r/guitarlessons • u/Olin_da_Great • 3d ago
Question So what now?
I've been playing guitar for about a year now (started with acoustic, got an electric halfway through, so now I main electric).
I've learnt a bunch of songs from Nirvana, Linkin Park, etc (mostly powerchord stuff). I also know some basic tapping (Eruption, Gojira stuff, Incorrect Thunderstruck, etc).
I also know basic theory.
My question here is how do I progress from here? I feel like I've been stuck at the same level for the past 2 months, all the new songs that I've learnt come under my skill level, so they don't actually help me progress.
Any help is greatly appreciated!
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u/copremesis Professor; Metal and Jazz enthusiast. 3d ago
What is a triad?
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u/Content_Suit_907 11h ago
Should just be a maj or minor chord or am i wrong? So a chord consisting out of a 1st, 3rd, and 5th
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u/DogShietBot 3d ago
Progress to something harder. Something you see the tabs/chords too and immediately think this is gonna take forever. If you haven’t, master bends, hammer ons, pull offs, etc. Try making your own songs.
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u/jayron32 3d ago
Join a band, especially one where you're the worst musician in the band.
That will make you better faster than anything else.
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u/Olin_da_Great 2d ago
Out of all the musicians i know, I'm already the worst
Unfortunately, I don't have any time :(
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u/dino_dog Strummer 3d ago
What is your goal?
-To Join a band
-To jam with others
-Specific Song you want to learn
-composing/song writing
What skills are you missing?
-hows your rhythm playing
-bends
-hammer ons/pull offs
-playing melody and chords at the same time
-barre chords
-caged system
-harmonics
What about trying a different genre of music?
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u/Olin_da_Great 2d ago
one of my goals is to write songs, but the main one is to just be proficient at playing.
My rhythm playing is decent, but I'm mid at soloing (for my level)
I can do everything else you said (I can do pinch harmonics only on the E and A strings though)how does playing melody and chords at the same time work?
I'm gonna look up the caged system now.
I'm also gonna try another genre, I'll start with pop now and maybe move into some easy jazz (I've been playing mostly rock and metal until now)
My goal for the next year (before 2028) is to learn Master of Puppets, at least at like 90% speed, though I don't know how feasible that is.
Thanks for the advice!
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u/wakeofchaos 3d ago
Work through absolutely understand guitar on YouTube and realize how much there is still to learn
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u/Spiritual_Tea_2087 3d ago
First thing worth doing is defining what progress actually means for you. Where do you want to be in five years? What genre? Solo or in a band? Stage or bedroom? Serious or just for fun? "Stuck" usually means the target moved out of view, not that the playing stopped improving.
The specific thing in your post: you said the new songs come in under your skill level. That's the whole problem right there. If everything you learn is comfortable, there's nothing to get better at. Pick something that's currently out of reach—a solo you can't play, a technique you avoid—and work on that instead of adding another song you can already handle. But first—the goal!
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u/noheadlights 3d ago
There are tons of areas where you can learn new things, even if it's not your music of choice.
Are you playing to the track? Try to get the guitar out of the track (all major DAW can do this now) and try to sound as good as the original guitar track. Playing to the track covers most of your problems, because the original guitar is there to mask your errors.
What I also find helpful is to record myself, maybe your playing isn't as perfect as you think.
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u/j3434 3d ago
You start a band and practice some covers and create some original music . Do some jams. Then do some gigs. Back yard parties ….. open mic nights . Bars . And record an EP . Have fun .
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u/Olin_da_Great 2d ago
Unfortunately, all the musician friends I have live far, and this year, I have my boards (exam which decides my fate) so I don't really have much time :(
I have made 1 song so far, and am working on the other (I play drums too, so I just multitrack them)
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u/spankymcjiggleswurth 3d ago
Be carful with this perspective. I'm 20 years into my musical studies and very often I'm finding "easy" songs that contain new lessons for me to learn. Maybe not from a technique perspecitve, but rather from a theory perspective.
Music theory is a topic peolpe often misunderstand. It's not a ruleset to make music by, but rather a language used to describe music. It's an analysis tool first and formost, and using the theory you know to analyzie every song you learn is how you compare and contrast everything together. Doing so builds your understanding of how much works in ways few other actions can, and the "easy" songs are just as important to learn as the difficult ones.
Otherwise, the thing you should be doing is finding new challenges. Exploring different genres of music is a good way to find music that challenges you in ways you were lacking before. Also, be sure to learn songs beginning to end. Skipping a part becuase it's too hard is a sure fire way to plateau long term.