Any tips for guitarists ?

Babo 91

Babo 91

Nomad
I have been playing guitar for about 4 months, I have basic knowlege of music theory, Can play quite a few chords and have learnt run to the hills w/o solo and blood brothers with janicks solo. I can play a lot of maiden riffs and melodies and im currenly trying to learn the trooper solos  I am also starting to learn scales and have only learnt c major/am pentatonic so far.

Just wanted to give you some brief information about my ability.

Can someone please give me some advice as to what to do next as i would like to take my playing to the next level . For example. What things should i learn or practice first ?

Any tips or advice will be greatly appreciated. :)
 
Join a band. Seriously. Form your own if you have to.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, will make you improve faster than playing in a band. Later on, that will stop, when you've been in bands for a while. But for now: you just need to play more.

Here are some other vital tips:

1. Practice with intent. "Practice" isn't just jamming around; that's called jamming. Have a plan. "I'm going to work on this scale, and then learn these two songs." And pay close attention to what you do. Use what the Buddhists call "mindfulness": complete awareness and attention. Otherwise, you won't gain much. Playing "The Trooper" while thinking about your girlfriend won't make you any better at "The Trooper".

2. Practice with a metronome. Invest in a good one if you can. Rhythm is the weak link of all beginner musicians. If you don't believe me, record yourself without a metronome, and then try to match it to a metronome. I always thought I had good rhythm until I did that...

(Playing in a band will improve your rhythm greatly, but you still need a metronome when playing alone.)

3. Learn scale fingerings that you can move up and down the neck. That way you don't learn "C major" - you learn a major scale fingering, and you can play it in all 12 major keys with nothing more than a left hand shift. You can learn a lot of scales that way, and you should spend some time on pentatonic minor as soon as possible. But this only carries you so far...

4. Anything more requires learning some theory - so you can play in C major anywhere on the neck, and not be limited by your learned scale patterns. When you do go for theory, don't consume any "guitar-oriented" theory. Music theory is universal to every instrument. Trying to understand it only in relation to guitar will hinder your progress. A wider point of view allows for greater originality and skill down the road.
 
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