I’ve recently felt a little lost with my guitar progress and have decided I need a teacher. I have written this post to gather my thoughts and describe my current experience, goals, and what I can commit to.

Experience

Playing the guitar is important to me. I love the instrument and appreciate a reasonably broad range of guitar music.

I’ve been playing guitar pretty much every day for about five years. I play for between 30 minutes and an hour on weekdays and more at weekends.

I’ve had periods where my practice has been deliberate and disciplined (maybe even a bit stifling) and others where I’ve just played to relax (easy but unproductive). For several months now, I’ve been drifting without direction.

I’ve studied several online guitar courses through TrueFire and Artistworks and have been reading several books about theory and effective practice.

Theory and practice books I’ve been reading
Online courses I’ve studied

My efforts so far have given me some playing ability and understanding of theory, but my skills aren’t where they might be, and I haven’t retained everything from the books.

Current skills inventory
  • CAGED system: I can play the major and minor chords, arpeggios, pentatonics and scales associated with the CAGED shapes
  • Music theory: I have a reasonable understanding of basic music theory, including: major scale harmony (1st degree is major chord, 2nd minor, 3rd minor etc.), relative minors, chord extensions, what modes are - and various other bits and bobs
  • Fretboard knowledge: I can identify most notes on the fretboard within a few seconds
  • Repertoire: I know quite a few chord progressions and how the CAGED shapes can apply to them. Quite often I can listen to a song and find its chord progression on the guitar.

My main goal

I play guitar alone at home with a looper pedal and create music on my laptop. My main goal is to improve my rhythm and lead guitar playing in his context. This goal might change, but it’s enough for now.

My biggest problem

I don’t feel I’m making any progress. I might be, but it doesn’t feel like I can do anything new or better. I hope a guitar teacher can help guide me to identify objectives and make progress. I hope building a list of completed objectives will help me develop a sense of progress.

Where I’d like to focus

I’ve tried to think about and prioritise the areas where I might like to focus in the table below. I’m happy to discuss any of these and take my teacher’s advice (I’m not the expert here, and I am open to ideas).

GoalsRelative priority
Feeling a sense of progress: Having some way to know that my efforts are bringing resultsHigh - I’d ideally like specific, measurable objectives to work towards
Technical Proficiency: Improve physical dexterity, coordination, control and speed across a range of techniques.High - I currently have a frustratingly slow maximum playing speed and my playing isn’t as clean as I’d like it to be
Music Theory: Develop knowledge of music theory, scales, chord knowledge and how they apply to the guitar.High - but I want to focus on the practical application of theory. For example, my current view is that the time and energy required to sight-read might not meet a cost/benefit threshold
Maintaining interest: Keeping it fun and interesting.High
Rhythm and Timing: Developing my sense of rhythm and timingMedium
Song Repertoire: Build a repertoire of songs across different genres, enhancing overall playing skills.Medium

What I can commit to

I can commit to being a good student, including:

  1. following my guitar teacher’s guidance
  2. daily structured practice, excluding days when I’m unwell or away from home
  3. putting in the effort