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

[00:00] I've been playing guitar for more than

[00:01] 20 years, and if I had to start over,

[00:03] this is exactly what I would do to get

[00:05] good at guitar as efficiently as

[00:07] possible. So, let's make sure we set

[00:08] ourselves up for success right off the

[00:10] bat. No matter where you're at with your

[00:12] guitar playing right now, if you haven't

[00:14] had your guitar properly set up to suit

[00:16] you and your playing style, you're going

[00:18] to need to get that done. It's going to

[00:20] have a massive impact on how efficiently

[00:22] you can improve. You can pay to have it

[00:24] done by a local shop or someone you

[00:26] know, or I'd really recommend learning

[00:28] to make some of those tweaks yourself.

[00:30] You'll find that every guitarist kind of

[00:32] likes something a little different. So,

[00:34] being able to make those quick

[00:35] adjustments to fit what you like can be

[00:37] a total game changer. Now, let's get

[00:39] into the things that I would just

[00:41] completely ignore. The first thing,

[00:43] reading sheet music. I played bass

[00:45] guitar in middle school band. So, I did

[00:47] learn how to do it back then, but for

[00:49] the majority of guitarists, it's just

[00:51] not necessary because since those days,

[00:53] I've never needed it, not even once.

[00:55] There are some very specific reasons you

[00:58] may want to learn to read sheet music,

[01:00] but for most of us, it's just not worth

[01:02] spending the time required on it. The

[01:04] other thing that you really shouldn't

[01:05] worry about at all, at least for a

[01:07] while, are modes. For most music styles,

[01:10] you're going to be sticking to the

[01:11] major, minor, and pentatonic scales.

[01:13] Once you master those, then you can

[01:15] start looking into Dorian or Mixelyian.

[01:17] But really, for now, don't even worry

[01:19] about it until you're really solid. Now,

[01:21] there are a few big rules that I would

[01:24] set for myself. The first would be that

[01:26] I'd set up my guitar right by my desk,

[01:28] out of the case, and on a stand, just so

[01:31] it's right in plain view, and easy to

[01:33] grab whenever I have a spare second.

[01:34] Another rule would be that I'd have to

[01:36] pick it up at least twice a day. It can

[01:39] be for 5 minutes or 5 hours, but a

[01:42] minimum of twice a day. Next, I choose a

[01:44] few specific players that I look up to

[01:46] as examples of how I want my playing to

[01:48] sound and develop. I realize I'll

[01:50] probably never quite get to that level,

[01:53] but it gives me some form of direction,

[01:55] something to aim at. Finally, I'd pick

[01:57] just a few good teachers to guide me.

[01:59] There are so many great teachers and

[02:01] resources to learn from out there, but I

[02:03] don't want to be learning the same thing

[02:05] a bunch of different ways. I'd pick one

[02:07] or two that really resonate with me and

[02:10] my learning style and stick with them.

[02:11] Okay, let's get into the good stuff. The

[02:13] things I would actually be focusing all

[02:15] of my time and efforts on. First thing,

[02:17] I'd start learning to play by ear, which

[02:20] is something you can begin to develop at

[02:21] literally any skill level. And I'd start

[02:23] very simple with just being able to

[02:25] recognize the difference between major

[02:27] and minor chords like this.

[02:46] and then work up to putting a massive

[02:48] focus on being able to find the key and

[02:51] chords of the song completely by ear.

[02:53] Those basic skills unlock a whole world

[02:56] of opportunities for your playing long

[02:58] term. And in my view, they are the

[03:00] things that bring you from just being a

[03:01] guitar player up to being a true

[03:03] musician. My next point of focus would

[03:05] be on developing my rhythm. Something

[03:07] that gets massively overlooked,

[03:09] especially when your goals revolve

[03:11] around soloing and being a lead player.

[03:13] Rhythm is the most universally important

[03:16] skill you can have. And that spans every

[03:19] genre and every style, too. So, every

[03:21] single time I'd sit down to practice,

[03:23] I'd be doing at least one thing that

[03:25] focuses on building my sense of rhythm

[03:27] and timing. My favorite and the most

[03:29] accessible rhythm exercise that I'd use

[03:32] is muted picking along to songs like

[03:34] this.

[03:58] Next thing I get into is improvisation

[04:00] as early as possible. My goal with this

[04:02] would be to start training my brain to

[04:04] think creatively about the instrument. I

[04:06] know that one of the biggest things that

[04:08] holds players back is being stuck just

[04:10] playing the same generic songs over and

[04:13] over. So to make sure that doesn't

[04:14] happen to me, I would take just the most

[04:16] basic scale ever, like a small major

[04:18] scale or pentatonic scale, and noodle

[04:20] around with it over some songs that I

[04:22] like. I'll give you the example that I

[04:24] used many years ago. If you pull up the

[04:26] song Slow Dancing in a Burning Room by

[04:28] John Mayer, you can use this major scale

[04:30] here

[04:36] or this pentatonic scale here

[04:46] or any combination of both of them over

[04:49] the song like this.

[05:40] One thing that resulted in me wasting

[05:42] literally years was refusing to learn

[05:45] any music theory whatsoever. Now, the

[05:47] truth is I'd probably still ignore most

[05:50] of it, but there are three key things

[05:52] that I would definitely learn as soon as

[05:54] possible. The major scale and why it's

[05:57] so important, how major and minor keys

[05:59] work, and how chords are made. With just

[06:02] those three things, you'll understand

[06:03] most of the magic behind music and what

[06:06] makes it sound good or less good. I have

[06:08] a great lesson that you can check out

[06:09] that covers all the truly essential

[06:11] music theory that I'll link down in the

[06:13] description for you. Next, I'd learn a

[06:15] few fretboard navigation systems. Now, I

[06:17] understand that different things work

[06:19] for different people, but we need some

[06:21] way to break the fretboard up into more

[06:23] than just a grid of notes. What I found

[06:25] really worked for me are many of the

[06:27] systems I teach here on my channel. So,

[06:29] things like octave centers, the home

[06:31] base, and the horizontal and vertical

[06:34] cage system. I put a good bit of time

[06:36] into building up my fretboard

[06:38] understanding by learning systems like

[06:40] these. And that's because they allow me

[06:41] to play comfortably in any key at all

[06:44] times, which is incredibly important. I

[06:47] actually have a free printable ebook

[06:48] called the Fretboard Navigation

[06:50] Guidebook where I have all of this stuff

[06:52] laid out for you. So, if you want it,

[06:53] I'll put a link right at the top of the

[06:55] description. Again, it's 100% free, so

[06:57] make sure you go grab it. I'm sure

[06:58] you'll find it super helpful. Now, my

[07:00] final big area of focus would be on

[07:02] jamming or playing with others. If you

[07:04] talk to literally any experienced

[07:06] player, they will all be in agreement on

[07:08] this one. As soon as you can play some

[07:10] chords to a beat, you're ready to team

[07:12] up with other musicians and start

[07:13] jamming. One of the easiest ways to kind

[07:16] of get your feet wet is to find another

[07:17] guitar player or piano player, choose a

[07:19] set of like four chords, pick a tempo,

[07:22] and start cycling through those chords

[07:24] together. Then once you're feeling good,

[07:26] take turns improvising a little bit with

[07:28] some simple scale. For example, C major,

[07:34] A minor,

[07:37] F major.

[07:46] Now, I'm just one player here, so I'm

[07:48] going to kind of play both parts. But

[07:49] the idea would be to use something like

[07:56] the A minor or C major pentatonic and

[07:58] just noodle around over those chords.

[08:19] If you're not lucky enough to know other

[08:21] musicians to play with, I'd recommend

[08:23] searching for some groups online because

[08:25] they are out there. So, to recap, I'd

[08:27] work on playing by ear. I'd spend time

[08:29] developing my sense of rhythm. I'd learn

[08:31] and practice improvising, even if it's

[08:34] just super simple. I'd make sure I know

[08:35] those three basic music theory concepts.

[08:38] solidify my knowledge of the fretboard

[08:40] using the systems that work best for me.

[08:42] And finally, I'd apply my skills to the

[08:44] real world by jamming with others.

[08:46] Something you might have noticed is that

[08:47] learning songs wasn't really on my list.

[08:50] I think most people would choose to

[08:52] include that, but for me, it wasn't as

[08:54] much of a differencemaker, especially

[08:55] since my focus is on creativity more so

[08:58] than being able to repeat what someone

[09:00] else has already played. But that's

[09:01] going to change based on your goals. So,

[09:03] I think it's still worth considering.

[09:05] From here, I'd recommend you check out

[09:06] this lesson up on the screen. Don't

[09:08] forget to grab that free fretboard

[09:09] navigation guide book linked at the top

[09:11] of the description. Thank you so much

[09:12] for watching and I'll see you in the

[09:14] next one.