4 Guitar Learning “Shortcuts” That Make You A Better Guitarist Faster

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What do your smartphone, your refrigerator and your washing machine all have in common?

Give up? They are shortcuts. Shortcuts that make your life easier. 

Eeeeeverybody loves shortcuts. (Even the people who say: “there are no shortcuts”.)

And guess what: 

There are many shortcuts that make learning guitar easier too. 

Here are 4 of my best guitar learning “shortcuts” that help you improve more quickly:
 

Guitar Learning Shortcut #1: Separate Movements From Notes

You probably know to “isolate” a small fragment of a longer lick that’s really hard to play, so you can focus on it directly.

But how often do you isolate the motions of each hand?

For example: only do the picking motions on muted strings (while the fretting hand doesn't fret notes).

Or only fret notes with the fretting hand (no hammer ons or pull offs – just push the strings down with no sound)?

Most people would say: “never”.

Here is why this is a problem: 

If you never truly isolate the motions of each hand while practicing something – chances are you don’t really know them. 

(Try it and you’ll see.)

And if that’s true, THIS is a huge reason why it takes you a really long time to learn and master something on guitar. 

Watch this video to see what I mean:
 

Spend some time practicing the way I show in the video. You’ll thank me later.
 

Guitar Learning Shortcut #2: Problem-Solving Mindset

You know how sometimes you play something and you don’t know what to focus on to make your playing better?

Here are the questions to ask yourself when this happens:

How do I want this lick (or riff or exercise) to sound? 

(Usually, if you have a recording of someone else playing the music perfectly – listen to it.)

Then ask: 

How does my playing sound RIGHT NOW? What’s missing in my playing that’s present in the “perfect’ version of the music?

Answering this question shows the gaps in your playing. 

When you ask this question, you may come up with lots of answers. 

For example: 

you are not playing as fast, your playing is sloppy, the rhythm is wrong, your phrasing is weak, your hands are not in sync, you are too tense when you play, your playing is not consistent (sometimes it sounds good – other times it does not).

…etc. 

This helps you get more clear, concrete and specific about what’s holding you back from playing the way you want.

And NOW you can look for solutions to your true problems (instead of just continuing to practice and hoping for the best).

Watch this video where I walk one of my guitar students through this problem-solving process and start applying it to your playing today: 

Guitar Learning Shortcut #3: Make Every Rep Count

If you are unhappy with your guitar playing, you probably have a lot of bad habits in your technique you don’t even realize you have.
 
Bad habits can be very subtle (like fretting notes a bit too far away from the fret - causing weak sustain and occasional buzzing sounds when you play).
 
Or some bad habits can be as crippling as trying to run with your shoelaces tied together. 

Whatever the case, it’s going to take many “reps” of doing something the right way to unlearn a bad habit.

And here is where guitarists go wrong: 

They practice WAY too fast (faster than they realize) and none of their reps “count”.

The result?

They waste time and get frustrated… needlessly.

What is the solution?

Watch this video to find out: 

And speaking of good habits and bad habits:

Here are 5 guitar practice habits that almost never fail to make anyone (including you) a better guitar player:

Guitar Learning Shortcut #4: Put It All Together

Most guitarists do a decent job of learning something in isolation.

For example: you learn a guitar lick. You get it up to a good speed and it sounds pretty good.

The problem with this?

A single guitar lick is useless until you integrate (combine) it with all your other licks, techniques and guitar skills. 

That is how it becomes part of your playing.

Learning guitar licks in isolation is like swallowing coffee beans, gulping them down with hot water and then wondering why you can’t taste the coffee :)

Question is:

How do you practice combining guitar techniques to make them usable in your playing? 

Watch this video where I show you how:
 

You now know how to speed up your progress on guitar. What’s next?

The next step is to fill in the gaps in your musical knowledge and guitar skills that stop you from playing the way you want. 

Pretty big “step”, right?

Indeed it is.

But you don’t have to do it alone. If you let me , I’ll walk you through it step by step. And I can be in your corner, guiding you, coaching you, giving you feedback and answering your questions to help you get where you want to be on guitar & play the way you’ve always wanted.

To learn more, go here: https://tomhess.net/Guitar 

 

 

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