Broaden your horizon.   

Dear guitar players,

Even if you don’t plan on being a real bassist you can get so much out of it!
Here are a list of reasons: 

1. It is very good at conditioning and stamina. Your guitar will feel like dental floss after some time.
2. Great for your memory. You can use the bass to root out the chord using one note.  You can play through very difficult songs because you just play the root.
3. builds your ear. If you sing the melody while playing bass you get a whole different look at the tune.
4. They are reasonable. You can get a pretty good price. I highly recommend getting a bass amp as well. I have used a guitar amp but when I got a bass amp it was a game changer.
5. If you feed yourself by playing music. You double your gig ability very quickly. Bass is much less  competition.
6. You won’t have to hire a bassist when recording.  Check it out!

I would recommend going online to get some basic lines in your bag. Blues is always a good place to start
Remember this instrument has more to do with “feel” than a ton of notes. This will help your overall playing.
Even if you just have a phone to use.  You can record a bass line and play over it.
There are a lot of guitar players. 
You also might get into jamming with some great players that need a bass player.
Getting your foot in the door only offers opportunities!

Just like everyone else I am in awe of Pat Metheny.  I have been combing through his interviews and I am find a lot of common themes.
Not only use a metronome but become friends with it. 

Whether you are a jazz cat rocker.  Blues bluegrass!? 
The best players you hear really have a command and feel.

Whether you are going through giant steps or a emin vamp using only pentatonic set it in the 60s or 70s play quarter notes. Only stay in the first five frets. Then 5 to ten etc.  then on one string!  
Play one note on each beat and try to make click disappear. 
Ply behind. On top etc.

Think about how loud or soft you are picking. Of course a drum machine is great fun to work on these skills. 
In my experience, guitar players avoid these things.  
​This applies to the guy looking for a better gig to the guy that wants to sound solid bye the campfire in front of friends and family.
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Do you ever heard you are what you eat?  You are what you listen to.  

We all have our favorite players that got us so inspired to take on this challenge of being a real guitar player.  A real guitar player is not defined by a cute outfit.  Or a catchy song that captures teenagers  to fill your bank.  I’m talking about people that really want to maximize their potential as an artist. 

This is a very arduous process that is well worth pursuing. For example I’m listening to Pat Metheny and Buckethead. Then I will check out Stravinsky and Nirvana. I steal little ideas from both.
​ 
I love Mike Stern.  I spent a lot of time trying to sound like him. Luckily for me trying to sound like him made me investigate theory, reading and phrasing etc.
 
Now I try to balance my diet. 

• Stevie Ray
• Ted green
• Zakk wylde
• Larry Carlton
• Michael Landau
• Frank Zappa
• Carl Verheyen
• Brooks Wackerman

All these cats have made a big influence on me.  

When I only listened to Mike stern. I sounded like a guy trying to be Mike stern. 
If you want to reach the level. Trust yourself and realize that whether one or a million people dig your music. It’s yours. And I can tell you it’s worth it!
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Nobody has an easy time working on difficult tunes. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to give up playing a hard tune. So let’s take giant steps the hardest tune ever.

Start by playing the root of each chord on one string then in position.

The root 3rd, Root 3-5 then root 3-5-7 etc. It is very frustrating but gets less so as long as you put in consistent effort. 

I would recommend constant practice step by step not trying to figure it out in one day. If you continue this consistently you will find yourself able to learn things you found hard much easier to learn.  

Metronome fear is something that guitar players have big time. 

Yet we all go on YouTube to find a secret.   

Here is a secret. Turn the metronome every time you play anything. You will hate it at first but your drummer will love you for it. 

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Playing the guitar is a wonderful pursuit.  Many people are happy to play a few chords and sing a few songs. That’s great!
I am addressing those who really want to take it to the next level.
I have read tons of books that have been crucial to my development. Having said that I needed guidance and real live feedback.

ERIK HALBIG is my mentor. He taught me to be diverse, be original know your shit. And then just play.  He taught me rock jazz country blues classical!  I was always encouraged to be well rounded.   Instead of just trying to play my hottest lick. I highly recommend looking that cat up. He is a badass!
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CHUCK WACKERMAN was my musical director in high school.  He would challenge and encourage me to do things that I never thought I could do.
​

CARL VERHEYEN  is one of the top session cats for the last 30 years. He has been very generous to me.  Giving me great insight on how to improve. He can play anything!   And he is the nicest badass guitar player I have ever met.
​

BUYING A GUITAR
Best guitar selections for beginner guitar players.

You want to select either an acoustic guitar or electric guitar.

1. Acoustic guitar is in 2 styles, steel string and nylon string. Nylon string is known as a classical guitar. Steel string acoustic covers every other style, rock bluegrass blues country etc.
For example:

• Yamaha Standard Acoustic Guitar Pack.
• Yamaha Deluxe Acoustic Guitar Pack.

2. Electric guitar - For a beginner, I would recommend getting a package. That means guitar amp and tuner.
For example:​ 

• Fender Squier Stratocaster Electric Guitar Pack-Brown. 
• Fender Squier Stratocaster Electric Guitar Pack-Black.

3. Spencer Kennedy at Sweetwater is my top recommendation. He knows his stuff and can recommend cool gear in your price range. Sweetwater is one of the most reliable guitar store I would recommend my students.

Why choose Sweetwater? From my experience.

• Their tech support service is great. They know what they are doing. 
• The guitars I ordered from them are well packed.
• Guitars are tested, passed their 55-point inspection and ready to play.
• Their website shows the pictures of the real guitar. So I know exact the color and wood grain on the guitar I am purchasing. 
• Free 2 year warrenty.

There are a ton of variables. This is just an outline. ​

LEARNING
​There are a ton of things you can learn on Youtube. That’s great. That fits the category of most guitar players.   
In my experience interacting live with an instructor has really fast tracked my progress. I will always continue to take lessons.  

HALFWAY 
A majority of my clients can already play. They are looking for that something extra. As in how can you sound like that when you do it and I don’t.  Interaction is what music is about anyway.   
 
Remember, the chord you learn on the acoustic is the same one for electric! 

Whatever kind of guitar you have. Try to listen to music that has guitar as the prominent instrument.   Really listen to it.  Over and over.  Listen to all kinds of music. But now hone in on the guitar. I’m surprised how many students wanna play guitar because it looks cool. But the music they listen to has NO guitar!  These students are asking for frustration!!!!!

PREPARE 
if you are truly trying to improve you are always thirsty. Have an organized specific set of notes to ask your teacher.

We are all trying to do just that. This article is for players that really want to get their improvisation rhythmic and harmonic knowledge at their will to achieve your own voice on the guitar.  
The following examples are suggestions that may seem random.  They are all going in the direction of your goal to be a great guitar player. Mixing things up and make it fresh. 

METRONOME

BEFORE YOU SKIP OVER THIS, ASK YOURSELF HOW OFTEN YOU USE IT.   
Can u play the third upbeat on a sixteen note sequence easily? If you want to shred, get a metronome. If you wanna groove, get a metronome.  It is the common language of all instruments!!   

TECHNIQUE 
There are millions of strict technique material out there.

• Paul Gilbert has great ones.
• Steve Vai for shredders.
• Carl Verheyen and Mike Landau for studio guitar minded cats. These guys have been on tons of records from heavy to pop.

DEVELOP YOUR OWN STYLE 

This is a big mystery. But not as out of your league as you may think  EVERYONE is an amalgamation of what they like to listen to. The key is honing in on what you specifically like (a lick. A riff a chord) and nail It eventually depending on how much you practice  then add it in your own playing until it is effortless.  Along to way you might find yourself slightly personalize a part. Don’t run from that. But know the original part first.

Planning is key.  Who do I want to be as a player?  Ia guy who shreds.    A guy who can play subtle lines. I guy that can read?   A guy that can play great finger style   Take your strength and interest into making yourself employable.   

Having said that.  No matter how great of a guitar player you may be.   The producer has a bigger ego than you.  Being flexible.  Taking direction well is more important than your chops.  Remember it’s not about you.
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Have you ever felt like you’re spinning your wheels with little or no improvement on your guitar?  At the beginning stage, you basically get back what you put in.  As you improve your chord vocabulary and basic song learning. The progress is dramatic and rewarding. Some people stay happily in that place for their entire playing life.  In fact,most people reside in that zone. Forever That’s perfectly a fine way to pursue guitar. This article is geared for intermediate to advanced players the need to develop there own practice regimine to fit needs of their specific goals

KEEP A PRACTICE JOURNAL
This is a wonderful tool. It allows you have a specific regimen. it feels great to noodle around and play what you are good at for hours and hours. There is definite value in playing always! The only problem is that you don’t progress. 

Make a specific plan of just 3 weaknesses you want to tackle. For example, 1. reading 2. chord vocabulary rhythm 3. song learning:

READING 
The are several method books available I will share the links at the end of this article. I would recommend getting a method type book that really walks you through positions and fundamental skills. This is the one area that you will get back big improvement if you put in big effort. Only problem is that is hard and boring at first (that’s why standard notation books are so cheap. Most guitar players can’t read. So that puts you a head  no matter what style you play. Standard notation is the common language of all instruments why not know it 

CHORDS /RYTHYM

You can never know to many chords.  But how can we specifically get better.  Learn all the chords you can. But make sure you USE them in context a few at a time. Put them in a short groove and practice that with rythym. Use a metronome or drum machine at all times.  There are a lot of great guitar players out there that don’t have an understanding of what chords they are actually playing.  Knowing what your doing and why it works will simplify things. Plus improve your songwriting skills 

SONG LEARNING 

I would think that if you made it this far you are a serious player. Scales  chops technique are set aside for now. Remember this is just the start song learning is crucial. You want to practice memorizing even if you play alone  learn songs that are simple just to remember the structure play along with the record. Take your favorite riff you play and play through the entire tune!


BACK TO JOURNAL 

Practicing the stuff you would rather not do to work on skills you wish you had is KEY to improvement 
Your not going to wake up and want to work on reading or a new chord. But you can chart your time practicing   You can also chart your every day progress.  
After a week I guarantee you will have improved more than you had in a while!

Here are some book recommendations below that I think will help. 

• Any book by Ted Greene will and should be your bible.
• Any book by Erik Halbig. 
• Any book by Carl Verheyen. 

 That’s just a start on our journey!

This is a question for most guitar players from novice to expert. It is a lifelong pursuit that has many rewards. Let’s break down a few versions of lead guitar.

Basic
This falls under the category of the player that just wants to do simple single note melodies. Like the lead lines song centric from Beatles to nirvana.

Next Level
Learning the pentatonic scale.  All positions.  Learning some rock licks within the scale from your favorite players.  There are tons of examples on YouTube to help you get started.  Also look up interviews of your favorite guitar players and learn about what inspiration they used to become the players they are!

THIS ALONE IS A LIFETIME OF WORK WITH GREAT REWARDS. HERE ARE SOME SPECIFIC TYPE OF PLAYERS.

Shredder
If you are into this type of playing you need to practice a lot. And with purpose. You are doing finger workouts.  Plain and simple start slowly and use a metronome is something EVERY legit SHREDDING player will tell you.

Rocker with Chops
For those players who like joe Perry ,slash ,Stevie ray vaughn ,Eric Clapton ,Jimi page Jim Hendrix. Just to name a few. This is a balance of some serious work on your dexterity with some very serious listening the the execution. The “how they are doing it “ is key.  This is all about phrasing.   Bends. Slides legato alternate picking etc.

Of course this is just a small sample size.  There are many styles of music with terrific lead. Bluegrass  country ,jazz, gypsy jazz, flamenco, countless other styles. I would recommend finding an guitar instructor to give you feedback, knowledge ,and inspiration on your specific style and level.

What is the best guitar strings for a guitar player?
This question is often asked. From beginner to advanced guitar students.   

The difference between the strings used in electric and acoustic guitar is the material. The strings for electric guitar are made of nickel, chromium alloys and steel. Strings used on acoustic guitars are typically made of bronze, bronze alloys, or nylon. Acoustic guitar also requires a thicker string gauge for amplified sound.

The simple answer is that a nylon acoustic string will give you a classical sound (finger style ,solo guitar, gypsy jazz). Nylon strings are made with softer materials and have lesser tension making them easier to handle than other strings. However, pain and difficulty in pushing down guitar strings are part of the learning process. The faster you’ll get callouses, the quicker you’ll be used to the finger pressure. 

A steel string is more for those of you who want to sing and strum. It is the guitar you want for anything rock and pop music. Also for those of you interested in bluegrass and country music! There are many choices of course. ​

Here is the list of the guitar string brands I recommend. They are all USA made guitar strings.
Ernie Ball - Made in California
D'Addario - Made in New York
​Dean Markley - Made in Michigan
Fender - Made in California


Is lighter gauge strings easier to play?

Lighter gauge strings are easier to play than heavier gauge strings because they require less tension. This means that your fingers don’t have to work as hard to press down or bend the string, which makes fretting chords and notes easier. One drawback of lighter Gaged strings is that they have a better chance of breaking, especially on the top 2 strings.
 
Again, the faster you’ll get callouses, the quicker you’ll be used to the finger pressure. 

WARNING. If you buy a cheap quality guitar, it will not stay in tune and will be a huge struggle to play.
An article of specific recommendations of valuable guitars will be coming soon. So stay posted!

There are no rules. These guitars are only limited by your imagination.
Check it out for yourself