First advert that came up after watching this... did you know 7 is the magic number when learning guitar, 7 notes; 7 feelings ... arghhhhhh! Great video, these adverts have been really winding me up, especially as KZfaq algorithm has me pegged.

Wise words. There are no shortcuts. Best to do the work, and enjoy the journey!!

Somebody had to say it! I'm glad it was you, well done Professor! 🙏😊

Hey Prof Padraig…..guess what the same is in other sectors….I work in mental health, registered health care provider with a PhD and 30 years of experience….I’m also tired of seeing the vids on “3 things to fix your depression”, or “how to live authentically….buy this package or masterclass”…. Everyone wants it fast and easy. Not gonna happen. You are right! Music takes time, commitment, and endurance. Great vid! Thank you!

It's the worst. Tom Hess is the king of this crap

Thanks for putting this out. It can't be said enough times that there are no shortcuts. None ever made a tree grow faster by pulling at it. Keep up the good work Prof.

Good stuff man!

Right on man! Courses and lessons can help. But not without having the drive to make shit happen. As a teacher for 40 years in my own business I get "how long until I can play at high levels." My answer, it's about the getting there man. Thats what makes me tick. Practicing is a joy! It can be for you too! So, ads for no work musical genioushood are really bad! Reality is we work with newbies and will go to great lengths for them to succeed, but the practice time must be there! Great vid!

The truth, plain and simple. There is a lot of work involved and there's no substitute for it. Thanks for making this video!

Thank you professor! I am sick of the pop up ads advertising to us guitar consumers! I hit the skip ad button as quick as possible for every one of them! I have played guitar since I was 15 years old, and I am now 55 years old. It took many, many, many years to get my picking and fretting hands strong enough (and in synch enough) to be able to play the solos' of the guitar "gods". Vibrato (slow and fast) and bends took years to get right! But it has been worth it, because there isn't much I can not play now except that damn Yngwie!! I will one day get "Soldier without faith" down, but I will have to put untold hours of practicing pick slanting in before that will be possible! Advice? Play in a band if you really want to learn quickly! The steady time of the drummer will keep you on your toes!!! RESPECT

My congratulations here! I rarely comment videos but when I heard the word unethical I had to send you my respect. I would love to get in touch with you some way because I would love to share with you some concept. People "teaching" is actually totally insane!

I agree, it’s hilarious” learn to play guitar WITHOUT LEARNING THE NAMES OF THE NOTES, IN 7 hours LIKE VAN HALEN!! “ it’s ridiculous, so your going to learn everything by ear, because you don’t want to learn even the BASIC letter name of 7 notes, ABCDEF… throw in the accidentals… ya get 12 notes… yeah ya could, however even the musicians I have played with working musicians, have not only a great ear, they know enough music theory to know the essential basics… this song is in this key… and what chords and licks and scales can work, with said key and can improve on the spot, know some theory… and have all put a lot and I mean a lot of time into playing the guitar.. practice,gigs, etc you don’t get good buy not learning the basics and putting a lot of time into playing , it’s that simple, some things will come “more” naturally than others, however if the guitar has more time in the case or hanging on a wall than in your hands, your not going to get any better just that simple.

Yeah, but I saw this ad....

Thank you so much for making thus video. These ads actuslly make me angry ESPECIALLY as a guitar teacher. When people say you dong have to learn theory litetally just dont understand whst theory is. If you talk about music YOURE USING THEORY

Got one of those ads right at the end of your video 😅 There is no magic. You have to put the time in, but most people want the magic pill that solves everything. Now I'm off to buy another pedal that will make me sound and play better than ever! 😁

Thank you, sir, for making this great video. I live in Ukraine and I'm a big fan of your youtube channel. It's insane how these trash-ads are everywhere now. I've been learning guitar for over 20 years now, studying theory, harmony, learning the scales, the chord shapes, learning all the techniques and stuff. And I know from personal experience that it takes years of hard word. I've also taught over a 100 students to play guitar. And I've had so many teenage students, who've told me thing like: "I don't need no music theory because someone on youtube said that you don't need to know any music theory to be a great player", or "If you're learning scales you're wasting time because you don't need to know scales to play great solos, you just need to feel the music", or "You only need to learn a few chord shapes to play any song in the world, that's all you'll ever need to learn", or "You can throw away your metronome because metronome is a waste of time". One of the most stupid things that a 16 year old beginner student once told me was: "Kurt Cobain was self taught and he never cared about theory or about the names of the noted and he was the greatest ever, so why should I learn theory?", or "who cares about how you're holding the guitar or how your left hand is holding the neck? It makes no difference! Rules are for breaking them!" I've heard so much of that bullshize when I was giving private lessons. And offcourse these kids learn that from youtube. Thank you so much for making this video. It is really priceless.

Totally agree! There's no "6 minute abs" solution for guitar (and not for your abs either actually) and people who keep peddling that stuff are usually not very good players themselves. The whole idea of "you don't even have to know anything to play amazing leads..." is just asinine and also strange initself. If you love to play the instrument and music in general, why wouldn't you want to learn as much as possible about it? I've been teaching for over 20 years and noticed in the last few that a lot of my new students feel that there's something wrong with them since they can't play "insert guitar hero lick here " even though they've practiced for almost an hour a day for a month. It just gives a very warped view of the time it takes to really get somewhere and can really fuck with peoples self-esteem. If you look at anyone doing anything well regardless of the field, there's a ton of practice and study over years involved, that's the way it should be since being "good" wouldn't be very valuable if all it took was a 4 week course to get there. I pride myself in not bullshitting students in the time that it takes to get better, it's better to know and then make the choice to go there instead of putting in minimum effort and being disappointed when you don't reach your goals. Keep up the great work!

Just, thanks. Im so sick of all this bs all over the place.

'7 Emotions'...yeah I noticed that too !! Well Done !

love your channel sir thanks for this!

Yes the Tube is full of them, glad to see you put this out there. Thought about this many times. The irony is that I don't subscribe to the paid YT so I get the very guys that you are mentioning swamping your YT video every 5 mins. Thanks SWG

Awesome video! Last year early on a Sunday morning I clicked into the bald guy because they put him up over my vids like crazy. After reading all of the nonsense I paid the $19 (after all the retail value was $1800!). It was worth it to satisfy my curiosity. The 12 lessons I unlocked were almost identical to the first set of lessons I teach... Kids. I sent him an email asking him if he realizes that he's a straight up con man and letting him know that he's a bottom feeder. I have more respect to for the guys that hang a shingle after six months and stay one lesson ahead. The ones who make me have to justify my hourly rate because they're only charging $40. Sorry for the long comment. So on point and so frustrating. One last thing. Nobody teaches a class or a course anymore. Every course is a masterclass. 🙄

Well said, and good on you for doing it! it blows my mind how many people keep saying over and over that you just need to learn this “one scale“, and then it’s just a little chunk. Come on people, learn a scale across the whole freaking neck, and suddenly you see where everything fits in and how to move it around. It’s like that old story about the three men and the elephant were each are only looking at one little part and describe it differently. But if you take a couple steps back you can see the whole thing and understand it easily. too many people are focused on learning licks, and not learning how to actually understand the frat board. Total waste of time.

Thank you for this!

Great Way to improve as an improviser: learn chords and inversions( take time to listen to the them). Connect a scale to the chord shape of any chord type. Make an easy pattern with the notes that you like to HEAR over that chord. Move the chord shape and connected pattern around the guitar neck… you now have a road map to any song and you can transpose and react to any chord. Do this with chords with the root (+ inversions) on the 4th , 5th and 6th string. Be creative and change the pattern when you improvise. Build new ideas on this foundation

It takes alot of hard work and investment in ur instrument to rise above good ! A much needed message..thank you

Finally you said it. Music need your Time, dedication and passion. Always listen to the good music, good artists and take some inspiration and try to do some creative things that will become a great think🤗😇

Just 10 minutes practice per day and you’ll sound like you’ve been bitten by a radioactive Bert Weedon! Stellar content, good sir.

You are absolutely right.There's no short cut to music.I am 66 and still finding ways to play over chord changes.And there is a little secret which the pros won't tell you like knowing your intervals inside out and you can almost play any chord and scales.

Professor, I am grateful for your insight. It is easy enough to avoid the clickbait courses, but you mention that there are great trachers with great courses. Rather than name and shame the villains, perhaps you could suggest one, or some, of the legitimately good courses so we mere mortals know where to begin. Name and Fame, as it were. I mean.... It would be fantastic if you and Brett Stine wanted to team up and teach me guitar, but I am not in that league. I would love to have suggestions about whome to throw my money at so that all the hours I intend to practice are spent praticing the proper materials in the proper order. Thank you for your reply or dm. ❤

Ps my fav video of Al Dimeola is one where he’s practising a measure over and over to get it right.

I've never been into guitar course or formal music schools in my life. I only listened and imitated. I've done that for hundred times since I was a kid. I analyzed the movement and found the exact term for that. Later in the next years, I became session player when attending college and won several guitar competitions in my city around that time. Yes, I do agree with you. Music needs persistence, practice, and creativity. Have a nice weekend prof.

Great content. Love the channel 👍

I've got a lot of sympathy for your opinion and it's true there are some that are maybe not promising short cuts but certainly leaving the idea hanging there in front of those that have just picked it up or are a little younger . Really,it requires either the naivety of the young of the over enthusiastic but little experienced. There are though in saying that a lot of good youtube guitar channels out there. I follow a number but I picked up the old 6 string at age 16 or 1989 which was a wee while ago so I know that there simply aren't any short cuts but there are definitely better ways to learn than the kind of unfocused or maybe misfocused way I started . Kids today have so much content and material to help them and that's maybe the problem,the pendulum has swung fully the other and now it's a solid mass of content,too much for someone new I would think. I love the Guitar Mastery guy,what's his name Claus Levin is it ?? He's always emphasising that it's about practicing something a 1000 times,the 10,000 then a 1,000,000. That it isn't some intate talent but hard work,determination,practice to the point of driving the student insane but the basic message and truth is there......it's hard work,a shit ton of practicing hours and hours.....get the execises down to the point you can sit half watching TV and repeating it more as you watch. Personally ,never tried that the constant practice till its right ,oh yeah.. It's like all the best things in life,it doesn't come easy and takes work and dedication. Ultimately the rewards you reap are directly down to the work you put in,there just is no other way it can be done. No secrets or short cuts. All a guitar teacher online or one you visit weekly in real life can go along way to help you in what areas to direct your learning and inspire and influence you for the good but they will never have the golden key that will unlock shredding skills in half the tupical time. That takes double the effort,probably more just like a car needs 8 times the engine power to double it's top speed and half it 0-60 times lol

You see it loads these days, Cheat, Hack. When in reality they mean learning and practicing... But that won't sell!!

Structured practicing several hours a day just isn't sexy or attractive. I told both my nieces who started learning that they'll only ever be as good as they practice. That's just the simple truth of it.

No pain, no gain 😂

Finally someone says something. I’m so tired of seeing people I’ve never heard of posting videos like “5 big mistakes ALL self-taught guitarists make”. Says who? And based on who’s universal standards?

I suspicion the guitar community will have to become more open to directly naming and debunking guitar guru charlatans before it will actually impact their business model.

An old school Irish Man. Tell it like it is my man!

So I don't sell online guitar courses. I am, however, a full-time copywriter and online marketer. When it comes to running paid ads online, I would actually argue that if you see someone who is able to run youtube successfully for a while they are at very least providing enough value to the people they serve that the people don't feel taken or ripped off enough to want their money back (because the business would go under and they wouldn't be able to keep paying for ads). Also, I have seen the "1 trick to xyz" guitar course ad. I can say from experience that I've had singular "ah-ha" moments that have unlocked a new level for me, and if someone could have just come along a told me this stuff it would have literally cut years off of my development as a player. It would have been worth me paying money to do so. Finally, what I'm about to say may not be that popular, but I feel like there are a lot of guys who can't handle the idea that there may have been a better faster way to get to where they got to with their playing so they have to say things like "there are no shortcuts"-- It's just gatekeeping IMO.

No getting around practice. It takes tens of thousands of hours. I see all these YT videos of people shredding, but with no musicality whatsoever. If you can’t sound good slow, you can’t sound good fast.

I learn a song by watching a live performance by the musician and trying to figure out as much of it as I can. (cam is too often on the face). Then I search tutorials for a decent one and then when I know the basics I get the chords and lyrics and save them a folder. I can then add the chords to the text myself and mess around with the key and/or inversions. I learn the piece in sections (A B C etc) and when I got that I work on the transitions. When I can play it from beginning to end just basic strumming I can start to add feel and fills and it starts to grow. Lastly I sing to it because I don't want to be too aware of my fingers so I can give my all to the vocals. I saw a tutorial recently suggested playing blind. Best advice ever so I had my eyes removed! Now where did I put my guitar?

I have been playing for 35 years. But, don't be fooled, it wasn't an everyday consistent thing. Played in a band for 15 years, as well. But, I hit my ceiling and never went passed it. I follow lots of KZfaqr guitarists and extract bits out of each one. I think the only guy that actually opened me up to something, like a light bulb went off on my head, was Scott Paul Johnson. Every guitar player thinks they are a teacher. But, he actually knows how to teach what he knows. So, I signed up for his patreon lessons, and it's so worth it to me. And the way he teaches does make it easier to learn, but the effort still needs to be put in by me. But, when you feel like you are getting somewhere, you are more encouraged to keep going. And the right teacher can open up doors in your mind.

Absolute legend & couldn't agree more haha

hey man. i think this channel is criminially under-rated! i love your work. could you do a interview with a youtuber called LoG please. his channel is called LoG Guitar Lessons. thank you for your hard work sir!

Note: Humans should not be qualified by level: Maybe abilites/learning stages ?. Please, could someone remove all this "emotional solo" nonsense from the net ? Good job Professor.

Nothing worth doing in life was ever easy

This was hilarious (also true) -Miss you professor ! - Nadia

It is all NLP applied into marketing. I have my balls full of Guitar Tricks ads, male and female version with the same text. Nonetheless it sells. We just have to embrace that type of copywriting (At least a little, just enough to make ends meet).

You Tube Guitar Lessons sometimes reminds me of being in a market where you hear the vendors shouting for you to purchase their good great words Professor !

Well Said!

Wait! That means I cannot become a worship guitarist in 10 minutes???

Finally, something I wanted to say for a while. You always get half the answer from these mofos, so they can keep you.coming back for more.

Imagine how much better Steve Vai and Scott Henderson would be if they'd had these courses!

There's bullshite artists in all fields and guitar is no exception. If it was that easy, way more people would be doing it.

This still doesn't explain how these six year old Chinese kids can play Bohemian Rhapsody while blindfolded and riding a six foot unicycle!

The finest youtube/online guitarist/teacher at the moment is an Australian called Chris Brooks. His knowledge and breakdown of the minutia of technique is simply staggering. I'm talking raw technique now, not composing (although Chris delves deep into that as well, but to me composing is a personnel thing and spans a wide range of genres) Think Troy Grady, but taken to the nth degree!

There is no doubt that are some short cuts and some do's and don'ts - but you still need to put in the many hours, days, months and years of practice to become an accomplished player. No doubt some people have it easier than others but it is still hard work...

I’ve had enough also! How do we stop it!

Hilarious opening

I guess if the greatest players revealed their secrets, it would be a huge letdown to us mere mortals: "I practiced the fundamentals daily for X years until I couldn't play those fundamentals wrong". Most mortal players wouldn't have the attention span or patience for this.

I've probably spent too much time on guitar at least the last 30 years, back when I was learning chords and songs, in the very begininng, it was difficult and hard on the head. Now it's more like an addiction, every morning with a cup of coffee, a couple of hours going through the repertoire of songs I'm either learning, songs I know and don't want to forget, songs I'm writing or ideas, music I'm hearing in my head etc. I do dislike some things KZfaq does, like certain recommendations. Like say, I'm listening to Monte Montgomery or some other great guitar player, next thing know the KZfaq starts trying to push Joe Bassanova on you. It's like hey KZfaq if I want to hear that guy I'd click on it, but If I want to hear the Blues they should know by now to put up Muddy Waters with Johnny Winters, Etta James, B.B King, probably a hundred others. I don't know who's responsible for pushing certain artists down a person's throat at you tube or if the artist pays them to do it, but it's annoying. That said, I guess you have got to take the good with the bad. I actually clicked on this, out of curiosity and was somewhat amused, but I hope, KZfaq doesn't take it as an indication that anytime I may click on something about guitars, your channel pops up on the screen. I hate those learn to play guitar adds, but what can you do about? Bitch? Suicide?

But today everybody is able to do anything as good as everybody else, you forgot this? Buy a typewriter app and write like Hemingway, buy the right shoes and run faster than Usain Bolt, buy the Zendrive and sound like Robben Ford. Anything anyway anyhow but: BUY! BUY! BUY!

True

Which Vai song was that?

can you talk about taking care of our hands, what to do and what not to do with our hands?

Speaking for modern Rock, Pop music etc: I guess Eddy Van Halen is a fraud, his scales were just patterns he made up and knew basic chords like almost everyone one knows, he desribes his style as like "falling/fumbling down the stairs and just trying to stay up." Santana can plays in the Dorian mode (pattern) it seems 99% of the time. Lots of the greatest guitarists never read music or took lessons, they LISTENED, learned some riffs, copped a few ideas here and there and then developed thier style from there. Remember the inbred hillbilly from Deliverence, he shredded duelling banjos without knowing a single note theoretically. Learning 1 or 2 patterns and just playing the shit outta them and then changing or adding notes here and there is a great way to find your own personal style, think Flea on bass, he just LISTENED and through jamming figured it out! Jimi Hendrix Sat up in his room making noise until one day his dad Al said hey that sounds like music. The rest is history. Don't be a cookie cutter player like almost "everyone else". I studied jazz theory but bfd, you have to develop your sound by just sitting down and playing ALOT, yes it's good to know what the root (main) note is and play a pattern from there and purposely make mistakes and see how it sounds and feels. Keep what SOUNDS good not what is supposed to be played according to theory. I was strangled by theory and once I got outta that mindset I was free to create from scratch. Anyways, schooled musicians aren't always that great and lots of the Greatest Ever guitar players never took a lesson and ATTITUDE is a must.

They are all over the you tube. Try to get people buy their bs

It's cynical but these guitar lesson adds pop-up around your video. That's how google works.

Hello my friend , I live in Ethiopia. I started playing the guitar. Now I have to stop because I don't have a guitar. Please help me, give me an old guitar that you don't use.Please i have no true friend and no money Please help me I want to be a legend guitarist like you Please help me ?😥

#this