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Guitar Tricks Admin
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Joined: 09/28/05
Posts: 3,476
Guitar Tricks Admin
Full Access
Joined: 09/28/05
Posts: 3,476
02/11/2019 7:32 pm
Originally Posted by: BlackCatAlley

[u]My question:[/u]

What i'm trying to ask is this: All my life i've been learning/playing covers note for note. I've learned many licks, learned different variations of the blues, but for some reason i don't know how to connect all of it. For instance, when a guitarist plays a solo, he/she does it effortlessly. They know what they want to play, and where to put their fingers on the fretboard to emit the sound they are looking for. Or when a guitarist wants to play rhythm, they would add all these different licks to spice it up a bit.

I'm wondering if anyone knows a way i could move from learning covers note for note to taking all those licks and rhythm guitar progressions i've learned throughout the years and making them into something of my own.

I don't know if i'm a little late to start learning this since i'm an intermediate to advance guitar player, but any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

Hi there,

This is a great question. Playing guitar is all about feel and using the tools you have to construct something new.

It sounds like you've learned a ton of material and skills through songs, which is great! Now, you might want to work on improvising with backing tracks.

All of the licks and riffs you've learned from songs can be broken up into smaller bits that you can use in combination with other bits. For example, if you know how to play a solo in the Key of A, perhaps you can grab a couple of licks from a song that is from this same Key and mash them together.

It's all about playing notes fluidly and just having fun with it. Before I get too wordy, I definitely recommend working on improvising with backing tracks.

We have a few lessons you can check out as a Full Access member.

This lesson focuses on rock licks and at the end of the tutorial, Anders will show you how to use some licks to improvise a solo with a backing track: https://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1702

Here's another lesson that takes the same idea of exploring lead guitar, but with a Country twist. https://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=28103&s_id=2370

I hope this helps!


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