There have been many times during my love/hate relationship with my guitars when I have really struggled to find out how to improve my guitar playing.
Whilst my train was delayed coming home from work the other day, I got to thinking about this and some of the key breakthroughs I had along the way – what worked and what didn’t work so well.
I came to the sudden realisation that others must experience the same feelings from time to time and might benefit from knowing they are not alone, but even better, can learn from my experiences– and that inspired me to write this article for the benefit of all hobby guitarists.
You know, you pick up your guitar one day and realise that you’re playing the same things you’ve been playing for 2 or 3 years, that nothing sounds fresh anymore. There are even times when you don’t touch the guitar for a couple of weeks because you simply don’t feel inspired to do so – is it just me? Because I suspect not.
So, let me tell you about some key moments along the way, what they taught me and perhaps you will be able to overcome these hurdles faster than I did and keep the enjoyment alive and the inspiration flowing!
Plateau-ing!
When I first took up playing the guitar, I seemed to learn pretty fast. Ok, so barre chords stumped me for quite a long time, but it was all new, my enthusiasm high and the glory of becoming a rock star in my own head was alive and kicking.
It was after about 18 months when I realised there was so much I didn’t know, I had pretty much mastered everything I knew at that point and I needed to learn some new skills if I was to be able to expand the sounds I could get from the guitar as well as the songs I could play.
I went to a teacher again for a few months and learnt some new techniques and off I went again, exploring new horizons.
And so it went for the last 25 or 30 years, I’ve reached points where I needed to go learn some new stuff – whether that be specific techniques, chord ideas, scales etc., there were frequent times when I needed new input.
Sounding familiar?
Only trouble with all this, is that the teachers I would go to taught me what they wanted, I didn’t at that stage have a focus to what I actually wanted to achieve; I would just ask them to help me get better on the guitar!
What did this mean? Firstly, it meant that I learnt things I was neither ready nor prepared to learn; secondly, I learnt things relevant to the teacher’s own preference for playing style.
You Can’t, as hobby guitarists, Play Everything
It was a ridiculously long time, before I realised that I didn’t want to learn blues, country, jazz, classical and funk all at the same time, I needed to focus my efforts.
As you’ll see, lots of skills are transferrable between music styles, and you might head off in different directions at different points in your playing hobby (as I did) – but, they should be conscious decisions so that what you learn and practice are directly contributing to what you want to achieve at that particular point in time.
So, I focused on the blues! And that got my mojo flowing for quite some time and I got reasonably good at it.
Later on, I adapted this into classic rock, and later still, blues/jazz and funk – but, these were conscious decisions and built upon the skills I had at that time – I did not try to learn them all at the same time. (Ever heard the phrase, “Jack of all trades, master of none”)? That’s what I’m talking about here.
Take Away Point 1 – focus your efforts towards your goals; those goals may change, but always ask “how is this helping me towards my goals”.
I’ll Never Play Like Him!
I am a big fan of many guitarists: Neal Shon, Steve Lukather, John Petrucci, Eric Johnson, Steve Morse and Larry Carlton to name just a few. So what did I do?
I set off in pursuit of being able to play like these guys…ridiculous huh?
After months of frustration, I took a good, long, hard look at myself. I might, just might, be able to get close to playing like one of these guys (but not John Petrrucci!), but I had to be realistic.
What each and every one of the guitarists I have named will tell you, is that they, like everyone else, worked tirelessly for 5, 7 or more hours a day for years on end to play the way they do – and in fact, still practice hard to this day to maintain their edge. So how can I, a humble hobby guitarist, ever hope to play with the same level of skill and accuracy.
So I reset my expectations, learnt a few riffs and absorbed the style of my favourite players and gave up mastering each and every lick they can play – it would be a very rare person indeed that could manage it, even if they didn’t have a fulltime job and a family.
Take Away Point 2 – be realistic with your ambitions, don’t judge yourself against the unobtainable.
Remembering How Hard it was to Start
A few years back, I decided that the next thing I wanted to learn and start incorporating was sweep picking (if you don’t know what that is, don’t worry, I’ll write an article on the subject). Just know for now, it’s a specific picking technique that can sound very impressive and melodic when executed correctly.
Being a reasonable guitarist, I assumed that I could just start sweep picking, and I’d have it down pat within a few days – wrong!
Every new technique, chord, scale will be just as hard to learn as the first chord you were taught when you started playing. Ok, so there are degrees here, but the principle is, just because you can play a bit, don’t forget that learning something new is hard work, takes time, and takes focused practice.
Take Away Point 3 – don’t forget it takes time to learn new things, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
Real Practice
I have an in-depth article devoted to the Best way to practice the guitar – what I’m talking about here is practice to a goal.
For a very long time, I’d pick up the guitar and just “play”. I’d stick the same old jam tracks on and noodle away – which is a lot of fun of course.
But that isn’t practice, you play the same way, it will sound the same – mistakes and all.
Set aside an achievable amount of time to practice, decide what you are going to practice and do that and only that for the time you have set aside. It’s a good idea to write down what you are practicing and how you are going to measure progress.
Take one thing at a time, I would strongly advise not practicing too much and not really mastering any of it – I wasted years doing that!
Take Away Point 4 – Set realistic practice objectives and time that you can stick to and try to measure your improvement.
Vertical, Horizontal and Diagonal
Huh – “Al what are you talking about”
Most guitarists, including myself, get stuck playing up and down the strings of the guitar within a limited number of frets. The classic example of this is the first position pentatonic scale.
It was after very many years of playing vertically, that I attended a guitar clinic by the god-like John Petrucci – and he said something so simple, so mind blowing that I truly wondered why on earth I hadn’t caught on to it myself.
You can play horizontally as well, i.e., up and down the strings (ok so most of us do this a little, but do you have licks/runs that go from the 3rd fret of the D string and end on, say, the 17th fret of the G string?) Imagine the possibilities.
More than that, diagonals, weaving your way vertically whilst moving horizontally as well. Just watch some of John’s live performances and you’ll see what possibilities this opens up.
Take Away Point 5 – remember to explore scales and shapes up and down the neck as well as up and down the strings and then combine them musically.
Learn Some Jazz
Quite late in my guitar playing, I came to the sudden realisation that I needed to learn a little jazz guitar. Not that I like jazz all that much, but you only have to hear some of the melodic things George Benson does to wonder “how is he doing that”.
So off I went to jazz guitar lessons for a month or two, but I had learnt my lesson. I gave clear direction that I wanted to learn some jazz guitar but only so I could incorporate some of the melodic tricks in blues, rock and funk.
In fact, I decided to take myself off to a “One Week Intensive” at the fantastic
Players School of Music In Clearwater, Florida – oh boy, what an awesome learning experience, at an awesome school with awesome people!
And, dear reader, it totally changed my playing – I don’t exaggerate here. I started to follow the chords, I started to use little arpeggios and actually made much better musical sense and stopped just noodling in scales. The pleasure when you hit “just the right note” on a specific chord is incredible!
This 1 week session turned me from a lick player, able to hold down a major/minor blues, able to play over pop songs into an enlightened musician with ambition to learn more.
I can almost guarantee that at some stage, maybe even now, you will start to get curious about jazz, and I strongly encourage you to follow that curiosity – you’ll be amazed at the riches you will find there.
Take Away Point 6 – Open yourself to jazz playing when you are ready.
I Haven’t Finished My Journey Yet!
I’m still learning and stretching myself, but I now control when I’m ready to move on because guitar playing is fun – and I for one, want it to stay that way.
As you can see above, I’ve wasted a deal of time and effort, so I really hope you can learn from my mistakes and really keep your own improvement and enjoyment properly balanced and get the most from the wonderful instrument that the guitar is!
Bottom line, I’ve come a long way, but I’m still finding out how to improve my guitar playing and what I’ve given you here is my experience to date in the very real hope that it helps you out.
I absolutely welcome questions and comments, so please let me know in the comments section and I’ll respond as soon as I can.
All the best and keep on rockin’
Al
I love these tips. I found them when I first started learning (WAY back in April), and again today. Still love them. They have helped me move forward.
Hi – and thanks for the kind words.
Really pleased you find this useful – let me know if there is another topic you would like to see covered as I am sketching out new articles all the time.
All the best,
Al
I still remember when I started playing guitar during my early teenage years, I would practice for at least 5 to 6 hours everyday, sometimes even forgetting to do my school work! Hahaha…
Yeah, it does take a hell lot of practice to get to where the guitar greats are. But I think consistency is key, and if you can just set aside an hour each day, but practice everyday, then that is better than practicing for 10 hours but for only one day.
Great article!
Yep, I was the same – the trouble is, we all start work, start a family and suddenly there isn’t any time any more!
Even an hour a day is a big ask for practice – for quite a lot of people, anyway.
That’s why I suggest planning practice session of 10 to 20 minutes on regular days with planned activities and definite goals. You’ve a better chance of sticking to that timetable and measuring your progress.
All the best,
Al
Hey Al,
It was great meeting you at G4 this last August. Great article! I couldn’t agree with you more about setting attainable goals. Turns out that playing guitar well is hard! Focus and continually challenging yourself with new material, styles and techniques is key to developing your own voice as a musician.
I look forward to reading your next article!
Brad
Hey Brad,
Good to see you guys from G4 dropping by here – it’s turning into a mini re-union!
Attainable is definitely the word and remembering how hard it was to start also helps as you start to learn new techniques as they can be just as difficult even if you’ve been playing for years!
There is also the topic of un-learning bad habits – but that’s a whole new article right there!
Best,
Al
Hi Al,
Excellent article. Very well thought and planned out. As I was reading it, I noticed how much it mirrored my own growth. I couldn’t have put these talking points better myself. I am going to share this with my music playing friends as much of this applies to different instruments.
Always a pleasure to hear from you. So glad I went to G4 this year for the same reasons you went to the camps. It really opened my eyes and approach to how I fit in my own growth if you can understand my meaning.
Your friend,
Terry
Hi Terry – thanks for visiting the site my friend and I appreciate your kind words.
I agree that much of this applies to other instruments, it’s the mindset that is important and I really appreciate the share.
The G4 experience this year was a blast – I did learn a great deal, but it was just so cool to hang out for 4 days with so many other committed musicians and jam with a few beers in the evening.
After going to some of Eric Johnson’s clinics, I realised how focused he was on the things he wanted to do and that he didn’t clutter up his mind or his focus with trying to master techniques or styles of music he wasn’t interested in – as you say, an eye-opener.
All the best,
Al
PS – are you attending any of the other events in 2017?
Hi Al, I got my first guitar from a freeman’s catalogue, one Christmas, I think I was around 13yrs old, tried to copy riff’s but soon got fed up and just left it for years. Then at college, a friend was playing the guitar part from the Beatles “Till there was you”.. I was so Impressed, I went out and bought a new Eko 12 string, and asked him to show me how he played it? I soon picked it up, got interested, and within a few years, I’d got quite good at a few chords, and riff’s, and joined an already established band, playing rhythm.
We were together for 5 years, played the local circuit here, in and around Essex. We had an agent, and played most weekend gigs, at pub’s, clubs, parties, weddings and so on. 5 years later, children came along, playing guitar was given up, and for 15 years, didn’t go near a guitar.. Then was asked to play at a talent night for fun, and help out a few friends that were putting together a make shift band, I did, and It was so much fun, we carried on as a function band, and still play the odd gig for fun!
But then one day, our lead guitarist had to leave us and move on. The band members asked me to fill in for him, now, the outgoing guitarist, is a pro player, and I now struggle to find the time to learn how to play lead parts, and remember them well enough for gigs? It’s very frustrating, and this is where I’m now at.. I’m just about managing, have tried a teacher, but found it wasn’t the help I needed, so now I get most clues per song, from U tube video instruction, I find that’s the easiest way I can get to learn the part I need for a particular song. So If your like me, and are not
To bad at rhythm, but want to learn lead parts, U tube, has all the songs you can imagine, it’s just finding the best one that suits your needs.. It’s definitely a good way to learn lead parts, and scales, whatever you fancy!
So I can recommend that if you’ve hit a particular wall, and need help, you don’t need the expense of a teacher, who may not teach you in the way you want, instead, try finding your instructor from U tube! It’s helped me no end, and “It’s free, you choose when you want to learn, you can save your videos, to look at later, and practice in your own home!
Regards, Chris Cutmore..
Hi Chris – thanks for your interest.
I think your story has similarities to that of many hobby guitarists and your comments regarding YouTube are very interesting.
I have also learnt specific songs from YouTube for free and it’s a fantastic resource for that.
I think where YouTube struggles is where people aren’t sure how to learn or how to improve specific aspects of their guitar playing or how to structure their practice.
For example, I wrote an article on ways you can make your playing more expressive just using what you already know, check it out here.
Anyway, glad you enjoyed the article, and drop by again soon.
Best,
Al
Al, I tried to learn chording and picking many years ago. And I found it terribly frustrating but strumming had become pretty boring by then. So I packed my guitar away. I still have it, look at it sometimes but never pull it out.
Your post has comprehensively triggered my thought on maybe I should try again. I now have the added information I need to make a go of it. My only problem is getting around my double jointed fingers. (That’s what frustrated me before.) Once I achieved a chord I couldn’t unlock my fingers to go on to the next one!
So I will return and read more of your website and look at the videos.
Cheers
Helen
Hi Helen,
I am thrilled that my post has made you consider picking up your guitar again, my aim is to bring back the hobby guitarists to these lovely instruments and bring back the enjoyment we all felt when starting out.
I do remember that freeze when changing chords and how I thought I could never manage it. The best tip I ever had on that went like this.
Pick two chords;
Play the first one as best you can, ensuring every note can be clearly heard (each string produces a nice, clear tone);
Visualise, in you mind, how the next chord looks when you will be playing it;
Play your first chord again;
Now “go for it” – position your fingers for the second chord exactly how you imagined it;
Repeat;
Repeat;
Re……well, you get the idea!
Take your time and give it up when you get frustrated – if you keep rehearsing mistakes, you will make mistakes.
Do this for 10 days and you’ll notice the difference – I promise.
Do report back and let me know how you get on.
Al
Hey,
I am a self taught guitar player and have been playing sporadically for about 3 years, but I am caught i that same rut of playing my favourite few chords all the time and not really improving…are there any exercises i particular that you would advise for starting to broaden my horizon and improve my playing ability as the main reason I stop playing is exactly the same as you, I get tired of playing the same things over and over.
Thanks
Adam
Hi Adam,
Thanks for your comment.
My suggestions would depend very much on the types of chords you know already.
Two things I’d suggest right out of the blocks though.
1) To try different strumming patterns and rhythms…listen to some of your favourite songs and then try playing the chords you know in the same patterns as those songs – you’ll probably start to get some different sounds an dmoods going. Also, try changing the order in which you use the chords, play them for short or long periods – finally, try picking individual notes rather than the whole chord every time.
2) It sounds silly, but for the chords you know, try lifting one finger off the fret board, then try placing it somewhere else you can reach – try this for every finger used in that chord. BTW, this was a tip given to me by Eric Johnson, so it might just work!
I will be producing other articles on this subject, so do please keep checking back for more information.
Best,
Al