Hey there, Muris. First off, I just wanted to comment that you seem to be an amazing musician, and I very much enjoy your lessons, as well as the MP3s (WATER is one of my favorites). You seem pretty knowledgeable on the subject, so I'd figure I'd ask you.

I'd say I'm between the beginner/intermediate levels. I have a natural connection with music which allows me to learn things pretty fast. I'm just not exactly sure where I should move on from here. There isn't a particular 'style' I wish to learn per say, I'm trying to become a musician who's well rounded in about everything I do. I was just wondering if there was anything in particular you thought I should learn? Theories? Exercises? I would really appreciate the help.

Hi Johny,I hope that's your name,
and thanks for your kind words, well appreciated.

First of all I'm very glad to hear that you're into
many stuff and genres when it comes to guitar.
Being well rounded musician is kind a must in todays
music business if you wanna be pro if course.

So here's what I did when I was starting,
perhaps you might get some conclusions from it.
I started learning exclusively by ear,
I had this old tape records,I listened to everything
on tapes and trying to catch the notes by rewinding
tape like thousand time per day,I actually broke few
tape recorders that way.
And somehow at the same time I got into totally
different stuff,you might laugh now tho,
I started learning songs/licks by Dire Straits,Pink Floyd,
Metallica,Iron Maiden,Yngwie Malmsteen,Vai and Satriani.
Now, some of those bands/artists are totally different
genres of music and technical level isn't the same as well.
But I went for all that not because I wanted to learn many things,
I did it just because I liked everything I heard from them!

Now,I don't know much about level you're at atm
so I would like to know more to be able to help
and give you some direct advices.
How about some mp3s or video clips of your playing?
Then we could discuss more about what is it
that you're lacking at etc.

As for exercises and theory,
go for everything you like,it can't harm you,
you can only gain knowledge and more technical abilities.

Ah hah, wow you must have used those tapes a heck of a lot. Yah, I was on a trip, so that's why I didn't reply right away.

As for a recording, I'll be sure to get one up soon. It'll probably be poor quality (I only own one of those cheap $10 mics at the moment), but I'll be sure to get it up. Don't expect anything to amazing though XD (again, I really, really need to start practicing more, ha ha).

No worries,take your time,audio quality isn't issue at all,
I'll be waiting for your clips.

Ach, my mic broke, I'm gonna go out today and buy a new one. My plan is to buy a 'quality' one sometime around the end of the month. Anyways, to give you a better gauge of my skills...

In my opinion, I'm not too bad. I can easily play things by ear (I've had the ability to do this at a young age) even though I had no knowledge of scales and whatnot. Over the passed few weeks, I've just been starting to get into them (I've been playing the guitar on and off for the passed several years, though just recently I've actually started to 'get into it', most likely because of my love for music XD), as well as the theory that goes behind it (I'm also quite familiar with theory, because I've been taking music classes for my entire time in school. I'm only sixteen right now, hah ha).

I can't play anything extremely fast (or just really fast when I improvise. I haven't nailed into my head what each fret sounds like, though I guess that comes with time and experience. I'm starting to memorize what each fret is in standard tuning), nor can I move my fingers into complex a movement. I'm also working on moving my left hand in unison with my right hand (where to put fingers and picks where at what time, and making sure I HIT the right string or place my finger on the correct one). Dexterity is probably another thing I have to work on.

In my opinion, I learn anything related to music quite fast (or at least quicker than some). Like I said, I'm not exactly a 'beginner' though I'm not sure I would classify myself as an 'intermediate' either. I'm kinda in that gray area.

I'll try to get a recording up sometime tonight. Anything in particular you would like to hear me try?

Well you could record something you think you're good at
and maybe something you think you have issues with?

The one called David's Song is something made by my friend (and is still in the making). It's nothing to complicated.

The second one is part of a song called Night's Sorrow, by Becoming the Archetype. Nothing to complicated either.

I recorded both only once, regardless of mistakes/etc to give you more of a feel for my level.

Hi Johnny.

I listened to the clips and from my point of view
you seem to be pretty beginner level imho
BUT it's nothing to be scared about,
too often I aim for higher step when rating levels
which means you could be beginner-intermediate player
in someone's opinion as well!

It surely needs lot of practicing in every aspect of playing,
synchronizing you hands,dexterity as you said above,bendings etc.

How about to start with certain lesson of mine,
post your takes here and we'll go though it step by step,
I'll try to give you advices as much as possible
and we'll track your progress nicely.
Per example:
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5



Also,try to post mp3 files instead of wave,
easier to upload and download as well.

That's okay, I'd rather be judged more harshly. It gives me more motivation. Again, I KNEW I wasn't at an intermediate level, but I wasn't too sure if I was beginner (thanks for answering that )

Hah ha, sorry. I was using this program 'Ableton Live 7' to record, and it only exports WAV and AIFF(?), and when I tried to convert to MP3 it sounded rather fuzzy. I'll try to do that for next time though.

I am definitely going to practice those. I'll be sure to upload a few samples once I think I've got it down. You seem to be quite the capable musician, and I'd like to keep working with you even once I've gotten through these (however long THAT might take, ah hah). I know I can learn a lot from you, and I hope to do just that.

No problem at all,I'm glad if I can help somehow,
looking forward to more clips from you!!

Yah, after attempting the solos, I realized I really am a beginner XD I guess it's cause I never really got 'professional' help, and I didn't really know what to learn myself, so I guess I haven't quite learned... the necessities yet.

In terms of the Solo in D Major, how would I go off an get it started? Play each bar till I get it? Each riff? Any other ways?

Try to nail the lesson as better as possible,
learn licks,play it clean and articulate,throw some vibrato in there etc.

Update on my progress so far.

I've pretty much nailed the Strumming and Arpeggios lesson. I'm able to play the first five and a half bars of the Solo in D Major lesson without much problem (again, basically got that nailed as well). I haven't had a whole lot of time to practice, cause I've got work and whatnot The amount of time I've been working on the solo in total... probably about over an hour. Is being able to play five and a half bars of this in more than an hour good progress? Am I moving slower than average? Faster? Normally?

Here's how I've made out so far. It's not quite as good as usual cause I got kinda nervous when I was recording. Guess I'll have to get used to that, huh

Ok,so first of all you need to work a bit on your tone/recording gear.
You need more gain for Solo in D Major
but at the same time you need less gain for Strumming and Arpeggios,
that should be clean tone for that one.

I couldn't hear a lot from Strumming mp3 cause there wasn't backing(tempo)
and you had too much drive on your sound
but still it sounds pretty descent!

As for Solo in D Major,you did just a beginning and it was fine timing wise.
I would suggest you to work a bit on your bends and vibrato as well.

Then,try to play over backings I provided for each lessons.
Are you able to do that,what is your settings when recording?

Aaah, yah, thanks for pointing those out. I totally forgot about them, ah hah.

Again, my recording equipment isn't that great... the program I use for it is amazing... just not my equipment, heh. I'll be sure to re-record these with the right settings next time.

Ok,looking forward to hear more clips,practice hard!!