The Three Pillars of Playing Guitar

The Three Pillars of Playing Guitar: Talent versus Knowledge

This is really starting to become a theme with me isn’t it? – this argument of talent (or having good ear) versus knowledge (or knowing theory and your fretboard)

Well, it’s not my fault, my guitar-clutching friends. You see, I didn’t start this fight, but I’m sure as heck going to finish it!

Why you need to know both theory and your fretboard like a fiend

You see, in general, there is a culture amongst guitar players that is somewhat anti-intellectual, or anti-theory, you could say. And the general excuse is, this great guitar player or that doesn’t know music theory, they just play!

But here’s the thing, as I’ve said before and I’ll say again, that guitar player you’re thinking of probably knows a lot more than you think. And secondly, be honest with yourself now, even if they didn’t, do you have the same talent and work ethic that they do? After all, they probably got famous quite young and for a good reason. They were probably phenoms that busted their ass playing all day every day. And lastly, you have to ask yourself- if you’ve been playing for many years without getting close to that level, or since that’s probably a pretty unfair comparison, then let’s just say without making significant progress, then isn’t time to re-assess your position?

Three Pillars to playing guitar are- Talent, Hard Work, and Knowledge

The Three Pillars to playing great guitar are- Talent, Hard Work, and Knowledge.
And the best guitar players have all three, no doubt about it.

And if you still don’t think so, let me ask you something… Take a Stevie Ray Vaughan or Jimmy Page, or Jimi Hendrix, or Prince, or Clapton, or Randy Rhoads, or John Mayer, or Bonnie Raitt, or Glen Campbell or Jerry Reed, or B.B. King, or whomever you think is a true guitar playing bad ass- do you really think they wouldn’t know how to switch their pentatonic scale into a Dorian scale whenever they felt like it? Or know how to turn their ending chord from a triad into a Major 6 add 9 at the drop of a hat? Or know how to harmonize to their own solo on a backing track? Or how to make a cool background part out of playing their chord progression but with only higher end, four-string inversions, creating a melody at the same time as they go through their chords? Or to jump into playing mixolydian sixes up and down the neck at any time, just for kicks?

I’d be more than willing to bet that they could.

The secret of playing guitar like the pros do

And those skills are not just coming out of having a good ear, or putting in a few hours of playing pent scales each day. Those skills come from understanding how music works, and putting that knowledge to direct use on the fretboard. And that’s what music theory is all about for guitar players!

And that’s what this course is all about too.

You see, I can’t teach you to have more talent.

I can’t help you to log more hours playing scales and exercises.

But what I can do, is to make sure you know a ton about music theory and how to apply it to the fretboard, just like professional guitar players do.

I can teach you to:
– understand basic music theory,
– grasp blues and rock concepts,
– to understand the ins and outs of rhythm and different meters,
– to finally get the real meaning of modal playing,
– to master chord inversions,
– to apply more advanced soloing scale choices to your jams,
– how to play more advanced blues parts,
– and learning advanced chord options and set parts while mixing them with varying scale choices.

This is the pillar of knowledge, and without it, you’ll have a very hard time advancing with your playing. With it, you’ll have every door open for advancement.

Because I’m not saying don’t use your talent and I’m not saying not to log a lot of practice time, I’m saying, put those two pillars together with the third crucial skill set of really understanding music, and watch your playing take off like never before!

So what are you waiting for? Join up and start learning today!