I've been a professional guitarist for 30 years of my life. I've obviously been in many different playing situations. Sometimes reading score was just part of the job. To me the reading bit is just like another arrow in your quiver, of a screwdriver in your toolbox. Just the fact that you don't need it for every job does not mean you don't want it in there. Spending ;too much time' on learning that is like spending 'too much time' on anything really. It has served me well, and scales have served me well too, I use them to warm up on. Everybody will figure out what exactly they need on their musical journey. Rhett I'm a big fan of your videos, keep up the good work, respect!
‘Sometimes’ it was part of the job. Sounds like you agree with Rhett. It’s something to learn down the road when you’ve got a strong foundation and you’re deciding to choose a musical path in which you would need sight reading.
Such good advice! Here's what I would tell my younger self when I was just starting: #1. You're going to sound awful for a while, but it's part of the deal, don't get discouraged. #2. Learn your major and minor chords in all positions, which is uniquely easy on the guitar, because you just move the shapes. Do E string root note first, then A string. Your just covered about 85%-90% of all pop and rock songs you're hearing. A couple of suspended and 7th chords will find you after a while, and you'll really round out. #3. Learn your pentatonic scale, taking it in separate four fret sections first, until you see it connect back up to the original section you started with as you move up the fretboard, boom, you have the whole neck, and you just move that around to fit the key. #4. This is the one that held me back forever because I bought a guitar book with a typo in it explaining the modes, and at first I thought you just needed to start on a different note of the scale to be in a different mode, and it screwed me up for years and made me terrified of not getting them. Learn the major scale, you're done. No one ever seems to explain that the major scale shape is the same in all modes, and if you're playing a major scale in one mode, you're already playing 7 different modes with that shape depending on the key. That's kind of simplistic I know, but if you're just starting to use scales and try and understand them as modes, if you stay within the related WWHWWWH pattern, you're okay. Don't over complicate it. And lastly, you're going to hear players that want to make you throw your guitars away (Van Halen, Eric Johnson, Malmsteen etc) and a lot of them will be younger than you. Suck up your pride and just have fun, there will always be people better or worse, take them all in. And P.S. be humble to anyone who is less experienced, and praise and encourage them, no one likes an egomaniac, especially when it comes to guitar. It's like MMA, no matter how good you are, someone is going to come along and kick your butt all over the stage.
Ha, yes, some time ago I had to make sure when on my way to a gig I DID NOT listen to Eric Johnson in particular! Love his playing, his style and tone, but when getting psyched up for a gig listening to him just totally destroyed my concentration!
Took your advice over a year ago to learn more solos. I’m so much better now. I used to get bogged down trying to memorize scales, modes etc. I now dissect solos and play them in other keys. This will get you out of the ruts. I’ve been playing over 15 years and this helped me the most. Thank you Rhett
Mark d: I was in guitar center one day and a Zeppelin song came on and this guy was playing along, by the end of the song he had translated the song in different keys and into jazz and country....it was pure witchcraft 🤣🤣🤣
What's made a massive change in my thought process was thinking about solos by primarily their intervals - why did we jump from this note to that note? How does that function in the solo? Then picking a random note on the fretboard and trying the same collection of intervals... or jumping to the same intervals, but different locations on the board to see how to move up/down the fretboard.
Two of the biggest things that have improved my playing are: 1. Playing with other people. It forced me to find my place in the band. It also pushed me to do things I may not be comfortable with. 2. Recording myself. A single track is excellent at realizing what you played versus what you thought you played. Brings out every little mistake. But at the same time by doing multi track recording you can simulate playing in a band context. How to play parts different area of fret board, dynamics and creating space, developing your ear to be able to come up with melodic lead lines that fit in context. Of course there is practice, but I think practice needs to have an element to doing things outside your current capability rather than repeating what is already familiar.
I totally agree with the idea of recording yourself. You don’t need anything fancy, just record into your phone so you can listen back to what you actually sound like. It’s amazing how easy it is to *think* you’re playing something really well. I stumbled onto this a few years ago while I was tapping out a beat on my desk. I’ve always fancied playing the drums so one day I recorded what I thought was a decent beat while I was playing it. Listening back a few moments later was a big eye opener. It was absolutely dreadful. Haha! It was certainly a very quick and easy way to help take note of where I actually needed to improve vs. where I thought I needed to improve.
Exactly! Very similar experience. Playing with others is great for the development of dual attention and recording yourself is, to state the obvious, a source of input that will never lie to you to protect your feelings, it will always be completely impartial, and brutally honest.
I respectfully disagree regarding point #1 reading. I’m 62 now and started out as a teenager not reading well on guitar. Over the years I’ve worked on my reading of standard notation and it’s really opened things up for me. I play classical guitar and managed to get away with slowly reading and then memorising solo pieces for many years. But over the past ten years I’ve steadily worked on my reading and it’s let me enjoy playing with other people in duos, trios and a guitar orchestra. It’s great to be able to enjoy playing music with other people and reading really helps with that. And better reading obviously helps with learning and playing solo pieces also. Even if you read relatively slowly and only play at the final tempo by a combo of reading and memory. Finally, it has to be standard notation not tab (or at least the combination of standard and tab). I’m often working out different ways to play pieces on the fretboard in order to fine tune the piece and tab doesn’t help with that. I agree reading is difficult but in the long run I think it can pay off. Especially for finger style or classical guitar.
I agree. The public schools taught me to read music to play the trumpet before I ever tried guitar, and though I’ve never been a fluent sight reader, it’s useful to be able to learn from music notation. If a person is starting guitar on their own, I’d recommend not learning notation until a couple years in, because then it will make more sense and seem like it’s opening doors instead of getting in the way.
I happened to know music notation from elementary school when I started playing guitar. So that hurdle wasn't that bad. But the thing is - even after all these decades I'm terrible at playing from tablature. I just can't get it. And when I grind through it in order to learn something, I can't remember it. But if I read a score and play from that (just have to decide which string to use for the various notes) it's so much easier, and, more importantly, it for some reason *sticks*. (The rest of the advice in the video sounds very good to me)
I also have a classical background and would say its not a waste of time. Maybe this only applies to playing electric guitar. There is a whole wide world of classical guitar and contemporary guitar styles where literacy is important.
I don't think he's saying don't read at all, he cited a few specific contexts where it's absolutely essential. You don't need to read to learn a song and have fun.
@@jsullivan2112 Fully agree. I’ve played a lot without reading and still do. I put an improvised looper track on my RUclips channel about a month ago which didn’t involve any reading. I’m just giving my experience that I don’t think it’s a waste of time to work on it, that it can be very useful. As I think someone else on here said, it’s another tool in your toolkit.
I didn't learn to read music for years and then I decided to learn a few years ago and it had a huge influence on my playing. I agree that it can be a waste of time for a novice, but after about year 4 or 5 it is a great skill to know - especially when it comes to reading rhythm notation. I know that you don't need to know the notes to read rhythm changes, but I didn't even consider it until I started reading music despite having played for years prior
Learning to read is not only to "sight read" but can analyse scores to "see" what they did, and why they did. (ie) Lotsa theories on why Bach did what he did however, you can look at the score yourself and ALL will jump off the paper and can determine sequence of chords, arrangement of those chords, and how he orchestrated abd broke them out to the rest the musicians.... if needed. All there to use yourself. Reading music is a powerful powerful tool.
You're 100% correct. I've been playing for 50 years. Before guitar, I played piano. My mom paid for lessons. Even then, notation was a pain. What I did was figure out each meansure, commit it to memory, then learn and memorize the next one, on and on until I had the whole tune down. I'd play it to my teacher, pretending to read the music. Eventually, I got caught. With guitar, it was all about learning by ear. I'd put on a recording, and try to copy the guitar part. This is an important skill. Listening is a skill. The more you do it, the better you get. I got to the point where I learned very complex fingerstyle pieces. I've since backed off doing this. I wish I hadn't. Now I am concentrating on vocals... another instrument to learn... my guitar learning is now all about getting a groove going... timing, playing and/or singing, behind or ahead of the beat. I pay attention to drummers, and I'm now picky as hell about them. Even though I do not play drums, I know how to communicate with drummers in their language. I had a band. We got a new drummer who turned a mediocre band into a local sensation. His direction forced me to become a MUCH better singer and player as well as the other guys. I learned more about music from him than anyone else in my life. Playing fast... shredding to me isn't music. It's micro-athleticism. As you said Rhett, play solos. Get the phrasing, make melodies. I was shut down with trying to play fast by an old geezer band leader. It was traditional Country music... basic 1-4-5, and often at a slow tempo. One time this old coot turned to me to play a solo, he winked and said, "play it pretty son." You coulda knocked me over with a feather. Instantly, it all made sense. The pressure to play fast was removed. I relaxed, and played a pretty melody, improv. The crowd actually applauded... wow... playing melodic leads is where it's at. I hear some 80's hair bands every now and then. The leads are adroitly played, but so many are not the slightest bit melodic. It's just a bunch of notes, played really fast. Music is always hard, no matter how long you play.
my shred abilities progressed SO much more when I stopped practicing speed all the time and actually learned the notes on the fretboard and how all those different shred patterns I knew actually fit into the chords and harmonies they're based around. I stopped going from this pattern to that pattern when I solo'd or played lead and actually focused on melody and how different notes and scales and modes FELT against the chords I was playing over. The speed came from actually knowing what notes I wanted to play ahead of time and where I could find them all over the fretboard. Then when I learned some new pattern or transcribed someone else's solo, I understood how it fit into the song and knew how to use those techniques without sounding like I was just regurgitating exercises. YMMV but I found that learning a little bit of guitar-based theory helped me almost as much as practicing good technique, and BOTH helped me WAY more than trying to play as fast as I could.
Thank you for this. Since I retired I am trying to relearn guitar (and bass). I gave it up around 1982. But when I first started lessons in 1964, I was taught how to read by the owner of the local shop. Then as I advanced he passed me along to a rock guitarist and we worked from notation. And then I realized that the best way to learn was to throw the record on the stereo and just hash it out until I was happy with the result. And then I started teaching at the same shop and got into tussles with the owner who said, the song can't go like that, that's not how music works...until I put the record on and played along...and even then he often needed someone else to tell him he was wrong. My point is similar to yours...it is more important to be musical than anything else! And now I am trying to do exactly what you suggest...work on my chords so that I know them all exactly and can move from one to the next with precision and accuracy...and trying to find simple songs to work with so I have an added sense of accomplishment at the same time. So again, thanks!!!
Here a tip: truly mastering a riff or lick or solo can be a rabbit hole in itself and you’ll likely waste a ton of time. You can spend years (or months) on one solo, especially if you’re fairly intermediate. It is a colossal waste of time to only practice one solo for the majority of your practice time. If you only have 15 minutes to play guitar, stop learning intricate Gilmor solos note by note. Get the gist and move on. There are many other things you should work on aside from one solo or two solos
I came here to say something similar It was playing an Albert King solo poorly that made soloing finally click for me. I don’t learn solos note for note but go for the character of it and ideas from it
this is totally true, but it is helpful IME to learn at least one thing flawlessly and really try to imitate the subtle nuances of something. shouldn't go that deep for everything, but i'd urge not to stop getting super granular on something you feel compelled to because you can actually learn a lot from getting extremely deep on something. i've done that with only a small handful of things over the years, but i learned a lot from the few times i've gone in DEEP.
Totally! Mastering a solo perfectly, with tabs and careful listening, watching videos of people telling you to put your ring finger on the 8th fret, 2nd string and doing a pull off to your 1st finger, 6th fret, 2nd string, etc., etc, is just paint by numbers for music. Paint-by-numbers is not painting. You do not learn from that. I think instead one needs to know the 5 pentatonic shapes (same major and minor shapes, just shifted) and the major scale that goes with the major pentatonics (so where are the two additional notes in each pentatonic shape). Then relate that to the CAGED system and "see" the chords in the notes, both pentatonic and 7-note major. (And you can flip this to minor very easily.) THEN, add in solos to help with musicality. Find the chords, find the notes in the chord tones and in the scales. Figure out what Gilmore or SRV or Hendrix or Frusciante or EVH or... are really doing. Do these together so you don't spend a year focused on just learning the 5 shapes and CAGED and whatnot. Learn a bit, learn a solo, try to figure it out within the scales and CAGED (chords and chord tones) system, alternate.
I believe focusing on learning other's solos is like glue holding you onto that (intermediate) plateau. You spend LOTS of time just learning the correct notes in the piece, then practicing getting your fingers to go to them at the right times, then applying the finesse like bends, slides, hammer-ons, ect in order to sound just like the artist's rendition. Then when you're done - if you didn't analyze the scale, or mode, or intervals relative to the overall song structure, - you've not really learned much that you can take with you forward, you just get better and better at being a parrot - just mimicking what others have done that sounds good. This is what I found anyways. I need to know WHY a slurry of notes sound good together in order to understand how I might use that knowledge in the creation of something of my own.
@@fretboardfatfingers8774 Agree and disagree, it just depends on what you do with what you've learned to play and where you are in your journey. If you just learn something from a tab and don't analyze it or internalize it (or indeed understand enough theory to analyze it), yeah you've just superficially learned how to play/parrot something. Which is fine for beginners learning technique, but not enlightening for creating new ideas. But once you do understand some theory, transcribing solos by ear is a skill that reaps musical rewards all on its own, and if you're playing something like jazz, learning solos is THE way to gain vocabulary. IMO learning solos isn't bad in and of itself, you just need to be conscious of why you're doing it and what you're hoping to get out of it. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of learning solos that i love and analyzing them, borrowing ideas from them to adapt into my own playing, and using the very process of learning them as ear training exercises. It pays to know a bit about theory first though, as you won't be able to learn as much about how to apply the things you learn from solos if you can't analyze what you learn. All the best!
Hi! I have gotten a lot of great info from your videos since discovering your channel, but I must say, the first of the five items you mentioned froze me in my tracks. I have been a full time professional guitarist for 45 years. Learning standard notation is mandatory for pros, and it also opens up a whole world of available learning materials for the serious amateur. I love your playing and the way you explain things. Keep up the great work!
This is such a great video, and it reminds me of the one you did just a little while back about your "story," in that you're talking about stuff that has to do with confidence and insecurities. "You don't get better, you get different." I LOVE that! I'm a total beginner at guitar, but I have graduate degrees in writing, and this is exactly the sort of thing we used to talk about at school. It was so important to see your own strengths while learning the fundamentals. Dude, you really do a great job in talking about this sort of thing. THIS is what inspires me.
awesome video i have been playing for 3 years now but in the last year i have a new daughter and started a family so i hardly touched the guitar but recently i found my love for music again and i started playing and i love it
100% - I've been playing for 25 years and I've got the same top 5. I was so not into gear back then that I forgot to get myself a decent guitar and a decent amp. Recorded with an old **** SoundBlaster and cubase on an old pentium. Still I managed to play quite a few gigs in front of a crowd of 1000 people, a couple of home made records, had the time of my life PLAYING with other people, improvising on 3 chords in random jam sessions. After 10 years of not playing, I got back into it, got myself a nice Les Paul Studio, a nice strat, a blues junior, a decent pedalboard. Feels like luxury. Without the thrill. I'm missing these days of playing with amazing musicians on crappy instruments. That was the real thing.
Yes, I've lost a ton, buying and selling gear, total waste of time, money, and energy. Especially nowadays when everything you need is a pc, audio interface, mike, and a guitar to record and release professional sounding tracks. Real inspiration does not come from gear but life itself, so spend your time and energy wisely.
I remember back in 1992, I got free tickets to see a band called Extreme... front row seats. I had never heard of them, but I reluctantly went. There I was 12 feet from Nuno Bettencourt. The guy was SO good it was unbelievable. As the show wore on I got the feeling that this guy was actually here to make me quit. I could play fast but he could play faster. I had a great tone... his was better. His stage presence, combined with his incredible technique and his overall musicality really just completely defeated me. I could never be "as good" as him. Then on the way home I realized that while I may never do his thing as good as he does, He will never be able to do MY thing as well as me if I get it together like he has with his bit. My point being that without imitating anyone, you can find your own voice on the instrument. Always be working on that. How many players have spent their lives not listening to their own music? Rhett, you are absolutely right about learning solos instead of scales and theory. Training your ear is the best thing you can do early on. When you do get around to the theoretical study, it's a lot easier to learn various concepts when you know what they sound like. It all just suddenly clicked for me. A completely superior player should be celebrated. Let the envy go. We are all just as unique and capable of developing that uniqueness to whatever level we want to take it to.
Great advice. I've been teaching for 28 years and have found a lot of this to be true. Sometimes parents want to insist that I teach their child to read and sometimes it's the kiss of death for their interest. Reading has its place for sure but for most of us, it's pie in the sky and not going to get us where we really want to go.
My best decision guitar-wise is joining a jazz big band. Everything I've done goes along with the great points you've made. Jazz musicians are just different man
When you don't want to play, instead of watching TV or playing video games, pull out your guitar. The less time you spend playing, the less you want to play. Just play.
I completely agree with "don't waste your time comparing yourself to other players". That stopped me from playing for 10 years. All that did was take away my joy and love of music. Be yourself and enjoy music. That's the whole point we play guitar. That's for another great video Rett.
Be yourself! It's ok and even important to learn techniques and style from great guitarists. But find your own sound.Don't limit yourself when it comes to learning. strive to know all you can about you instrument and music theory. I feel so fortunate to have been born in the 50's. All of the innovation from all the great musicians over the years living and past. Listen to all of the genres" that have evolved. Truly amazing. When learning you'll have good and bad days. Pick up your guitar and play.
I will go to a show, and instead of enjoying myself, I will lock into the lead guitar or some element that the players have going that I don't, get discouraged, enter bad mood town, not enjoy the show, then go home and resist destroying my guitars. I feel like I should instead be intrigued and inspired, and go home to try to figure out what they did, because it was so cool, then start studying/practicing that technique, but that is just easier said than done, I guess. It is way easier to get intimidated and discouraged than inspired, sometimes.
I agree with all your of your advice except for the suggestion about not needing to learn to read. I started off learning violin so I learned how to read early. I then switched to bass and spent the next 20 years not needing to read. At 36 I found myself in a musical outfit which required me to read so I had to remember to do that. Since then being able to read has opened up gigs and opportunities which have turned out to be the most satisfying of my career. As a 44 year old Being able to read has provided me with opportunities to play with so many different musicians and new musical opportunities whilst many of my contemporaries are stuck playing in classic rock outfits. As a session musician I get called to play by different producers for recordings and live gigs. Many times I get called for gigs requiring no reading but I have built a working relationship with those producers because they might have at some point in time needed a bass player who could read. I get it. Many people can have a great career without ever needing to read a single note. Not everyone is going to be Tim Pierce l. But if you are young there is no telling where your musical journey will take you. At the very least guitar players ought to learn how to read rhythm in standard notation.
I agree. I think Rhett does a lot of good on this platform, and I see where he’s coming from with most of this, but I think the image of a guitarist supposedly sitting there “wasting time” learning to read is a bit if a straw man. I’ve never met anyone who can read who regrets it, and I don’t know who exactly is “at risk” of learning to read too much. It’s a tool, and as a pro musician I’ve also found it a useful one. I find that as soon as you can read at any level, by virtue of using it you end up learning a lot more about music than simply “how-to-read.” Also, it’s not that hard. Virtually non-guitar instrumentalists seem to manage it without the need for this conversation at all, and it’s just not a big deal. Reading on the guitar is idiosyncratic, and like any skill it starts to erode if you don’t exercise it, but it’s not exactly calculus. I think there may be a bigger issue with people thinking they need to be some kind of musical super soldier and have all of these skill categories fulfilled to the maximum or else it was all for nothing. Music just isn’t like that, and I think Rhett would agree. It ought to have more to do with curiosity, and community, and collaboration, and enjoyment, and for some of us, professionalism. For me, being able to read has enhanced all of those things.
@@scrawfordmusic Agree about the super soldier point. Reading is something you can develop as you go through life. Any amount of it is useful, as you say, and you can then improve it as you progress just by doing more reading. At one point the magical thing might happen of your fingers going to the right notes (sometimes) without you thinking about it consciously. That’s satisfying!
A lot of good info that I agree with here;however, I’m glad that I learned to read music at an early age. It’s a useful tool, especially if you’re into many styles of music and diverse musical situations. I’m also glad that I spent some time learning scales in different positions, as that is what opened up the fretboard for me and allowed me to play what I hear anywhere on the neck.
I originally learned to read music because I thought I had to. When I switched from classical guitar to blues/rock they started giving me tabs. Needless to say, since I made the switch I have not encountered one moment where I needed to read music. I can't even remember how to read music, I would have to relearn it. That said, learning music theory was HUGE for me. It's when I finally understood how the entire fretboard fit together. Having tabs and a good recording of a song achieves the same result as reading standard notation. Standard notation gives you "where and when" to play a note but does not explain how everything fits together. Music theory is where you learn the building blocks of music.
Good, straightforward video Rhett! As a player for 50+ years, the "learn to play clean" comment really resonated with me. I immediately plunged into playing in bands when very young, and didn't pay enough attention to that, and have had to work harder, later to correct that. And learning to play more chord voicings and shapes was a huge step forward as well, and your comment about just learning more chords, more variations - all that helps with your creativity and approach to melody and soloing. Triads and intervals as well! And as you and Tim Pierce have said many times, learning how to mute the strings is a basic, critical skill in clean playing that is very often overlooked while learning and in a lot of lessons. Good stuff!
Great advice! For me, understanding Maj Pent, Min Pent positions helped me figure out solos for transcription much easier. The next step is to let solos inspire you as you are transcribing them. Meaning, its OK if your version is a little or a lot different. The final step is just creating your own solos. Well, probably the final step is to be able to create your own solo on the fly...
Thanks for this. That point on not comparing yourself to others is key, and applies to life in general. It’s too easy to look at others and think you’ll never be as good and just give up or waste time in self doubt. Focus on what you’re doing, pay attention to those little things that you can improve on, and if you get stuck on something, try something else, and come back once in a while to try working on that thing that seemed difficult, and you’ll find you’re better at it, just because you learned or worked on something else. The point is you’re always working on something and not losing traction.
Very happy to hear nice advices!! I spent the first year buying gears, i got bored, then I really started playing and learning. Now I own a Strat, a TC Spark ,a old Holygrail reverb and an Orange #4, youhouuuuu!
That last tip is key. If I worried about how much better than me every other guitarist was, I'd probably end up quitting in despair. I just try to write music I enjoy playing to the best of what ability I have. It also speaks to the last part of the GAS tip, I also try to squeeze the best production I can out of my current abilities using what I have available to me. I would never record anything if I waited until I had all the gear I would prefer to have and the ideal recording space/situation.
Great video. I’m 55 years old and have been messing around on the guitar for 25+ years. My playing hasn’t appreciably improved because I don’t focus on practice time and instead work too much which allows me to afford gear but also provides a huge distraction.
All excellent advice Rhett, I’ve fallen into every one of these pitfalls 🥺, even after thirty years of playing guitar and bass. Always very well communicated and summarised, thanks for this video.
Thank you, Rhett, it had to be said. I have been playing for years and never really learned scales or notes. You hit the nail on the head when you said, learn solos and songs first. I found that as I learned different songs, the patterns overlapped. That was the ah-ha moment for me. Of course, later, I got to know music theory, but I think knowing the patterns helped that transition. Learning how to play songs first gives you the confidence to continue and a sense of accomplishment.
I agree with a lot of what you're saying. I however, think it's important to learn scales pretty early so you can understand what's happening in the solo. From my experience, I could just learn the solo and do it note for note but I never would understand why they chose this specific note to make that melody. It discouraged me and made me feel bad because even when I did something on my own it would sound trash. But when I learned some scales and music theory I was able to understand and be more musical and when I went to learn a new solo it only took me a fraction of the time since I had that scale in my lexicon.
@@jimbailey1122 Yeah if you learn the minor/major Pentatonic and start to understand how tonic notes and keys work the fretboard becomes less daunting. Then you can add in the extra notes to make it go from pentatonic to major scale, and so forth
I do like the ‘solo/scale’ approach for beginners. I’ve had students who come to me stuck in this need to go up and down an entire pentatonic box on every phrase ha…then move to the next. Where “Wish You Were Here” shows that an entire solo can be created from two small shapes.
Yes, to everything you presented. I picked up guitar in the 70s. I truly struggled with trying to read music, for endless hours, i even took music theory classes in school. Total waste of time and energy. Yea I'm smarter, but no better accomplished. I did figure out how to transpose the music into guitar riffs, that eas cool at the time. This was before tablature was available. But just go and dive in, figureit out, jam with guitarists . And yes, don't worry about "who's better", that's bs petty diva nonsense. just -get better. It all comes to you. Now I'm old and still enjoying learning, you never stop learning.
Using WYWH as the solo brought me right back to my days a teen when I decided to start playing. As someone who was on a guitar hiatus and now is trying to get back to playing consistently...this list was exactly what I needed, thank you Rhett!
Thanks Rhett for the advice. I do sight read when first learning a new song on guitar or piano but always enjoy playing more when I just find a song I like and just start playing. I seem to remember it more when learning by ear and forget songs more quickly when I don’t have the music notation right in front of me. Solos and scales are still a challenge since I am mostly a rhythm player.
excellent and sound advice. I started many years ago buying songbooks of mostly acoustic folk songs by people I listened to. I learned the chords via the chord diagrams above the music. I knew the melody of the song from records and radio play. Cowboy first position chords are still used to this day. To quote Ray Whiley Hubbard, " The road goes on forever and the party never ends."
Your 5th point is extremely pertinent. I've played for almost 40 years and I've noticed that many ppl (myself incl) have insecurities about their playing, but I've also noticed that when an accomplished player watches another acc player, they are "in awe". Both are "better" and "worse" in their own ways. You may think you're not any good, but I'll bet that's not how others see you. It's difficult to objectively assess yourself, so don't be too critical. Recording your playing is a helpful way of gauging how you sound to others. ✌️🇦🇺
I can't even express how important youtube has-been to my playing. The best we could do before was hang around a music store and wait for somebody that was good to come in and watch them. Now you can do that all day on RUclips. We used to move the needle back and forth on a record for days and days. And the guitar teachers didn't teach you anything. Maybe note-for-note Mary Had a Little Lamb. I learned more in five years on RUclips than I did the previous 30.
@@louiscyfer6944 As a music instructor for over 30 years, I agree with both of you. If a student clicks with an instructor then it is wonderful, if not, it can be a waste of time. I am honest as an instructor and will tell a student if I can not help them. Also, I do not charge for lessons, so that is pretty motivational to a lot of young students (I only work with youth, usually). Have a great day and keep on playing whatever works best for you. There is no “one size fits all” music learning in my not always so humble opinion. Thank!
Absolutely spot on regarding YT and learning. But it is really important to support, one time or regularly, the channel you most learn from👍 I wish YT had a tip jar for a channel...Helloooo RUclips. I just learned it was test launched in July 2021. Channel creators have to create the Special Thanks overlay on each video...👍🤗
Awesome video. I love how you say everyone of us has our own way to express our voice on the instrument and things don't need to get too technical. I like to see guitar collections but some youtubers I think make a lot of us excited with gear. I love the youtubers who also don't show off their humongous guitar collection it's like a lot of us are working hard to afford that one prs custom that they have 35 of... Great job Rhett you have great wisdom.
Great video!! From the comments I see that there are literally endless ways to do the same thing. Part of the human condition. We use so little of our brain power. Play, play, play! Play until your fingers bleed. Play what you love. I only play for me. Too much stage fright. The biggest leap in my sound has been a guitar with a locking bridge and nut. Intonation and playing in tune has changed what I hear and feel so much. My deceased mentor and jamming buddy and I used a specific rating system as to our skill. When a well known player dies, everyone move up one notch. Keeps your perspective in the right place.
My advice for beginners is to balance your learning (scales, chords, whatever it is) with fun, whether that's songs, solos or whatever gives you the most enjoyment. And you should set whatever learning to fun ratio will work for you and keep you motivated and wanting to continue and play long-term. I think the main cause of people quitting their instrument is either being forced to learn nothing but scales and exercises by a parent or a teacher, or somehow convincing yourself that you "should" be only focused on dry learning and not balancing your playing time with things you truly enjoy. As long as you're not falling too heavily on the 'scales and exercises' side or the fun side, you'll be setting yourself up for long-term success!
This video really brought me a lot of inner peace when it comes to my own playing and where I'm at on my own musical journey. Seriously it broke down a barrier I'd put up myself, and this came at just the right time. Thank you :)
You want to be a ''guitar player''? don't learn how to read. You want to be a musician? Learn how to read. Guitar is treated as a grid, not an instrument, unlike every other instruments where whether you should read or not is not even a question. There are exceptional players with exceptional talent who don't read, but it doesn't mean that the average player shouldn't read. There's a difference between saying: don't neglect other aspects of guitar in favor of reading (like classical musicians who overemphasize reading because it's important for them), and saying: reading is a waste of time. You are NOT a complete guitar player unless you have some reading proficency (exceptional virtuosos excluded). I urge you to watch Beato and Al di Meola interview take on reading; very different opinion.
Addendum: we're not asking people to sight read like concert level classical pianist. But keep in mind, even if you know the SHAPES, the INTERVALS, but can,t read to save your life, then you don't know what notes you're playing, period. You can't target your common tones, and will be handicapped as a musician, and won't communicate your ideas with other musicians. This does not apply to exceptional virtuosos.
@@MiketheNerdRanger you mean good footing at learning a grid and playing shapes? Learning from tabs or ''by ear'' with no formal solfeggio or ear training without really knowing what they're doing?
@@jfar3340 That's simply not true. Just because you couldn't read what notes you're playing on a piece of paper doesn't mean you don't know what notes you're playing. You can learn every note on the fretboard and how they all connect to each other without learning how to read music.
My rut right now is exactly what Rhett said around the 7 minute mark ... spending more time on RUclips watching lessons and looking up pedals (90% that I don't buy) than practicing. Very bad idea. It is noticeable in my playing as well. There was a kid's tv show years ago that would encourage kids to turn off the tv and go outside. I need to turn off RUclips and spend more time with my guitar. I needed that conviction, so thanks, Rhett!
Great video and great advice. No matter the endeavor or discipline there will always be someone "better." But as you point out; many times better is just different.
One thing that made a huge difference for me is to just be around other musicians. I know it can be hard to meet new people but it was worth it. I actually connected with my current bandmates over non-music related things we shared an interest in: gardening, movies, etc. But just being around musicians created a feedback loop wherein I wanted to play more, and so I did. Which made me want to be around music more, which made me want to play more.
Rhett thanks for this Vlog, been watching u for a few years and I’ve grown so much as a musician due to your content. Had to subscribe to u to your new course, as I owe u so much. Keep pumping out ur stuff, but remember to take a break. Every business needs off time to think about the future. All my thanks to u. Greg
Great video. Thank you. 1. Yep. 2. Yep. 3. Ooh - that's a good one (I wonder what your friend Rick would say about that though)! 4. Yep - make music with what you already have. 5. I long ago gave up on comparing. Too late to the game to be jealous of others' abilities. But, yes, watching others really can be inspirational.
Appreciate the reality check, Rhett! I recently picked up the guitar after a long hiatus. I've always been an okay player, but never really good and I need to keep in mind that this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. I want to become really good. I want to be able to improvise and be musical about the choices I make while improvising. That takes lots of time to develop both the feel and technical skills. I enjoy watching all you youtube guys, but I always make sure that while I watch I am holding my guitar and practicing whatever it is I am working on. The G.A.S. on the other hand...I don't think I can control that.
The comparison part is probably the best piece of advise. Always try to be the best version of yourself, and nobody will ever be able to touch that. Make your own individual taste, sound, feel, emotions, creativity, etc. count and no one could ever be as good at that as you.
Thanks Rett. Interesting how we only hear what we want to hear, lol. I think you gave good advice for “ beginners “. The fact that you can read , you know scales and that learning is continuous, shows an all in due time process to learning guitar. Thanks again!
I agree except about reading. If I could only play what I can hold in my memory at one time that's a real limit on what's possible. Maybe not just standard notation but some combination of charts nashville numbers tab notation or whatever system can be used to keep track of things and communicate from one player to another is important to learn from the start
I agree learning to read notes is not so difficult and it helps a lot . Learning to identify chords by it’s name and learning the cage system is also useful and can be as difficult as reading notes
I came to guitar at 50 yrs old through learning piano first (at 40). I had to learn standard notation for piano - but when I tried it with guitar it was not so easy - tab made more sense to me as a hobby player. Great tips Rhett!
Love the video Rhett! For reading, if looking tor a short cut, learn to read rhythmic patterns. That will help in reading charts. With guitar, the key and chords will guide you the rest of the way.
Regarding reading music and playing scales, what needs to be understood is the reason why such things should be learned. I started playing the violin when I was 9 and reading is natural to me because of how it is taught. With guitar it is a handy skill to have but with improvised music what is important (among other things) is ear training so intervals can be identified and repeated on the fret board as second nature. A problem with written music such as the real book and the likes is that songs often aren't accurately transcribed (mostly rhythmically). They are handy to have and refer to but listening to a performance lets you hear the interpretation of a song. Technique doesn't appear to be taught much except for classical guitar. Scales and arpeggios are technical work and useful. Also not limiting yourself to pentatonics and playing major and minor scales and arpeggios broadens your palate. Practising solos is in a way similar to playing studies which are almost non existent except for classical guitar etc.
Well said. I was nine and given an oboe to play. Yes I cried. Played through high school. Reading notation is important to see that there are only 7 notes in a given key signature. Also teaches the use of proper music language. Easy enough that a kid can do it. Fast forward it's bass, guitar, keys and drums. Playing scales enabled me to improvise right off the bat. Enabled me to travel a fretboard without fear of grabbing a stinker.
Great advice and I'd agree with all 5. For scales I learned the pentatonic pretty well (mostly using licks and not just running them) in all positions and I just add major/minor notes for flavor along with parts of arpeggios. My one to add (for myself) is to not waste time trying to learn all styles. While it is great to be exposed to all styles, I think it wisest to just find bits from them to incorporate into your own style. The pressure to be the best metal, funk, reggae, rock, pop, jazz & fingerstyle guitarist is just too much to chase down. If you are very drawn to a style, chase that the most and only add a little of others as you get to it.
I disagree with focusing on solos rather than scales. Both are crucial, but if you must focus on one, scales are far more important. A player who only knows some solos will never understand improvisation and develop their own style. You must learn the scales to then break away from them. For years I would play scales over backing tracks and instrumentals with no goal in mind, and that is why I can now improvise seamlessly. Solos are like learning from the style of your favorite writer. Scales are like the alphabet.
Except when a beginner starts their journey, being musical is way more engaging and rewarding. A child learns to speak before they understand syntax, grammar etc. Scales are extremely important but for ensuring that people who pick up the instrument don’t give up because of the monotonous nature of learning scales immediately, being musical is more important.
Good point about learning scales. I find that I'm strong on the pattern - the shapes in the fingers - but I'm weak on seeing those notes on the fretboard without regard to which fingers actually end up playing them in the moment.
Unless you're trying to learn Jazz improv, and soloing over more complicated chord progressions, you shouldn't sweat it. If it sounds cool to you, it's not 'wrong'. I imagine a lot of players see shapes much easier than notes.
If you know where all the "E" notes are, then you know where the other notes are in relation. Just think of the basic open chords you play in relation. Keep it simple! Don't over think it. If you know where an "A" note is then you know where it's octave is (two strings up, and two frets over). Then you know where "B, and C" is. If you know the notes on the "E" string, then just move that pattern up on the others. It's not necessary to memorize every note on the fret board verbatim, as long as you can see a pattern, you'll find your way.
Cheers Rhett! I signed up for the fretboard course! Great deal! I know it will help! Now….how to stop watching all your videos while my guitar hangs on its stand behind me. 😅
Agree with much EXCEPT learning to read music. Aside from opening different styles of playing guitar (jazz, classical, flamenco, musical theater, studio orchestrated), it's essential to go beyond being just a "guitarist" and becoming a musician. When one leans music theory -- especially advanced music theory -- all the instruction on structuring progressions , scales, modes, and intervals is in written notation. When I declared a music major with an emphasis in guitar in the university, one of the facets that got me accepted in the program was that I had one of the best abilities to sight read. If one wants to be a busy on-call studio musician in southern California or New York, doing film score work, reading is fairly essential (the most famous example being Tommy Tedcsco, who would even read charts upside down). When one works with other instrumentalists like keyboardists and wind instrument players, the easiest way to communicate with them is traditional notation. Granted, in the earlier phases of playing rock, country, and folk music, one can learn the chord and solo work without staff notation, but it still helps to at least be able to read rhythmic notation. I agree about scales and general exercises. I've always believed in taking sections of songs or classical pieces and turning them into exercises. For string instruments, ti's most helpful to see that scales, modes, and chord forms are in movable shapes and patterns. But you still have to know where the notes are in every position. Also, when one has opportunities to work with other instrumentalists, it may fall upon one to read off a piano score and interpret that music on the guitar, in which case, one has to be able to read off the bass clef, as standard guitar notation sounds an octave higher than written. Yes, in country and rock, one can get by reading chord charts and tab. For Nashville session work, you have to know the number system for chord charts. Flamenco is taught in an oral tradition -- and then one has the request to play the "Concerto de Aranjuez" with orchestra, so they have to be able to read the music. Then the opportunity comes where one is going to be the band leader, writing out background vocal charts, keyboard,charts, bass charts, and music for saxophones, trombones, and trumpets. If one learns how written notation works from the beginning, they will not be thrown by these opportunities. (I'll point out exceptions when one has an exceptional ear, like Glen Campbell. He was reliant on others to write out his orchestrations. He was very adept at recognizing chord progressions and setting them up in familiar forms on his guitar using a capo. There were occasions when he was confronted with written guitar parts in concert band and orchestra sessions where he had to sheepishly inform the conductor that he didn't know how to read music.
I was just about to add this comment then came to the scales section and you’ve pretty much summed it up. In all of my teaching experience, I believe the way you get the theory side of things to stick is to learn something that uses it, and work back to the theory from there. It’s easy to get bogged down and fed up with learning scales etc, whereas learning songs/solos gives a more tangible achievement to keep the motivation up
I really appreciate this kind of video, I just bought my first acoustic 2 weeks ago and I'm already thinking about getting an electric. Please make more videos like these, to help out beginners like me
Thank you for this. I’ve been pretty uninspired lately with the guitar and it’s because I’m guilty of a lot of the things you mention. This is a video I will revisit frequently to check myself.
YES to all of this. I personally deal with the comparison aspect of things (unintentionally) and have started using RUclips as a way to keep myself held accountable. Thanks for the community you build up, Rhett 🤘🏾
Hi Rhett. I should say I agree with everything you said except for your opinion about the reading of music ("standard notation"). I learnt it when I studied classic guitar but now it becomes enormously useful when I try to learn solos or anything when I buy methods or scores of any kind. The tab underneath serves me only as fingering notation for the left hand (which is always missing in these scores obviously). Example: I recently bought the very famous method for fingerstyle and ragtime by Giovanni Unterberger. Well, if there was no "standard notation" I would be lost. How could you do those exercises and pieces without the standard notation? Putting the right finger in the right place just looking at the tab score would be impossible. It would take ages to get to the result. Not only. How can you know the duration of a note without the standard notation? How can you know the rythm itself? The only way would be just listening over and over again to the piece you want to replicate. I do not want to say that you can do without this, i.e. listening, when you want to learn a specific piece but both "tools" are useful (when you've got a score). I can mantion what my Dad used to tell me many years ago. He had learnt the violin (and the standard notation of course) and in th '40s he began playing jazz with his tenor saxophone. He learnt all those famous pieces and the solos of Stan Gestz & C listening to their records till these records were done. But then he transcribed the solos on paper and he studied those solos reading and repeating them till he knew them perfectly and could remember them by heart. I know I have writte for too long but you asked for feed backs so here I am! Thanks for your attentio. Giovanni
"Comparison is the thief of joy" ... man, talks about words of wisdom. I have a long way to go on my journey, and I'm glad to have your channel to help me, an others, along the way! \m| |m/
completely agree on most of these, especially on playing clean. It's something I still struggle with after about 30 years of practising the guitar and I rue myself for not paying attention to it sooner. One of the most important thing that made me progress is to focus on the actual sounds being produced by my playing instead on focusing on what my fingers were doing on the fretboard. Seems so obvious to me now, but I think many beginners worry (understandably) if finger A is really on fret X, because it's what it says on the tab, and they forget to listen to what sounds they actually produce.
Remember reading a guitar book about 1980, Andy Summers did the foreword. He said we learn guitar in plateaus, this was comforting to me as it's what I'd felt. To hear you mention a similar thing is really helpful to guitarists learning. Totally agree, I've never read music, neither did the Beatles and most bands since. Great video 👍
Reading music and sight reading are two different things. I could read music before I picked up the guitar over 50 years ago but have never been a strong sight reader. Picking up a piece of paper with music on it and understanding what's going on has enriched my life.
I've been a professional guitarist for 30 years of my life. I've obviously been in many different playing situations. Sometimes reading score was just part of the job. To me the reading bit is just like another arrow in your quiver, of a screwdriver in your toolbox. Just the fact that you don't need it for every job does not mean you don't want it in there. Spending ;too much time' on learning that is like spending 'too much time' on anything really. It has served me well, and scales have served me well too, I use them to warm up on. Everybody will figure out what exactly they need on their musical journey. Rhett I'm a big fan of your videos, keep up the good work, respect!
Great tip, thanks mate, scales
‘Sometimes’ it was part of the job. Sounds like you agree with Rhett.
It’s something to learn down the road when you’ve got a strong foundation and you’re deciding to choose a musical path in which you would need sight reading.
Absolutely spot on.
nice :)
@@jeffrey.a.hanson you can't have a strong foundation and not read.
Such good advice! Here's what I would tell my younger self when I was just starting:
#1. You're going to sound awful for a while, but it's part of the deal, don't get discouraged.
#2. Learn your major and minor chords in all positions, which is uniquely easy on the guitar, because you just move the shapes. Do E string root note first, then A string. Your just covered about 85%-90% of all pop and rock songs you're hearing. A couple of suspended and 7th chords will find you after a while, and you'll really round out.
#3. Learn your pentatonic scale, taking it in separate four fret sections first, until you see it connect back up to the original section you started with as you move up the fretboard, boom, you have the whole neck, and you just move that around to fit the key.
#4. This is the one that held me back forever because I bought a guitar book with a typo in it explaining the modes, and at first I thought you just needed to start on a different note of the scale to be in a different mode, and it screwed me up for years and made me terrified of not getting them. Learn the major scale, you're done. No one ever seems to explain that the major scale shape is the same in all modes, and if you're playing a major scale in one mode, you're already playing 7 different modes with that shape depending on the key. That's kind of simplistic I know, but if you're just starting to use scales and try and understand them as modes, if you stay within the related WWHWWWH pattern, you're okay. Don't over complicate it.
And lastly, you're going to hear players that want to make you throw your guitars away (Van Halen, Eric Johnson, Malmsteen etc) and a lot of them will be younger than you. Suck up your pride and just have fun, there will always be people better or worse, take them all in.
And P.S. be humble to anyone who is less experienced, and praise and encourage them, no one likes an egomaniac, especially when it comes to guitar. It's like MMA, no matter how good you are, someone is going to come along and kick your butt all over the stage.
Spot on.
good call mate, good call.
Ha, yes, some time ago I had to make sure when on my way to a gig I DID NOT listen to Eric Johnson in particular! Love his playing, his style and tone, but when getting psyched up for a gig listening to him just totally destroyed my concentration!
Listening to Rhett and then reading your comment is what I needed to hear. Thanks for sharing your thoughts 👍🏼
I still don't understand modes. So, on the C scale, if you go D to D, isn't that a mode?
Took your advice over a year ago to learn more solos. I’m so much better now. I used to get bogged down trying to memorize scales, modes etc.
I now dissect solos and play them in other keys. This will get you out of the ruts. I’ve been playing over 15 years and this helped me the most. Thank you Rhett
Mark d: I was in guitar center one day and a Zeppelin song came on and this guy was playing along, by the end of the song he had translated the song in different keys and into jazz and country....it was pure witchcraft 🤣🤣🤣
@@stanbrown915 ha! That’s incredible. next level right there!
What's made a massive change in my thought process was thinking about solos by primarily their intervals - why did we jump from this note to that note? How does that function in the solo? Then picking a random note on the fretboard and trying the same collection of intervals... or jumping to the same intervals, but different locations on the board to see how to move up/down the fretboard.
Thats so awesome, thanks for sharing!!
@@FrankLafone love this! I’m going to listen/work on that next 🤘thanks for sharing
Two of the biggest things that have improved my playing are:
1. Playing with other people. It forced me to find my place in the band. It also pushed me to do things I may not be comfortable with.
2. Recording myself. A single track is excellent at realizing what you played versus what you thought you played. Brings out every little mistake. But at the same time by doing multi track recording you can simulate playing in a band context. How to play parts different area of fret board, dynamics and creating space, developing your ear to be able to come up with melodic lead lines that fit in context.
Of course there is practice, but I think practice needs to have an element to doing things outside your current capability rather than repeating what is already familiar.
I totally agree with the idea of recording yourself. You don’t need anything fancy, just record into your phone so you can listen back to what you actually sound like. It’s amazing how easy it is to *think* you’re playing something really well.
I stumbled onto this a few years ago while I was tapping out a beat on my desk. I’ve always fancied playing the drums so one day I recorded what I thought was a decent beat while I was playing it. Listening back a few moments later was a big eye opener. It was absolutely dreadful. Haha! It was certainly a very quick and easy way to help take note of where I actually needed to improve vs. where I thought I needed to improve.
Yes to both! Totally agree.
Exactly! Very similar experience. Playing with others is great for the development of dual attention and recording yourself is, to state the obvious, a source of input that will never lie to you to protect your feelings, it will always be completely impartial, and brutally honest.
I respectfully disagree regarding point #1 reading. I’m 62 now and started out as a teenager not reading well on guitar. Over the years I’ve worked on my reading of standard notation and it’s really opened things up for me.
I play classical guitar and managed to get away with slowly reading and then memorising solo pieces for many years. But over the past ten years I’ve steadily worked on my reading and it’s let me enjoy playing with other people in duos, trios and a guitar orchestra. It’s great to be able to enjoy playing music with other people and reading really helps with that. And better reading obviously helps with learning and playing solo pieces also. Even if you read relatively slowly and only play at the final tempo by a combo of reading and memory.
Finally, it has to be standard notation not tab (or at least the combination of standard and tab). I’m often working out different ways to play pieces on the fretboard in order to fine tune the piece and tab doesn’t help with that. I agree reading is difficult but in the long run I think it can pay off. Especially for finger style or classical guitar.
I agree. The public schools taught me to read music to play the trumpet before I ever tried guitar, and though I’ve never been a fluent sight reader, it’s useful to be able to learn from music notation. If a person is starting guitar on their own, I’d recommend not learning notation until a couple years in, because then it will make more sense and seem like it’s opening doors instead of getting in the way.
I happened to know music notation from elementary school when I started playing guitar. So that hurdle wasn't that bad. But the thing is - even after all these decades I'm terrible at playing from tablature. I just can't get it. And when I grind through it in order to learn something, I can't remember it. But if I read a score and play from that (just have to decide which string to use for the various notes) it's so much easier, and, more importantly, it for some reason *sticks*. (The rest of the advice in the video sounds very good to me)
I also have a classical background and would say its not a waste of time. Maybe this only applies to playing electric guitar. There is a whole wide world of classical guitar and contemporary guitar styles where literacy is important.
I don't think he's saying don't read at all, he cited a few specific contexts where it's absolutely essential. You don't need to read to learn a song and have fun.
@@jsullivan2112 Fully agree. I’ve played a lot without reading and still do. I put an improvised looper track on my RUclips channel about a month ago which didn’t involve any reading. I’m just giving my experience that I don’t think it’s a waste of time to work on it, that it can be very useful. As I think someone else on here said, it’s another tool in your toolkit.
I didn't learn to read music for years and then I decided to learn a few years ago and it had a huge influence on my playing. I agree that it can be a waste of time for a novice, but after about year 4 or 5 it is a great skill to know - especially when it comes to reading rhythm notation. I know that you don't need to know the notes to read rhythm changes, but I didn't even consider it until I started reading music despite having played for years prior
Learning to read is not only to "sight read" but can analyse scores to "see" what they did, and why they did. (ie) Lotsa theories on why Bach did what he did however, you can look at the score yourself and ALL will jump off the paper and can determine sequence of chords, arrangement of those chords, and how he orchestrated abd broke them out to the rest the musicians.... if needed. All there to use yourself. Reading music is a powerful powerful tool.
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” Well spoken!!!!
You're 100% correct. I've been playing for 50 years.
Before guitar, I played piano. My mom paid for lessons. Even then, notation was a pain. What I did was figure out each meansure, commit it to memory, then learn and memorize the next one, on and on until I had the whole tune down. I'd play it to my teacher, pretending to read the music. Eventually, I got caught.
With guitar, it was all about learning by ear. I'd put on a recording, and try to copy the guitar part.
This is an important skill. Listening is a skill. The more you do it, the better you get. I got to the point where I learned very complex fingerstyle pieces. I've since backed off doing this. I wish I hadn't.
Now I am concentrating on vocals... another instrument to learn... my guitar learning is now all about getting a groove going... timing, playing and/or singing, behind or ahead of the beat.
I pay attention to drummers, and I'm now picky as hell about them. Even though I do not play drums, I know how to communicate with drummers in their language. I had a band. We got a new drummer who turned a mediocre band into a local sensation. His direction forced me to become a MUCH better singer and player as well as the other guys. I learned more about music from him than anyone else in my life.
Playing fast... shredding to me isn't music. It's micro-athleticism. As you said Rhett, play solos. Get the phrasing, make melodies.
I was shut down with trying to play fast by an old geezer band leader. It was traditional Country music... basic 1-4-5, and often at a slow tempo. One time this old coot turned to me to play a solo, he winked and said, "play it pretty son."
You coulda knocked me over with a feather. Instantly, it all made sense. The pressure to play fast was removed. I relaxed, and played a pretty melody, improv. The crowd actually applauded... wow... playing melodic leads is where it's at.
I hear some 80's hair bands every now and then. The leads are adroitly played, but so many are not the slightest bit melodic. It's just a bunch of notes, played really fast.
Music is always hard, no matter how long you play.
my shred abilities progressed SO much more when I stopped practicing speed all the time and actually learned the notes on the fretboard and how all those different shred patterns I knew actually fit into the chords and harmonies they're based around. I stopped going from this pattern to that pattern when I solo'd or played lead and actually focused on melody and how different notes and scales and modes FELT against the chords I was playing over. The speed came from actually knowing what notes I wanted to play ahead of time and where I could find them all over the fretboard. Then when I learned some new pattern or transcribed someone else's solo, I understood how it fit into the song and knew how to use those techniques without sounding like I was just regurgitating exercises. YMMV but I found that learning a little bit of guitar-based theory helped me almost as much as practicing good technique, and BOTH helped me WAY more than trying to play as fast as I could.
Thank you for this. Since I retired I am trying to relearn guitar (and bass). I gave it up around 1982. But when I first started lessons in 1964, I was taught how to read by the owner of the local shop. Then as I advanced he passed me along to a rock guitarist and we worked from notation. And then I realized that the best way to learn was to throw the record on the stereo and just hash it out until I was happy with the result. And then I started teaching at the same shop and got into tussles with the owner who said, the song can't go like that, that's not how music works...until I put the record on and played along...and even then he often needed someone else to tell him he was wrong. My point is similar to yours...it is more important to be musical than anything else! And now I am trying to do exactly what you suggest...work on my chords so that I know them all exactly and can move from one to the next with precision and accuracy...and trying to find simple songs to work with so I have an added sense of accomplishment at the same time. So again, thanks!!!
Here a tip: truly mastering a riff or lick or solo can be a rabbit hole in itself and you’ll likely waste a ton of time. You can spend years (or months) on one solo, especially if you’re fairly intermediate. It is a colossal waste of time to only practice one solo for the majority of your practice time. If you only have 15 minutes to play guitar, stop learning intricate Gilmor solos note by note. Get the gist and move on. There are many other things you should work on aside from one solo or two solos
I came here to say something similar
It was playing an Albert King solo poorly that made soloing finally click for me.
I don’t learn solos note for note but go for the character of it and ideas from it
this is totally true, but it is helpful IME to learn at least one thing flawlessly and really try to imitate the subtle nuances of something. shouldn't go that deep for everything, but i'd urge not to stop getting super granular on something you feel compelled to because you can actually learn a lot from getting extremely deep on something. i've done that with only a small handful of things over the years, but i learned a lot from the few times i've gone in DEEP.
Totally! Mastering a solo perfectly, with tabs and careful listening, watching videos of people telling you to put your ring finger on the 8th fret, 2nd string and doing a pull off to your 1st finger, 6th fret, 2nd string, etc., etc, is just paint by numbers for music. Paint-by-numbers is not painting. You do not learn from that.
I think instead one needs to know the 5 pentatonic shapes (same major and minor shapes, just shifted) and the major scale that goes with the major pentatonics (so where are the two additional notes in each pentatonic shape). Then relate that to the CAGED system and "see" the chords in the notes, both pentatonic and 7-note major. (And you can flip this to minor very easily.)
THEN, add in solos to help with musicality. Find the chords, find the notes in the chord tones and in the scales. Figure out what Gilmore or SRV or Hendrix or Frusciante or EVH or... are really doing.
Do these together so you don't spend a year focused on just learning the 5 shapes and CAGED and whatnot. Learn a bit, learn a solo, try to figure it out within the scales and CAGED (chords and chord tones) system, alternate.
I believe focusing on learning other's solos is like glue holding you onto that (intermediate) plateau. You spend LOTS of time just learning the correct notes in the piece, then practicing getting your fingers to go to them at the right times, then applying the finesse like bends, slides, hammer-ons, ect in order to sound just like the artist's rendition. Then when you're done - if you didn't analyze the scale, or mode, or intervals relative to the overall song structure, - you've not really learned much that you can take with you forward, you just get better and better at being a parrot - just mimicking what others have done that sounds good.
This is what I found anyways. I need to know WHY a slurry of notes sound good together in order to understand how I might use that knowledge in the creation of something of my own.
@@fretboardfatfingers8774 Agree and disagree, it just depends on what you do with what you've learned to play and where you are in your journey.
If you just learn something from a tab and don't analyze it or internalize it (or indeed understand enough theory to analyze it), yeah you've just superficially learned how to play/parrot something. Which is fine for beginners learning technique, but not enlightening for creating new ideas.
But once you do understand some theory, transcribing solos by ear is a skill that reaps musical rewards all on its own, and if you're playing something like jazz, learning solos is THE way to gain vocabulary. IMO learning solos isn't bad in and of itself, you just need to be conscious of why you're doing it and what you're hoping to get out of it. I've gotten a lot of mileage out of learning solos that i love and analyzing them, borrowing ideas from them to adapt into my own playing, and using the very process of learning them as ear training exercises. It pays to know a bit about theory first though, as you won't be able to learn as much about how to apply the things you learn from solos if you can't analyze what you learn. All the best!
Hi! I have gotten a lot of great info from your videos since discovering your channel, but I must say, the first of the five items you mentioned froze me in my tracks. I have been a full time professional guitarist for 45 years. Learning standard notation is mandatory for pros, and it also opens up a whole world of available learning materials for the serious amateur.
I love your playing and the way you explain things. Keep up the great work!
This is such a great video, and it reminds me of the one you did just a little while back about your "story," in that you're talking about stuff that has to do with confidence and insecurities. "You don't get better, you get different." I LOVE that! I'm a total beginner at guitar, but I have graduate degrees in writing, and this is exactly the sort of thing we used to talk about at school. It was so important to see your own strengths while learning the fundamentals. Dude, you really do a great job in talking about this sort of thing. THIS is what inspires me.
Reading is important. It is THE standard for visualising (reading) music.
awesome video i have been playing for 3 years now but in the last year i have a new daughter and started a family so i hardly touched the guitar but recently i found my love for music again and i started playing and i love it
100% - I've been playing for 25 years and I've got the same top 5. I was so not into gear back then that I forgot to get myself a decent guitar and a decent amp. Recorded with an old **** SoundBlaster and cubase on an old pentium. Still I managed to play quite a few gigs in front of a crowd of 1000 people, a couple of home made records, had the time of my life PLAYING with other people, improvising on 3 chords in random jam sessions. After 10 years of not playing, I got back into it, got myself a nice Les Paul Studio, a nice strat, a blues junior, a decent pedalboard. Feels like luxury. Without the thrill. I'm missing these days of playing with amazing musicians on crappy instruments. That was the real thing.
Yes, I've lost a ton, buying and selling gear, total waste of time, money, and energy. Especially nowadays when everything you need is a pc, audio interface, mike, and a guitar to record and release professional sounding tracks. Real inspiration does not come from gear but life itself, so spend your time and energy wisely.
I remember back in 1992, I got free tickets to see a band called Extreme... front row seats. I had never heard of them, but I reluctantly went. There I was 12 feet from Nuno Bettencourt. The guy was SO good it was unbelievable. As the show wore on I got the feeling that this guy was actually here to make me quit. I could play fast but he could play faster. I had a great tone... his was better. His stage presence, combined with his incredible technique and his overall musicality really just completely defeated me. I could never be "as good" as him. Then on the way home I realized that while I may never do his thing as good as he does, He will never be able to do MY thing as well as me if I get it together like he has with his bit. My point being that without imitating anyone, you can find your own voice on the instrument. Always be working on that. How many players have spent their lives not listening to their own music? Rhett, you are absolutely right about learning solos instead of scales and theory. Training your ear is the best thing you can do early on. When you do get around to the theoretical study, it's a lot easier to learn various concepts when you know what they sound like. It all just suddenly clicked for me. A completely superior player should be celebrated. Let the envy go. We are all just as unique and capable of developing that uniqueness to whatever level we want to take it to.
Great advice. I've been teaching for 28 years and have found a lot of this to be true. Sometimes parents want to insist that I teach their child to read and sometimes it's the kiss of death for their interest. Reading has its place for sure but for most of us, it's pie in the sky and not going to get us where we really want to go.
Screw it. I'm going to learn to read it as fast as I can words. It can't hurt, and I can practice that part of music anytime and place.
My best decision guitar-wise is joining a jazz big band. Everything I've done goes along with the great points you've made. Jazz musicians are just different man
jazz cats know chord theory, arpeggios, tapping and sweep picking that transitions well to metal.
When you don't want to play, instead of watching TV or playing video games, pull out your guitar. The less time you spend playing, the less you want to play. Just play.
I completely agree with "don't waste your time comparing yourself to other players". That stopped me from playing for 10 years. All that did was take away my joy and love of music. Be yourself and enjoy music. That's the whole point we play guitar. That's for another great video Rett.
Be yourself! It's ok and even important to learn techniques and style from great guitarists. But find your own sound.Don't limit yourself when it comes to learning. strive to know all you can about you instrument and music theory. I feel so fortunate to have been born in the 50's. All of the innovation from all the great musicians over the years living and past. Listen to all of the genres" that have evolved. Truly amazing. When learning you'll have good and bad days. Pick up your guitar and play.
I will go to a show, and instead of enjoying myself, I will lock into the lead guitar or some element that the players have going that I don't, get discouraged, enter bad mood town, not enjoy the show, then go home and resist destroying my guitars. I feel like I should instead be intrigued and inspired, and go home to try to figure out what they did, because it was so cool, then start studying/practicing that technique, but that is just easier said than done, I guess. It is way easier to get intimidated and discouraged than inspired, sometimes.
I agree with all your of your advice except for the suggestion about not needing to learn to read. I started off learning violin so I learned how to read early. I then switched to bass and spent the next 20 years not needing to read. At 36 I found myself in a musical outfit which required me to read so I had to remember to do that. Since then being able to read has opened up gigs and opportunities which have turned out to be the most satisfying of my career.
As a 44 year old Being able to read has provided me with opportunities to play with so many different musicians and new musical opportunities whilst many of my contemporaries are stuck playing in classic rock outfits.
As a session musician I get called to play by different producers for recordings and live gigs. Many times I get called for gigs requiring no reading but I have built a working relationship with those producers because they might have at some point in time needed a bass player who could read.
I get it. Many people can have a great career without ever needing to read a single note. Not everyone is going to be Tim Pierce l. But if you are young there is no telling where your musical journey will take you. At the very least guitar players ought to learn how to read rhythm in standard notation.
I agree. I think Rhett does a lot of good on this platform, and I see where he’s coming from with most of this, but I think the image of a guitarist supposedly sitting there “wasting time” learning to read is a bit if a straw man. I’ve never met anyone who can read who regrets it, and I don’t know who exactly is “at risk” of learning to read too much. It’s a tool, and as a pro musician I’ve also found it a useful one. I find that as soon as you can read at any level, by virtue of using it you end up learning a lot more about music than simply “how-to-read.” Also, it’s not that hard. Virtually non-guitar instrumentalists seem to manage it without the need for this conversation at all, and it’s just not a big deal. Reading on the guitar is idiosyncratic, and like any skill it starts to erode if you don’t exercise it, but it’s not exactly calculus. I think there may be a bigger issue with people thinking they need to be some kind of musical super soldier and have all of these skill categories fulfilled to the maximum or else it was all for nothing. Music just isn’t like that, and I think Rhett would agree. It ought to have more to do with curiosity, and community, and collaboration, and enjoyment, and for some of us, professionalism. For me, being able to read has enhanced all of those things.
@@scrawfordmusic Agree about the super soldier point. Reading is something you can develop as you go through life. Any amount of it is useful, as you say, and you can then improve it as you progress just by doing more reading. At one point the magical thing might happen of your fingers going to the right notes (sometimes) without you thinking about it consciously. That’s satisfying!
A lot of good info that I agree with here;however, I’m glad that I learned to read music at an early age. It’s a useful tool, especially if you’re into many styles of music and diverse musical situations. I’m also glad that I spent some time learning scales in different positions, as that is what opened up the fretboard for me and allowed me to play what I hear anywhere on the neck.
"Comparison is the thief of joy." That's a good one.
“Comparison is the thief of joy”. That, for all it’s worth is such a sound statement that can be applied to anything. Well said.
I originally learned to read music because I thought I had to. When I switched from classical guitar to blues/rock they started giving me tabs. Needless to say, since I made the switch I have not encountered one moment where I needed to read music. I can't even remember how to read music, I would have to relearn it.
That said, learning music theory was HUGE for me. It's when I finally understood how the entire fretboard fit together. Having tabs and a good recording of a song achieves the same result as reading standard notation. Standard notation gives you "where and when" to play a note but does not explain how everything fits together. Music theory is where you learn the building blocks of music.
Good, straightforward video Rhett! As a player for 50+ years, the "learn to play clean" comment really resonated with me. I immediately plunged into playing in bands when very young, and didn't pay enough attention to that, and have had to work harder, later to correct that. And learning to play more chord voicings and shapes was a huge step forward as well, and your comment about just learning more chords, more variations - all that helps with your creativity and approach to melody and soloing. Triads and intervals as well! And as you and Tim Pierce have said many times, learning how to mute the strings is a basic, critical skill in clean playing that is very often overlooked while learning and in a lot of lessons. Good stuff!
Great advice, I’ve always been a strong advocate for the Metronome. Turn the clique up!
Great advice! For me, understanding Maj Pent, Min Pent positions helped me figure out solos for transcription much easier. The next step is to let solos inspire you as you are transcribing them. Meaning, its OK if your version is a little or a lot different. The final step is just creating your own solos. Well, probably the final step is to be able to create your own solo on the fly...
Thanks for this. That point on not comparing yourself to others is key, and applies to life in general. It’s too easy to look at others and think you’ll never be as good and just give up or waste time in self doubt. Focus on what you’re doing, pay attention to those little things that you can improve on, and if you get stuck on something, try something else, and come back once in a while to try working on that thing that seemed difficult, and you’ll find you’re better at it, just because you learned or worked on something else. The point is you’re always working on something and not losing traction.
I agree about the shredding, but being a decent sight-reader has saved my butt quite a few times. Scales definitely help with improvisation.
Played live for the first time ever tonight. Can’t tell you how helpful content like this is.
Very happy to hear nice advices!! I spent the first year buying gears, i got bored, then I really started playing and learning. Now I own a Strat, a TC Spark ,a old Holygrail reverb and an Orange #4, youhouuuuu!
That last tip is key. If I worried about how much better than me every other guitarist was, I'd probably end up quitting in despair. I just try to write music I enjoy playing to the best of what ability I have. It also speaks to the last part of the GAS tip, I also try to squeeze the best production I can out of my current abilities using what I have available to me. I would never record anything if I waited until I had all the gear I would prefer to have and the ideal recording space/situation.
Great video. I’m 55 years old and have been messing around on the guitar for 25+ years. My playing hasn’t appreciably improved because I don’t focus on practice time and instead work too much which allows me to afford gear but also provides a huge distraction.
true and I finally reached point to stop buying new gear. I have what I need just need to make it work.
All excellent advice Rhett, I’ve fallen into every one of these pitfalls 🥺, even after thirty years of playing guitar and bass. Always very well communicated and summarised, thanks for this video.
Thank you, Rhett, it had to be said. I have been playing for years and never really learned scales or notes. You hit the nail on the head when you said, learn solos and songs first. I found that as I learned different songs, the patterns overlapped. That was the ah-ha moment for me. Of course, later, I got to know music theory, but I think knowing the patterns helped that transition. Learning how to play songs first gives you the confidence to continue and a sense of accomplishment.
I agree with a lot of what you're saying.
I however, think it's important to learn scales pretty early so you can understand what's happening in the solo. From my experience, I could just learn the solo and do it note for note but I never would understand why they chose this specific note to make that melody. It discouraged me and made me feel bad because even when I did something on my own it would sound trash.
But when I learned some scales and music theory I was able to understand and be more musical and when I went to learn a new solo it only took me a fraction of the time since I had that scale in my lexicon.
at least the M and Mi Pentatonics, at a minimum. That was my goal when relearning after 10 years off.
@@jimbailey1122 Yeah if you learn the minor/major Pentatonic and start to understand how tonic notes and keys work the fretboard becomes less daunting.
Then you can add in the extra notes to make it go from pentatonic to major scale, and so forth
One other thing is, just have fun and don't be hard on yourself. Make sure you enjoy your time on the guitar. Thanks for the advice.
I do like the ‘solo/scale’ approach for beginners. I’ve had students who come to me stuck in this need to go up and down an entire pentatonic box on every phrase ha…then move to the next.
Where “Wish You Were Here” shows that an entire solo can be created from two small shapes.
Yes, to everything you presented.
I picked up guitar in the 70s. I truly struggled with trying to read music, for endless hours, i even took music theory classes in school. Total waste of time and energy. Yea I'm smarter, but no better accomplished. I did figure out how to transpose the music into guitar riffs, that eas cool at the time. This was before tablature was available.
But just go and dive in, figureit out, jam with guitarists . And yes, don't worry about "who's better", that's bs petty diva nonsense. just -get better. It all comes to you.
Now I'm old and still enjoying learning, you never stop learning.
Using WYWH as the solo brought me right back to my days a teen when I decided to start playing. As someone who was on a guitar hiatus and now is trying to get back to playing consistently...this list was exactly what I needed, thank you Rhett!
Thanks Rhett for the advice. I do sight read when first learning a new song on guitar or piano but always enjoy playing more when I just find a song I like and just start playing. I seem to remember it more when learning by ear and forget songs more quickly when I don’t have the music notation right in front of me. Solos and scales are still a challenge since I am mostly a rhythm player.
excellent and sound advice. I started many years ago buying songbooks of mostly acoustic folk songs by people I listened to. I learned the chords via the chord diagrams above the music. I knew the melody of the song from records and radio play. Cowboy first position chords are still used to this day. To quote Ray Whiley Hubbard, " The road goes on forever and the party never ends."
You knocked this topic out of the park, Rhett!
Thank YOU. NAILED IT! Perfect recommendations. Thanks! Each of your videos are better than the last.
"Comparison is a thief of joy." Brilliant!
Your 5th point is extremely pertinent. I've played for almost 40 years and I've noticed that many ppl (myself incl) have insecurities about their playing, but I've also noticed that when an accomplished player watches another acc player, they are "in awe". Both are "better" and "worse" in their own ways. You may think you're not any good, but I'll bet that's not how others see you. It's difficult to objectively assess yourself, so don't be too critical. Recording your playing is a helpful way of gauging how you sound to others. ✌️🇦🇺
Scales are to guitar playing as marching is to a soldier. They're good for your skills but no one became a better soldier by marching. ✌️🇦🇺
I can't even express how important youtube has-been to my playing. The best we could do before was hang around a music store and wait for somebody that was good to come in and watch them. Now you can do that all day on RUclips. We used to move the needle back and forth on a record for days and days. And the guitar teachers didn't teach you anything. Maybe note-for-note Mary Had a Little Lamb. I learned more in five years on RUclips than I did the previous 30.
spot-on, 100%. i learned 10 judas priest albums exactly as you describe, back in the 80's. i tried to take lessons, it just wasn't for me.
you really need a teacher to learn proper technique. you can't learn it by watching youtube.
@@louiscyfer6944 there's no such thing as proper technique. what works for you is what works for you
@@louiscyfer6944 As a music instructor for over 30 years, I agree with both of you. If a student clicks with an instructor then it is wonderful, if not, it can be a waste of time. I am honest as an instructor and will tell a student if I can not help them. Also, I do not charge for lessons, so that is pretty motivational to a lot of young students (I only work with youth, usually). Have a great day and keep on playing whatever works best for you. There is no “one size fits all” music learning in my not always so humble opinion. Thank!
Absolutely spot on regarding YT and learning. But it is really important to support, one time or regularly, the channel you most learn from👍 I wish YT had a tip jar for a channel...Helloooo RUclips. I just learned it was test launched in July 2021. Channel creators have to create the Special Thanks overlay on each video...👍🤗
Awesome video. I love how you say everyone of us has our own way to express our voice on the instrument and things don't need to get too technical. I like to see guitar collections but some youtubers I think make a lot of us excited with gear. I love the youtubers who also don't show off their humongous guitar collection it's like a lot of us are working hard to afford that one prs custom that they have 35 of... Great job Rhett you have great wisdom.
excellent advice! especially the end about comparing yourself to other players.
Great video!! From the comments I see that there are literally endless ways to do the same thing. Part of the human condition. We use so little of our brain power. Play, play, play! Play until your fingers bleed. Play what you love. I only play for me. Too much stage fright. The biggest leap in my sound has been a guitar with a locking bridge and nut. Intonation and playing in tune has changed what I hear and feel so much. My deceased mentor and jamming buddy and I used a specific rating system as to our skill. When a well known player dies, everyone move up one notch. Keeps your perspective in the right place.
My advice for beginners is to balance your learning (scales, chords, whatever it is) with fun, whether that's songs, solos or whatever gives you the most enjoyment. And you should set whatever learning to fun ratio will work for you and keep you motivated and wanting to continue and play long-term. I think the main cause of people quitting their instrument is either being forced to learn nothing but scales and exercises by a parent or a teacher, or somehow convincing yourself that you "should" be only focused on dry learning and not balancing your playing time with things you truly enjoy. As long as you're not falling too heavily on the 'scales and exercises' side or the fun side, you'll be setting yourself up for long-term success!
This video really brought me a lot of inner peace when it comes to my own playing and where I'm at on my own musical journey. Seriously it broke down a barrier I'd put up myself, and this came at just the right time. Thank you :)
You want to be a ''guitar player''? don't learn how to read. You want to be a musician? Learn how to read. Guitar is treated as a grid, not an instrument, unlike every other instruments where whether you should read or not is not even a question. There are exceptional players with exceptional talent who don't read, but it doesn't mean that the average player shouldn't read.
There's a difference between saying: don't neglect other aspects of guitar in favor of reading (like classical musicians who overemphasize reading because it's important for them), and saying: reading is a waste of time. You are NOT a complete guitar player unless you have some reading proficency (exceptional virtuosos excluded). I urge you to watch Beato and Al di Meola interview take on reading; very different opinion.
Addendum: we're not asking people to sight read like concert level classical pianist. But keep in mind, even if you know the SHAPES, the INTERVALS, but can,t read to save your life, then you don't know what notes you're playing, period. You can't target your common tones, and will be handicapped as a musician, and won't communicate your ideas with other musicians. This does not apply to exceptional virtuosos.
Let em learn later after they getting on a good footing playing a guitar.
@@MiketheNerdRanger you mean good footing at learning a grid and playing shapes? Learning from tabs or ''by ear'' with no formal solfeggio or ear training without really knowing what they're doing?
@@jfar3340 That's simply not true. Just because you couldn't read what notes you're playing on a piece of paper doesn't mean you don't know what notes you're playing. You can learn every note on the fretboard and how they all connect to each other without learning how to read music.
@@brodiehop33 If you know your notes well enough you shouldnt have a problem reading music.
My rut right now is exactly what Rhett said around the 7 minute mark ... spending more time on RUclips watching lessons and looking up pedals (90% that I don't buy) than practicing. Very bad idea. It is noticeable in my playing as well. There was a kid's tv show years ago that would encourage kids to turn off the tv and go outside. I need to turn off RUclips and spend more time with my guitar. I needed that conviction, so thanks, Rhett!
Great video and great advice.
No matter the endeavor or discipline there will always be someone "better."
But as you point out; many times better is just different.
One thing that made a huge difference for me is to just be around other musicians. I know it can be hard to meet new people but it was worth it. I actually connected with my current bandmates over non-music related things we shared an interest in: gardening, movies, etc. But just being around musicians created a feedback loop wherein I wanted to play more, and so I did. Which made me want to be around music more, which made me want to play more.
Rhett thanks for this Vlog, been watching u for a few years and I’ve grown so much as a musician due to your content. Had to subscribe to u to your new course, as I owe u so much. Keep pumping out ur stuff, but remember to take a break. Every business needs off time to think about the future. All my thanks to u. Greg
Really good stuff Rhett. Play from the heart ...
Great video. Thank you.
1. Yep.
2. Yep.
3. Ooh - that's a good one (I wonder what your friend Rick would say about that though)!
4. Yep - make music with what you already have.
5. I long ago gave up on comparing. Too late to the game to be jealous of others' abilities. But, yes, watching others really can be inspirational.
Appreciate the reality check, Rhett! I recently picked up the guitar after a long hiatus. I've always been an okay player, but never really good and I need to keep in mind that this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. I want to become really good. I want to be able to improvise and be musical about the choices I make while improvising. That takes lots of time to develop both the feel and technical skills. I enjoy watching all you youtube guys, but I always make sure that while I watch I am holding my guitar and practicing whatever it is I am working on. The G.A.S. on the other hand...I don't think I can control that.
I play that Gilmour solo completely different. Thus, the glory of the fretboard.! Totally agree with everything you've stated here
The comparison part is probably the best piece of advise. Always try to be the best version of yourself, and nobody will ever be able to touch that. Make your own individual taste, sound, feel, emotions, creativity, etc. count and no one could ever be as good at that as you.
Thanks Rett.
Interesting how we only hear what we want to hear, lol. I think you gave good advice for “ beginners “. The fact that you can read , you know scales and that learning is continuous, shows an all in due time process to learning guitar. Thanks again!
Rhet, your content is so valuable
I agree except about reading. If I could only play what I can hold in my memory at one time that's a real limit on what's possible. Maybe not just standard notation but some combination of charts nashville numbers tab notation or whatever system can be used to keep track of things and communicate from one player to another is important to learn from the start
I agree learning to read notes is not so difficult and it helps a lot . Learning to identify chords by it’s name and learning the cage system is also useful and can be as difficult as reading notes
Great video! Is that a tube screamer I see in the background?
I came to guitar at 50 yrs old through learning piano first (at 40). I had to learn standard notation for piano - but when I tried it with guitar it was not so easy - tab made more sense to me as a hobby player. Great tips Rhett!
I am a keyboard player with aspiration to play guitar. Your channel is a go to every day. thank you.
Love the video Rhett! For reading, if looking tor a short cut, learn to read rhythmic patterns. That will help in reading charts. With guitar, the key and chords will guide you the rest of the way.
I’m all about a playlist from you for beginners 🍻
Thank you! 😎
Regarding reading music and playing scales, what needs to be understood is the reason why such things should be learned. I started playing the violin when I was 9 and reading is natural to me because of how it is taught. With guitar it is a handy skill to have but with improvised music what is important (among other things) is ear training so intervals can be identified and repeated on the fret board as second nature. A problem with written music such as the real book and the likes is that songs often aren't accurately transcribed (mostly rhythmically). They are handy to have and refer to but listening to a performance lets you hear the interpretation of a song.
Technique doesn't appear to be taught much except for classical guitar. Scales and arpeggios are technical work and useful. Also not limiting yourself to pentatonics and playing major and minor scales and arpeggios broadens your palate. Practising solos is in a way similar to playing studies which are almost non existent except for classical guitar etc.
Well said. I was nine and given an oboe to play. Yes I cried. Played through high school. Reading notation is important to see that there are only 7 notes in a given key signature. Also teaches the use of proper music language. Easy enough that a kid can do it. Fast forward it's bass, guitar, keys and drums. Playing scales enabled me to improvise right off the bat. Enabled me to travel a fretboard without fear of grabbing a stinker.
Great advice and I'd agree with all 5. For scales I learned the pentatonic pretty well (mostly using licks and not just running them) in all positions and I just add major/minor notes for flavor along with parts of arpeggios.
My one to add (for myself) is to not waste time trying to learn all styles. While it is great to be exposed to all styles, I think it wisest to just find bits from them to incorporate into your own style. The pressure to be the best metal, funk, reggae, rock, pop, jazz & fingerstyle guitarist is just too much to chase down. If you are very drawn to a style, chase that the most and only add a little of others as you get to it.
I disagree with focusing on solos rather than scales. Both are crucial, but if you must focus on one, scales are far more important. A player who only knows some solos will never understand improvisation and develop their own style. You must learn the scales to then break away from them. For years I would play scales over backing tracks and instrumentals with no goal in mind, and that is why I can now improvise seamlessly. Solos are like learning from the style of your favorite writer. Scales are like the alphabet.
Except when a beginner starts their journey, being musical is way more engaging and rewarding. A child learns to speak before they understand syntax, grammar etc. Scales are extremely important but for ensuring that people who pick up the instrument don’t give up because of the monotonous nature of learning scales immediately, being musical is more important.
@@obsoletecd-rom yes! We learn to talk before we learn to read!
You nailed it Rhett.
Well. I have purchased the course and it looks awesome. Highly recommend it.
Good point about learning scales. I find that I'm strong on the pattern - the shapes in the fingers - but I'm weak on seeing those notes on the fretboard without regard to which fingers actually end up playing them in the moment.
Unless you're trying to learn Jazz improv, and soloing over more complicated chord progressions, you shouldn't sweat it. If it sounds cool to you, it's not 'wrong'. I imagine a lot of players see shapes much easier than notes.
If you know where all the "E" notes are, then you know where the other notes are in relation. Just think of the basic open chords you play in relation. Keep it simple! Don't over think it.
If you know where an "A" note is then you know where it's octave is (two strings up, and two frets over). Then you know where "B, and C" is. If you know the notes on the "E" string, then just move that pattern up on the others.
It's not necessary to memorize every note on the fret board verbatim, as long as you can see a pattern, you'll find your way.
Cheers Rhett! I signed up for the fretboard course! Great deal! I know it will help! Now….how to stop watching all your videos while my guitar hangs on its stand behind me. 😅
Hey Rhett
It’s good hearing you as a teacher
Excellent thoughts, Rhett...thanks, man!
Agree with much EXCEPT learning to read music. Aside from opening different styles of playing guitar (jazz, classical, flamenco, musical theater, studio orchestrated), it's essential to go beyond being just a "guitarist" and becoming a musician. When one leans music theory -- especially advanced music theory -- all the instruction on structuring progressions , scales, modes, and intervals is in written notation. When I declared a music major with an emphasis in guitar in the university, one of the facets that got me accepted in the program was that I had one of the best abilities to sight read. If one wants to be a busy on-call studio musician in southern California or New York, doing film score work, reading is fairly essential (the most famous example being Tommy Tedcsco, who would even read charts upside down). When one works with other instrumentalists like keyboardists and wind instrument players, the easiest way to communicate with them is traditional notation. Granted, in the earlier phases of playing rock, country, and folk music, one can learn the chord and solo work without staff notation, but it still helps to at least be able to read rhythmic notation. I agree about scales and general exercises. I've always believed in taking sections of songs or classical pieces and turning them into exercises. For string instruments, ti's most helpful to see that scales, modes, and chord forms are in movable shapes and patterns. But you still have to know where the notes are in every position. Also, when one has opportunities to work with other instrumentalists, it may fall upon one to read off a piano score and interpret that music on the guitar, in which case, one has to be able to read off the bass clef, as standard guitar notation sounds an octave higher than written. Yes, in country and rock, one can get by reading chord charts and tab. For Nashville session work, you have to know the number system for chord charts. Flamenco is taught in an oral tradition -- and then one has the request to play the "Concerto de Aranjuez" with orchestra, so they have to be able to read the music. Then the opportunity comes where one is going to be the band leader, writing out background vocal charts, keyboard,charts, bass charts, and music for saxophones, trombones, and trumpets. If one learns how written notation works from the beginning, they will not be thrown by these opportunities. (I'll point out exceptions when one has an exceptional ear, like Glen Campbell. He was reliant on others to write out his orchestrations. He was very adept at recognizing chord progressions and setting them up in familiar forms on his guitar using a capo. There were occasions when he was confronted with written guitar parts in concert band and orchestra sessions where he had to sheepishly inform the conductor that he didn't know how to read music.
Well said. Not everyone wants to play rock and roll. Not reading is a huge limitation
I was just about to add this comment then came to the scales section and you’ve pretty much summed it up. In all of my teaching experience, I believe the way you get the theory side of things to stick is to learn something that uses it, and work back to the theory from there. It’s easy to get bogged down and fed up with learning scales etc, whereas learning songs/solos gives a more tangible achievement to keep the motivation up
Thanks Rhett - these are outstanding
I really appreciate this kind of video, I just bought my first acoustic 2 weeks ago and I'm already thinking about getting an electric. Please make more videos like these, to help out beginners like me
I been playing 29 years. Great tips Rhett. Motivation is the most important thing. Whatever makes you want to play....🎸🤘
So cool! Thanks! Currently learning the 2nd guitar solo for Wish You Were Here! Started learning the first guitar part in 1985! :)
Thank you for this. I’ve been pretty uninspired lately with the guitar and it’s because I’m guilty of a lot of the things you mention. This is a video I will revisit frequently to check myself.
Every point was a solid piece of advice.
YES to all of this. I personally deal with the comparison aspect of things (unintentionally) and have started using RUclips as a way to keep myself held accountable. Thanks for the community you build up, Rhett 🤘🏾
Hi Rhett. I should say I agree with everything you said except for your opinion about the reading of music ("standard notation"). I learnt it when I studied classic guitar but now it becomes enormously useful when I try to learn solos or anything when I buy methods or scores of any kind. The tab underneath serves me only as fingering notation for the left hand (which is always missing in these scores obviously). Example: I recently bought the very famous method for fingerstyle and ragtime by Giovanni Unterberger. Well, if there was no "standard notation" I would be lost. How could you do those exercises and pieces without the standard notation? Putting the right finger in the right place just looking at the tab score would be impossible. It would take ages to get to the result. Not only. How can you know the duration of a note without the standard notation? How can you know the rythm itself? The only way would be just listening over and over again to the piece you want to replicate. I do not want to say that you can do without this, i.e. listening, when you want to learn a specific piece but both "tools" are useful (when you've got a score). I can mantion what my Dad used to tell me many years ago. He had learnt the violin (and the standard notation of course) and in th '40s he began playing jazz with his tenor saxophone. He learnt all those famous pieces and the solos of Stan Gestz & C listening to their records till these records were done. But then he transcribed the solos on paper and he studied those solos reading and repeating them till he knew them perfectly and could remember them by heart. I know I have writte for too long but you asked for feed backs so here I am! Thanks for your attentio. Giovanni
great advice man... I'm so glad you didn't tell me not to buy that new guitar because happiness is really important to me..
Yes I just tried to learn all my favorite guitar solos! That was very helpful ! Specially with my tone!
This is your best video and you have plenty of great ones.
"Comparison is the thief of joy" ... man, talks about words of wisdom. I have a long way to go on my journey, and I'm glad to have your channel to help me, an others, along the way! \m| |m/
Listening to wise words about gear acquisition, looking at the wall of amps in the background.
completely agree on most of these, especially on playing clean. It's something I still struggle with after about 30 years of practising the guitar and I rue myself for not paying attention to it sooner. One of the most important thing that made me progress is to focus on the actual sounds being produced by my playing instead on focusing on what my fingers were doing on the fretboard. Seems so obvious to me now, but I think many beginners worry (understandably) if finger A is really on fret X, because it's what it says on the tab, and they forget to listen to what sounds they actually produce.
Remember reading a guitar book about 1980, Andy Summers did the foreword. He said we learn guitar in plateaus, this was comforting to me as it's what I'd felt. To hear you mention a similar thing is really helpful to guitarists learning. Totally agree, I've never read music, neither did the Beatles and most bands since. Great video 👍
Reading music and sight reading are two different things. I could read music before I picked up the guitar over 50 years ago but have never been a strong sight reader. Picking up a piece of paper with music on it and understanding what's going on has enriched my life.