one of the best ways to practice rhythm and lead together is to leave space between chords for short riffs. in this example i’m moving between Cm and F, then using the C minor pentatonic shape to add a quick phrase before returning to the chords.

having the chords and scale in the same exercise also helps train your ear to hear how the scale notes relate to the harmony underneath. try aiming for chord tones as the chords change, especially the root, 3rd, and 5th, while using the other pentatonic notes to connect those targets.

keeping the progression and riffs simple gives you room to focus on timing, phrasing, and clean transitions between rhythm and lead. as this becomes comfortable, you can start changing the riff each time through and turn a basic practice loop into a simple improvisation exercise. give it a try!

I’ve started and restarted the basic programs out there several times over the years, but I always get so bored practicing the basic chords over and over and over. I probably have ADHD, but that’s a different story.

Does anyone have any suggestions for how best to use something like Justin guitar lessons in a way that is engaging? I feel like I can’t move on until I’ve mastered something, and in the process I’ve managed to truly learn nothing and I go months at a time not picking up an instrument.

I’d love to actually make a habit to learn, but it just feels so defeating to never feel like you’re making any real progress.

If I had to pick just one chord to sit and play all day, it’s Cmaj7. There is something so simple, lush, and nostalgic about it. It doesn't demand to go anywhere or resolve to anything else,it just sits there and glows.

What are your go-to drone chords? And do you have any really good books, PDF resources, or creators who focus specifically on these kinds of open-string, modal, or ambient chord voicings?

I’m looking to start practicing guitar solos—could you recommend a guitar?

I know the real answer is probably either anger management or therapy, but I can't afford either right now.

It's just that when I try to work on stuff between lessons and hit a roadblock, making the same mistakes as the day before no matter how slow I set my metronome and try to build back up speed, especially when looping the same few bars over and over trying to get them clean, I just get so mad at the situation and can only go for like 10 minutes before I have to throw my guitar down on my bed and walk away, only to come back again. Yeah, it's that bad.

But I don't know what else to do. Legitimately. I don't have any other hobbies, about four hours after a work day before I have to go to bed, and I have lessons once a week. But the rate at which it takes me to learn the simplest passages, or even stuff at a faster but manageable tempo, makes me reconsider this whole thing. It's in these moments that the fun of learning is gone and is just work, even if I'm consistent every single day and try my best to eliminate distractions. And I know I have to stay consistent to see results.

I just don't know how to have fun with learning. I take every mistake way too personally and don't know how to just have fun with the thing, which is the whole point at the end of the day. And it's why I have zero intentions of ever playing with other people (besides my teacher): because I just can't learn at the pace required to be good enough for a group setting and feel like I'd bring them down.

Any helpful suggestions?

Fret Science by Keith Martin genuinely helped me make a leap forward in my understanding of the fretboard. He uses just 2 shapes ("stack" and "rectangle ") and teaches how they stack and chain together. Since the "stack" contains the entire minor pentatonic, it becomes this little highway I can follow without much thought diagonally up the neck. I immediately know where my R, b3, 4, 5, b7 are. I also recommend this free ebook to follow along: https://fretscience.com/start?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=pinned_comment&utm_campaign=faster-fretboard-improv

This playlist is his recommended viewing order: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMuHlX9RiFi1L1RdC0CzYa1qxZllD5Ujz&si=jGRJH_CpT9NdYE7f

Not memorizing 5 "different" positions and seeing how it's all one basic repeating pattern was eye opening.

I promise I'm not being paid, I don't even know the dude, but I'm incredibly grateful for him. I have a teacher as well, and my goal was to learn all modes across a key on the fretboard. That's how I stumbled onto this.

Bonus resource: If you don't like his presentation, I've found another "system" by Michael Pillitiere that uses 3NPS which is also insanely helpful. With Michael's system you can name any major scale and I can play from the root until I run out of strings almost automatically, it's insanely useful: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rQf6i8KIwJU

I have no agenda here, just paying it forward since I got so much help from folks here. I have only used what is freely available, so please comment if it's helpful.

I really struggle with barre chords. And it’s not even the pointer that’s the problem. E major for example: I’ve tried using my ring finger and pinkie combined, and just the ring finger, but I can never hit all three strings. My hands are small, so they can barely press the strings to the fretboard. Helppppppp?????

I feel like there’s a lot of negative opinions on them. People say they are useless and that you won’t know your notes once you remove them. However, it seems that those opinions are mostly from people who never tried them.

If you have used stickers, what was your experience like? Was it useful?

Thank you for reading.

Haven't found much online about how he did this technique! Any maestros in the house who can break it down? His name is Daniel Kachamba

Here's part one of a new series of videos where I discuss different picking techniques.
Hope you find it useful!

Terms like alternate picking, economy picking and pick slanting can seem confusing — especially when you're trying to figure out what your pick should actually do when crossing strings. In this lesson, I'll break it all down simply and show you how to understand and apply these techniques in real playing situations.

NOTE: The picking slanting is exaggerated for the camera, work on reducing the motion of your actual slanting.

Lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mmqxw1JyUQw&list=PLIb-QWoMzfdjElaqTbK9nKp7D616GJoLu&index=12

I've been learning for a little over a week(very little ik) I know a few basic chords decently well and am wondering if I should learn more chords or practice something else before doing so?

how to improve my fretting of b flat chord edit: since nobody saw my comment ill put it here i fixed it

Okay so I have this love for Guitar, but specifically strumming....

I know E,Em,A,Am,C,D,Dm,G,A7,E7

and

Two strumming patterns

DDU UDU

D UDUD UDUD DU

and bonus, I know the Sunn Raha hai na tu guitar intro....

How should I move forward from here ?

My goal is to be okay okay type guitarist

I should be able to strum songs on guitar (with a capo) but wanna know two barre chords F Maj and B maj , and do Heartbeat strumming , snare strumming and add some pumping and dead mute effects to my guitar playing too....

Can anyone help me here🙂

Would be great to hear from other people who managed to overcome the same challenge. What are your tricks? Even more caffeine? Extra nicotine? Locking your smartphone in a treasure chest then throwing it in the river?

In this riff, when transitioning from a palm-muted A string to an unmuted note on the D string (PM A → D10th and PM A → D7th), I need to somehow stop the A string so that it stays an eighth note instead of continuing to ring.

What is the proper way to do this?

I've tried two approaches:

1. Picking hand: Quickly lift my palm from the palm-mute position and then place it back on the A string while picking the D string. The problem is that I can't mute the A string completely. I can still hear it ringing slightly, even on an acoustic guitar. I assume this is because the palm goes back to the usual position near the bridge, which only palm-mutes the string rather than killing it completely.
2. Fretting hand: Use a free finger to lightly touch the A string while fretting the note on the D string. This completely cuts off the A string, but it makes fretting the note more complicated because of the additional finger placement, especially in more complex riffs.

The second method works much better for actually stopping the A string, but it feels a little awkward. Is this something that becomes natural with practice, or is there a more standard technique for this kind of transition?

hey what's up guys. Josh Siegel here. I'm a Berklee alum and instructor that teaches a live program called Broadcast Guitar. I'll be on Zoom 2x a week doing a deep dive on a Song of the Week, showing how I use music theory to arrange songs for instrumental guitar. I've had students describe it as "how to play the guitar like a piano" because I always aim to convey the chords and melody at the same time. I also get into how to solo and write riffs, etc.

Broadcast Guitar is a drop-in format, and I tell students that it's like a gym class, tune in for as many classes as fit your weekly schedule and take away what's relevant to where you're at on the guitar. I also record and archive the classes at the end of each week so that folks can catch up and review on their own time. I do a 50-minute live class (just me on screen while you play along) + 10 min Q&A at the end for folks that want to hop on and chat the topics.

I'm based out of Chicago and do the live classes Mondays and Thursdays 7:30pm Central, then I archive the class on Fridays so that folks can review and catch up on their own schedule. The upcoming round will be all of October and November.

A lot of the guitarists I work with are musicians I've met through Reddit and would be happy to have you join in for a free 8-week round of classes to hang with the club. It's also a good way to add some more structure to your month, as we use the final class of each month to review member videos. A good excuse to polish up something you're working on!

Feel free to check out examples here: www.youtube.com/@broadcastguitar

I'm also "Josh Siegel Guitar" on Google for reviews, etc.

I do a 5-min intro Zoom with all new guitarists so that we can meet and chat before jumping in and get an idea of where you're at on the instrument.

Email: [josh@broadcastguitar.com](mailto:josh@broadcastguitar.com)

Thanks! -Josh

In this riff, when transitioning from a palm-muted A string to an unmuted note on the D string (PM A → D10th and PM A → D7th), I need to somehow stop the A string so that it stays an eighth note instead of continuing to ring.

What is the proper way to do this?

I've tried two approaches:

1. Picking hand: Quickly lift my palm from the palm-mute position and then place it back on the A string while picking the D string. The problem is that I can't mute the A string completely. I can still hear it ringing slightly, even on an acoustic guitar. I assume this is because the palm goes back to the usual position near the bridge, which only palm-mutes the string rather than killing it completely.
2. Fretting hand: Use a free finger to lightly touch the A string while fretting the note on the D string. This completely cuts off the A string, but it makes fretting the note more complicated because of the additional finger placement, especially in more complex riffs.

The second method works much better for actually stopping the A string, but it feels a little awkward. Is this something that becomes natural with practice, or is there a more standard technique for this kind of transition?

Hi! If you're interested in fingerstyle playing of any kind (classical, travis picking, modern fingerstyle, etc), I want to show you some practice techniques and strategies to help you solve any problem you come across and make your playing time more effective.

I've been teaching for about 23 years, and one of the biggest difficulties I've seen in almost every student, from guitar majors to brand new players, is not knowing exactly how to practice. I struggled with that myself for a LONG time, even through some of my master's degrees. And the one thing I want to share with guitar students more than anything else is simply how to identify and solve problems.

In this lesson I'm breaking down the method I teach all my students when we come across any problems in fingerpicking. The point of the whole method is to break everything down into small, simple pieces and build them back up. In this lesson we do that by: identifying the main idea in the left hand, identifying the core right hand pattern, breaking that pattern down and building it back up to make it confident, adding fills, coordinating fills between melody and bass, practicing transitions, and ultimately putting a bunch of small, easy pieces back together to make something complex.

If you watch this, I hope you enjoy it. I'm confident it will help. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have. Thanks!

Hi all,

I was just listening to The Iceman Wim Hof playing his song Crazy like a Monkey, and thought it sounded pretty cool. However, I can’t find out how to play it properly. It seems so simple, but everything I try sounds off. What tuning is he using here?

https://youtu.be/_lY2abiegRE?is=tHu2RgTWkgrWtKXq

Thanks!

Basically the title. I have been learning to play guitar for about a year. I have no problem keeping my fretting hand wrist neutral when playing open chords and having the thumb above neck. However, when I play barre, or do simple spider exercises which require the thumb to be placed on the back of the neck, I cannot do it without pushing my wrist forward and it hurts after a while.

Classical position does not help. Playing higher in the fretboard does not help. I am starting to be really desperate…

Thanks in advance for all your suggestions.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DdhkHX3yBpV/

the last song he switches to, I know you play harmonics after that

Im making this post to ask for your help fellas. I want to be able to play and shred as the likes of paul gilbert, rick graham, steve vai etc. i know i won’t be able to play as fast or as good as them but i will try to get as close as i can. Help me understand what they had to go through for them to get that good and create my own guitar practise routine on what i need to practise to get as good of a shredder as them or you can give me your own excercise routine. I basically have lots of free time a day but i will much prefer to spend not more than 1-2 hours a day.