---
title: 'If I Started Over, This is Exactly How I’d Get Good at Guitar'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=4N-fimyJqv0'
video_id: '4N-fimyJqv0'
date: 2026-07-01
duration_sec: 563
---

# If I Started Over, This is Exactly How I’d Get Good at Guitar

> Source: [If I Started Over, This is Exactly How I’d Get Good at Guitar](https://youtube.com/watch?v=4N-fimyJqv0)

## Summary

A guitarist with 20 years of experience shares the most efficient path to getting good at guitar, focusing on what to prioritize and what to ignore. The video emphasizes practical skills like playing by ear, rhythm, improvisation, and essential music theory, while advising against wasting time on sheet music and modes early on.

### Key Points

- **Guitar Setup is Crucial** [0:10] — Get your guitar set up to suit your playing style—either by a shop or by learning to do it yourself. This has a massive impact on improvement efficiency.
- **What to Ignore** [0:42] — Ignore reading sheet music and modes initially. Most guitarists don't need sheet music, and modes can wait until you've mastered major, minor, and pentatonic scales.
- **Practice Rules** [1:21] — Keep your guitar on a stand near your desk, pick it up at least twice a day, choose role models, and stick with 1-2 teachers that resonate with you.
- **Play by Ear** [2:17] — Start by recognizing major vs. minor chords, then work up to finding the key and chords of songs by ear. This transforms you from a player to a musician.
- **Develop Rhythm** [3:05] — Rhythm is the most universally important skill. Practice muted picking along to songs to build timing.
- **Improvise Early** [3:58] — Start improvising early with basic scales over songs to train creative thinking. Example: use major or pentatonic scales over John Mayer's 'Slow Dancing in a Burning Room'.
- **Essential Music Theory** [5:45] — Learn the major scale, how major/minor keys work, and how chords are made. These three concepts explain most of music's magic.
- **Fretboard Navigation Systems** [6:15] — Use systems like octave centers, home base, and CAGED to navigate the fretboard comfortably in any key.
- **Jam with Others** [7:00] — Jam with others as soon as you can play chords to a beat. Start with a simple chord progression and take turns improvising.

## Transcript

I've been playing guitar for more than
20 years, and if I had to start over,
this is exactly what I would do to get
good at guitar as efficiently as
possible. So, let's make sure we set
ourselves up for success right off the
bat. No matter where you're at with your
guitar playing right now, if you haven't
had your guitar properly set up to suit
you and your playing style, you're going
to need to get that done. It's going to
have a massive impact on how efficiently
you can improve. You can pay to have it
done by a local shop or someone you
know, or I'd really recommend learning
to make some of those tweaks yourself.
You'll find that every guitarist kind of
likes something a little different. So,
being able to make those quick
adjustments to fit what you like can be
a total game changer. Now, let's get
into the things that I would just
completely ignore. The first thing,
reading sheet music. I played bass
guitar in middle school band. So, I did
learn how to do it back then, but for
the majority of guitarists, it's just
not necessary because since those days,
I've never needed it, not even once.
There are some very specific reasons you
may want to learn to read sheet music,
but for most of us, it's just not worth
spending the time required on it. The
other thing that you really shouldn't
worry about at all, at least for a
while, are modes. For most music styles,
you're going to be sticking to the
major, minor, and pentatonic scales.
Once you master those, then you can
start looking into Dorian or Mixelyian.
But really, for now, don't even worry
about it until you're really solid. Now,
there are a few big rules that I would
set for myself. The first would be that
I'd set up my guitar right by my desk,
out of the case, and on a stand, just so
it's right in plain view, and easy to
grab whenever I have a spare second.
Another rule would be that I'd have to
pick it up at least twice a day. It can
be for 5 minutes or 5 hours, but a
minimum of twice a day. Next, I choose a
few specific players that I look up to
as examples of how I want my playing to
sound and develop. I realize I'll
probably never quite get to that level,
but it gives me some form of direction,
something to aim at. Finally, I'd pick
just a few good teachers to guide me.
There are so many great teachers and
resources to learn from out there, but I
don't want to be learning the same thing
a bunch of different ways. I'd pick one
or two that really resonate with me and
my learning style and stick with them.
Okay, let's get into the good stuff. The
things I would actually be focusing all
of my time and efforts on. First thing,
I'd start learning to play by ear, which
is something you can begin to develop at
literally any skill level. And I'd start
very simple with just being able to
recognize the difference between major
and minor chords like this.
and then work up to putting a massive
focus on being able to find the key and
chords of the song completely by ear.
Those basic skills unlock a whole world
of opportunities for your playing long
term. And in my view, they are the
things that bring you from just being a
guitar player up to being a true
musician. My next point of focus would
be on developing my rhythm. Something
that gets massively overlooked,
especially when your goals revolve
around soloing and being a lead player.
Rhythm is the most universally important
skill you can have. And that spans every
genre and every style, too. So, every
single time I'd sit down to practice,
I'd be doing at least one thing that
focuses on building my sense of rhythm
and timing. My favorite and the most
accessible rhythm exercise that I'd use
is muted picking along to songs like
this.
Next thing I get into is improvisation
as early as possible. My goal with this
would be to start training my brain to
think creatively about the instrument. I
know that one of the biggest things that
holds players back is being stuck just
playing the same generic songs over and
over. So to make sure that doesn't
happen to me, I would take just the most
basic scale ever, like a small major
scale or pentatonic scale, and noodle
around with it over some songs that I
like. I'll give you the example that I
used many years ago. If you pull up the
song Slow Dancing in a Burning Room by
John Mayer, you can use this major scale
here
or this pentatonic scale here
or any combination of both of them over
the song like this.
One thing that resulted in me wasting
literally years was refusing to learn
any music theory whatsoever. Now, the
truth is I'd probably still ignore most
of it, but there are three key things
that I would definitely learn as soon as
possible. The major scale and why it's
so important, how major and minor keys
work, and how chords are made. With just
those three things, you'll understand
most of the magic behind music and what
makes it sound good or less good. I have
a great lesson that you can check out
that covers all the truly essential
music theory that I'll link down in the
description for you. Next, I'd learn a
few fretboard navigation systems. Now, I
understand that different things work
for different people, but we need some
way to break the fretboard up into more
than just a grid of notes. What I found
really worked for me are many of the
systems I teach here on my channel. So,
things like octave centers, the home
base, and the horizontal and vertical
cage system. I put a good bit of time
into building up my fretboard
understanding by learning systems like
these. And that's because they allow me
to play comfortably in any key at all
times, which is incredibly important. I
actually have a free printable ebook
called the Fretboard Navigation
Guidebook where I have all of this stuff
laid out for you. So, if you want it,
I'll put a link right at the top of the
description. Again, it's 100% free, so
make sure you go grab it. I'm sure
you'll find it super helpful. Now, my
final big area of focus would be on
jamming or playing with others. If you
talk to literally any experienced
player, they will all be in agreement on
this one. As soon as you can play some
chords to a beat, you're ready to team
up with other musicians and start
jamming. One of the easiest ways to kind
of get your feet wet is to find another
guitar player or piano player, choose a
set of like four chords, pick a tempo,
and start cycling through those chords
together. Then once you're feeling good,
take turns improvising a little bit with
some simple scale. For example, C major,
A minor,
F major.
Now, I'm just one player here, so I'm
going to kind of play both parts. But
the idea would be to use something like
the A minor or C major pentatonic and
just noodle around over those chords.
If you're not lucky enough to know other
musicians to play with, I'd recommend
searching for some groups online because
they are out there. So, to recap, I'd
work on playing by ear. I'd spend time
developing my sense of rhythm. I'd learn
and practice improvising, even if it's
just super simple. I'd make sure I know
those three basic music theory concepts.
solidify my knowledge of the fretboard
using the systems that work best for me.
And finally, I'd apply my skills to the
real world by jamming with others.
Something you might have noticed is that
learning songs wasn't really on my list.
I think most people would choose to
include that, but for me, it wasn't as
much of a differencemaker, especially
since my focus is on creativity more so
than being able to repeat what someone
else has already played. But that's
going to change based on your goals. So,
I think it's still worth considering.
From here, I'd recommend you check out
this lesson up on the screen. Don't
forget to grab that free fretboard
navigation guide book linked at the top
of the description. Thank you so much
for watching and I'll see you in the
next one.