The biggest improvements have come in the last few years from channels like this, it is the easiest time in history for learning any skills, it's all at our fingertips, people say social media is evil but if you use it properly it freaking incredible 🎸 🎶

Thank you for doing this truncated version off stream. I much prefer this to a live stream. Honestly, I wish Rick would do this too.

Got my first guitar in 3rd Grade. Am 65 years old now and still learning new things and improving. What a wonderful thing playing guitar is!!!!

Rhett, I noticed my most significant improvements when I played regularly with other people (band or jamming). It forced me to learn new songs and riffs, and it motivated me to practice more often. I just didn’t want to suck when playing in front of others so I practiced more often. :)

a few years ago, I felt like I'd hit a pretty serious plateau in my playing. I made a new years resolution to play guitar at least once EVERY day for the whole year, even if I just sat down for a few minutes and messed around. By the end of the year, I was pretty disheartened by little I'd improved. That made me realize I'd spent an entire year just noodling and going over the same things I always did, instead of actually targeting my weaknesses and PRACTICING them. Since then, my playing's grown by leaps and bounds. Don't noodle! Actually practice! Seek out exercises and routines that target your weakest areas. For me it was string muting and string skipping.

Recording yourself is such a vital tip, for me it was incorporating a loop pedal but anything that allows you to look at things to improve will greatly speed up progress

Another trick I learned for locking in the note names on those first two strings is to run the cycle of 5ths and/or 4ths on the strings. This will cement the memorization a little more than walking the chromatics

In April it'll be three years since I bought a guitar on a whim and fell in love instantly. I did follow some online courses, but I never took an in-person lesson, I never had a practice routine, because that felt like school all over again and that's not why I picked this instrument up. Once I got the basics down and had the fretboard figured out, I kinda stopped pushing the envelope and noodled all day long. I have played my guitar almost every single day for at least an hour because I have an almost childlike enthusiasm for it, but I was still feeling how hard I was stagnating. So I have started learning songs. I'm still reluctant to use a metronome. Idk why, something in me just doesn't want to use it. Though I'm always using backing tracks and they're kinda like metronomes, no? Maybe I should just get over it and stop being afraid of the thing :D

Hi, i think it will be cool if make a video about what makes a advanced guitar player, or going from intermediate to advanced. Cheers from Portugal

I really enjoyed this video Rhett! Can't agree more on play what makes you happy. Thank you for your humble attitude towards learning guitar. Took me years not to be too hard on myself for not knowing certain scales or reading sheet paper for that matter. Also, great tone from that esquire. Looking forward to more uploads like this. Keep up the good work!

Thank you for being so encouraging and positive. We beginners need that sometimes.

Really appreciate your work Rhett the content has changed dramatically for the better👍

Great video and what I needed to get me motivated again. Thank you 🙏🏾

A looper pedal is a great learning aid

Loved this video. Great job.

Been playing for over 5 years now. It's so cool how much one comes when you put in the effort, especially knowing chords, frets, scales. In many ways, they feel quite endless.

Awesome Rhett, really awesome! After a hiatus of almost 10 years away from the guitar, I got back studying and playing for 2 years now and during this period I’m really deeping dive on basics and other stuff thar never gave the chance to learn properly... Improved myself a lot and the only (and best) way to do it was sitting down and playing! That was all about, taking the guitar and hammering the basics, standards! Great video man, I got everything you said and that’s what I’m doing since then

Great video Rhett, simplifies the concepts in a very clear way...

Fun thing to do with improving intonation with bending at the G string: You can do the intonation check at the G string by double stopping the note you want to bend to on the B string. So if you want to bend an F# on G (11th fret) to a G#, you can check your intonation at G# on B (9th fret). You can play the notes separately like Rhett does, and you can also double stop it by bending the G and keeping the B where it’s at.

This was super encouraging and relieving. Thanks for all the info

This is great Rhett! I often don't have the time to catch up on the livestreams, thank you!

Your content is great! Thank you! Been playing 30 years, and learning a different approach to the simplest progressions.

Great content. Thanks Rhett

6:00 Barre chords: The first epiphany I had was when it sank in that all barre shapes with a root on the low E has an E shape in front (major & minor), and all barre chords with a root on the A string has an A shape in front (major & minor). When that sank in, it changed my guitar life which is only 10 months old.

Awesome and true tips! These all are essential. Most of all, having FUN!

Thanks Rhett. For pointing out the joy. That's the point.

One of the better videos I have seen particularly the last few minutes about mastering the instrument it may never be possible but we get better each day we play and practice

Rhett, thanks for condensing the ideas, tips and techniques from the live stream to this lesson.

Rhett you are a legend. I find your content very helpful. I am trying to pick up again, such great suggestions. Thank you

Great video Rhett. I got hooked on Elevated Jam Tracks here on KZfaq about a year and a half ago and it's got me picking up the guitar and playing every day from 12:30 - 2pm. Got me from playing only major and minor pentatonic stuff to playing all different modes. The biggest improvement for me is that I can hear where the half steps are now on whatever's playing and play along. Keep up the good work brother.

Thank You so much, Rhett!! This video has really helped me to understand that my practice methods are okay, lol . Like you, I seem to practice most by learning a song and learning notes and having no set routine. But I play every day!! ☮❤☮

This was so helpful. Thanks you!

Great stuff Rhett !! Cheers from Philly !!

great stuff man

Great video, Rhett. Really great. Thanks

Thanks, Rhett - this video was so helpful. I took lessons for over 10 years and have played on and off for 20 years since, but never reached the 'advanced' stage. This video confirmed for me that I'm 'intermediate', but for me it's about "what's missing" or why couldn't I get beyond this point. I believe it has a lot to do with complete neck fluency and improvisational skills. Knowing where notes are is straight memorization, but being able to transform that knowledge of 'just notes' into your own music is what I think brings a player into another level. If you'd be willing to do a video on this subject, it could help me and others stuck at this level. Thanks again!

Very kind of you, because I never have the time to watch live streams! But pretty sure there is a lot of good stuff in them!

Outstanding, Rhett. I call myself an intermediate player and I’m currently ‘teaching’ a couple of friends, so this approach is both useful and intuitive. Cheers and thanks from Brisbane Australia.

So glad you mentioned recording yourself. I have only truly seen progress since I started a) Recording (and trying to double track myself) and b) trying to transcribe in Guitar Pro. The number of times I've realised "those triplets are not triplets" or forced myself to acknowledge that I've fudging a particular bit of a piece. Its the best. I recommend using a DAW and putting a beat down to record against and just double track your playing once you "think you've got it". I can guarantee you find new areas to improve.

thanks for the video. I love your advise and will start using it.

Thanks Rhett!

This was really good Rhett, thanks for your work on this, I shared it with guitar students, it’s almost the same thing I teach them as they approach intermediate level.

Love all these tips and thanks for being transparent. Make sure you practice standing up too :)

Wow, this was great. Definitely some things to work on and very helpful.

Great class! Thank you for this.

Brilliant video. Really inspired me as to some of the areas I need to improve on. Thank you for all the great content, insight, inspiration and making me want to pick up my guitar everyday.

Amazing video! I'm a beginner, trying to learn through an app and was feeling kind of stuck. I'll definitely try these exercises and techniques from now on. Thank you, Rhett. Cheers from Brasil.

The biggest thing for me that identifies a beginner form intermediate (I mean in addition to your points) is having relaxed as opposed to flexed hands and fingers. The exercise of 1325 is great but one must make certain to go very SLOW in the absolute most relaxed way where you concentrate, not on the fretting finger, but rather on the other fingers being relaxed. If they are moving on order to get the fret finger to hit its target, then you have not achieved finger independence. If you develop and iron grip and your pinky is shooting out into a "tea for two" possition, you are not relaxed. Never ever ever power through an exercise sacrificing relaxed idependent fingers for speed. This promotes a muscle memory that will need unlearning later (guilty as charged - 20 years of it!). Any time a chord or scale patters requires and iron grip, stop! Take a breath (always breath slow and deep by the way). Now place your fingers where you want them to go in a exaggeratedly relaxed way as lowly as it takes and prove to your brain it can be done relaxed. If your hand is tired (yes even when doing an F bar) you are not relaxed. If your fingers are lifting high off the strings, you are not relaxes. Watch any great guitarist and you will see I'm right. Loved this segment!

I watched that Live stream. Thank you for condensing those talking points!

I continue to learn a lot from you - thanks! I also love to play along with recorded music and have fun learning songs. There are some practice routines I do every day to warm up and I always try and work on a new music theory concept or keep practicing one I am not confident with until I have a pretty good grasp of it.

Great concise advice!!!🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Nice summary , understood what I need to work on

Great video. Your a stellar teacher. Great channel too!👍 That fender sounds lovely

Excellent advice at the end of this video. You can apply that to life itself. We’re never going to be perfect but we can have fun trying if we get over the negative hump. 👊🏽✊🏽🤘🏽

Whatever keeps the guitar in your hands, and is fun... That is very true. Thanks Rhett

When I studied classical guitar my teacher had me learn all the scales in the Segovia scale book and say the notes out load as I played. I learned all the notes on the fretboard quite quickly.

Great advice, love the channel.

Great explanation, thank you Rhett

Thank you Rhett, love your content! They are very practical, easy to follow and very useful. :)

Rhett, thank you so much! Excellent lesson...👍

⚓️ Thanks Rhett 😎 Good basics 🎸 a real breakthrough video !!! So valuable 😎

Excellent video from a person who has trouble interpreting instructions. I used to frustrate my mentor. I learned better playing to records. I'm basically tone deaf, tuning wise, but I can play fairly faithful to a record and I do feel the music I like. After 50 years I want to play. That helps immensely and playing daily is a huge plus.i just bought a guitar with a locking nut and kahler 2700 trem. What a boost in in- tune playing!!

Great video.also learning your intervals is a great help.

Thanks! All this and being relatively consistent. Have to be able to keep on with others

This is the perfect video for me right now. I’m feeling really stuck with where I’m at musically, and at least the beginning parts of the video are easy enough for someone learning on their own to do.

Good advice glad l found this video to give me info on how to improve, thanks

Excellent video

Hi man, great video! The saying out loud thing really does help, its how i memorized all the major triads back in the day. Keep up the good content!

Hi Rhett, If possible, I would like to hug you. It took me decades to find out what you have put into these few minutes of video. What I learned in addition today : Practice as often as you can, and HAVE FUN! Thank you so much! 👍👍👍

You are a master teacher, and I really appreciate it. I liked the exercise, those always appeal to me because as you say you can measure your progress. Keep up the good work

thank you for helping me understand where i’m at. i can comfortably say in sitting at intermediate i can do all the things you said pretty well but i still struggle. i kinda stepped away from music because i started working during the pandemic and was never home but now with my new job i’ve stepped back in and you showed me kinda what i’ve been missing in my practice toward the end. i would just play along to song and play jazzy stuff till my fingers did the thing so definitely i’m coming back to listen to the words to help me remember what i need to be doing so i can become advance. i’m in year 4 now wow.

Great video Rhett! The thing that has helped me has been playing covers with a band. There was (and still is) where I get very dialed into doing original stuff, I wasn't pushing myself forward with new ideas. Playing with a band forces you to also learn the whole song and not just that cool riff or solo part.

Rhett cant believe I just discovered you! I've seen you on Rick Beato's channel and thought you were a professional musician, and then disovered your excellent youtube instructional video's. Excellent presentation, excellent content...I'd like to add, that using the metronome for almost every practice session improved my playing tremendously.

Well, I'm a little late to this party. Good video with great info. I would like to add that I tell my students to sing the notes while playing them. Get to know the intervals and be able to play what they hear in their heads. As a player, my ability to play what I heard in my head got better and better. It also helped me pick up songs quickly. Anyway, that's my 2 cents any way. I really like your videos. One never knows everything and I've picked up so much from you and Rick. Thanks much.

Nice Rhett, glad to see this summary here (will admit I couldn't get through the whole stream, time-wise). Two things I used to help me get a better grasp of the fretboard - one is related to the CAGED system, so I won't go in to it here, but the other is simply playing scales using octaves. Depending on the specific octave you are playing, it can help strengthen your hands, as well.

Funny when you mentioned how long you’ve been playing. I hadn’t thought about it…I always had a guitar around as my dad would pick out Melodie’s of old songs, I mean really old songs… so I would play around at first just learning some riffs that were the openings of old tv shows…my sister showed me the first cowboy chords and a neighbor who played let me back him on this cowboy chords…and I was off and running…that was 55 years ago as I’m almost 71 years old… I still play guitar every day and play in a local gigging band…ain’t it fun!!! I don’t know if I’m advanced or not but to me it don’t matter much as I’m havin a blast…I certainly enjoy you, Rick and Josh here on the tube…thanks a bunch

Thank you this is a very useful roadmap

Great content Rhett. Common sense help for those beginners looking to advance to intermediate. Well stated. Thank you.

After almost 25 years of playing, I finally learned the pentatonic shapes, intervals, triads, notes on the fretboard, and the CAGED system. I’m getting to the point where I feel like all of those things are gelling together, and I’m really starting to unlock the fretboard. But yeah, still have to improve my bending, vibrato, and technical precision. This year my goal is to learn a bunch of solos. They’ve always intimidated me, but hopefully not for long.

Tx again for another great vid Rhett. I found ac/dc Thunderstruck is an awesome exercise for learning alternate picking. Took me a few years to really feel comfortable playing it, but I can now do so pretty easily. Just forcing myself to keep trying worked wonders and you get to learn an awesome song in the process! Totally agree with your comments. Tx again.

Rhett, you are a very good teacher. You have a way of giving the info and relating it so that beginners and other players at all levels can grasp and put into practice. I was stuck at the Beginner level (advanced beginner Lol) for a very long time and then by becoming proficient with barre chords and learning the CAGED system, the whole picture of the fret board began to open up for me. I am strictly rhythm, as Knofler would say, but I am learning the notes up and down the board using your technique, just so I can become a more fully informed player. BTW, when it comes to teaching, the glasses help and look good!

What a great video. Thx u

Great teaching

This is a very revelatory video. It surprised me to know that I've been implementing everything mentioned and much more for some time. Yet I still feel stuck. One of the reasons I feel stuck is because of the lack of pressure in my regime. I have 4 small kids under 8 years old so I don't get to play with other people. So no matter how many of these concepts I work on I end up never mastering any because I'm never on the live performance knife edge that forces you to nail it. So according to this video's criteria I'm beyond intermediate but according to my goals I feel less than beginner... not sure if this resonates with any of yall. Guess it just helps me to articulate it.. thanks

This is great. I’ve actually been working on all of these steps in the last month. I’ve only been playing 10 months. I still would consider myself a beginner. But I do work on all of these. By no means do I have any of them down. But I am having a ton of fun. I haven’t been this passionate about something in a long time. And your videos have taught me a ton.

Thanks for doing this condensed version. I feel like I'm living on the cusp between beginner and intermediate, so this video was helpful in motivating me toward moving forward instead of hanging out here in limboland!

You have a good teaching style. More please. Enjoy your videos

Man I needed this 💞 So refreshing 😌 I like your teaching style and also love learning principles and core of subjects and hit the right spot. I used to have guitar teacher at high school - I learnt swing and finger styling and all - after school I self taught from KZfaq LOL I shall practice all you mentioned here yay - I would love if you did video on fingerstyling principles and how to work half acoustic and half electric guitar -- Hm how to build up tension in a song for emotions 💕💕 Thank you !! To say I love playing Harmonics and going up and down -- sooths my anxiety and beautiful cry of how angelic it sounds 💓💓 I think ill invest in your courses soon :)

The last tip is really the most usefull! It's really true

Great video. I totally agree with using songs to practice because I'm much more likely to pick up my guitar and play a few songs than spend an hour doing technical exercises. But a few caveats to that. First if I'm going to play a song, I treat it as a performance. I play the whole song start to finish and try to play it as musically as I can. I don't let myself get sloppy. I also look for different ways to play the same song---different tempos, different keys, maybe use bar chords instead of first position chords. I may experiment with using a first position chord in the verse and use a bar chord in the chorus. Listening carefully to how different chord positions affect the feel of a particular song helps me be more musical. I find I'm much more motivated to work on a new technique or fingering when I see how it makes a song better. Just playing the song the same way every time might feel good but it doesn't produce the growth I need. So many teachers I've had have a formula of what techniques they want you to learn, and often they don't seem to care about the songs you want to play, just the exercises they want you to practice. I get that some of those techniques are fundamental and if you want to be a well rounded player you need to learn a broad range of techniques. But rigidly focusing on exercises in the absence of making music isn't very motivating to people like me. The other problem I ran into with teachers is that if they did use songs in their lessons, they liked to pick the songs. I get that, too. They picked songs that were good for learning certain techniques. But if they'd let me pick songs I actually wanted to play, it would have worked so much better for me. I know there are good teachers out there, but I've had bad luck with private lessons. So many teachers like to follow a specific lesson plan because they think it's the best way to learn. They're often unwilling or uncomfortable stepping outside the box they've created, which is understandable because they put a lot of effort into devising a teaching approach and they don't want to reinvent that everytime they take on a new student. But when I look at the amount of money a student spends on lessons, seems like a little effort on the teacher's part to adapt their approach for a particular student's learning needs isn't unreasonable. So after years of struggling through lessons, I now try to find good ideas from people like you, Rhett, and I apply them to my practice. I've made more progress since I started doing this than I did in years of taking private lessons. So thank you for giving such good advice that people like me can benefit from.

Thanks Rhett. It's good to know that I'm teaching the right stuff! : ) In addition, I also teach how to hear/find the key of the song, know the chords in the key and which you're likely to find, so you try these first. Numbering chords, often known as the Nashville numbering system. My students quickly learn how to work out songs by ear, starting out with simple I, IV, V.

Great 👍 🎵🎸 info. Thanks 🙏

Great lesson

Love your videos Rhett, thanks so much for putting all the time and effort into this!! The best way to become a more proficient guitarist is to watch more videos by Rhett with guitar in hand and follow along ;) You may have mentioned this but I think a key to success is to HAVE FUN!! Learn some songs that you love and play along with them, start easy and work your way up. And don't compare yourself to anyone but yourself, there's an infinite amount of knowledge and skills to learn but who cares, if you learned a little bit today you're better than yesterday and that's a step forward. Thanks again Rhett!

This is a wonderful video. Lots of tips and things I need to think about. But the best part is what you saved for last: "Do what makes you happy". I've realized I practice a lot more when it's something I want to learn. Especially when you have no illusions about making a living with your instrument (that's me). If it's not fun you won't want to pick the guitar up.

I found this video incredibly helpful. It reinforced what I'm doing right, and confirmed a few things I'm doing wrong. I'm 63 and just learning to play.

THANK YOU

Just solid information. Just spending as much quality time with the guitar is going to go a long way. I know I just have to keep practicing and make it fun, because it is!

Great advice. I like to play songs too. That’s what get me 2 hrs in without realizing it. I do practice scales, techniques, picking and strumming but only for 20-30 mins. By then my tendency to become bored cannot be ignored. I start playing songs or work on fretboard memorization. I am a little over a year in. Still terrible but I do some things ok, and man have I improved.

Thank you for taking the time to create this short version of the live stream you mentioned. Many great tips and point to work on. My tips: subscribe to Rhett's channel. There's also many other good one. Look around.