Kind of stuck in a rut, need some advice.

Hi All,

I have been "playing" for around 10 years. I know a thing or two but after all this time I don't feel like I really "know" how to play guitar. I can play along to a few songs, I can stumble through some basic riff's and lead but I really have no idea what I am doing which means that unless I am following TAB or playing along to a song I am lost.

I have tried a few online lessons but I struggle to know where to start. If I start in the beginners section I get bored quick because most of it I do know, chords, how to hold the guitar stuff like that.

So I am trying out guitar tricks, hoping for the best. Can anyone offer and sugeestions on how to get the most out of this site? Where would you recommend someone like myself start?

Originally Posted by: jragsdale9

Hi All,

I have been "playing" for around 10 years. I know a thing or two but after all this time I don't feel like I really "know" how to play guitar. I can play along to a few songs, I can stumble through some basic riff's and lead but I really have no idea what I am doing which means that unless I am following TAB or playing along to a song I am lost.

I have tried a few online lessons but I struggle to know where to start. If I start in the beginners section I get bored quick because most of it I do know, chords, how to hold the guitar stuff like that.

So I am trying out guitar tricks, hoping for the best. Can anyone offer and sugeestions on how to get the most out of this site? Where would you recommend someone like myself start?

A good place to start, if you have time as a player is to go to this page and on it the sections Scales and Combining Scales Chords.

I very simple starting point, if you're familiar with the Pentatonic scale is this; If you play a barred A chord (5th fret barre), that is also essentially the root note to start playing in A Major Pentatonic. So, all the notes within that Pentatonic scale will be in key when playing an A Major chord progression. Wanna go minor? Just go up 3 frets.

That is way oversimplified but also does much to demystify chords and scales. After that, check out those lessons to get much further along.

Originally Posted by: jragsdale9

Hi All,

I have been "playing" for around 10 years. I know a thing or two but after all this time I don't feel like I really "know" how to play guitar. I can play along to a few songs, I can stumble through some basic riff's and lead but I really have no idea what I am doing which means that unless I am following TAB or playing along to a song I am lost.

I have tried a few online lessons but I struggle to know where to start. If I start in the beginners section I get bored quick because most of it I do know, chords, how to hold the guitar stuff like that.

So I am trying out guitar tricks, hoping for the best. Can anyone offer and sugeestions on how to get the most out of this site? Where would you recommend someone like myself start?

I was in a similar situation when I signed up to guitar tricks, I went through the guitar fundimentals 2 course then jumped into the blues course and they both helped me understand what I was actually playing on the guitar.

It wasn't that I couldn't already play guitar, I could but I didn't really understand what I was doing. I would suggest checking those courses out and see how you get on with them.

If you get stuck then drop Christopher Schlegel a message, he's a great instructor on here and has a vast library of video's covering most subjects so I'm sure he can point you in the right direction.

Hey & welcome to GT! You got some great replies. I'm just here to reinforce them!

Originally Posted by: jragsdale9

I have been "playing" for around 10 years. I know a thing or two but after all this time I don't feel like I really "know" how to play guitar.

The best place to start is one of the guided curriculum courses. Have a look at this page.

https://www.guitartricks.com/beginner.php

I encourage everyone to work through the fundamentals. Even if you already know all or most of it, it will shore up any weak spots in your knowledge & skills. You might just click through & watch some of GF 1 to make sure you already know it all. Then have a more serious look at GF 2. You will learn barre chords, how to read music notation & single note melodies. Those skills are crucial & will serve you well for as long as you play guitar, no matter what style you play.

If all that is too simple for you, then jump into a style course! Blues, Country or Rock course!

And don't forget to look for songs that you want to learn.

https://www.guitartricks.com/songs.php[br]

In general, your conceptual knowledge (theory) & your physical ability to play the guitar (practice) should keep pace with each other. The best way to do this at GT is to use one of the courses! The best part about using the courses is that you will learn the right amount of theory in the right order as you gain skills & practice applying those concepts, as you progress along in the courses.

It's important to keep your theory & practice levels close. Otherwise, you wind up being able to play a bunch of stuff, but it's unintegrated: you don't know what you are doing, or why & how to connect all of it together.

On the other hand, if you know some theory, but you can't actually play anything, then your knowledge isn't helping you at all. What good is a scale if you know all the letters, but can't actually play it on the guitar to make music?

Another option if you already have some skills, is to check out my older fundamentals course that starts with the basics of music theory: intervals, scales, chords, reading music.

It's a great, organized place to start learning theory also!

https://www.guitartricks.com/course.php?input=fundamentals2(discontinued)

Hope that helps! Please ask more if necessary & have fun!

Hi .. I am a total newbie and in the beginner course... the lessons are awesome step by step building up each other... its so much better than struggling through the internet searching for help.... to much videos out there... very very good ones but no red line. In GT I found the red line. I am sure that all the other courses are well made with excellent teachers. Give it a try. Maybe start with beginner 2 and than rock or country or blues or take some song lessons they are great too but I cannot master the easiest by now.... have to practiiiiiiiiise