The biggest improvements have come in the last few years from channels like this, it is the easiest time in history for learning any skills, it's all at our fingertips, people say social media is evil but if you use it properly it freaking incredible 🎸 🎶
Good point. The internet is a great teaching tool as we have all found out with this type of instruction. But there is no stopping those that use it only to heap their own unhappiness and bile on the rest of us. Thanks for adding a positive note to Rhett's wonderful lesson. Cheers
I totally agree! I just don't have the time to sit for a two hour secession when 15 minutes will cover it. I'm at a point now with so many different channels out there that anything over 20 minutes I usually don't watch or I skip through a lot of it.
Rhett, I noticed my most significant improvements when I played regularly with other people (band or jamming). It forced me to learn new songs and riffs, and it motivated me to practice more often. I just didn’t want to suck when playing in front of others so I practiced more often. :)
Absolutely! And also it provides the possibility of testing out techniques and concepts that you have worked on … and that way kinda progress toghether 🙃
Recording yourself is such a vital tip, for me it was incorporating a loop pedal but anything that allows you to look at things to improve will greatly speed up progress
In April it'll be three years since I bought a guitar on a whim and fell in love instantly. I did follow some online courses, but I never took an in-person lesson, I never had a practice routine, because that felt like school all over again and that's not why I picked this instrument up. Once I got the basics down and had the fretboard figured out, I kinda stopped pushing the envelope and noodled all day long. I have played my guitar almost every single day for at least an hour because I have an almost childlike enthusiasm for it, but I was still feeling how hard I was stagnating. So I have started learning songs. I'm still reluctant to use a metronome. Idk why, something in me just doesn't want to use it. Though I'm always using backing tracks and they're kinda like metronomes, no? Maybe I should just get over it and stop being afraid of the thing :D
Don't worry about it much. Eddie Van Halen said in interviews that he couldn't tell you a single scale if required and learned to play piano just by watching his teacher and only pretended that he was sight reading. His teacher caught him when noticing that Eddie was not knowing when to turn the pages for him. He not only learned to play that way but WON the piano talent show at school! Eddie barely even used a tuner to tune but just used his ear according to what he thought the vocals/song required. I mean, even though he DID know how to play lots of covers in the clubs, he even eventually perfected his own unique style and landscape on his fingerboard to suit his own music. Isn't that what our ultimate goal should be: uniqueness in creativity and style and reinventing what we know?
For what it’s worth my BIL was a professional musician and played 10 instruments (upright bass was one). When he practiced he would use a metronome every single time. He became the number one flautist of his city’s symphony orchestra and was in constant demand for the orchestra pit to back “stars” of the time. Like you, I hate to use a metronome, but I take inspiration from my BIL and his dedication to improving his playing every time he practiced.
I've been playing for about 1,5 years now and I've never really understood how to play to a metronome and how to tell time, but I think I've always had a good internal sense of rhythm. I started trying to make music recently and I gotta tell you, without a metronome you're going nowhere. It's really nothing to be scared of. Metronomes are harsh and playing in time will be hard like everything else, but it gets easier the more you do it, and when you get good at it, having good timing is one of the most important things for a guitarist imo. And for me, there are times, when I may think I'm playing fine, but when I listen back to a recording and put a metronome on, it's not always pretty. Also I think all the good things come easily when you take them head on. At least that's how I learnt to do everything I know up to this point. So yeah, just sharing my experience!
Rhythm is the most important element of your playing, and your sense of rhythm is your most important skill. The reason I make this claim: the oft-repeated maxim I've heard from a zillion teachers and great players that "it's better to play the wrong thing at the right time than to play the right thing at the wrong time" is 100% true. If your sense of rhythm and time is off a little bit, it will be obvious to the listener and they won't be able to get past it. And the best tool for improving your sense of time is the metronome. Some people think backing tracks, while not as good as a metronome, are better than nothing; while others think they actually do harm, in that they train you to depend on others for your sense of time rather than developing your own ability to hold time. My suggestion is that if you're using something like ideal Pro or Band in a Box for your backing track, turn down the volume on every instrument but the drums and bass.
Great alternative is play along with songs. Not sure if it's your taste, but I learned a ton by playing along with early Rolling Stones - there was a greatest hits album Called Hot Rocks. Most of the songs have three or four chords and are pretty easy to figure out by ear. once you know what a 1-4-5 chord progression is, and know how to find the friendly minors like minor 6, minor 3 and minor 2, you can play along with tons of classic rock, Motown, folk, R&B. Eventually learn the blues scale and you can start to figure out solos in tunes by stones, Beatles, etc. Strumming along to "Get Off My Cloud" or "Midnight Hour" or "Stand By Me" or "Riders on the Storm" is a lot more fun than a metronome - and those old tunes are all in time (or close enough...). Most important, have fun!! Technical stuff can wait - just enjoy it first - the guitar always has something for you to enjoy - even if it's just figuring out how many different ways you can make that E-minor open chord sound...
Another trick I learned for locking in the note names on those first two strings is to run the cycle of 5ths and/or 4ths on the strings. This will cement the memorization a little more than walking the chromatics
@@lpmama1196 Absolutely! So, focus on 1 string at a time. Starting with the E string: you'd first play C, on the 8th fret, then your next note to play on the E string is G, on the 3rd fret., then D on the 10th fret, A on the 5th, E (open or on the 12th), B on the 7th, F# on the 2nd, C# on the 9th, and so on. This will reinforce learning the notes and the cycles, and I find having to know where they are this way locks it in more than going chromatically because you can't lean on the notes you played before. Anyway, keep doing this until you have the E string down, and then move on to the A. Hope this helps!
a few years ago, I felt like I'd hit a pretty serious plateau in my playing. I made a new years resolution to play guitar at least once EVERY day for the whole year, even if I just sat down for a few minutes and messed around. By the end of the year, I was pretty disheartened by little I'd improved. That made me realize I'd spent an entire year just noodling and going over the same things I always did, instead of actually targeting my weaknesses and PRACTICING them. Since then, my playing's grown by leaps and bounds. Don't noodle! Actually practice! Seek out exercises and routines that target your weakest areas. For me it was string muting and string skipping.
Fun thing to do with improving intonation with bending at the G string: You can do the intonation check at the G string by double stopping the note you want to bend to on the B string. So if you want to bend an F# on G (11th fret) to a G#, you can check your intonation at G# on B (9th fret). You can play the notes separately like Rhett does, and you can also double stop it by bending the G and keeping the B where it’s at.
Been playing for over 5 years now. It's so cool how much one comes when you put in the effort, especially knowing chords, frets, scales. In many ways, they feel quite endless.
6:00 Barre chords: The first epiphany I had was when it sank in that all barre shapes with a root on the low E has an E shape in front (major & minor), and all barre chords with a root on the A string has an A shape in front (major & minor). When that sank in, it changed my guitar life which is only 10 months old.
Actually, there are 5 barre chord shapes: C, A, G, E, and D. However, the A and E shapes are the most commonly used. The E and G shapes both have the root on the 6th string, the A and C shapes have the root on the 5th string, and the D shape has the root on the 4th string.
@@KPLPTube That is why I'm not a fan of the CAGED system. The G ,C and D shapes are very unusefull as a bar chord. It's much easier to just learn the names of the notes of, at least, the low E and A string, to start with. From there you can cover a lot of bar chords with E and A shape (either major and minor and 7th chords).
There's one thing that made me hit the subscribe button and it's when you said you playing from 20 years and you still believe that you can't learn the whole thing about the instrument... I kind of have a same set of mind even after these 20 years of playing guitar... Surprisingly I recently shifted to an electric after almost 20 years of playing acoustic and also some percussions too.. one life is not enough for this endless knowledge of music..!! Cheers! 😊
When I studied classical guitar my teacher had me learn all the scales in the Segovia scale book and say the notes out load as I played. I learned all the notes on the fretboard quite quickly.
Funny when you mentioned how long you’ve been playing. I hadn’t thought about it…I always had a guitar around as my dad would pick out Melodie’s of old songs, I mean really old songs… so I would play around at first just learning some riffs that were the openings of old tv shows…my sister showed me the first cowboy chords and a neighbor who played let me back him on this cowboy chords…and I was off and running…that was 55 years ago as I’m almost 71 years old… I still play guitar every day and play in a local gigging band…ain’t it fun!!! I don’t know if I’m advanced or not but to me it don’t matter much as I’m havin a blast…I certainly enjoy you, Rick and Josh here on the tube…thanks a bunch
Me and a friend of mine who's a keyboardist and classically trained have this routine so I can work on my theory/ear/transcribing. Every Friday we put on a music show, 3 hours of several artists in different music styles, and.. we just figure out songs. We also alternate between calling out scale degrees and full chord names, and the mix of keys, modes and immediacy of having no rewind button make this very interesting. It's not really transcribing, we're not so much about getting the voicings right, but that will come in time too. Already I'm drilling other things alongside it, such as "use triads only" or "top three strings and middle of the neck", esp if the key and progression is familiar. You know, fun 😉
After almost 25 years of playing, I finally learned the pentatonic shapes, intervals, triads, notes on the fretboard, and the CAGED system. I’m getting to the point where I feel like all of those things are gelling together, and I’m really starting to unlock the fretboard. But yeah, still have to improve my bending, vibrato, and technical precision. This year my goal is to learn a bunch of solos. They’ve always intimidated me, but hopefully not for long.
Hi Rhett, If possible, I would like to hug you. It took me decades to find out what you have put into these few minutes of video. What I learned in addition today : Practice as often as you can, and HAVE FUN! Thank you so much! 👍👍👍
I'm a theory geek, a former guitar teacher, and an old dog player, so I'll watch a video like this to build on my ability to explain certain concepts. You have a smooth teaching style. Easy to follow and listen to. We share a lot of common ideologies and priorities... but you explain it better. Great video as always. Keep up the great work!
Excellent video from a person who has trouble interpreting instructions. I used to frustrate my mentor. I learned better playing to records. I'm basically tone deaf, tuning wise, but I can play fairly faithful to a record and I do feel the music I like. After 50 years I want to play. That helps immensely and playing daily is a huge plus.i just bought a guitar with a locking nut and kahler 2700 trem. What a boost in in- tune playing!!
For me, I mix newly learned tunes with tunes I've played my whole life, 66 long years. This creates a relationship with the material, you can play it in your sleep. You also get a benchmark for the new stuff to aspire.
This is a very revelatory video. It surprised me to know that I've been implementing everything mentioned and much more for some time. Yet I still feel stuck. One of the reasons I feel stuck is because of the lack of pressure in my regime. I have 4 small kids under 8 years old so I don't get to play with other people. So no matter how many of these concepts I work on I end up never mastering any because I'm never on the live performance knife edge that forces you to nail it. So according to this video's criteria I'm beyond intermediate but according to my goals I feel less than beginner... not sure if this resonates with any of yall. Guess it just helps me to articulate it.. thanks
I hear you. Just a couple of suggestions that you might try. First, ask yourself if you can play any of your favorite songs back to front along with the track. If yes, can you do it for 10 songs? Play along with them note for note as if it were a set list. No tabs. Stand up. Adjust your gain, tone (using pedals, whatever you need) on the fly in real time. If you can do that and feel like you could really play along in time, minimal mistakes and with some conviction then you can play in a band. It may take time to adjust to playing with humans but you definitely can get started. Another idea that Rhett and others suggest is to record yourself and listen back with critical ears. Then make adjustments. Good luck man. I hope that you find music more fulfilling. I’m trying to find that too.
For me, beating the plateau is about planning. I separate my practice into short and long-term goals. Short-term goals should be completed within three months and include building a repertoire of songs I can technically handle right now, playing them from memory and finally performing them. Long-term goals span years and are comprised of exercises (scales, chords, patterns, licks) that I play in all octaves and keys for about 3 - 5 minutes each with a backing track or a metronome. 99% of my practice time is spent on short-term goals.
First things first don’t be over doing it with too much. No point in really branching to the major scales and things if you haven’t learned how to kill the pentatonic first. Second is you have to really spend a lot of time practicing to see progress. I usually don’t see any condition in my body and mind to work on advancing my technique until I’ve been playing for over and hour and 2 hours is even better and back when I was really leveling up it was even better at 4 hours and more. I’m not trying to discourage you. I’m just telling you that’s what all these advanced players did. When I was young I could play at about a grunge level and I spent forever at that plateau. I am happy I did because I learned to write music from feelings but at some point I wanted more and God first of all got me where I wanted to be by unlocking me somehow and after that all I had to do was practice like crazy. I am at a point now where I don’t feel the need to work on technique anymore. I’m me and I don’t feel that any amount of progress is worth the work to get it anymore, but we’re talking about an entire decade after God blessed me at church
The biggest thing for me that identifies a beginner form intermediate (I mean in addition to your points) is having relaxed as opposed to flexed hands and fingers. The exercise of 1325 is great but one must make certain to go very SLOW in the absolute most relaxed way where you concentrate, not on the fretting finger, but rather on the other fingers being relaxed. If they are moving on order to get the fret finger to hit its target, then you have not achieved finger independence. If you develop and iron grip and your pinky is shooting out into a "tea for two" possition, you are not relaxed. Never ever ever power through an exercise sacrificing relaxed idependent fingers for speed. This promotes a muscle memory that will need unlearning later (guilty as charged - 20 years of it!). Any time a chord or scale patters requires and iron grip, stop! Take a breath (always breath slow and deep by the way). Now place your fingers where you want them to go in a exaggeratedly relaxed way as lowly as it takes and prove to your brain it can be done relaxed. If your hand is tired (yes even when doing an F bar) you are not relaxed. If your fingers are lifting high off the strings, you are not relaxes. Watch any great guitarist and you will see I'm right. Loved this segment!
One advice you said in another video is "having your guitar around" so when you see it, you are more likely to pick it up and play...I have my guitar on a stand in my living room...and every time I see it, I tend to pick it up and play even if it's just 15 mins...because it's a visual reminder to me...that has helped me play more(multiple times in one day, each day) every time.
You are a master teacher, and I really appreciate it. I liked the exercise, those always appeal to me because as you say you can measure your progress. Keep up the good work
I found this video incredibly helpful. It reinforced what I'm doing right, and confirmed a few things I'm doing wrong. I'm 63 and just learning to play.
One of the better videos I have seen particularly the last few minutes about mastering the instrument it may never be possible but we get better each day we play and practice
I definately agree that playing in an actual band is very key. I started playing guitar at around 10 years old. It wasn't until I was around 40 that I started playing in a church band. What a shock to actually have to play on time. And I have developed a skill of playing the chords in other positions. Because in worship music usually the lead guy is playing acoustic cowboy chords just moving the capo according to the key. So I have learned triad positions to play other intersting chords or fragments. I have made a lot of growth in the last 23 years and hardly any in my first 30 years.
It’s like you already said, I have found the best return on investment (in terms of time spent learning) is by learning and practicing new songs. I get very little from endlessly practicing scales and or trying to memorize all the scale shapes. I just get frustrated and bored. I get much more enjoyment and a greater sense of accomplishment when I learn a new solo for one of my favorite songs. I also learn the rhythm part and record it in my looper (Trio+) and practice the solo over it.
What has really amped up my fluency is my Trio+. I write my own songs and just about everyday I play through all 13 of them. I play the rhythm, solos, intros etc. like I am gigging. I sing and play my songs and it is great fun. In addition, this practice has resulted in refining parts to include more magic. Looking forward to the terrifying day when I play my babies in public.
Rhett cant believe I just discovered you! I've seen you on Rick Beato's channel and thought you were a professional musician, and then disovered your excellent youtube instructional video's. Excellent presentation, excellent content...I'd like to add, that using the metronome for almost every practice session improved my playing tremendously.
So glad you mentioned recording yourself. I have only truly seen progress since I started a) Recording (and trying to double track myself) and b) trying to transcribe in Guitar Pro. The number of times I've realised "those triplets are not triplets" or forced myself to acknowledge that I've fudging a particular bit of a piece. Its the best. I recommend using a DAW and putting a beat down to record against and just double track your playing once you "think you've got it". I can guarantee you find new areas to improve.
Learning your relative major/minor chords in the natural scale is a nice little eye opener for beginners as well. Applying that to the caged system will have you writing your own music in no time. Or 95% of pop music!
Hi there, I play for more than 10 years now, and I've made the biggest progress from the moment I've been able to link Chords to Triads to Pentatonic scales, always with some Caged positions in mind.
Something that helped me was simply trying to improvise and create something new. Trying chords I know in different orders, with a purpose and trying to create something. Remember, if it sounds good, it's good. One of the biggest advantages of playing an instrument is exercising creativity and expressing your feelings.
I had a problem hearing a song and trying to figure out open chords. When I got familiar with barre chords, it became so much easier. I could easily hear the relative sounds of the chords and see the pattern on the fretboard and I could match what I heard in my head with the barre chord on the E string. It was easy then to use the A string barre chords to make things easier to play by switching between the two. I then found it comfortable to play D shaped barre chords when I wanted and to incorporate open chords to replace barre chords when I wanted. G and C shaped barre chords I find less useful except for C7 shape. For me, being able to hear a song part in my head and be able to translate that to guitar is so satisfying and fun.
Thanks, Rhett - this video was so helpful. I took lessons for over 10 years and have played on and off for 20 years since, but never reached the 'advanced' stage. This video confirmed for me that I'm 'intermediate', but for me it's about "what's missing" or why couldn't I get beyond this point. I believe it has a lot to do with complete neck fluency and improvisational skills. Knowing where notes are is straight memorization, but being able to transform that knowledge of 'just notes' into your own music is what I think brings a player into another level. If you'd be willing to do a video on this subject, it could help me and others stuck at this level. Thanks again!
Great advice. I like to play songs too. That’s what get me 2 hrs in without realizing it. I do practice scales, techniques, picking and strumming but only for 20-30 mins. By then my tendency to become bored cannot be ignored. I start playing songs or work on fretboard memorization. I am a little over a year in. Still terrible but I do some things ok, and man have I improved.
Outstanding, Rhett. I call myself an intermediate player and I’m currently ‘teaching’ a couple of friends, so this approach is both useful and intuitive. Cheers and thanks from Brisbane Australia.
A good trick for me is to have a mirror ready so I can adjust the way I hold the neck when playing weird fingerings. I'm a classical guitar player and sometimes the fingerings make my wrist hurt. It took looking in the mirror to notice my wrist was in a lot of tension.
Talking about vibrato, as Rhett said it should be smooth and evenly pitched but with that said not everyone's vibrato is going to sound the same, just because you may not match the vibrato in a song you are working on learning doesn't mean it is wrong. This is one of those things that separate us all as guitar players, everyone ends up with some unique tone and style, if everyone sounded all the same it could get a little uninteresting, If you can about match someone then great but the main thing is smoothness and matching the pitch the best you can then you've got it. Rhett Rocks.
Well, I'm a little late to this party. Good video with great info. I would like to add that I tell my students to sing the notes while playing them. Get to know the intervals and be able to play what they hear in their heads. As a player, my ability to play what I heard in my head got better and better. It also helped me pick up songs quickly. Anyway, that's my 2 cents any way. I really like your videos. One never knows everything and I've picked up so much from you and Rick. Thanks much.
Great video. I totally agree with using songs to practice because I'm much more likely to pick up my guitar and play a few songs than spend an hour doing technical exercises. But a few caveats to that. First if I'm going to play a song, I treat it as a performance. I play the whole song start to finish and try to play it as musically as I can. I don't let myself get sloppy. I also look for different ways to play the same song---different tempos, different keys, maybe use bar chords instead of first position chords. I may experiment with using a first position chord in the verse and use a bar chord in the chorus. Listening carefully to how different chord positions affect the feel of a particular song helps me be more musical. I find I'm much more motivated to work on a new technique or fingering when I see how it makes a song better. Just playing the song the same way every time might feel good but it doesn't produce the growth I need. So many teachers I've had have a formula of what techniques they want you to learn, and often they don't seem to care about the songs you want to play, just the exercises they want you to practice. I get that some of those techniques are fundamental and if you want to be a well rounded player you need to learn a broad range of techniques. But rigidly focusing on exercises in the absence of making music isn't very motivating to people like me. The other problem I ran into with teachers is that if they did use songs in their lessons, they liked to pick the songs. I get that, too. They picked songs that were good for learning certain techniques. But if they'd let me pick songs I actually wanted to play, it would have worked so much better for me. I know there are good teachers out there, but I've had bad luck with private lessons. So many teachers like to follow a specific lesson plan because they think it's the best way to learn. They're often unwilling or uncomfortable stepping outside the box they've created, which is understandable because they put a lot of effort into devising a teaching approach and they don't want to reinvent that everytime they take on a new student. But when I look at the amount of money a student spends on lessons, seems like a little effort on the teacher's part to adapt their approach for a particular student's learning needs isn't unreasonable. So after years of struggling through lessons, I now try to find good ideas from people like you, Rhett, and I apply them to my practice. I've made more progress since I started doing this than I did in years of taking private lessons. So thank you for giving such good advice that people like me can benefit from.
Amazing video! I'm a beginner, trying to learn through an app and was feeling kind of stuck. I'll definitely try these exercises and techniques from now on. Thank you, Rhett. Cheers from Brasil.
Rhett, you are a very good teacher. You have a way of giving the info and relating it so that beginners and other players at all levels can grasp and put into practice. I was stuck at the Beginner level (advanced beginner Lol) for a very long time and then by becoming proficient with barre chords and learning the CAGED system, the whole picture of the fret board began to open up for me. I am strictly rhythm, as Knofler would say, but I am learning the notes up and down the board using your technique, just so I can become a more fully informed player. BTW, when it comes to teaching, the glasses help and look good!
Thanks Rhett. It's good to know that I'm teaching the right stuff! : ) In addition, I also teach how to hear/find the key of the song, know the chords in the key and which you're likely to find, so you try these first. Numbering chords, often known as the Nashville numbering system. My students quickly learn how to work out songs by ear, starting out with simple I, IV, V.
I really enjoyed this video Rhett! Can't agree more on play what makes you happy. Thank you for your humble attitude towards learning guitar. Took me years not to be too hard on myself for not knowing certain scales or reading sheet paper for that matter. Also, great tone from that esquire. Looking forward to more uploads like this. Keep up the good work!
This is a wonderful video. Lots of tips and things I need to think about. But the best part is what you saved for last: "Do what makes you happy". I've realized I practice a lot more when it's something I want to learn. Especially when you have no illusions about making a living with your instrument (that's me). If it's not fun you won't want to pick the guitar up.
if your a beginner guitarist, never be afraid of asking questions! I never asked questions when I was a beginner which hindered me big time from progressing to where I am now!
I didn't read through all the comments, so apologies if these have been mentioned, but I think volume control and timbre control are also important as a guitarist (or any instrumentalist, for that matter) develops and grows. Great video, Rhett: keep up the Good Work.
What helped me the most was trying to write songs in a style that I enjoy listening to and playing. I started picking up music theory and song structure this way. Since I don’t have a band to play with, I found that this forced me to think about the areas I needed the most improvement in and make sure to highlight those in what I write. Plus, I find it the best part of being a guitarist!
Beginner encouragement tip... If you learn the note names on the 6th string you will also know the names on the 1st. Assuming standard tuning of course.
Just play. I’m not the best shredding player but I’ve seen vast improvement just from playing. I learned bar chord shapes. Called them A type and E type and just got familiar with moving them around. Rhythmic strumming and hearing what was in key or not came almost naturally after playing a few months. Forget tv or bullshit. Play your instrument on all of your free time. Within a few months you’ll be so pleased with your progress you should be sold. Practice practice practice.
Great video! I'd love to see a follow up discussing what separates an advanced guitarist from an intermediate one. And this time, I'll watch the live stream.
Great video Rhett. I got hooked on Elevated Jam Tracks here on RUclips about a year and a half ago and it's got me picking up the guitar and playing every day from 12:30 - 2pm. Got me from playing only major and minor pentatonic stuff to playing all different modes. The biggest improvement for me is that I can hear where the half steps are now on whatever's playing and play along. Keep up the good work brother.
I have a different trick that I've used to start getting comfortable around the fretboard. I play 3 different versions of the C major scale in 3 different positions(starting on the low E, or 6th, string) that cover the 12 lower frets. Like Rhett says about the 6th and 5th strings, I say the names out loud, and I play them slowly enough to digest what I'm hearing. In open position, low E string, I play the E Phrygian mode of the C major scale. Basically that means playing all the natural notes, no sharps or flats. Most of us already know this one, because it is that simple little 1 octave C major in open position we learned from beginner nursery rhyme oriented books. I just extend it down to low E and up to high G. In 5th position, I play A minor natural. Again, it's the C major notes. No Sharps or Flats. Again, we all know it, because it's A minor Pentatonic with the missing notes. Again, play it slowly enough to actually hear yourself. Finally, I go to 8th position and play a C major scale 3 notes per string style. Again, essentially C major, no sharps or flats. Again, play it slowly enough to name the notes and hear yourself doing so. All this helps, I find. Add in a few basic tricks, like the octave of a note being 2 strings higher and 2 frets bridgeward, and the same note being 3 strings higher and 3 frets bridgeward. (Exceptions where the 2nd string gets involved. That shifts things 1 fret bridgeward.), and I find the fretboad a lot more navigable. Not totally there yet. But it's a start.
This is the perfect video for me right now. I’m feeling really stuck with where I’m at musically, and at least the beginning parts of the video are easy enough for someone learning on their own to do.
I was lucky to have started my playing during the punk era. Nobody cared much for the skills then but skill will come from hours of playing. I always played in a band. We used to record every time we rehearsed and listen back to it. Learned a lot from that.
This is great. I’ve actually been working on all of these steps in the last month. I’ve only been playing 10 months. I still would consider myself a beginner. But I do work on all of these. By no means do I have any of them down. But I am having a ton of fun. I haven’t been this passionate about something in a long time. And your videos have taught me a ton.
TIL I'm an intermediate guitarist. I saw the livestream topic and wasn't able to dedicate the time, this was a nice synopsis. There is no harsher critic than a looper pedal for self-feedback, they are almost cruel and unusual. Getting one with some included beats (RC-10R) to use a metronome is a really entertaining option to frustrate yourself improving your sense of time.
Thank You so much, Rhett!! This video has really helped me to understand that my practice methods are okay, lol . Like you, I seem to practice most by learning a song and learning notes and having no set routine. But I play every day!! ☮❤☮
Thanks for doing this condensed version. I feel like I'm living on the cusp between beginner and intermediate, so this video was helpful in motivating me toward moving forward instead of hanging out here in limboland!
one thing I've done when teaching is to what you're doing but making a point to have the student use each finger in the pattern so that they are building muscle memory chromatically up and down and as they get better keep expanding that out further on strings and what not. its a great way to launch a guitarist forward by developing the hand to have as equal fretting power as possible and it helps them avoid not using the pinky which is common not really a mistake but speed comes from that pinky at times.
I'll add an emphasis on one point regarding the use of Metronome: once you've gotten to a point of being able to be accurate in timing, the next exercise could be to intentionally go OUT of time, then correct yourself as quickly as possible to being back in time. If you can successfully navigate in and out of time, you have made timing a truly fluid thing, and this will make advanced concepts like "being in the pocket" much easier to understand, and playing "with feeling" will become much easier.
I’ve passed the intermediate phase. What are things that make an advanced player? What should I know? I’ll never be an expert, but I will keep going. 🤔
Great video Rhett! The thing that has helped me has been playing covers with a band. There was (and still is) where I get very dialed into doing original stuff, I wasn't pushing myself forward with new ideas. Playing with a band forces you to also learn the whole song and not just that cool riff or solo part.
The biggest improvements have come in the last few years from channels like this, it is the easiest time in history for learning any skills, it's all at our fingertips, people say social media is evil but if you use it properly it freaking incredible 🎸 🎶
Good point. The internet is a great teaching tool as we have all found out with this type of instruction.
But there is no stopping those that use it only to heap their own unhappiness and bile on the rest of us.
Thanks for adding a positive note to Rhett's wonderful lesson.
Cheers
Thank you for doing this truncated version off stream. I much prefer this to a live stream. Honestly, I wish Rick would do this too.
I agree with this! Plus, an abridged version of each stream is a good way to get more views for the channel probably
I couldn’t agree more. Love the truncated version of stream.
I totally agree! I just don't have the time to sit for a two hour secession when 15 minutes will cover it. I'm at a point now with so many different channels out there that anything over 20 minutes I usually don't watch or I skip through a lot of it.
The thing with Rick, is there are many gems you'll miss out on if you're watching a cherry picked video
Agreed!
Rhett, I noticed my most significant improvements when I played regularly with other people (band or jamming). It forced me to learn new songs and riffs, and it motivated me to practice more often. I just didn’t want to suck when playing in front of others so I practiced more often. :)
Absolutely! And also it provides the possibility of testing out techniques and concepts that you have worked on … and that way kinda progress toghether 🙃
Got my first guitar in 3rd Grade. Am 65 years old now and still learning new things and improving. What a wonderful thing playing guitar is!!!!
I'm right there with you . Amen to that.
Recording yourself is such a vital tip, for me it was incorporating a loop pedal but anything that allows you to look at things to improve will greatly speed up progress
In April it'll be three years since I bought a guitar on a whim and fell in love instantly. I did follow some online courses, but I never took an in-person lesson, I never had a practice routine, because that felt like school all over again and that's not why I picked this instrument up. Once I got the basics down and had the fretboard figured out, I kinda stopped pushing the envelope and noodled all day long. I have played my guitar almost every single day for at least an hour because I have an almost childlike enthusiasm for it, but I was still feeling how hard I was stagnating.
So I have started learning songs. I'm still reluctant to use a metronome. Idk why, something in me just doesn't want to use it. Though I'm always using backing tracks and they're kinda like metronomes, no? Maybe I should just get over it and stop being afraid of the thing :D
Don't worry about it much. Eddie Van Halen said in interviews that he couldn't tell you a single scale if required and learned to play piano just by watching his teacher and only pretended that he was sight reading. His teacher caught him when noticing that Eddie was not knowing when to turn the pages for him. He not only learned to play that way but WON the piano talent show at school! Eddie barely even used a tuner to tune but just used his ear according to what he thought the vocals/song required. I mean, even though he DID know how to play lots of covers in the clubs, he even eventually perfected his own unique style and landscape on his fingerboard to suit his own music. Isn't that what our ultimate goal should be: uniqueness in creativity and style and reinventing what we know?
For what it’s worth my BIL was a professional musician and played 10 instruments (upright bass was one). When he practiced he would use a metronome every single time. He became the number one flautist of his city’s symphony orchestra and was in constant demand for the orchestra pit to back “stars” of the time. Like you, I hate to use a metronome, but I take inspiration from my BIL and his dedication to improving his playing every time he practiced.
I've been playing for about 1,5 years now and I've never really understood how to play to a metronome and how to tell time, but I think I've always had a good internal sense of rhythm.
I started trying to make music recently and I gotta tell you, without a metronome you're going nowhere. It's really nothing to be scared of. Metronomes are harsh and playing in time will be hard like everything else, but it gets easier the more you do it, and when you get good at it, having good timing is one of the most important things for a guitarist imo. And for me, there are times, when I may think I'm playing fine, but when I listen back to a recording and put a metronome on, it's not always pretty. Also I think all the good things come easily when you take them head on. At least that's how I learnt to do everything I know up to this point. So yeah, just sharing my experience!
Rhythm is the most important element of your playing, and your sense of rhythm is your most important skill. The reason I make this claim: the oft-repeated maxim I've heard from a zillion teachers and great players that "it's better to play the wrong thing at the right time than to play the right thing at the wrong time" is 100% true. If your sense of rhythm and time is off a little bit, it will be obvious to the listener and they won't be able to get past it. And the best tool for improving your sense of time is the metronome.
Some people think backing tracks, while not as good as a metronome, are better than nothing; while others think they actually do harm, in that they train you to depend on others for your sense of time rather than developing your own ability to hold time. My suggestion is that if you're using something like ideal Pro or Band in a Box for your backing track, turn down the volume on every instrument but the drums and bass.
Great alternative is play along with songs. Not sure if it's your taste, but I learned a ton by playing along with early Rolling Stones - there was a greatest hits album Called Hot Rocks. Most of the songs have three or four chords and are pretty easy to figure out by ear. once you know what a 1-4-5 chord progression is, and know how to find the friendly minors like minor 6, minor 3 and minor 2, you can play along with tons of classic rock, Motown, folk, R&B. Eventually learn the blues scale and you can start to figure out solos in tunes by stones, Beatles, etc. Strumming along to "Get Off My Cloud" or "Midnight Hour" or "Stand By Me" or "Riders on the Storm" is a lot more fun than a metronome - and those old tunes are all in time (or close enough...). Most important, have fun!! Technical stuff can wait - just enjoy it first - the guitar always has something for you to enjoy - even if it's just figuring out how many different ways you can make that E-minor open chord sound...
Another trick I learned for locking in the note names on those first two strings is to run the cycle of 5ths and/or 4ths on the strings. This will cement the memorization a little more than walking the chromatics
Could you explain how to do that? Thx!
@@lpmama1196 Absolutely! So, focus on 1 string at a time. Starting with the E string: you'd first play C, on the 8th fret, then your next note to play on the E string is G, on the 3rd fret., then D on the 10th fret, A on the 5th, E (open or on the 12th), B on the 7th, F# on the 2nd, C# on the 9th, and so on. This will reinforce learning the notes and the cycles, and I find having to know where they are this way locks it in more than going chromatically because you can't lean on the notes you played before. Anyway, keep doing this until you have the E string down, and then move on to the A.
Hope this helps!
a few years ago, I felt like I'd hit a pretty serious plateau in my playing. I made a new years resolution to play guitar at least once EVERY day for the whole year, even if I just sat down for a few minutes and messed around. By the end of the year, I was pretty disheartened by little I'd improved. That made me realize I'd spent an entire year just noodling and going over the same things I always did, instead of actually targeting my weaknesses and PRACTICING them. Since then, my playing's grown by leaps and bounds. Don't noodle! Actually practice! Seek out exercises and routines that target your weakest areas. For me it was string muting and string skipping.
Amen! dont noodle, chose and play an exercise or a song.
Fun thing to do with improving intonation with bending at the G string:
You can do the intonation check at the G string by double stopping the note you want to bend to on the B string. So if you want to bend an F# on G (11th fret) to a G#, you can check your intonation at G# on B (9th fret). You can play the notes separately like Rhett does, and you can also double stop it by bending the G and keeping the B where it’s at.
Hi,
i think it will be cool if make a video about what makes a advanced guitar player, or going from intermediate to advanced.
Cheers from Portugal
Portugueses no mundo =)
hes not really advanced
@@brianwhitehead8755 then you are nothing! Technique isn't everything...
@@goncalonunesfonseca6091 says the novice guitar player
@@brianwhitehead8755 Says the shred snob that swipes major scales up and down and calls it a solo...
Been playing for over 5 years now. It's so cool how much one comes when you put in the effort, especially knowing chords, frets, scales. In many ways, they feel quite endless.
Cool. What do you like to play? (i see you everywhere)
@@StamateTudorGuitar Jazz, Blues, and Metal music primarily. I am open to anything, but those three are what I was raised on the most.
Remember.” It’s Your EAR you have to please. Every one else’s will follow “
Thank you for being so encouraging and positive.
We beginners need that sometimes.
6:00 Barre chords: The first epiphany I had was when it sank in that all barre shapes with a root on the low E has an E shape in front (major & minor), and all barre chords with a root on the A string has an A shape in front (major & minor). When that sank in, it changed my guitar life which is only 10 months old.
You’re right !!!
@@nicolasmaurin182 You're welcome. lol
Actually, there are 5 barre chord shapes: C, A, G, E, and D. However, the A and E shapes are the most commonly used. The E and G shapes both have the root on the 6th string, the A and C shapes have the root on the 5th string, and the D shape has the root on the 4th string.
@@KPLPTube Cool! Thank you!
@@KPLPTube That is why I'm not a fan of the CAGED system. The G ,C and D shapes are very unusefull as a bar chord. It's much easier to just learn the names of the notes of, at least, the low E and A string, to start with. From there you can cover a lot of bar chords with E and A shape (either major and minor and 7th chords).
As a lifelong percussionist and late bloomer to guitar, alternate picking comes automatically.
Grateful for that.
Thanks Rhett. For pointing out the joy. That's the point.
Whatever keeps the guitar in your hands, and is fun... That is very true. Thanks Rhett
ive been playing every day since new year i see myself "leveling up" each day i learn something new.
There's one thing that made me hit the subscribe button and it's when you said you playing from 20 years and you still believe that you can't learn the whole thing about the instrument... I kind of have a same set of mind even after these 20 years of playing guitar... Surprisingly I recently shifted to an electric after almost 20 years of playing acoustic and also some percussions too.. one life is not enough for this endless knowledge of music..!!
Cheers! 😊
When I studied classical guitar my teacher had me learn all the scales in the Segovia scale book and say the notes out load as I played. I learned all the notes on the fretboard quite quickly.
Funny when you mentioned how long you’ve been playing. I hadn’t thought about it…I always had a guitar around as my dad would pick out Melodie’s of old songs, I mean really old songs… so I would play around at first just learning some riffs that were the openings of old tv shows…my sister showed me the first cowboy chords and a neighbor who played let me back him on this cowboy chords…and I was off and running…that was 55 years ago as I’m almost 71 years old… I still play guitar every day and play in a local gigging band…ain’t it fun!!! I don’t know if I’m advanced or not but to me it don’t matter much as I’m havin a blast…I certainly enjoy you, Rick and Josh here on the tube…thanks a bunch
A looper pedal is a great learning aid
Me and a friend of mine who's a keyboardist and classically trained have this routine so I can work on my theory/ear/transcribing.
Every Friday we put on a music show, 3 hours of several artists in different music styles, and.. we just figure out songs. We also alternate between calling out scale degrees and full chord names, and the mix of keys, modes and immediacy of having no rewind button make this very interesting.
It's not really transcribing, we're not so much about getting the voicings right, but that will come in time too. Already I'm drilling other things alongside it, such as "use triads only" or "top three strings and middle of the neck", esp if the key and progression is familiar.
You know, fun 😉
After almost 25 years of playing, I finally learned the pentatonic shapes, intervals, triads, notes on the fretboard, and the CAGED system. I’m getting to the point where I feel like all of those things are gelling together, and I’m really starting to unlock the fretboard. But yeah, still have to improve my bending, vibrato, and technical precision. This year my goal is to learn a bunch of solos. They’ve always intimidated me, but hopefully not for long.
I watched that Live stream. Thank you for condensing those talking points!
Please Rhett, never stop doing this channel.
Hi Rhett,
If possible, I would like to hug you. It took me decades to find out what you have put into these few minutes of video. What I learned in addition today : Practice as often as you can, and HAVE FUN! Thank you so much! 👍👍👍
Love all these tips and thanks for being transparent. Make sure you practice standing up too :)
Finger exercising is fun and can do wonders. the one in this video is great.
I'm a theory geek, a former guitar teacher, and an old dog player, so I'll watch a video like this to build on my ability to explain certain concepts. You have a smooth teaching style. Easy to follow and listen to. We share a lot of common ideologies and priorities... but you explain it better. Great video as always. Keep up the great work!
Excellent video from a person who has trouble interpreting instructions. I used to frustrate my mentor. I learned better playing to records. I'm basically tone deaf, tuning wise, but I can play fairly faithful to a record and I do feel the music I like. After 50 years I want to play. That helps immensely and playing daily is a huge plus.i just bought a guitar with a locking nut and kahler 2700 trem. What a boost in in- tune playing!!
For me, I mix newly learned tunes with tunes I've played my whole life, 66 long years. This creates a relationship with the material, you can play it in your sleep. You also get a benchmark for the new stuff to aspire.
This is a very revelatory video. It surprised me to know that I've been implementing everything mentioned and much more for some time. Yet I still feel stuck. One of the reasons I feel stuck is because of the lack of pressure in my regime. I have 4 small kids under 8 years old so I don't get to play with other people. So no matter how many of these concepts I work on I end up never mastering any because I'm never on the live performance knife edge that forces you to nail it. So according to this video's criteria I'm beyond intermediate but according to my goals I feel less than beginner... not sure if this resonates with any of yall. Guess it just helps me to articulate it.. thanks
I hear you. Just a couple of suggestions that you might try. First, ask yourself if you can play any of your favorite songs back to front along with the track. If yes, can you do it for 10 songs? Play along with them note for note as if it were a set list. No tabs. Stand up. Adjust your gain, tone (using pedals, whatever you need) on the fly in real time. If you can do that and feel like you could really play along in time, minimal mistakes and with some conviction then you can play in a band. It may take time to adjust to playing with humans but you definitely can get started. Another idea that Rhett and others suggest is to record yourself and listen back with critical ears. Then make adjustments. Good luck man. I hope that you find music more fulfilling. I’m trying to find that too.
@@mattolenn & @Dr. Z. Marshall Fender these suggestions make a lot of sense, thanks!
For me, beating the plateau is about planning. I separate my practice into short and long-term goals. Short-term goals should be completed within three months and include building a repertoire of songs I can technically handle right now, playing them from memory and finally performing them. Long-term goals span years and are comprised of exercises (scales, chords, patterns, licks) that I play in all octaves and keys for about 3 - 5 minutes each with a backing track or a metronome. 99% of my practice time is spent on short-term goals.
First things first don’t be over doing it with too much. No point in really branching to the major scales and things if you haven’t learned how to kill the pentatonic first. Second is you have to really spend a lot of time practicing to see progress. I usually don’t see any condition in my body and mind to work on advancing my technique until I’ve been playing for over and hour and 2 hours is even better and back when I was really leveling up it was even better at 4 hours and more. I’m not trying to discourage you. I’m just telling you that’s what all these advanced players did. When I was young I could play at about a grunge level and I spent forever at that plateau. I am happy I did because I learned to write music from feelings but at some point I wanted more and God first of all got me where I wanted to be by unlocking me somehow and after that all I had to do was practice like crazy. I am at a point now where I don’t feel the need to work on technique anymore. I’m me and I don’t feel that any amount of progress is worth the work to get it anymore, but we’re talking about an entire decade after God blessed me at church
Likewise!!!
The biggest thing for me that identifies a beginner form intermediate (I mean in addition to your points) is having relaxed as opposed to flexed hands and fingers. The exercise of 1325 is great but one must make certain to go very SLOW in the absolute most relaxed way where you concentrate, not on the fretting finger, but rather on the other fingers being relaxed. If they are moving on order to get the fret finger to hit its target, then you have not achieved finger independence. If you develop and iron grip and your pinky is shooting out into a "tea for two" possition, you are not relaxed.
Never ever ever power through an exercise sacrificing relaxed idependent fingers for speed. This promotes a muscle memory that will need unlearning later (guilty as charged - 20 years of it!).
Any time a chord or scale patters requires and iron grip, stop! Take a breath (always breath slow and deep by the way). Now place your fingers where you want them to go in a exaggeratedly relaxed way as lowly as it takes and prove to your brain it can be done relaxed.
If your hand is tired (yes even when doing an F bar) you are not relaxed. If your fingers are lifting high off the strings, you are not relaxes.
Watch any great guitarist and you will see I'm right.
Loved this segment!
One advice you said in another video is "having your guitar around" so when you see it, you are more likely to pick it up and play...I have my guitar on a stand in my living room...and every time I see it, I tend to pick it up and play even if it's just 15 mins...because it's a visual reminder to me...that has helped me play more(multiple times in one day, each day) every time.
You are a master teacher, and I really appreciate it. I liked the exercise, those always appeal to me because as you say you can measure your progress. Keep up the good work
I found this video incredibly helpful. It reinforced what I'm doing right, and confirmed a few things I'm doing wrong. I'm 63 and just learning to play.
One of the better videos I have seen particularly the last few minutes about mastering the instrument it may never be possible but we get better each day we play and practice
I definately agree that playing in an actual band is very key. I started playing guitar at around 10 years old. It wasn't until I was around 40 that I started playing in a church band. What a shock to actually have to play on time. And I have developed a skill of playing the chords in other positions. Because in worship music usually the lead guy is playing acoustic cowboy chords just moving the capo according to the key. So I have learned triad positions to play other intersting chords or fragments. I have made a lot of growth in the last 23 years and hardly any in my first 30 years.
It’s like you already said, I have found the best return on investment (in terms of time spent learning) is by learning and practicing new songs. I get very little from endlessly practicing scales and or trying to memorize all the scale shapes. I just get frustrated and bored. I get much more enjoyment and a greater sense of accomplishment when I learn a new solo for one of my favorite songs. I also learn the rhythm part and record it in my looper (Trio+) and practice the solo over it.
What has really amped up my fluency is my Trio+. I write my own songs and just about everyday I play through all 13 of them. I play the rhythm, solos, intros etc. like I am gigging. I sing and play my songs and it is great fun. In addition, this practice has resulted in refining parts to include more magic. Looking forward to the terrifying day when I play my babies in public.
Rhett cant believe I just discovered you! I've seen you on Rick Beato's channel and thought you were a professional musician, and then disovered your excellent youtube instructional video's. Excellent presentation, excellent content...I'd like to add, that using the metronome for almost every practice session improved my playing tremendously.
So glad you mentioned recording yourself. I have only truly seen progress since I started a) Recording (and trying to double track myself) and b) trying to transcribe in Guitar Pro. The number of times I've realised "those triplets are not triplets" or forced myself to acknowledge that I've fudging a particular bit of a piece. Its the best. I recommend using a DAW and putting a beat down to record against and just double track your playing once you "think you've got it". I can guarantee you find new areas to improve.
Great video. Once I learned alternate picking, my playing improved multiple fold.
The last tip is really the most usefull! It's really true
Learning your relative major/minor chords in the natural scale is a nice little eye opener for beginners as well. Applying that to the caged system will have you writing your own music in no time. Or 95% of pop music!
Hi there, I play for more than 10 years now, and I've made the biggest progress from the moment I've been able to link Chords to Triads to Pentatonic scales, always with some Caged positions in mind.
Something that helped me was simply trying to improvise and create something new. Trying chords I know in different orders, with a purpose and trying to create something. Remember, if it sounds good, it's good.
One of the biggest advantages of playing an instrument is exercising creativity and expressing your feelings.
I had a problem hearing a song and trying to figure out open chords. When I got familiar with barre chords, it became so much easier. I could easily hear the relative sounds of the chords and see the pattern on the fretboard and I could match what I heard in my head with the barre chord on the E string. It was easy then to use the A string barre chords to make things easier to play by switching between the two. I then found it comfortable to play D shaped barre chords when I wanted and to incorporate open chords to replace barre chords when I wanted. G and C shaped barre chords I find less useful except for C7 shape. For me, being able to hear a song part in my head and be able to translate that to guitar is so satisfying and fun.
Thanks, Rhett - this video was so helpful. I took lessons for over 10 years and have played on and off for 20 years since, but never reached the 'advanced' stage. This video confirmed for me that I'm 'intermediate', but for me it's about "what's missing" or why couldn't I get beyond this point. I believe it has a lot to do with complete neck fluency and improvisational skills. Knowing where notes are is straight memorization, but being able to transform that knowledge of 'just notes' into your own music is what I think brings a player into another level. If you'd be willing to do a video on this subject, it could help me and others stuck at this level. Thanks again!
Great advice. I like to play songs too. That’s what get me 2 hrs in without realizing it. I do practice scales, techniques, picking and strumming but only for 20-30 mins. By then my tendency to become bored cannot be ignored. I start playing songs or work on fretboard memorization. I am a little over a year in. Still terrible but I do some things ok, and man have I improved.
Outstanding, Rhett. I call myself an intermediate player and I’m currently ‘teaching’ a couple of friends, so this approach is both useful and intuitive. Cheers and thanks from Brisbane Australia.
Cannot read music but I finally put in time learning how to read rythym. It was big deal for my personal development.
A good trick for me is to have a mirror ready so I can adjust the way I hold the neck when playing weird fingerings. I'm a classical guitar player and sometimes the fingerings make my wrist hurt. It took looking in the mirror to notice my wrist was in a lot of tension.
Really appreciate your work Rhett the content has changed dramatically for the better👍
This is great for my beginning.
Playing octives like Wes Montgomery. Really helped me read the fingerboard and spot where the key notes are for scales and chords et cetera.
Great video and what I needed to get me motivated again. Thank you 🙏🏾
Talking about vibrato, as Rhett said it should be smooth and evenly pitched but with that said not everyone's vibrato is going to sound the same, just because you may not match the vibrato in a song you are working on learning doesn't mean it is wrong. This is one of those things that separate us all as guitar players, everyone ends up with some unique tone and style, if everyone sounded all the same it could get a little uninteresting, If you can about match someone then great but the main thing is smoothness and matching the pitch the best you can then you've got it. Rhett Rocks.
Well, I'm a little late to this party. Good video with great info. I would like to add that I tell my students to sing the notes while playing them. Get to know the intervals and be able to play what they hear in their heads. As a player, my ability to play what I heard in my head got better and better. It also helped me pick up songs quickly. Anyway, that's my 2 cents any way. I really like your videos. One never knows everything and I've picked up so much from you and Rick. Thanks much.
Thanks Rhett!
THANK YOU
Great video. I totally agree with using songs to practice because I'm much more likely to pick up my guitar and play a few songs than spend an hour doing technical exercises. But a few caveats to that.
First if I'm going to play a song, I treat it as a performance. I play the whole song start to finish and try to play it as musically as I can. I don't let myself get sloppy. I also look for different ways to play the same song---different tempos, different keys, maybe use bar chords instead of first position chords. I may experiment with using a first position chord in the verse and use a bar chord in the chorus. Listening carefully to how different chord positions affect the feel of a particular song helps me be more musical. I find I'm much more motivated to work on a new technique or fingering when I see how it makes a song better. Just playing the song the same way every time might feel good but it doesn't produce the growth I need.
So many teachers I've had have a formula of what techniques they want you to learn, and often they don't seem to care about the songs you want to play, just the exercises they want you to practice. I get that some of those techniques are fundamental and if you want to be a well rounded player you need to learn a broad range of techniques. But rigidly focusing on exercises in the absence of making music isn't very motivating to people like me. The other problem I ran into with teachers is that if they did use songs in their lessons, they liked to pick the songs. I get that, too. They picked songs that were good for learning certain techniques. But if they'd let me pick songs I actually wanted to play, it would have worked so much better for me.
I know there are good teachers out there, but I've had bad luck with private lessons. So many teachers like to follow a specific lesson plan because they think it's the best way to learn. They're often unwilling or uncomfortable stepping outside the box they've created, which is understandable because they put a lot of effort into devising a teaching approach and they don't want to reinvent that everytime they take on a new student. But when I look at the amount of money a student spends on lessons, seems like a little effort on the teacher's part to adapt their approach for a particular student's learning needs isn't unreasonable. So after years of struggling through lessons, I now try to find good ideas from people like you, Rhett, and I apply them to my practice. I've made more progress since I started doing this than I did in years of taking private lessons. So thank you for giving such good advice that people like me can benefit from.
Amazing video!
I'm a beginner, trying to learn through an app and was feeling kind of stuck.
I'll definitely try these exercises and techniques from now on.
Thank you, Rhett.
Cheers from Brasil.
Rhett, you are a very good teacher. You have a way of giving the info and relating it so that beginners and other players at all levels can grasp and put into practice. I was stuck at the Beginner level (advanced beginner Lol) for a very long time and then by becoming proficient with barre chords and learning the CAGED system, the whole picture of the fret board began to open up for me. I am strictly rhythm, as Knofler would say, but I am learning the notes up and down the board using your technique, just so I can become a more fully informed player.
BTW, when it comes to teaching, the glasses help and look good!
Thanks Rhett. It's good to know that I'm teaching the right stuff! : ) In addition, I also teach how to hear/find the key of the song, know the chords in the key and which you're likely to find, so you try these first. Numbering chords, often known as the Nashville numbering system. My students quickly learn how to work out songs by ear, starting out with simple I, IV, V.
I really enjoyed this video Rhett! Can't agree more on play what makes you happy. Thank you for your humble attitude towards learning guitar. Took me years not to be too hard on myself for not knowing certain scales or reading sheet paper for that matter. Also, great tone from that esquire. Looking forward to more uploads like this. Keep up the good work!
Nice summary , understood what I need to work on
Dug this video brother. Thanks for showing me I’ve finally reached the intermediate level
This is great Rhett! I often don't have the time to catch up on the livestreams, thank you!
This is a wonderful video. Lots of tips and things I need to think about. But the best part is what you saved for last: "Do what makes you happy". I've realized I practice a lot more when it's something I want to learn. Especially when you have no illusions about making a living with your instrument (that's me). If it's not fun you won't want to pick the guitar up.
Almost at 500K 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
As a beginner guitarist I'd like to say that I apologize for not finding this channel earlier. You've gained a sub! Thank you Sir.
Very kind of you, because I never have the time to watch live streams! But pretty sure there is a lot of good stuff in them!
if your a beginner guitarist, never be afraid of asking questions! I never asked questions when I was a beginner which hindered me big time from progressing to where I am now!
I didn't read through all the comments, so apologies if these have been mentioned, but I think volume control and timbre control are also important as a guitarist (or any instrumentalist, for that matter) develops and grows. Great video, Rhett: keep up the Good Work.
What helped me the most was trying to write songs in a style that I enjoy listening to and playing. I started picking up music theory and song structure this way. Since I don’t have a band to play with, I found that this forced me to think about the areas I needed the most improvement in and make sure to highlight those in what I write. Plus, I find it the best part of being a guitarist!
Your content is great! Thank you! Been playing 30 years, and learning a different approach to the simplest progressions.
Beginner encouragement tip... If you learn the note names on the 6th string you will also know the names on the 1st. Assuming standard tuning of course.
Just play. I’m not the best shredding player but I’ve seen vast improvement just from playing. I learned bar chord shapes. Called them A type and E type and just got familiar with moving them around. Rhythmic strumming and hearing what was in key or not came almost naturally after playing a few months. Forget tv or bullshit. Play your instrument on all of your free time. Within a few months you’ll be so pleased with your progress you should be sold. Practice practice practice.
Great video! I'd love to see a follow up discussing what separates an advanced guitarist from an intermediate one. And this time, I'll watch the live stream.
Great video Rhett. I got hooked on Elevated Jam Tracks here on RUclips about a year and a half ago and it's got me picking up the guitar and playing every day from 12:30 - 2pm. Got me from playing only major and minor pentatonic stuff to playing all different modes. The biggest improvement for me is that I can hear where the half steps are now on whatever's playing and play along. Keep up the good work brother.
I have a different trick that I've used to start getting comfortable around the fretboard. I play 3 different versions of the C major scale in 3 different positions(starting on the low E, or 6th, string) that cover the 12 lower frets. Like Rhett says about the 6th and 5th strings, I say the names out loud, and I play them slowly enough to digest what I'm hearing.
In open position, low E string, I play the E Phrygian mode of the C major scale. Basically that means playing all the natural notes, no sharps or flats. Most of us already know this one, because it is that simple little 1 octave C major in open position we learned from beginner nursery rhyme oriented books. I just extend it down to low E and up to high G.
In 5th position, I play A minor natural. Again, it's the C major notes. No Sharps or Flats. Again, we all know it, because it's A minor Pentatonic with the missing notes. Again, play it slowly enough to actually hear yourself.
Finally, I go to 8th position and play a C major scale 3 notes per string style. Again, essentially C major, no sharps or flats. Again, play it slowly enough to name the notes and hear yourself doing so.
All this helps, I find. Add in a few basic tricks, like the octave of a note being 2 strings higher and 2 frets bridgeward, and the same note being 3 strings higher and 3 frets bridgeward. (Exceptions where the 2nd string gets involved. That shifts things 1 fret bridgeward.), and I find the fretboad a lot more navigable. Not totally there yet. But it's a start.
This is the perfect video for me right now. I’m feeling really stuck with where I’m at musically, and at least the beginning parts of the video are easy enough for someone learning on their own to do.
I was lucky to have started my playing during the punk era. Nobody cared much for the skills then but skill will come from hours of playing. I always played in a band. We used to record every time we rehearsed and listen back to it. Learned a lot from that.
This is great. I’ve actually been working on all of these steps in the last month. I’ve only been playing 10 months. I still would consider myself a beginner. But I do work on all of these. By no means do I have any of them down. But I am having a ton of fun. I haven’t been this passionate about something in a long time. And your videos have taught me a ton.
Focus and consistency
TIL I'm an intermediate guitarist. I saw the livestream topic and wasn't able to dedicate the time, this was a nice synopsis.
There is no harsher critic than a looper pedal for self-feedback, they are almost cruel and unusual. Getting one with some included beats (RC-10R) to use a metronome is a really entertaining option to frustrate yourself improving your sense of time.
Learning octaves has helped me learn notes on different strings as well 😀
You have a good teaching style. More please. Enjoy your videos
Rhett, thanks for condensing the ideas, tips and techniques from the live stream to this lesson.
Thank You so much, Rhett!! This video has really helped me to understand that my practice methods are okay, lol . Like you, I seem to practice most by learning a song and learning notes and having no set routine. But I play every day!! ☮❤☮
Thanks for doing this condensed version. I feel like I'm living on the cusp between beginner and intermediate, so this video was helpful in motivating me toward moving forward instead of hanging out here in limboland!
one thing I've done when teaching is to what you're doing but making a point to have the student use each finger in the pattern so that they are building muscle memory chromatically up and down and as they get better keep expanding that out further on strings and what not. its a great way to launch a guitarist forward by developing the hand to have as equal fretting power as possible and it helps them avoid not using the pinky which is common not really a mistake but speed comes from that pinky at times.
Great stuff Rhett !! Cheers from Philly !!
Beautiful video! Have played off and on, mostly off for years. Kind of surprised I'm not that far from intermediate.
I'll add an emphasis on one point regarding the use of Metronome: once you've gotten to a point of being able to be accurate in timing, the next exercise could be to intentionally go OUT of time, then correct yourself as quickly as possible to being back in time. If you can successfully navigate in and out of time, you have made timing a truly fluid thing, and this will make advanced concepts like "being in the pocket" much easier to understand, and playing "with feeling" will become much easier.
drummers sometimes lose time and timing fluidity helps keeping the band tight
I’ve passed the intermediate phase. What are things that make an advanced player? What should I know? I’ll never be an expert, but I will keep going. 🤔
That Esquire is sweeeeet !
Awesome and true tips! These all are essential. Most of all, having FUN!
Great video Rhett! The thing that has helped me has been playing covers with a band. There was (and still is) where I get very dialed into doing original stuff, I wasn't pushing myself forward with new ideas. Playing with a band forces you to also learn the whole song and not just that cool riff or solo part.
I would also add, learning other instruments has helped shift my perspective in the guitar.