[0:00] I just don't know how to start these
[0:01] videos If I'm doing a song tutorial then
[0:04] I just play the song and then I yell the
[0:06] name of the song and I say featuring and
[0:09] then I say something stupid but if I'm
[0:11] doing one of these like seven tips for
[0:13] how to solo for non- guitarists or
[0:15] whatever I I just don't once I get the
[0:18] balls rolling we'll be fine but at the
[0:20] current moment in time zero balls are
[0:24] rolling and I find myself at a loss
[0:26] people of the world friends and
[0:28] relatives welcome I do kind of need to
[0:29] blow my nose should we do an on camera
[0:32] nose
[0:35] blow so here's what's really
[0:37] embarrassing uh well one I just tucked
[0:40] the used Kleenex into my sock so that
[0:41] was a strange choice but uh embarrassing
[0:44] thing number two is that if you notice I
[0:47] just had the Kleenex right here ready to
[0:49] go
[0:51] and okay guys I'm going to make
[0:55] a very strange
[0:57] confession I planned that beforehand
[1:01] before I hit record I was like do you
[1:03] know what I should do I should blow my
[1:04] nose on camera that was actually a thing
[1:07] that I decided was a good idea and then
[1:09] we'll call the video how to actually get
[1:12] better at
[1:15] Guitar whoa that was new is that going
[1:18] to be a regular thing or what where'd
[1:19] that come from people of the world
[1:22] French and relatives my name is St
[1:24] Alexander lay brown you are here for one
[1:26] of a few reasons one of those reasons is
[1:29] probably you've been playing guitar for
[1:32] a while but you're you're just like but
[1:34] what do I I don't know what to practice
[1:36] how do I actually get better I listen to
[1:38] bands I love and the guitarists are
[1:40] incredible and they write these great
[1:42] songs they play these Wicked fire
[1:45] solos uh I look online and there are
[1:48] people
[1:50] going and it sounds so good Midwest emo
[1:53] that's a term that I learned um there's
[1:57] a yellow
[1:58] pad h ah I don't want to do this anymore
[2:01] I was so excited I was feeling good and
[2:03] then you bummed me out cuz you kept
[2:06] watching me basically you are motivated
[2:09] you are disciplined all of the right
[2:11] things that a successful guitarist and
[2:14] musician needs yet you find yourself
[2:17] plateauing you find yourself not
[2:19] progressing the way you want because
[2:22] what am I supposed to do am I supposed
[2:23] to practice scales people say to
[2:25] practice
[2:27] scales but so I practiced a couple
[2:29] scales and it just was boring and it
[2:31] kind of felt like a waste of my time I
[2:32] don't understand what's happening also
[2:36] like I just Uncle Stewart I just don't
[2:39] know what to do like I can play the
[2:41] basic chords I'm even I can even do bar
[2:44] chords and it's okay like I'm I'm not
[2:46] great at them but I'm okay at them like
[2:48] I understand but like what do I do when
[2:52] I want I actually want to like play with
[2:54] other people or I want to write my own
[2:56] songs or I I want to like be a guitarist
[2:59] and I don't I don't feel like that's
[3:02] happening what do I do so hang on okay
[3:04] wait so obviously there there are a
[3:08] bajillion different things you could
[3:09] practice like if you want to be a jazz
[3:11] guitarist you do probably want to
[3:14] practice a bunch of scales and licks and
[3:17] stuff like that if you want to play
[3:19] metal then you you have to like be able
[3:21] to play fast and do all of that stuff
[3:24] that I've never really cared about there
[3:26] are a plethora of different directions
[3:28] you could go and probably each
[3:31] individual one of you has different like
[3:33] specific things it would be great for
[3:35] you to practice what I'm going to share
[3:37] with you today is what I believe is the
[3:41] most important thing that all of you
[3:46] should be working on I put should in
[3:48] quotes because I think should is a
[3:51] terrible
[3:54] word that was the worst thing I've ever
[3:56] done on this channel so in my opinion
[3:59] this is the
[4:00] only tip that applies to everyone that
[4:05] whether you're a beginner or
[4:06] intermediate or Advanced this is a
[4:09] helpful thing that you would benefit
[4:13] from if you made it a regular part of
[4:15] your whole guitar playing routine and
[4:19] this is what it
[4:20] is
[4:23] memorize
[4:25] everything memorize songs memorize
[4:28] scales memorize whatever stuff you're
[4:31] working
[4:32] on memorize it and you're like Uncle
[4:36] Stewart I was really hoping you were
[4:38] going to say something that I was going
[4:39] to make me go like that's such a good
[4:41] idea but you said memorize everything
[4:43] and I'm like I already kind of memorize
[4:45] everything that's what do you mean
[4:46] that's not really
[4:47] helpful yes I understand I have
[4:50] comprised a list I've curated a list of
[4:54] five reasons why memorizing everything
[4:58] is helpful and beneficial and also what
[5:01] I mean by memorize everything so let's
[5:04] just dive right into the list reason
[5:08] number one why it is helpful to memorize
[5:12] everything is the most obvious one
[5:14] because it is going to expand your
[5:18] repertoire the more songs you memorize
[5:21] the more songs you'll be able to play
[5:23] the more scales you memorize the more
[5:25] scales you'll be able to play for
[5:27] whatever reason you might want to do
[5:29] that the more chords you memorize the
[5:31] more chord progressions you
[5:33] memorize if you have it
[5:36] memorized then that means you know it
[5:39] and you can play it in any situation so
[5:42] that's very broad very general but
[5:45] that's just the basic thing if you
[5:47] memorize a bunch of songs you can play a
[5:49] bunch of songs that is helpful now hang
[5:52] on because I wrote something else
[5:54] down oh this is very important along
[5:58] with EXP exping your repertoire of what
[6:01] you know if you memorize everything that
[6:05] you learn it also makes it so much
[6:08] easier to learn new things so if you
[6:13] here's what I mean if you play a bunch
[6:15] of songs but you're just reading the
[6:17] chords and lyrics off of your phone
[6:19] that's great I hope you're having a good
[6:21] time doing it but you're not really
[6:23] learning that song and you're not really
[6:27] getting better at learning new songs
[6:30] instead when you learn a new song if you
[6:34] maybe look at the chords or the tab for
[6:36] a little bit and then you put that away
[6:38] and force yourself to play it all from
[6:41] memory not only will you keep that song
[6:44] with you all through the year you will
[6:48] also get better at learning songs
[6:52] learning scales learning cords as time
[6:56] flies and you can tell if I'm not
[6:59] confident in what I'm saying I do bigger
[7:03] hand gestures to summarize tip number
[7:06] one the more songs you memorize the more
[7:09] songs you know and the better you get at
[7:13] learning new songs in the future tip
[7:16] number
[7:18] two memorizing things gives you more
[7:21] confidence in your ability to play it if
[7:24] you read things off the page read things
[7:26] off your phone whatever you are not
[7:30] going to feel like it's actually a part
[7:32] of your skill set you're going to feel
[7:34] like it's just something that you're
[7:36] playing in the moment but if you
[7:38] memorize everything and you know that
[7:40] you can play it at any time any
[7:44] place it's it is going to make you a
[7:48] more confident guitar player which makes
[7:51] you more competent that's what I always
[7:53] say more compet more uh more confidence
[7:58] more compet
[8:00] impotence con the more that you memorize
[8:03] the
[8:05] more to piggyback onto that if you have
[8:09] to read stuff off of the your phone or
[8:12] whatever when you're
[8:18] playing you C you kind of look like a
[8:21] dork when you're doing that it kind of
[8:23] makes it seem like you don't know what
[8:24] you're doing and I don't mean that like
[8:25] I'm not trying to judge you for doing it
[8:28] I just think you're going to look and
[8:30] feel a lot cooler if you're able to do
[8:32] it all from memory tip number
[8:36] three when you memorize
[8:40] everything you're actually learning it
[8:44] and not faking it again if you have the
[8:47] chords or the tab in front of you and
[8:49] you're sitting there reading playing it
[8:50] you can kind of like skim through the
[8:53] parts that you don't know that well the
[8:55] transition from the verse into the
[8:57] precour or or the bridge back into the
[9:00] chorus you kind of go like um I'm not
[9:02] sure let me jump ahead to this part and
[9:04] you start playing somewhere else if you
[9:06] really force yourself to memorize every
[9:09] song you play it forces you to learn
[9:13] every part of the song now you still
[9:15] might not be able to play every single
[9:18] part of the song
[9:19] Perfectly but you at the bare minimum
[9:23] have to face each part of the song and
[9:26] know how to get through it one way or
[9:28] another and
[9:30] by you yeah okay I don't need to keep
[9:33] and then by doing that you do this and
[9:34] then by doing that you do this and you
[9:36] don't need to do this but if you do that
[9:37] then you'll always do this memorize
[9:40] everything moving on tip number four now
[9:43] we're getting to the good ones the first
[9:44] three were stupid those were just to
[9:46] take up space in this video tip number
[9:48] four and five are the good ones tip
[9:50] number
[9:51] four ear training when you play from
[9:54] memory so you're not staring at the page
[9:57] or staring at your phone while you play
[10:00] you're listening more when you force
[10:02] yourself to play everything again songs
[10:06] scales licks cords everything from
[10:10] memory you cannot help but listen to
[10:15] what you're playing and you're I know I
[10:17] know every single person out there is
[10:18] going what kind of idiot is this of
[10:20] course I listen when I'm playing
[10:23] yeah but the truth is you might not be
[10:25] listening all that closely have you ever
[10:27] been playing a song you're reading the
[10:28] tab off the page and you're like like
[10:29] all right is this
[10:32] two okay and then you move on with the
[10:35] song cuz you're like I don't know it
[10:37] sounded terrible sounded nothing like
[10:38] the song but I don't know I just I'm
[10:40] just reading the tab what am I supposed
[10:41] to do and you just move on with the rest
[10:42] of the song we've all we've all done
[10:45] that you play some chord doesn't sound
[10:47] right but you're like that's what it
[10:48] says so you just keep going when you're
[10:50] playing things from memory it's going to
[10:52] be way harder to do that because you you
[10:54] have nothing else to look at you have
[10:56] nothing else to do other than pay
[10:58] attention to your fingers and the sounds
[11:01] so you will end up listening more and
[11:04] more closely to what you're playing you
[11:07] will then start to anticipate what the
[11:10] notes and chords are going to sound like
[11:12] before you play them once you start
[11:15] anticipating what it's going to sound
[11:16] like before you play it you're going to
[11:18] start knowing what notes sound like that
[11:22] are like way you're just going to start
[11:23] getting a feel for like oh well yeah if
[11:25] I play the first fret and then the third
[11:26] fret it sounds like this and if I play
[11:28] this note and this note at the same time
[11:29] it sounds like this without putting in
[11:33] like hours consciously studying ear
[11:37] training if you memorize everything you
[11:40] are automatically going to train your
[11:42] ears to hear how the different notes
[11:45] interact how the different chords
[11:46] interact you're going to start to be
[11:48] able to figure out songs just by ear
[11:52] you're going to hear a song and then go
[11:54] well that sounds like it goes like from
[11:55] this and then maybe like yeah then to
[11:58] this and it sounds to me like it goes
[12:00] right back to this because I was playing
[12:02] that other song that did something
[12:03] similar oh and then the next part it
[12:05] does this then it goes to this cuz I
[12:08] recognize that a minor 7 sound and then
[12:10] it sounds like it goes back to G but I
[12:12] sound like it feels like there's
[12:13] something different it goes to oh it
[12:15] feels like it goes to a goes to a g sus
[12:18] chord you you will start to hear all
[12:20] those little changes just because
[12:22] instead of focusing on following
[12:25] instructions as you play you're going to
[12:27] focus on what it actually sounds like
[12:30] and what your fingers are actually doing
[12:33] actually is the word of the day
[12:35] apparently because I've said it so many
[12:38] times there's one more
[12:42] tip do you think it's going to meet your
[12:44] expectations or do you think it's going
[12:46] to be a
[12:48] disappointment I think it's barely going
[12:51] to meet your
[12:52] expectations reason number five why you
[12:56] should memorize everything if you want
[12:59] to get better at
[13:00] Guitar is because if you memorize
[13:04] everything you will start to
[13:06] automatically learn music theory music
[13:10] theory is one of those things that's on
[13:12] everybody's list man I really should
[13:14] learn some music theory well no some
[13:16] people are like music theories for nerds
[13:18] and I'm not that kind of nerd I'm the
[13:20] Elden ring kind of nerd not the like
[13:22] music theory kind of nerd and that's
[13:24] fair I understand but here's the thing
[13:27] you don't need to know like well well
[13:29] the G Major scale is I mean you could
[13:31] think of it as a G Major scale but
[13:33] because it has a sharp 11 it's actually
[13:34] the fourth mode of the D major scale
[13:36] like you don't need to think about that
[13:39] sort of thing to use music theory to
[13:42] your advantage here's what I'm talking I
[13:43] know I'm just rambling we're at the end
[13:45] of the video the only people who are
[13:46] still watching are the people who are
[13:48] just like I like this guy he seems kind
[13:49] of dumb if you memorize a bunch of songs
[13:52] you will start to recognize different
[13:55] chord progressions and then you'll
[13:57] you'll start to recognize how those
[13:59] different chord progressions fit
[14:00] together and you'll notice What notes go
[14:03] along with certain chords and you'll
[14:05] notice oh well this songwriter really
[14:08] likes to sing an a note when he's
[14:11] playing a B minor chord I wonder if
[14:13] those go together and you don't even
[14:15] necessarily think a note and B minor you
[14:17] think when he's playing this chord he
[14:19] sings that note I'm getting used to that
[14:21] so that must be a note that fits with
[14:22] that chord and and then you start to go
[14:24] oh actually this whole scale fits with
[14:26] these chords oh and and all these bands
[14:29] really like using these notes and
[14:31] they're all kind of like right next to
[14:32] each other here you start to just pick
[14:35] up on all these little musical Theory
[14:38] musical Theory no one's ever said that
[14:39] ever in the history of time all these
[14:42] little music theory tidbits and you
[14:46] won't have names for them because you
[14:49] will just be discovering them on your
[14:51] own but music theory is just as useful
[14:56] when you don't know all the terms and
[14:58] all the formulas I don't know are there
[15:01] formulas in music theory kind of yeah
[15:03] there
[15:05] are by memorizing
[15:07] songs I personally believe you learn the
[15:11] most crucial elements of Music Theory
[15:15] the
[15:18] intuitive things that like sound good to
[15:21] you will start to make more and more
[15:23] sense and then down the line if you
[15:25] decide to learn the terminology and
[15:27] stuff that's great it will be easier
[15:29] because you already will have the
[15:31] familiarity with how it
[15:34] sounds and then you can write songs and
[15:36] you can become the world's greatest
[15:38] magician musician in the planet of the
[15:40] Earth would you please be a pal and
[15:43] forgive me for I don't know the sins of
[15:46] the past or whatever this video is
[15:48] really fun I'm really glad we did it
[15:50] thanks