very fine photography school a long time ago. I can remember an upper class professor who gave the best advice I ever heard. He said that we spent our first year learning technique, and now that we had that we were exactly at zero. He expected we had perfect technique, now we had to say something with it. A photograph is like a song, if your technique doesn’t add to the song it distracts. Distraction is bad. Our purpose as musicians is to support the song. If someone hears your technique then you are not supporting the song. All art is the same way.
Your 9th rule was most excellent. I'm 54, been playing forever... but I decided to push myself to learn a song I've loved since high school. It took time, was frustrating, (like you said), but gradually I got it down. The song is RED by King Crimson off the album of the same name - not a 4 chord ballad... I tell my beginner students the #1 rule is to be patient and keep your guitar within arms reach at all times in your living space, play it whenever you have a few spare minutes, ditch the case, etc... Thanks for the vids...
I'm a bassist primarily who kind of dabbles with the guitar. I'd say I'm most guilty of not learning full songs. I have an incredibly small repertoire to pull from despite learning riffs and lines from multiple genres.
Can't quite say I've done much to necessarily change that yet. However, I've recently began studying with Jayme Lewis and I'm noticing improvement in my own playing and ability to learn new and even more challenging parts. So while my repertoire is small currently, I anticipate it growing rapidly as I continue to work through his program. Getting on a defined path laid out by an experienced/educated instructor has been one of the best decisions I feel like I've made as an aspiring musician.
Totally agree with your take on guitarist comparing themselves to other guitarist. I’ve been telling my students for years the only person you’ll ever be better than is the past version of yourself. Cheers man!
Great advice, Rhett! I’ve been playing for 18 years and teaching guitar for 8, but started on alto sax in 4th grade, so being self-taught on guitar for many years wasn’t a big deal. I had a basic theory background to associate the numbers with scales and chords too, but I wish I took lessons before college to build my picking chops earlier on.
Patience is key with learning any instrument and the gradual tempo increases with a metronome help every time.
Even as a professional musician and teacher who occasionally gigs, I still struggle a lot with comparing myself to others and usually like my solos 1000x more after listening back to recordings and hate them in the moment.
Keep up the good work!
Man you have hit a soft spot on me, thanks!
I think this have been the best ten tips I have watched ever, they really sounded sincere!
Good job you have a new follower!
I am currently trying to improve my skills as a guitarist and this video opend my eyes and helped alot
Very well done. I especially relate to the "Skill Plateau" issue... Getting to a point where you just don't improve as quickly and it can be frustrating. I'm definitely supporting your channel because this is a goldmine of advice. Thank you!
When I was first learning to play and sing, my mom would drive me to the edge of the county....and leave me there! I still can't find my way home; because they moved!
Spoken from the Heart. Probably your best video. Thanks. I needed this!
Really helpful, Rhett -- maybe what could be added (at least for older guitar starters?), is hand care: stretches, warm up, how to approach practicing (bar chords!!) smartly to avoid tendonitis. I've been off my guitar for 5 months now, about to have surgery on both hands -- and while a lot of it has to do with a heavy keyboarding profession, it's obvious now that starting guitar too aggressively (read: carelessly) in my 50s played a huge part in tipping the scales. Bummer.
When I first started playing it was the early 80's(I took about 10-15 lessons).Once I learned all the"cowboy chords". I learned where they applied as bar chords.Once I had that down,I started slowly applying major and minor pentatonic leads over top of the bar cords with a"Tascam Porta:04-4-track"(I'm sure a lot of older viewers will have fond memories of that thing).I would record myself playing rhythms and I would have the position of all the keys on the fretboard memorized in my head.Luckily,I memorized positions very quickly,and I just taught myself how to solo over top of my rhythm tapes that I made.Progress was extremely slow,I would sleep and have dreams that I was real fast and really good.Eventually I finally got older and I did work up speed,confidence & the ability to play somewhat fast,I'm not the greatest guitarist,but I am Fair to Middlin'.That's what worked for me when I was a beginner way back in the old days when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
Let's get Rhett to a million subs, he deserves it. Share, share,share!
Good advice Rhett. I no longer have my first few guitars, but I've held onto a couple of favorites and added a couple more. Same with amps. My big breakthru came when I learned Cream's Crossroads and got to perform it live. I couldn't do it today (unless I practiced for a week or two), but I learned some valuable riffs and have them still. As I've gotten older I find myself more concerned with melody than speed. I recently watched a couple of younger guitarists play shows and was struck by how the fast runs were lost and didn't carry me along thru the song. (Not sure how else to say that.) However there is one young man I admire, because his playing enhances each song. He has tasty licks and clever phrasing. It is pleasing to listen to him. That's how I want to play. I went online and learned the solo for ACDC's You Shook Me All Night Long. Not very fast, but really choice notes. Biggest thing I learned? It's all about the melody!
Well spoken, all valid points, in particular the GAS part and the part about comparing to others. Thanks for reminding me!
#10!!!! I’m a beginner working hard to get to the next level. I’ve played the drums for over 40 years. Picked up a guitar recently, taking lessons. I’m very lucky, as a have a network of guitar friends, who let me hang, jam/learn and play on some beautiful guitars and rigs, invaluable. Still ripping up drums, but love my guitars. Thank you and keep up the good work.
Thanks for your list which definitely rang a few bells with me. Here are a couple more things that I wish I had done differently.
When playing chords, you don’t have to play all 6 strings, and related to that:
Barre chords are important but almost by definition they require that you play root and fifth, which is not always a good combination, especially for more colourful harmony. Learn to play 4 note voicings that jazz players use. With the missing fifth there is more harmonic space for colour, and they are usually easier to play. Related to that is:
Learn to play with your fingers by ‘grabbing’ chords with your picking hand. Top players seem to be able to move seamlessly between playing with a pick and just fingers. It makes it easier to play those jazzy chords with some strings left unvoiced.
Befriend a keyboard player. They almost always have had formal training and know about music theory and harmony. And they know about filling sonic space
Learn some scales and practice them with alternate picking using a metronome. Your fretting accuracy for chords will improve, as will your strumming and time keeping
Know what you are playing. Every chord has a scale and an arpeggio. Learn them together in several different positions (at least 2) and keys.
I was lucky enough to go to guitar school for a year. The teachers were all top notch musicians who played in gigging rock bands, and some wrote in the musical instrument press. What did they want to play in Tutorial sessions? Almost exclusively jazz and fusion.
Learning things at a much lower tempo has the added benefit of making it much, much more obvious where your timing and/or articulation mistakes are. Playing stuff super slow is hard and highlights any sloppiness. It's something to practice even if you can apparently play the part at full speed, already.
Also, record yourself practicing. Mistakes that aren't obvious in real time are much easier to spot when paying attention to listening.
One of your best videos, Rhett. I think #9 is very important...well, they all are but that one really resonated with me. A few years ago, I was inspired to start playing solo fingerstyle acoustic guitar. Things like William Ackerman, Bruce Cockburn, etc. I've never really been that dedicated but I was curious how far I could go in this style. So I picked a song to learn...in my case it was Horizons by Genesis. I didn't actually think that I'd be able to play it all the way through. The first part was easy but then I hit a section that I struggled with. But I persevered and surprised myself by learning the entire song. So I picked another song to learn. I think it was The Bricklayer's Beautiful Daughter by Will Ackerman. I got through that one too. So I kept going. I ran into a lot of walls but managed to get through them. One song literally took me a year to get all the way down. The point of all of this is don't sell yourself short. You might be capable of more than you think you are. It's always good to put a stretch goal out there that you aren't sure you can reach. You may just surprise yourself.
Another thing is practice at least a little bit every day. Especially when I'm learning a new song, hardly a day goes by that I don't play at least 30 minutes or so. I found that sometimes when I'm trying to learn a difficult part that I'll struggle with it one day but somehow magically when I come back to it the next day, it's a little easier.
Rhett this was some great tips and information. Really nailed it. I have been playing for years, and there are multiple mistakes in here I find myself still making. Wish I knew or had this direction when I first started. Learning whole songs start to finish, rhythm playing, your tip for pushing yourself-picking something challenging/inspiring to push yourself past plateau, FOCUSING MORE ON PLAYING GUITAR than gear (or videos) HAHA man that one still gets me! Really really great tips in here. Thank you Rhett!
Where was this advice 20 years ago when I got my first guitar? Great advice.
One of the best videos of that kind for newbies and experienced players alike.
I made all of these mistakes as a teen, including disassembling and spray painting my guitar. I never did figure out how to rewire the thing and ended up with just one pickup working! I started out learning by ear, and switched to tabs after discovering Guitar for the practicing musician magazine. I should have continued with the ear learning.
Playing with a metronome is extremely important. Metronomes are brutally unforgiving. They will expose every one of your timing issues without apology or regret. I recently started playing keyboard again, and while things were sounding pretty good (so I thought), I fired up the metronome and decided to see where my timing was. Pretty brutal dose of reality right there. I know what I'll be focusing a lot of my practice on.
Appreciate the vid! I took your advice I've been practicing more, I'm starting to gig. I really appreciate all the content you put out. THERE IS NO PLAN B!
I love to learn other artist's songs but I like to be completely articulate about it so thankfully, these days, there are isolated tracks and speed control and channels like Rick Beato's but years ago there wasn't. I've learned a lot of theory and now I'm overwhelmed by all the fretboard fundamentals and all the styles I want to learn to be fluent in. I rest in the thought that when writing, it really just comes down to a good song that has feel and it can be simple. When learning to improvise, you have to build your "arsenal" of ii-V-I licks, chord voicings, etc. When developing a playing style, you build it just like building anything else such as a website, house, recipe, etc. There's no one way to play. I think for most of us the ultimate goal is to write our own songs and become an artists in our own right so if we can learn a song and analyze it theoretically, maybe we can write something like that and maybe we will end up writing something unique. I'm fortunate that I can have a guitar and pick the thing up at all. God bless our troops and others.
Could not agree more about the importance of learning rhythm guitar. Other than funk, learning afro-beat songs, like from Fela Kuti, are great places to really hone in your rhythm skills.
Love your videos and always enjoy watching them! Keep them coming!
Also, for begginers...If you just HAVE to buy a pedal, might i suggest getting one of the many looper type pedals? Not only will you be able to learn how to accompany yourself after awhile, BUT, more importantly, you can load a particular piece of music(or a section of a song/part) set it to repeat the part your interested in learning, and go from there> Better yet, tho...break up the song or part into small sections and loop it to repeat, till you've learned that part, then record the next section, then the next, and so on, till you've learned it all. This can be invaluable in learning long riffs, like Stairway to Heaven's Lead Guitar part, or Reelin' in the Years Guitar solo, by Steely Dan, and other, innumerable tunes! I've found this to be one of the best purchases I've ever made. Not to mention, yiu can accompany tourself on stage with it, as well!!!
good advise, made me realize i'm an expert... an expert in doing everything wrong. another good habit is jamming with people, you learn so much from other people, take some lessons, etc. keep pushing yourself. as an athlete i always tried to play against people better than me, it challenges you and that's important.
I needed this advice big time. Thanks man! Been struggling a bit lately stuck in a rut and needing a push.
Comfort zone was my enemy and didn't know it. Played for almost 20 years and got stuck in that zone and lost interest. 13 years later and I'm picking it up again. Your channel has been very informational and inspirational. Keep up the great work sir!
I would consider myself an intermediate -advanced beginner. You've provide some great advice, but I'd like to add a couple of things that helped me. I have ADHD, but wasn't diagnosed until I was in my 30s, which might partially explain why I've been picking up, and giving up, the guitar since I was 18. This last year, due to a combination of things, I was finally able to stick with it. Here's what I've found:
1) Practice something every day, even if it's just for 5 minutes. Like many adults I have a lot of responsibilities and it's hard for me to keep a consistent schedule or regimen. For those who can do that, great, but for those of us who struggle with it, I recommend telling yourself that you'll just play for 5 minutes. In my case, I sometimes get so caught up in it, I wind up practicing for up to 2 hours. If I told myself ahead of time, I'd have to block out 2 hours, I probably wouldn't practice at all. At this pace, you won't get as good as quickly as someone who practices 6-8 hours a day, but I believe you'll get there, wherever "there" is. Over the course of a year, I've definitely seen improvements in my playing.
2) Punch above your weight to keep it interesting. At my level, people could say I have no business trying to learn Neil Young or Led Zeppelin songs, and maybe they're right, but even learning a part of a song I love helps keep me motivated. It gives me the confidence that I can get better, especially when I feel like giving up, which is pretty much every day LOL
3) Everything helps with everything else. When I first started out, I did an exercise where I was practicing changing between the 3 open D, A and E chords. Eventually, I got bored with that and just decided to learn "Norwegian Wood" (which used D, C (add 9), Dm, Em and A7 chords) just because I love the song. After getting a rudimentary, VERY rudimentary, handle on that song, I went back to the D-A-E exercise and found I could do the chord changes faster, while still maintaining accuracy.
There's more I could say, but basically, I think the biggest problem beginner guitarists make is not finding a way to stick with it. Some instructors recommend starting with a cheap electric guitar since it's easier than an acoustic. I have no opinion on that. Personally, I'm learning on an acoustic and I love the sense of accomplishment when I achieve a skill after struggling with it, but that's me. As I said, for me, and I think for most beginners, continued motivation is a big hurdle, and these are just some ways I've found to overcome it.
On the subject of metronome: I thought a metronome was too boring, so I did a little drum-machine research. I found the SDRUM, which is something you can stick in your pedal chain, and it allows you to create whatever rhythm you want (in a 4/4 or 3/4 structure) in a couple seconds. It even changes it up like a real drummer and makes small changes or auto-fills on its own. Very inspiring to play to. There are others, like Beat Buddy, but those are pre-programmed to have "10 songs of every genre", which is cool, I guess, but not very creative. The SDRUM is hands down the best "metronome" I've ever owned.
Might be the best video on RUclips for guitarists!
When I started playing, all I did was try to copy by ear, playing along to Van Halen (start with the easy stuff, right?), then it was Night Ranger (Loved Brad Gillis' whammy stuff), Then Randy Rhoads. Then Joe Satriani came on to the scene, got into some Steve Vai, a little Dokken and Ratt......Then White Lion. Hearing Vito Bratta's playing made me want to say "Why bother?", and throw my guitar away. I never did that though. Acually, I bought more. I now have 10 guitars and STILL can't play anything by the guys I listed here. lol It's okay though. I'm happy with just being 100% improv in my house.
Number 10 is the best advise I've heard in a long time. I'm in a band where I thought that my other guitarist was better than me. I quickly learned that he knows things that I don't know so well but he struggles with some of the licks that I consider simple. And that's because we gravitate towards our own influences and styles. Now I don't think he is better......just different than me. Plus it could effect your own playing if it's in your mind that another band member is better. This is supposed to be fun so just have fun and don't worry. That just limits you.