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    • Practical Theory
    • Playing The Changes
    • Effortless Ear Training
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Finding The Best Order To Learn Guitar In: A Checklist

March 7, 2014 by Josh Frets

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If you want to be good enough at guitar to get paid for it, you need to be doing more than teaching your fingers to obey you, learning songs, and chasing shiny objects.

Here’s my answer to the question “what’s the best order to learn guitar in?”

This is a work in progress. I invite you to comment on it––I’ll update it with anything I missed (or put out of order).

0. get a teacher. work exclusively on technique. learn songs from the internet.

  1. practice habits
  2. playing in time
  3. playing with good feel
  4. learn the note names
  5. learn the major scale (in C) vertically on each string
  6. learn the major scale horizontally in five positions
  7. learn the most common octave shapes
  8. understand and memorize the circle of fifths
  9. learn about key signatures
  10. learn to ID intervals by shape
  11. learn to ID notes in chords by function (Root, 3rd, 5th)
  12. learn chords by note names (and not shapes)
  13. learn chords in the key of C (diatonic)
  14. learn to construct fancy chords
  15. learn nashville numbers
  16. learn common chord progressions (basic)
  17. learn chords in the key of C (borrowed)
  18. learn common chord progressions (borrowed)
  19. learn common chord progressions (fancy)
  20. practice transposing––a lot
  21. learn to read rhythms
  22. learn to read simple, short melodies––not in open position
  23. ear training. again: short, simple
  24. transcribe
  25. transcribe
  26. transcribe
  27. blues scale. deep study & application.
  28. (wherever your interests lead you)
  29. nerdy crap like exotic scales, modes, and music theory as it’s conventionally taught

A shorter, more zoomed-out list might be:

  1. Make sure your technique doesn’t suck.
  2. Get your time & feel together.
  3. Install the proper “operating system” in your brain so you can both understand the underpinnings of the songs you’re learning, and keep all that “meta-data” organized.
  4. Learn to read music well enough to read and write basic charts.
  5. Train your ear.
  6. Steal from everyone. Understand the why behind their note choices.  Write it out in notation.
  7. Record yourself often.
  8. Nerd out on theory if you’re so inclined.

 

 

What did I miss?

Please leave a comment!

 

Filed Under: guitar, Toolbox

About Josh Frets

Hey, I'm Josh. I write the best damn guitar newsletter on the whole friggin' internet. Find out more here.

Trackbacks

  1. Quora says:
    March 15, 2014 at 2:49 am

    What are the universal principles when it comes to learning the guitar?

    I made a checklist–in order–of what I think those things are. http://www.fretboardanatomy.com/guitar-checklist

    Log in to Reply
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