Hiya, Thanks for watching and for all the really great comments. I've been reading all of them. I thought I'd share a little more info here The guitars I have had over the years are: 2004 - My first cheap, beginner Encore guitar 2005 - A cheap knock-off version of a Flying V worth about £70. I can't remember the brand but it definitely doesn't exist anymore 2008 - A budget Jackson Randy Rhoads black with gold pinstripe. ~£230 2009 - Ibanez RG350EX 2011 - Ibanez EGEN8 2014 - Schecter Demon-7 7 String guitar. I had this for a couple of years but sold it. 2017 - Ibanez RGDIX6PB If you want to support me, you can go to my Bandcamp: rysmusic.bandcamp.com Any and all support is appreciated ❤ Edit: sub to Ezra, former singer of 22 Dropout www.youtube.com/@EzraBriggsMusic ❤ Edit 2: A few people have brought up the fact that it's not necessarily about amount of years played, but the amount of hours. This is absolutely true. I never really had strict practice routines so I can't give a totally accurate number of hours - but at a guess I'd say I've clocked 15-20k hours in 20 years. That's an average of 2 to 2.7 hours per day. Edit 3: Didn't realise my Discord server link was broken this entire time. If you want to keep up-to-date and chat shit, join the server ✌👇 discord.com/invite/qk7M6QBYky

How many guitarists watching this laughing because Smoke on The Water was the very first song you played, and exactly like he was doing it?

This dude had a lot of phases.

And that boys and girls, is what 20,000 hours practice looks like.

the fact that it is self taught truly shows the motivation, determination and patience to truly become better version of yourself.

Could’ve bought a house in 2004 but you decided to play guitar

Just wanted to say, as Mum, this was a real love. I had no problem at all encouraging my son learning to play music. He spent many, many hours on something he really loved and enjoyed. It's been great watching all the improvements over the years. I had no problem with the noise, sitting listening to rehearsals, being a roadie and turning up to all the gigs. It's been brilliant. This all took a lot of practice, time and patience but it's all fantastic 😊 PS: I can play the first few notes of Smoke on the Water ...maybe that's where it all started! 😊

Bro’s hands start teleporting after 2 years

Your hair style journey was really fun to watch

Moral of this story: NOTHING good happens overnight 👍

dude's been playing for as long as i've been alive

I was playing guitar hero, you were becoming a hero.

This just inspires me to keep going, I’m 7 years in right now, started playing in 2016 with a cheap acoustic, did 3 lessons, learned G, C and D major chords, E minor, and then I stopped with the lessons and immediately tried my hand at learning songs. In December of 2017 I got my first electric guitar, gracefully handed down to me by my grandfather before his memory faded due to dementia, along with a Nova 500 Tube Amplifier. I played that guitar as much as I possibly could, through many many frustrating nights where I wanted to break the thing, but I kept pushing. I suddenly got a hunger to play, and with the coming of my first paycheque from my first job at 15, I bought a new guitar of my own, an Epiphone Les Paul 100 in vintage cherry burst. It happened to be hanging on the used guitar rack at Long & McQuade down from William Shatner Avenue in Ottawa, Ontario, in a “small” city called Kanata. The according to the salesman I bought the guitar from, a guy had come in, bought the guitar and returned it not even 3 days later. No damage to the guitar, it was mint condition. Marked down to $308 before tax. My mother begged and pleaded with the salesman to take a chunk off of the price, as it was my first guitar purchase, and she didn’t want to see me paying too much for a guitar that may have something wrong with it, obviously this didn’t turn out to be the case, and so my faithful Les Paul became ‘The Beaut’. Now down the road I’ve played the guitar so faithfully and so roughly that the selector switch no longer clicks into the neck frequencies, and two of my tone knobs are loose and well worn. In 2019 I bought my first amplifier, a Fender Mustang GT100. It’s an electronic amp with 200 amp setting slots that you can customize with EQ, Pedal effects, filters and pretty much everything else you could ever want to dial on your amp for a tone. I am still using this amp and am having a hard time deciding on my next piece of equipment, so I guess it’s gonna stick for a while. Sorry for the ‘life story’, I just felt a huge smile spread across my face as I was listening to you play “Forsake Not The Dream” by Trivium. I just learned Matt Heafy’s solo last year and am working through learning a lot of the songs featured on “In Waves”. I encourage anyone who feels like throwing out their guitar, or giving up, or breaking their equipment, to just put it down, walk away, and come back later. Do that as many times as it takes to accomplish your first song, then keep going. You CAN do this. No matter who you are. I am 7 years into playing and still struggle, I still get frustrated, and I still get mad and want to smash my guitar because “it doesn’t play right”. It’s a frame of mind most of the time. For those of you who physically can’t play, I am sorry that I don’t have a solution and I hope you still enjoy music in some form. I personally don’t know what I’d do without the ability to listen to music, and I truly take it for granted. Being allowed to take this journey and reflect on where we started is part of the reward, thank you for posting this video. Please remove my comment if you feel it’s spammy, I appreciate anyone who took the time to read. 🤘🏻

You at age of 9 was better than me at my 29 🤣 I'm so lazy jesus christ!

And people still can't imagine the hours of practice between each of those recordings. Congrats man! This is so wholesome

i went through a 2 minute unskippable ad for this it was worth it

You just became one of my favorite guitarists. @17 year mark is where you REALLY start to shine.

It's cool we live in an age where you can have this entire experience documented and formatted in a way for us to enjoy it like this. Incredible content.

He found the meaning of life through guitar. When we have proven to ourselves what we are worth that’s when we realize life is worth living.

Wow! As a mom, I can only imagine how proud your mom must be. The depth of your love of music and dedication is incredible and admirable. Thank you for sharing your amazing journey with us. ❤

As a 45 year former touring Guitarist I must say this (Documentary) is priceless and reminds me of so much. I’m 60 now and still love playing to my Grandchildren. When they see vids of me all through the 80s- early 90s they can’t believe it. Excellent Video!!🙏🙏💯💯

As this guitar boi’s partner of 10 years it’s amazing to see how much he’s grown as a person and artist. It’s truly inspiring to see his unwavering passion for music ❤️

Dude, it was genuinely amazing to watch how your playing developed. I, like I'm sure many of the other people who watched, see so much of how I started in what you've shared. Of course your skill is leaps and bounds beyond me, but to see the progression is amazing and inspiring.

I have no idea why you made me watch a 40 minute video, just to inform me I need to go buy the RYS album, but I'm glad you did.

I can tell this man loves that guitar. He's been playing it for 8 years and I imagine more to come. Beautiful partnership.

You are lucky to have recorded these. A lot of people don't realize how cool it is to look back on stuff like this.

Thanks for the journey, young man. I enjoyed your progress. Thanks for posting.

Videos like this are so important! It's proof of the hard work, effort, and time it takes to be a musician! Everyone can do it, but not everyone is willing to! Amazing job Rys! Keep on rockin'!

That's 20 years of deliberate practice, not just passing through hoops. Dude, that fact alone is applaudable. Cheers to the metal community \m/

20 years later, you're still staring down at the fire in the sky.

It’s awesome you stuck with it! That’s awesome dedication.

That's incredible showing us through the stages of learning to play guitar.. what memories this brings back for myself

I am a self-taught guitarist. Started during my 17th year, on a Takamine acoustic/electric guitar. Continued to improve all the way through my military career as a helicopter pilot/instructor, up until 67 days before my 26 year retirement, from the US Army, when I was partially paralyzed in a training accident. My right arm and hand ( my strumming hand ) are totally paralyzed. I have a wall full of my guitars, just hanging there, and praying for a miracle, a miracle that I know will never happen. To all of my fellow guitarists, play your hearts out, as if it were your last day of playing. To this young man: Brother, you are beyond awesome, with a God given talent. Simply amazing!!! 👍

This was fascinating. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a well documented study on progress from point A to point B. Incredible and kudos to you for sticking with it and sharing this time capsule.

I love this. This showcases that "gifted kids" and "natural talent" are just bogus. Every good musicianship you see in someone (not only technique and good timbre) is the result of years of practice and dedication, self-taught or not.

Hey Man.... watching this is inspiration for an old timer like me. I'm just starting my guitar journey at 46. I played around with my dad's guitar as a kid, but never did it seriously. I am learning for my church, with encouragement from a few other's. Through The Fire and Flames is one of my favorite songs. Awesome!

This is one of the best things I've ever seen. Not many people have a record of their development as a guitarrist, much less the time and will to put it together and upload for the world to see. You're amazing, keep at it!

Remember when you got your first really good guitar, all of the sudden it was playing itself. You know when it happens when you suddenly play better than you did. And when you finally learned that solo it made you so confident you never want to stop playing. Nice presentation, Respect.

Beautiful compilation of clips - what a joy to witness your journey - having that love for music is a real gift. Thanks for sharing!

From my childhood i loved guitars more than anything but sadly my parents were anything but supportive. I bought my first guitar at the age of twenty after having seen Earth Wind and Fire in concert. The lead guitarist played the Voodoo Child solo and within a week of seeing that, and the sound of voodoo child still ringing in my ear's i went and bought my first guitar. So grateful to have done so. these days i'd probably be suicidal if i had'nt of followed that dream of learning to play.

Damn! Nothing more gorgeous than watching someone playing the guitar from nothing to super kick ass! Practicing pays off! CONGRATS!!!!

The fact that you have all these videos is awesome in itself...but what it documents is incredible. Killer, dude.

I bow down to you as a master that you have been learning your craft as beautiful progression of the mind on your documented journey

You worked hard for this viral hit of a video. Good job, and thank you for sharing this.

Wow. Finally, someone adds an actual Guitar progression video thats realistic and you didnt become SRV after 12 months 😂 (just after 6 yrs 😉). Awesome to see such progress over a lifetime. I dont feel so bad for sucking now after 3 years lol.

This was one of the best videos i have ever witnessed. This took me back following the years through the video thinking about the past. Sick video and congrats.

I've just watched this video and I really loved seeing your evolution. I don't know you, but now I will look for your work to enjoy and praise your good job. Congrats from Brazil.

You’re a living breathing example of the answer to the question I’ve heard so many times. “How do you do that?” Except I’m a drummer. This is proof that finding your passion and feverishly practicing it is the only way. I’ve heard some people claim you’re born with it. 😂 They can only be referring to the passion it takes to be obsessed enough to spend years on muscle memory. Music is a sickness and you definitely have it man. Seriously, thanks for sharing. I enjoyed it tremendously. 🤘🏻 Don’t ever stop

One day you'll be as good as me source: I've been playing two weeks

This journey is exactly the same one many of us took, even joined a band and opened for some bands, played some venues. some of the best years & times of my life. Now I hear and see my sons taking this same evolution. Hearing the screeching of strings when they first started to now yrs later, they sound awesome. Good job, never stop.

I was late to the game when I picked up a bass guitar. It's been 21 years now. Felt like I was relating to the progression I was watching in you. Respect to you for your time and commitment. You've reached status-level amazing.

This video should be shown in all schools from now on to teach pupils how you can achieve anything you want to in life through perseverance & commitment. This doesnt only apply to music, it applies to art & anything else you would like to learn in life. Well done 👋👋👋 (self taught bassist).

I will come back here when this video will have 100 million view.

You stuck with it and became amazing! So cool that you documented your development over the years. Good job. Btw, I found you on Spotify and am now a big fan.

Man, you’ve got the gift. This is some truly great guitar playing. 👍

Mom must be very proud of her little boy...👏👏👏👏👏

Dude, I've been playing Bass since 1975 and my wife and I just ran across your video. Clicked on it for fun. That was a fun ride watching you grow from the always faithful smoke on the water to a surgeon. I love your style and sound. Really love your precision and dedication. What got you to think to record all those years is beyond me but one of the most entertaining backgrounds to your story. Keep it up man. You have earned every damn bit of what's coming as you continue to grow and clearly entertain the masses. Hats off man.

I’m 67. When in my teens I played the drums. But my true love was doing what you did. Guitar. You stuck to it and became very proficient. You should be proud. 👍👍

This is so dope. Makes me want to start practicing more technical stuff! It's so cool to have all these memories on video. keep shredding, bro

Cool to watch you progress like that. Thanks for sharing your journey. Keep the FUN in it.

where you were after only 3 years is amazing

Watching YOU GROW Up with the guitar as your appendage was absolutely amazing bro. Hope you and your band go far

Loved watching this and loved reminiscing about my own guitar playing journey. Great vid!

Thank you for posting this . Its makes me feel so much better about my practice. I only been playing 2 months and its taking me forever to learn simple songs

lol your emo phase was funny as shit dude

I’m impressed man, you steadily improved, stuck with it and became a killer player. Not a lot of people have the will and drive to stick with learning an instrument. The time, practice and dedication it takes makes it fairly difficult. As a fellow guitarist, I’m really proud of you man and you are well beyond where I ever was. I started playing at 12 and was dedicated to rhythm playing. Metallica was (and still is) my favorite band and I idolized Hetfield, so I really wanted to model myself after his playing. Like you, I learned everything by ear. Since I’m an old fart, I was learning using cassette tapes, which wasn’t easy. Thankfully CDs became popular not too long after and made life a lot easier. At maybe 4 years I could play Kill em All straight through to the end of Justice pretty flawlessly, the Rhythm parts at least, I didn’t touch solos except for Fade to Blacks beginning solo because it was easy and some smaller solos in Orion. I learned the Black album when it came out also. Peppered in I learned entire albums from earlier Anthrax (like Among the Living), Megadeth (Rust in Peace), various Iron Maiden, Motley Cru, Guns and Roses, etc. just random songs I liked here and there. In High School I’d spend a minimum of 3-4 hours a day playing. I was bullied heavily in HS, and guitar was my escape, my emotional outlet. If I had a particularly bad day, I’d actually play the first 4 Metallica albums, in order, without skipping a song. That was usually a 5+ hour session, but by the end I felt better, all the anger and hatred and everything else just melted away. It saved my life, literally. I did become a fairly proficient rhythm player. Unfortunately for my guitar playing, I got married young at 21, had a kid at 22 and my playing time took a huge hit. I’d still play sometimes, I’d record some stuff, but work, a kid, a wife….i just stopped playing regularly. Then I had to sell all my equipment to pay bills when I became disabled and couldn’t work, I was left with nothing to play. Every time I’d manage to get gear and start again, something would happen and I’d have to sell to cover bills. Now I’ve been without a guitar or amp for at least 7 years, and I miss playing. I really miss that emotional outlet and just playing in general. I have some arthritis in my hands, so I don’t even know if I could play, but I want to try one day. When that will be I have no idea, we live paycheck to paycheck, since I’m on disability which pays like a joke. Losing 2/3rds of your salary when going on disability isn’t really conducive to being financially secure. I do miss it though, a lot. I’m hoping someday I’ll be able to afford something like a Harley Benton and an inexpensive modeler or maybe software and start playing again. I want to learn new songs, I want to relearn old songs I used to know so well. Either way, amazing journey, I wish we had a video camera for me to document my progress, but I started playing in 1985 when those were really expensive and my parents were never into the whole video taping thing.

One of the best guitar videos I've ever seen. Well done.

This was a really cool showcase of your guitar learning experience. And ending with one of my favorite guitar songs (Rubicon Artist - Intervals) which was really cool to see. Nice work!

In the late 70's I was blown away when my neighbor played Smoke on the Water on my front porch, and I was determined to learn guitar ever since lol. I have no recordings, we were dirt poor back then. Now I'm still jamming, praising God by His love & mercy (my biggest fan and the best, in my case) - Keep it up, your chops, composition and timing are top-notch ... Way to go on your progress and thanks for sharing!

This is very touching. My son started at your age, but that was in 1984. He went through the same progression. Now, in his late 40s, he is a thrilling virtuoso, and has never put it down. You brought back so many beautiful memories of our life with our growing virtuoso, from being barely able to hold his Kramer, to the face melting guy we are so joyful to have in our family today. Thank you

So great to see such a progression of a little artist to a deeply talented musician! Thanks for sharing and all the best!

Wonderful that you kept up with it and had all these clips to share. awesome progress man. congrats

You’re the embodiment of the saying ‘Practice makes perfect’

Comment feeding the algo..every child learning to play an instrument needs to see this

And you had the sense to record yourself ur a Legend dude.Destined for big things man!

Fantastic little calendar of your progress - you clearly had the drive and desire to excel at your instrument! I'm wishing I was a kid again - I was self-taught before KZfaq and all of the other online resources and it was a different world when learning a song was tuning your guitar to whatever pitch a song was recorded in and zeroing in on a part, picking up the needle and moving it back - all my rock records seemed to have pops & scratches around the parts I was learning! Then jam with the boys and try to make it happen. I didn't have the patience and perseverance that you have shown, but then that's the difference between an old weekend blues plucker and an accomplished guitarist! Great job, and you will only get better!

When you hit through the fire and flames I was like “he has officially achieved the status of master”

Колоссальный прогресс! Молодчик! Терпение и труд = МАСТЕР!

Mad respect man. Makes me wish I had stuck with it like you did. Gave you a follow on spotify your music is amazing man!

So satisfying to watch the progress!

Determination, Dedication, Discipline...Has bestowed upon you MASTERY. VERY impressive! And to have documented it all through video spliced together to see the progression over such a long span of time. Just great content all around BRAVO!

hard work, dedication, and Practice and the willingness to never give up has made you a near perfect guitarist. This is so awesome that you put this video together documenting your rise as a guitarist. I bet your parents are so proud of you, they probably didn't expect THIS when they bought you that first guitar. Good job.

this is absolutely beautiful man, wow. to see you go from the age of 9 to a complete monster through the years edited together like this is eye opening. i have an 8-year-old daughter, this made me emotional to see the possibility of potential through time.

this is a really cool video showcasing how much effort and practice it takes to get great at the guitar. nice job !

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. I had a 3-4yr obsession with guitar in college, 8hr a day, just grinding…loved it. Kudos to you for sticking with it for so long. You must really love it over all else!

It’s always inspiring when you see people so passionate about their work.

Congrats brother. Always great to see someone who has found something they enjoy and are able to keep practicing/having fun with consistently for a long time :) Rock on!!

Excellent compilation dude!!!!

God damn! Now, that's what I call effort that has paid off. You evolved into one of the best guitarists I've seen on KZfaq. Great tone, great technique. 10/10

I'm 37 and have played guitar for maybe 22 years or so but I progressed up until sweep picking, two hand taps, legato and all that but eventually joined bands that were more hardcore/punk oriented and even now play in a noise rock band. I never fully learned to articulate alternate picking at shred speeds but I also went a different direction in composition as well. I love seeing and can respect the evolution in your playing. I remember trying Petrucci's "Flight of the Mosquito" and nearly mastering Yngwie's "Far Beyond The Sun" and Death's "Defensive Personalities" but it all came back to punk and grungy noise rock for me. I'll forever respect this kind of talent. Thanks for sharing.

Oh WOW!!! This was so cool to watch. I admire the love of music and the sheer dedication it took to be this good. At 46, my husband recently has the guitar bug! Going by this amount of time spent and the practice it’ll take…. he’ll probably be 86 by the time he reaches anywhere near this level! Props to your mom too for having your back all these years! You guys rock🤘🏼🖤

Dang! Very cool! Definitely can see the relationship with your guitar get more intimate over the years... then suddenly you seemed to just melt into it and become one. That's a rare and special thing. I've played for 38 years now and wykyk... beautiful accomplishment, bro.

i love how your musical taste is forever evolving and the learning never stops..the passion is uncanny, your a true guitarist sir

The result is awesome, keep it up man

This was fun to watch! Freaking awesome practice and outcome!!!

Wow. Hard work really pays off! Great playing. Never give up, yo!

so cool you have a *_loooooong-term_* record of your development as a technician, then guitarist, then musician and finally artist . . . you have something special you can look back on, add to and be proud of . . . thank you for sharing your journey

Amazing, not just the talent either. I try to imagine what things were going on in the background, outside the video - the things that distracted you but also the things that motivated you - to keep up with this. The rough times that had nothing to do with guitar, yet you went back to it and improved more and more. It's pretty amazing. Keep on rocking

What an incredible journey ! Thanks for sharing and bringing us along for the ride !!!

Hi, Many thanks for sharing your progress over time, it was great to watch. Brilliant playing, technique and tone. Excellent !!! A true inspiration for many, thank you and wishing you the best for the future. 🤘