Guitarists like you are rare. Your love of music is most keenly felt through melody and this manifests itself through scales, riffs, licks, solos and other aspects of lead guitar.
You play guitar for the thrill and glory and you don’t care who knows it! You unabashedly appreciate the electricity of feeling like a Guitar Hero.
Your Strengths
- You don’t mind getting your hands dirty and working things out, note for note. You’re happy to practice with a tab.
- You appreciate the finer details and want to get things right. (Only one in 10 guitar learners can do what you do, so this is a big asset for you.)
Your Weaknesses
- Be careful not to let your love of melody and lead guitar blind you from the fact that CHORDS are the critical building block of the guitar’s fretboard.
- Chords = Harmony; this is the other side of the musical coin. (Many guitarists of your type have poor chord knowledge and this can make them one-dimensional guitarists who never understand how things fit together.)
Recommendation 1
You probably already know the Minor Pentatonic scale (which is where all lead player should begin) so next you should learn all 5 box patterns of the Minor Pentatonic scale and then progress to the Blues Scale. (It’s ok to spend YEARS with just these two scales.)
Read our famous free guide ‘How To Play Lead Guitar‘ to ensure you know all the fundamentals of lead guitar.
Recommendation 2
When you feel ready the next step is to learn the full Major and Minor Scales in all 5 boxes.
Again it’s totally ok if this takes you many years. Your guitar is a friend that will be with you for your entire life. There is no destination here, it’s all about the journey. Why do you want to reach the end? Enjoy each moment right now! 🙂
From there you can progress to Harmonic Minor and move on to modes.
Remember: There is no rush, this roadmap is a whole lifetime of guitar fun!
IMPORTANT!
It’s much better to pick one scale and play around with it for a year or more learning all it has to offer than it is to simply memorise all the scales and not know how to truly use any of them.
Don’t become a robot, reciting scales. Become a MUSICIAN, who creates music.
You are someone who can voice the beauty of every note in even the simplest scale.
Recommendation 3
Understanding the CAGED framework will revolutionise your fretboard knowledge.
- Focus on your open chords, E-shaped barre chords and A-shaped barre chords. (For many guitarists, this takes years and is all the chords they ever need to know.)
- If you want to get more advanced then progress to learning D-shaped barre chords (very useful for lead guitarists!) and G-shaped barre chords. Lastly, learn your C-shaped barre chords.
The Chord Roadmap
1) Open Chords are for beginners. (Check my guide out: 14 Easy Guitar Chords For Beginners.)
2) Barre Chords are for intermediate players. (Barre chord guide.)
3) CAGED system moveable shapes are for advanced players. (CAGED guide.)
Lastly…
Remember, learning guitar isn’t a race and ‘talent’ doesn’t matter. Everyone can learn guitar so enjoy each moment of the journey and believe in yourself.
Music is unifying force and a wonderful gift that we can all enjoy! 🙂
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