So as I mentioned in my first blog, I've been struggling with this beautiful instrument, the guitar, for several years. I've spent hundreds of dollars on books and different guitar website subscriptions to learn how to play this damn thing. People have recommended private lessons, and I do know a guy who I can get lessons from at a reasonable price (comparably speaking), but even $40 for an hour's worth of lessons is a bit much. I can pay $15-20 a month for all the lessons I want and I can learn at my own pace.
I guess my problem has been information overload. If I could go back in time to early 2011, when I first committed to this instrument, I would have said,"All you really need is to get your strumming rhythm down and learn chords, including barre chords. Then once you get that down, learn chord/scale relationships and write riffs based on that. Learn some legato techniques (hammer-ons, pull-offs, slides), some bending, and since you already learned scales based on chords, use those to start soloing."
Maybe I'll discuss playing in different positions on the fretboard, but since I've already learned barre chords at different positions it's not really necessary.
Just went through my fifth different guitar method (first I tried Hal Leonard's, then Alfred's, then Mel Bay's, then the Berklee Modern Method, and finally Essential Elements. All the same things: chords, some fingerpicking, scales, and some basic solo techniques. I WANT TO PLAY!!!!!!
My Facebook buddy suggested Gibson's Learn and Master Guitar. I've checked it out a few times, but of course in my immaturity (or delusion) before I was like "Too much work; I want to start shredding NOW!" (I sound like Veruca Salt).
I guess what's held me back is I never really set goals for myself. Like do I want to just be able to play tunes for friends and family or do I want to be a kickass guitar god? More of the latter.
Part of that means I have to WORK. But my brain needs structure. I need a step-by-step program. Some methods start okay and then devolve into some smorgasbord of scales and theory and my brain screams for it to stop.
I've been working on some kind of "guitar syllabus". Maybe I can parlay it into paid lessons. We'll see. But for now it's so I can get a sense of how to play this damn instrument. I found a little $3 book on Kindle by some dude named Justin Kregger who wanted to teach his kids to play guitar. It's titled "How I Taught My Kids To Play Guitar in Less Than One Hour! Using A Single String."
Needs some work on the grammar, but it's an interesting concept. Just using the bottom string (6th string or low E string, whatever you want to call it), he teaches simple melodies. No theory, nothing, just essentially like TAB where he numbers the frets.
It's beautiful in its simplicity.
So after years and all this money spent, I've come down to this (the books are more for reference):
1) Learn melodies string by string in different keys, which involves pitch and rhythm (melodic intervals)
Books:
The Guitarist's Guide to Music Reading (Chris Buono)
Sight-Reading for the Contemporary Guitarist (Tom Dempsey)
Optional:
Hal Leonard Easy Pop Melodies series
2) Learn/integrate harmonic intervals (2-note up to 6-note), and eventually chords
Books:
Sight-Reading for the Contemporary Guitarist (Tom Dempsey)
Optional:
Hal Leonard Easy Pop Rhythms series
3) Learn right and left hand techniques
Books:
Hal Leonard Guitar Techniques (Michael Mueller)
Ultimate Guitar Technique (Bill LaFleur)
4) Learn about chord progressions (theory)
Books:
Idiot's Guide to Music Composition (Michael Miller)
5) Create riffs using melodic and harmonic intervals plus rhythm and techniques
Books:
Riffs (Rikky Rooksby)
6) Learn different styles
Books:
Chord Progressions For Guitar (Tom Kolb)
Hal Leonard Rhythm Riffs (Greg Koch)
Hal Leonard stylistic series
So where's soloing? IMHO, I feel like if you have a good sense of chord-scale relations, techniques and rhythm, lead playing should come somewhat naturally. There's plenty of material on scales out there to brush up, but a lot of soloing is about the ear and feel. Maybe start with a one-note solo, then progress to 2 notes, then 3 notes, etc. The HL style series has books on blues and rock, too, so there should be some soloing tips there.
There's a couple of websites I like: Guitar Tricks, Truefire and Guitar Systems. While they all attempt to create some sort of order, it's all about just picking and choosing what you want to focus on.
I downloaded the Gibson Learn and Master guitar lesson and bonus resources books as reference (you can get them here at: http://www.learnandmaster.com/lessonbook/, just enter your name and e-mail address and it's instant access), but for the most part above is my syllabus.
While it's nice to have some kind of coherence, at the end of the day it's about what you feel like playing. Maybe one week you're on this blues kick, and the next you want to play some rockabilly or country. I guess my whole point in this crazy post is to find your own path. Keep things as simple and straightforward as possible, but leave room for inspiration and don't be afraid to wander down a rabbit trail. Most of all, while it can be work at times, it's all about having effing fun.
In the meantime, here's a video of someone having fun (fast-forward to 3:26; the whole performance is cool, but that solo at the end is EPIC)
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