How to Actually Get Better at Guitar

[00:00] I just don't know how to start these

[00:01] videos If I'm doing a song tutorial then

[00:04] I just play the song and then I yell the

[00:06] name of the song and I say featuring and

[00:09] then I say something stupid but if I'm

[00:11] doing one of these like seven tips for

[00:13] how to solo for non- guitarists or

[00:15] whatever I I just don't once I get the

[00:18] balls rolling we'll be fine but at the

[00:20] current moment in time zero balls are

[00:24] rolling and I find myself at a loss

[00:26] people of the world friends and

[00:28] relatives welcome I do kind of need to

[00:29] blow my nose should we do an on camera

[00:32] nose

[00:35] blow so here's what's really

[00:37] embarrassing uh well one I just tucked

[00:40] the used Kleenex into my sock so that

[00:41] was a strange choice but uh embarrassing

[00:44] thing number two is that if you notice I

[00:47] just had the Kleenex right here ready to

[00:49] go

[00:51] and okay guys I'm going to make

[00:55] a very strange

[00:57] confession I planned that beforehand

[01:01] before I hit record I was like do you

[01:03] know what I should do I should blow my

[01:04] nose on camera that was actually a thing

[01:07] that I decided was a good idea and then

[01:09] we'll call the video how to actually get

[01:12] better at

[01:15] Guitar whoa that was new is that going

[01:18] to be a regular thing or what where'd

[01:19] that come from people of the world

[01:22] French and relatives my name is St

[01:24] Alexander lay brown you are here for one

[01:26] of a few reasons one of those reasons is

[01:29] probably you've been playing guitar for

[01:32] a while but you're you're just like but

[01:34] what do I I don't know what to practice

[01:36] how do I actually get better I listen to

[01:38] bands I love and the guitarists are

[01:40] incredible and they write these great

[01:42] songs they play these Wicked fire

[01:45] solos uh I look online and there are

[01:48] people

[01:50] going and it sounds so good Midwest emo

[01:53] that's a term that I learned um there's

[01:57] a yellow

[01:58] pad h ah I don't want to do this anymore

[02:01] I was so excited I was feeling good and

[02:03] then you bummed me out cuz you kept

[02:06] watching me basically you are motivated

[02:09] you are disciplined all of the right

[02:11] things that a successful guitarist and

[02:14] musician needs yet you find yourself

[02:17] plateauing you find yourself not

[02:19] progressing the way you want because

[02:22] what am I supposed to do am I supposed

[02:23] to practice scales people say to

[02:25] practice

[02:27] scales but so I practiced a couple

[02:29] scales and it just was boring and it

[02:31] kind of felt like a waste of my time I

[02:32] don't understand what's happening also

[02:36] like I just Uncle Stewart I just don't

[02:39] know what to do like I can play the

[02:41] basic chords I'm even I can even do bar

[02:44] chords and it's okay like I'm I'm not

[02:46] great at them but I'm okay at them like

[02:48] I understand but like what do I do when

[02:52] I want I actually want to like play with

[02:54] other people or I want to write my own

[02:56] songs or I I want to like be a guitarist

[02:59] and I don't I don't feel like that's

[03:02] happening what do I do so hang on okay

[03:04] wait so obviously there there are a

[03:08] bajillion different things you could

[03:09] practice like if you want to be a jazz

[03:11] guitarist you do probably want to

[03:14] practice a bunch of scales and licks and

[03:17] stuff like that if you want to play

[03:19] metal then you you have to like be able

[03:21] to play fast and do all of that stuff

[03:24] that I've never really cared about there

[03:26] are a plethora of different directions

[03:28] you could go and probably each

[03:31] individual one of you has different like

[03:33] specific things it would be great for

[03:35] you to practice what I'm going to share

[03:37] with you today is what I believe is the

[03:41] most important thing that all of you

[03:46] should be working on I put should in

[03:48] quotes because I think should is a

[03:51] terrible

[03:54] word that was the worst thing I've ever

[03:56] done on this channel so in my opinion

[03:59] this is the

[04:00] only tip that applies to everyone that

[04:05] whether you're a beginner or

[04:06] intermediate or Advanced this is a

[04:09] helpful thing that you would benefit

[04:13] from if you made it a regular part of

[04:15] your whole guitar playing routine and

[04:19] this is what it

[04:20] is

[04:23] memorize

[04:25] everything memorize songs memorize

[04:28] scales memorize whatever stuff you're

[04:31] working

[04:32] on memorize it and you're like Uncle

[04:36] Stewart I was really hoping you were

[04:38] going to say something that I was going

[04:39] to make me go like that's such a good

[04:41] idea but you said memorize everything

[04:43] and I'm like I already kind of memorize

[04:45] everything that's what do you mean

[04:46] that's not really

[04:47] helpful yes I understand I have

[04:50] comprised a list I've curated a list of

[04:54] five reasons why memorizing everything

[04:58] is helpful and beneficial and also what

[05:01] I mean by memorize everything so let's

[05:04] just dive right into the list reason

[05:08] number one why it is helpful to memorize

[05:12] everything is the most obvious one

[05:14] because it is going to expand your

[05:18] repertoire the more songs you memorize

[05:21] the more songs you'll be able to play

[05:23] the more scales you memorize the more

[05:25] scales you'll be able to play for

[05:27] whatever reason you might want to do

[05:29] that the more chords you memorize the

[05:31] more chord progressions you

[05:33] memorize if you have it

[05:36] memorized then that means you know it

[05:39] and you can play it in any situation so

[05:42] that's very broad very general but

[05:45] that's just the basic thing if you

[05:47] memorize a bunch of songs you can play a

[05:49] bunch of songs that is helpful now hang

[05:52] on because I wrote something else

[05:54] down oh this is very important along

[05:58] with EXP exping your repertoire of what

[06:01] you know if you memorize everything that

[06:05] you learn it also makes it so much

[06:08] easier to learn new things so if you

[06:13] here's what I mean if you play a bunch

[06:15] of songs but you're just reading the

[06:17] chords and lyrics off of your phone

[06:19] that's great I hope you're having a good

[06:21] time doing it but you're not really

[06:23] learning that song and you're not really

[06:27] getting better at learning new songs

[06:30] instead when you learn a new song if you

[06:34] maybe look at the chords or the tab for

[06:36] a little bit and then you put that away

[06:38] and force yourself to play it all from

[06:41] memory not only will you keep that song

[06:44] with you all through the year you will

[06:48] also get better at learning songs

[06:52] learning scales learning cords as time

[06:56] flies and you can tell if I'm not

[06:59] confident in what I'm saying I do bigger

[07:03] hand gestures to summarize tip number

[07:06] one the more songs you memorize the more

[07:09] songs you know and the better you get at

[07:13] learning new songs in the future tip

[07:16] number

[07:18] two memorizing things gives you more

[07:21] confidence in your ability to play it if

[07:24] you read things off the page read things

[07:26] off your phone whatever you are not

[07:30] going to feel like it's actually a part

[07:32] of your skill set you're going to feel

[07:34] like it's just something that you're

[07:36] playing in the moment but if you

[07:38] memorize everything and you know that

[07:40] you can play it at any time any

[07:44] place it's it is going to make you a

[07:48] more confident guitar player which makes

[07:51] you more competent that's what I always

[07:53] say more compet more uh more confidence

[07:58] more compet

[08:00] impotence con the more that you memorize

[08:03] the

[08:05] more to piggyback onto that if you have

[08:09] to read stuff off of the your phone or

[08:12] whatever when you're

[08:18] playing you C you kind of look like a

[08:21] dork when you're doing that it kind of

[08:23] makes it seem like you don't know what

[08:24] you're doing and I don't mean that like

[08:25] I'm not trying to judge you for doing it

[08:28] I just think you're going to look and

[08:30] feel a lot cooler if you're able to do

[08:32] it all from memory tip number

[08:36] three when you memorize

[08:40] everything you're actually learning it

[08:44] and not faking it again if you have the

[08:47] chords or the tab in front of you and

[08:49] you're sitting there reading playing it

[08:50] you can kind of like skim through the

[08:53] parts that you don't know that well the

[08:55] transition from the verse into the

[08:57] precour or or the bridge back into the

[09:00] chorus you kind of go like um I'm not

[09:02] sure let me jump ahead to this part and

[09:04] you start playing somewhere else if you

[09:06] really force yourself to memorize every

[09:09] song you play it forces you to learn

[09:13] every part of the song now you still

[09:15] might not be able to play every single

[09:18] part of the song

[09:19] Perfectly but you at the bare minimum

[09:23] have to face each part of the song and

[09:26] know how to get through it one way or

[09:28] another and

[09:30] by you yeah okay I don't need to keep

[09:33] and then by doing that you do this and

[09:34] then by doing that you do this and you

[09:36] don't need to do this but if you do that

[09:37] then you'll always do this memorize

[09:40] everything moving on tip number four now

[09:43] we're getting to the good ones the first

[09:44] three were stupid those were just to

[09:46] take up space in this video tip number

[09:48] four and five are the good ones tip

[09:50] number

[09:51] four ear training when you play from

[09:54] memory so you're not staring at the page

[09:57] 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