LoGLessons - The Most Common Issues I See

After years of talking to people at various stages of their music/guitar journey, there are a few issues I continuously see that I feel will hurt the player's progress in the long run. These issues are varied, and I address as many as I can think of in the videos below.

-Notes on Top of Chords-

I address the most common issue guitar players have, not paying attention to the notes they play and how they function over the chord that is happening at the moment. The interaction between notes and chords plays a huge role in the overall flavor we experience when we listen to music of any kind, and too many guitar players either don't prioritize it or don't even know that it's a thing in the first place.

-Scales are Misunderstood-

Guitar players are scale obsessed. Literally every person I talk to describes practicing, playing, and thinking about scales as their main playing strategy. While scales are an extremely important element of guitar, they alone will not give you control over the instrument and the music you want to make. To put it simply, the way scales are used in the guitar/music world is not what you think.

-The Three Stages of Practice-

I go over what I consider to be the natural flow of practice. This flow takes you through three stages:
1.) Mechanical/Logistical
2.)Musical/Creative/Experimental
3.) Application/Real World Useage

I address issues that I notice players fall into, such as spending too much time in stage 1, and not enough time in stage 2 and 3. Especially stage 3.

-Practicing Smaller is Often Better-

There is a ton of cool stuff out there for us to practice, and many players get easily overwhelmed by taking on too much. This basically always leads to frustration, and ultimately a feeling of hopelessness such as "I'll never be able to play like I want, I don't have enough time in the day". The answer is very simple, don't take on every concept you've ever heard of. Instead focus on just a few things at a time that seem valuable to you, and then move on to the next once you feel good. Practice Smaller.

-What Music Theory Is and Isn't-

There is a common stereotype that guitar players don't know what they are doing. To be honest this is often true, and is mostly due to the often adversarial relationship many players have with music theory. So many players view theory as unnecessary, or at worst something that will suck the "Feel", "Soul", and "Emotion" out of their playing. If you are using theory incorrectly, then yes that can happen. But if you really understand what theory is and isn't, it can be life changing information that will give you control over literally every sound you have ever heard in your life.