[plaind]

hey everyone.

i am looking for something of a lesson plan.
i have learned my chords and play them well.
now on to scales, hammer-ons, pull offs, tabs, blues (soloing).

i just dont know what my next should be.
its been a bit rough and i just need a bit of guidance to start moving forward again.

this site is great!
i look forward to all the responses.

plaind

[AX7221]

That's a difficult question, I'll do my best to answer it, but first I have a question for you, then I can do a better job answering yours. In general what do you want to sound like? Or if you were a wicked good guitarist what would you be able to do? Would want to play like Jack Johnson or B. B. King, or someone like Jerry Garcia? In other words do you want to be good at playing songs that are guitar and vocals, using chords? Do you want to have a bluesy sound? Or do you want to be able to improvise things? With guitar there are so many directions to go down that it's difficult for me to offer a generic response since I don't know what you're aiming for. So the more specific you are or the more descriptive you are the better responses people (me included) will give.

Okay, so I'm gonna do my best at a generic response. Well I'm geared almost entirely towards improvising. However in order to improvise the musician in a sense has to be a complete musician, so I'll talk about stuff I do, but I'm sure it's helpful in any way. The advice I always give is to use the chords you know to make stuff up. Find things that you like playing and try out different strumming for them. There are basically 2 sets of chords I'll use:
the relative chords for the A minor and C major scales:
Am, Bdimº7, C, Dm, Em, F, G
and the
relative chords for the E minor and G major scales:
Em, F#dimº7, G, Am, Bm, C, D
So in the key of A minor the V (roman numeral) chord is Em, and in the key of E minor the V chord is Bm, so in the respecive keys Em and Bm will sound very similar (going up to a fifth, key of Am, is different than going down to a fifth, key of Em), meaning the V chord has it's own sound, same with the rest of the chords, so by doing this you can learn what each chord (in roman numerals) sounds like.
These chords come from music theory, and one problem that people do is they allow music theory to box them in (I've done this). So, for example you can change any of these chords from major to minor, or vice versa and it should be fine.
(also the relative chords for A Gypsy are: Am, E, F, Fm, Fdimº7, G, Gm. So if someone lets themselves get boxed into the diatonic scales they would, in a sense, be saying you can't play other scales like the Gypsy scale which is obiviously wrong.)

So back on track: By doing that you will get a feel for the 12 notes we have to work with. Right now I sometimes use a computer program to play random notes then I repeat it to also better get a feel for our 12 notes. That's all I can think of for generic advise.

[tomg123]

If you don't have a teacher then search out the net. There are lessons on this forum and all over. There are actual videos of top notch players showing you things. Pick one you like and learn it at your own pace, all lessons no matter what they are tend make other things you do unrelated to that lesson some how easier. You can still practice things you know, to stay sharp

[solidwalnut]

Originally Posted by plaind

hey everyone.

i am looking for something of a lesson plan.
i have learned my chords and play them well.
now on to scales, hammer-ons, pull offs, tabs, blues (soloing).

i just dont know what my next should be.
its been a bit rough and i just need a bit of guidance to start moving forward again.

this site is great!
i look forward to all the responses.

plaind

Yep, that's always the tough part. When I first began learning (pssst, hey, even after I'd been learning for many years...) I'd reach plateus and say to myself, 'well now what!!'.

There are many lesson plans out there; many roads you could take. Here's some advice from an old man (relatively, I assume!...at least in the playing dept.): YOU make that plan.

I see by your biography that:

playing guitar for 3yrs.
ready to play some blues.
looking for help w/ blues and blues soloing
tabs!!!

Begin by becoming a great rhythm guitarist. That's the mark of great lead guitarists. You have the basic chords down, now learn how to switch between them quickly and effectively. Learn a bit about playing rhythm.

Break your learning into two major departments: mechanical and music theory. Kirk has some great mechanical lessons, so pick up on some of these areas.

The other area mechanically you should spend some time with is learning the fretboard. There are two main ways to approach this, and I recommend learning the CAGED theory through Kirk's lesson The Anatomy of a C Major Guitar Chord, where you'll get a great graphic how how the fretboard is layed out and how the CAGE and D chord formations connect to each other on the neck.

No sense drowning yourself with stuff that you don't find important for now, just pick up on the stuff that does make sense to you. Now insert a little music theory. You'll see that in Kirk's C Chord lesson, but also it's good to learn a bit about basic music theory 'cause you'll see how that applies to the fretboard. Start with notes and work your way through Kirk's lesson set there.

Basics are not to be ignored. They'll get you where you want to go. So now you've gone through some of Kirk's. Check out my series of lessons on The Major Scale Chart.

Now go back and apply some of this basic theory with how it looks on the fretboard.

And I know you want to get into some blues playing! Learn what the difference is in the major scale vs. the minor scales vs. the blues scale. I'm not saying learn to play these scales, I'm saying to learn the components of them and how they compare.

Now some of those 'minor pentatonic' riffs you've been trying to find will start to make some sense. Start bluesifying some of those pentatonics and start playing to some blues backing tracks you'll find here and here.

Keep in mind there are other really great lessons here from some really great players.

And just keep revisiting the basics. That's what's going to make you a great guitar player.

All the best,

Steve

[plaind]

hey steve!
i really appreciate the info, tips, advice, and recommendation.
i love to learn, but i hate getting stuck and not knowing where to turn.
there is excitement again!
cheers,

plaind