Guitar has been a long journey for me. I picked up guitar the first time in the early 90's, learned a handful of power chords, and started playing in various short-lived punk bands (locally) that nobody has ever heard of. In the late '90s, I had started trying my hand at playing leads, and even was the "lead-guitarist" of the band I was playing in and touring with until the early '00s (I use lead guitarist loosely here-I wrote and played lead riffs in songs, even would carefully craft short solos to our songs, but 90% of what I did in a punk band was still power chords-and I thought improvisation was far beyond my skillset). After that band broke up, the guitar became purely a hobby for me, and I didn't really advance for years. The last few years, I started really focussing on becoming a guitar player, rather than a punk-guitarist, and I have made significant strides in all areas of my playing: learning scales, lots of chords, arpeggios, and refining my technique for both hands (dexterity and control exercises galore--especially pick-hand control, which I had never focussed on previously).
In the last few years, I have decided to take another serious stab at improvisation and wanted to really dive into the blues as it seemed a logical place to start. I started with many searched on the web for sites and videos dedicated to the blues and improvisation techniques, but frequently ran into the problem that a lack of a structured approach-and frequently different/conflicting information. So, my search eventually led me to Guitartricks and I am working through the blues course and learning blues songs here, and I am beginning to make serious strides in my playing again. Love the site, the structure, and how many of the songs-videos themselves take time to address teachable moments to help you become a better player. I'm hooked and while I never plan to be a full-time musician again, I am looking forward to forming a group to get out and play locally for the sheer joy of it in the future. Thanks to all the instructors on here for the great material you are creating!
