What to learn next on the guitar?

Seanf999

So I'm 17 and I've been stuck in a rut with my guitar playing. I know regular chords, bar chords, minor pentatonic scale and more intros then I can count..
But I want to improve my playing instead of just going over what I already know..
I play mainly acoustic (I have an electric but it doesn't get used very often) and I want to be able to write songs with a lot more then just basic chords.

I want to learn some of John Mayers newer stuff but I don't know where to start, I could just watch the video and slowly pick it up but I want to know what I'm doing so I can transfer it about instead of just knowing one song..

Any ideas? Cheers

Bruz82

You didnt mention finger picking.....listen to mark knofpler or eric clapton !!

zzfh

I found the same after getting to a certain stage..i started getting into learning songs of bands i like.

i started with green day,blink 182 etc
that got easy and i moved onto harder stuff like Nirvana,Skynerd etc

then onto Metallica,guns n roses etc..that's alot of learning if you get that far.you will pick up new tips and tricks up off every one of these bands.

If you want to learn John Mayer stuff go to ultimate guitar and get some tabs then go from there.

Rigsby

Seanf999 wrote: »

So I'm 17 and I've been stuck in a rut with my guitar playing.

Then IMO the ideal solution is to invest in at least a half a dozen lessons. You will learn a lot more (and faster..) with the help of a good teacher. This will give you the "kick start" you require. After your set of lessons you could resort back to learning alone.....until the rut sets in again, in which case it is a matter of..."rinse and repeat"...(..the lessons that is..).

nelly17

Jmatracks are a great help too
Here is a good resource
Ultimate guitar is a great App for Andriod or Apple Tabs
Tux guuitar is a great tab player for Windows/Linux

But these are tools and will never be a substitute for time spend learning and practicing.

Also if you're stuck in a rut theres loads of youtube lessons on breaking out of box scales.

Seanf999

zzfh wrote: »

I found the same after getting to a certain stage..i started getting into learning songs of bands i like.

i started with green day,blink 182 etc
that got easy and i moved onto harder stuff like Nirvana,Skynerd etc

then onto Metallica,guns n roses etc..that's alot of learning if you get that far.you will pick up new tips and tricks up off every one of these bands.

If you want to learn John Mayer stuff go to ultimate guitar and get some tabs then go from there.

That's exactly what I've been doing, but I simply learnt from the tab so it looks good and sounds good but i wouldn't have a clue what chord I was playing..
I want to learn what im doing instead of just playing what I can read..
But I havent a clue where to start..

zzfh

Ah ok..a couple of lessons should sort that out..its fairly straightforward.Just explain exactly what ya want to know.

even youtube could help you out.

Rigsby

Seanf999 wrote: »

That's exactly what I've been doing, but I simply learnt from the tab so it looks good and sounds good but i wouldn't have a clue what chord I was playing..
I want to learn what im doing instead of just playing what I can read..
But I havent a clue where to start..

While you are considering lessons you could read up on some basic theory. Tabs are a crutch and generally lead to the cul de sac you now find yourself in.

http://www.billygreen.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Music%20Theory%20-%20Basic,%20Intermediate,%20Advanced.pdf


Dont try to take in too much at once (little and often is best).

SouthTippBass

Seanf999 wrote: »

That's exactly what I've been doing, but I simply learnt from the tab so it looks good and sounds good but i wouldn't have a clue what chord I was playing..
I want to learn what im doing instead of just playing what I can read..
But I havent a clue where to start..

The blues, you need to learn the blues. Its really easy to understand how, but there is a lifetimes learning in it. Start with Stevie Ray.

nelly17

Look for videos on The Major scales most of these will explain how Chords are constructed from the scales

Frank11

nelly17 wrote: »

Look for videos on The Major scales most of these will explain how Chords are constructed from the scales

http://www.justinguitar.com/en/SC-000-Scales.php