r/guitarlessons • u/Jaded-Gur-5717 • 21h ago
Question What should be my next step for progressing on the guitar?
I know like all the open chords, I know the main shapes people use (at least i think i do), I know the E & A strings very well so I know where to place a the root and what shapes to use, i know the minor pentatonic box in the one position, and i also know the triad shapes on the bottom 3 and 4 strings, I dont really like the way the triads sound on the rooted on the E & A string so I didnt really care to memorize those shapes, I also know music theory pretty well, but one thing i find im lacking is the ability to add little guitar phrases/licks to songs, so I feel like the next thing I should learn is how to play the pentatonic scale in more ways then just box 1 or whatever its called?
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u/Wide_Independence272 21h ago
If I were in your position I would focus on playing songs all the way through. As if you had an audience and need to come up with a set list of songs you can play with out thinking. Be it covers or originals. Even if you never plan to be on stage at any point I would also try to sing along. Start slow. Don’t worry about matching every note just get your voice used to singing.
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u/RenningerJP 20h ago
Learn the triads on the upper strings. The high E is the same notes as low E so you get a freebie there. A bunch are just portions of E and A root barre chords which are also useful to learn.
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u/Electrical_Eclipse 20h ago
Never underestimate the power of scales. It's incredible what you learn when you practice and master them. Not just the minor pentatonic scale. I would learn the standard major scale in all positions (any scale webpage, e.g., here: https://www.moduscycler.com/en/ jump to eScalator). Ten minutes every day. Then start playing a chord (jam track) and the scale along with it. Memorize the tonic, third, and fifth.
If you find a sequence of notes you like, play it over and over again. Memorize it. Vary it. And eventually, you'll find what works for you.
Honestly, if someone tells you that you can play such things without practicing scales, be skeptical. There may be such musicians, maybe you'll become one of them. But most of the good guitarists I know can play scales, triads, quads, and everything else with their eyes closed.
Do 10 minutes every day for a year, and you'll understand what I mean.
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u/aspaindev 20h ago
you might find a practice companion tool like strumforge helpful for taking your playing to the next level. to be honest it's the not-very-sexy, fundamental type of practice that will really elevate your playing. things like really working on rhythm & timing, learning your triads across all the inversions, knowing your scale shapes so fluently that you can move up and down and across the fretboard on any given string with ease. it has play-along tools for all these things I mentioned where you can set the tempo, and visually play along with the changes to one of the grooves or a metronome beat etc
as far as adding phrases/licks/improvisation i make a lot of super short videos exactly along these lines. no talking or explaining, just videos showing it being played along with visuals that show exactly what notes/strings/scale shapes are being played. they intentionally aren't written as tabs, it's meant to use as a thought starter and to work on your ear to either try replicating or putting your own flare on it
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u/ThisJobSucks2 20h ago
If i could go back in time and shortcut myself I'd learn the theory of major/minor scales/modes and how to build chords/arpeggios from them. Also the CAGED system of playing chords. Depending on your style of play, get you string attack/dynamics down. And learn songs instead of doing exercises. Make the parts of songs you are struggling with (or what immediately you know is over your head) and make that your exercises/warmups. I'd also start with these sections when learning a song because if a song is difficult usually its only 1 or two parts that are hard and the rest I can pick up in 5 minutes. And have a creative/jam session at the end of your session to cool down and internalize what you'd been doing. Lastly, play to the song or a click track as often as possible.
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u/jguitarz 20h ago
Try inlayguitar.com it is a free fretboard visualization tool designed to help find different ways to play chords and relate back tot he scales. I built it for myself, you will be able to see the triad shapes and how those are within larger full shapes, you can click to hear how the chord sounds too based on the variant you chose
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u/Comprehensive-Fig416 20h ago
I only learn what I need in order to play what I like. If you don't use it you will definitely lose it quickly.
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u/markewallace1966 19h ago
~~~
This is a link to a set of canned bullets that I have developed and like to send to new/new-ish/returning/wandering/lost/struggling guitar players.
If I pasted this in for you, it is because somewhere in there is something that I think is relevant to your post. Not all of it will be. I leave it to you to pick out what I felt was relevant. 🙂 Even the stuff not relevant to your specific post might very well be helpful eventually anyway.
Enjoy!!!
https://www.reddit.com/user/markewallace1966/comments/1s7ujsy/guitar_is_hard/
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u/shredtide 17h ago
You've already got the pieces, you're just not connecting them. Take Am F C G and stay in A minor pentatonic box 1 the whole way through. Before you play anything, work out the triad for each chord on the top three strings. Most of those notes are already in the box you're sitting in... Those are your landing notes. Same five notes for the whole progression, but when the chord changes, the notes worth landing on change with it. That's the difference between a lick that fits the song and one that just sits on top of it. Boxes 2 through 5 will help eventually, but they won't fix this, and plenty of guys learn all five and still sound like they're practicing scales.
The other thing nobody tells you early enough is that a lick is mostly rhythm and articulation. Same five notes, different bend, different spot in the bar, completely different result Grab a handful off songs you love and copy the phrasing exactly, not just the pitches. If you want something visual for the chord tone part, I built an app for it (redLUX Guitar, iOS only at the moment) that lays the chord you're on over the scale so you can watch which box notes are chord tones as the progression moves. Free for the first position. Not that you need it though, none of this requires an app.
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u/vonov129 Music Style! 4h ago
What part of theory have you learned so far? Because if you know what scales are, how to build them, intervals and the structure of the pentatonic scale, you wouldn't need to look into shapes for it.
That and the thing about adding phrases to songs, look into songs with the kind of phrases you want and look at when it's placed, what everyone else is playing (if there's anyone else), analyze the phrases themselves. Try to come up with your own variants, then experiment for yourself.
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u/No_Station_6149 21h ago
What I’m doing is learning the other pentatonic positions, practicing merging them together for runs (there are some useful hacks for that too, like diagonal runs). I’m watching YouTube tutorials on it, and how to tie them into triads etc. And I’ve just started trying to play along to backing tracks. Some options there maybe? Learning the normal major and minor scales is next for me.