(Part 2) Best products from r/guitarlessons

You are welcome! You aren't doing anything wrong mate, I think gaining huge amount of subscribers is mostly about exposure and people's preference. Your channel has many stuffs that can help people who are intermediate/pre-advanced level players but it doesn't have as much subscribers as it should have despite of having been on YouTube for a long time whereas I have seen a decent/mediocre at best player who doesn't upload tutorial stuffs as much as you do has more than 20K followers, as I have stated earlier it is about exposure and preference of the users.

I don't actively run any YouTube channel but what I've reckoned so far, I would suggest you to upload at least one cover of famous metal/hard rock song/solo in every two-three week/one month (assuming you will be learning it from the beginning but with your skill, it won't be too hard for you to master difficult songs/solos) alongside your licks/lesson videos, in this way your channel hopefully will get some exposure.

Collaboration works with other instrument players/guitarists on YouTube will also help I think, get a bit more exposure and then do some collaboration sessions with famous YouTube guitarists (e.g. Chris Zoupa or 331Erock) which should give you even more exposure.

I think people tend to watch videos that look decent, good looking and professional these days. My last advice would be investing a bit to make your videos look better. So upgrade to a decent camera which can film 1080p video that looks sharp (I heard some cameras that are mainly used for photography can also film decent quality video which aren't damn expensive as some video cameras), make sure there is enough lighting in the room where you will film your videos (perhaps you may want to get entry level softbox/umbrella lighting kit if your room lighting is not bright enough), a bit of video editing skill will be also helpful (you don't have to learn to use Adobe Premiere, software like Movie Studio 13 or if you want to spend more then Sony Vegas Pro should get your job done) and last but not least capture your audio with a decent mic via audio interface instead of using camera's mic.

Edit: Few sentences.

Edit 2: I think I should revise some of the advice I have given you in terms of making your videos look better.

• Previously I have stated that you should get a better camera that will let you make videos that look sharper than your current setup, but the thing is lighting should be your primary priority at this moment because I have noticed that in your videos there is a bit too much of shadow and the video also looks kind of dark, I think you should set up better lighting arrangement for your upcoming videos. Perhaps you should grab [this] (https://www.amazon.com/StudioPRO-Translucent-Umbrella-Continuous-Photography/dp/B00FG5FQ5S/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1469975990&sr=8-2&keywords=umbrella+kit) if you can't have more lights in your room to brighten up your video.
  Even with a camera that can film only 720p video, you will get very good result if your lighting setup is excellent, you can add filters in your video during edit if you want. So you don't have to change your camera for now but if you insist then assuming you will be filming yourself alone, I'd recommend you getting a video camera that has flip out screen, DSLR cameras can get you good results but not all of them come come with a flip out screen. You might want to take a look at Canon VIXIA HF R700.
  
  
• It seems you already have some good video editing skill but I would recommend you to make your video thumbnails modern looking because many of your current ones look bit cheesy.
  
  
• By capturing your audio via audio interface what I meant is, not only capturing your voice with an audio interface card but you should record your guitar track with it too (also capturing your guitar's dry signal with applying effects from great amp simulation program for desktop such as Bias FX or AmpliTube 4 will make your guitar sound even better) if you haven't been using it already.
  
  Please don't mind because of my criticisms, you asked for some advice and I thought I could help with some tips, you are a good guitar player who uploads tutorial videos on YouTube and I want you to be known among users like some other YouTube guitarists such as Ben Eller, Carl Brown or Chris Zoupa who aren't just awesome players themselves but they also help other players out there.

> Say if I can't find a teacher right away, how would you say I should try striking that "balance" you talked about? Any resources you'd suggest for each element (technical/musical/theoretical)?

Technical and musical elements are quite difficult to advise on because they are quite individual. Some people are very expressive but aren't necessarily brilliantly technical players and some are brilliantly technical but make music that sounds like robots, and all shades in-between.

If you pushed me I would say that something like Yousician's free lessons will get you off the ground as far as basic technique is concerned. Their free service is perfectly adequate for a complete beginner.

As far as musicality goes that's more difficult to teach. Really you're looking to try and "feel" something while you're playing and it's not quite the same as feeling an emotion - you're trying to feel the flow of the music. I found it helpful when I was first learning to play along to a track and not worry too much about getting it right - just noodle around trying to get into the feel of the thing. Playing with other people helps here too.

As far as theory goes that's easier.

Standard theory (you can call it 'classical' theory if you like but it applies to pretty much any form of music except really early music and more modern experimental stuff):
The AB Guide to Music Theory Part I
Music Theory in Practice Book I

(As you'll see from the Amazon listings there are more books in the Music Theory in Practice series, and there's an AB Guide to Music Theory Part II as well).
Get someone who knows what they're talking about to check your answers!

Jazz theory:
The Jazz Theory Book

Songwriting:

Chord Progressions for Songwriters

Bear in mind that music theory is a bit like art theory in that it's largely descriptive rather than prescriptive - it describes common practice and therefore gives you some guidelines but it's quite possible to follow all the rules and still come up with something that's fucking dreadful. So when you're writing try not to get bogged down with "is it correct?" - just ask yourself "do I like it? does it sound good?".


> What would an ideal (or even okay) progress would look like according to you?

I would say classical guitar grade 1 within 1-2 years is normal progress. If you're ambitious then 6 months to 1 year.

That's a good point Leon_84. This project is just starting, but I've actually been in the online guitar lesson game for a bit. I am looking to upgrade my videos for sure though :)

A couple years ago I created a blog called The Global Guitar Network. www.globalguitarnetwork.com . It was geared towards everything guitar, soup to nuts. I eventually wrote a couple books called The Guitar Simplified and The Lefty Guitarists Survival Handbook using a lot of the posts that I had written on that blog.

https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-simplified-Neil-D-Santos/dp/1481062425

https://www.amazon.com/Lefty-Guitarists-Survival-Handbook-Pocket/dp/1492250015

The problem was, I was putting in a ton of time and not really seeing any returns on my effort. From a business perspective the topics were too broad and I felt that I had to focus the niche of my blog. I knew that I was helping out a ton of guitarists so I left it up for everyone, and hope to get back to it someday, but had to move on. You can check out the YouTube channel for that site here where I had a bunch of videos. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKyBVqyvlOYHy0vT-ttDJEA

Next I created a site called Lead Guitar Junky: http://leadguitarjunky.com/ where I would take my favorite lead guitar lessons from YouTube and tab them out for the pleasure of other lead guitar junkys like myself out there. Again, this was labor intensive, and though I was having fun, I had to move on as I couldn't see a way to monetize it. I didn't know about Patreon then.

I really would like to see this take off and build a community of guitarists that can use these practice materials to grow together as musicians. I'm looking for some early adopters to try it out and help get it off the ground. Through their feedback I will be able to refine the lessons and approach to make the site super awesome.

Every week I will be putting out a worksheet with 5 ways to play over a chord progression, 5 backing tracks in various styles of that chord progression, and 5 demo videos of me improvising over those backing tracks. Supporters would get all that every week of the month, for only $5. Seems like a good deal to me.

Looking forward I have plans to create workbooks out of the lessons, as well as expanding the lesson material to include dominant pentatonics, three note per string pentatonics, as well as applications for bass players. Thanks again for the question.

I have small hands too.

But unless your hands are so small and or frail that it's difficult for you to hold cups or turn doorknobs and such, you can play guitar just fine. (I'm not joking about small frail hands. My mom has trouble with basic activities now. I wouldn't suggest anyone with similar issues try picking up guitar.)

This is a good intro to hand stretches.
You can start there and see if that helps.

My next suggestion would be to practice basic finger exercises higher up the neck where the frets are closer together and there's less tension. You can play 7-8-9-10 going down and up the neck. Use all four of your fingers by following the one finger per fret rule. Play the 7th fret strictly with your index, the 8th strictly with your middle, the 9th strictly with your ring and the 10th strictly with your pinky. The pinky should be the trickiest. Don't overlook it though! And then move to 5-6-7-8. Be methodical about it. It's a tedious exercise but it does help!

Also a lot of your finger strength for guitar actually comes from your forearms! I've read that just regular arm stretches and basic arm exercises in general are healthy for strengthening your forearm. I've also been warned about doing exercises that only target your forearms though. Apparently targeting just the forearm is an easy way to injure yourself.

There's also those little grip hand workout mechanisms. You can try those if you want. Make sure to buy them in a really light tension though. You're trying to fret strings not go rock climbing. It does help build strength and dexterity if you use it correctly. But it's not better than just regular guitar hand exercises.

And if full sizes acoustic don't suit you. You can always try for a 3/4 size. I wouldn't recommend smaller than that.

Good luck!

Here's a link. You get two sets of pins and a pin remover tool for $5.99.

Since you're just starting out, I have a free ebook you can look at. Typically the first thing you learn on the guitar is chords, but I believe a better place to start is improvisation. Here are eleven reason why.

1. You only have to hold down one string at a time, not three or four.
   
2. You get to play along with backing tracks and your favorite songs.
   
3. You get to pick your own notes, embellishments and phrasing.
   
4. You learn what it's like to play in the groove with other instruments.
   
5. You become familiar with the fretboard and the note names.
   
6. You learn to play notes in multiple place on the neck and in different keys.
   
7. You learn cool stuff like hammer-ons, slides, bends, and double stops.
   
8. You develop coordination between your two hands.
   
9. You'll feel like the kid who gets invited on stage to play with the band.
   
10. And chords will be easy because you fingers will know how to hold down strings and move between frets.
    
11. It's more fun and you won't want to quit.

I went through what you're going through 5 or 6 years ago. I took classical guitar lessons way back in the 70's and never really played anything other than finger style on a nylon string guitar.

Then, I bought a steel string acoustic about 6 years ago and started learning to play with a pick. It's a whole separate skill you will have to develop and practice. Strumming, alternate picking, hybrid picking, etc all take slightly different skills that you'll have to develop... and your years of fingerpicking won't have prepared you much for any of it. Well, actually it will come in handy for learning hybrid picking.

I agree with u/Naticus_55 that you should try a variety of picks. Not only different grips/textures, but also different thicknesses and shapes. Over time I have gravitated to Dunlop Max Grip picks. I seem to go thru phases where I'll use different thicknesses but have been using the .60 mm ones most recently.

Even after 6 years or so I still find the pick tends to shift in my hand when I play - especially when switching between strumming and picking individual notes. I've gotten better at gauging how tightly to hold the pick so that I can play cleanly without totally losing control of the pick's orientation, but I've also found that I've gotten better at adjusting the pick on the fly while I'm playing.

Anyway, just try not to get discouraged. It takes time. Enjoy the journey. Be the pick. haha.

First you should visit us on /r/classicalguitar

Books are going to be your best friend though. The Noad Book is most frequently recommended by people on /r/classicalguitar, though I have never used it before. My experience has been with The Duncan Method.

What I recommend is getting these books, and working on just them for about a week (try to do about half an hour a day if you can, if not just whatever time you have) and you'll have some foundation for technique. From there, since you like Carulli, I recommend starting with the Sor Studies. They are a great stepping stone for the beginner guitarist, plus they sound fantastic too.

If the Sor Studies are too difficult, play Leo Brouwer's Etudes Simples first - start with #2, then do 1, 3, 4, and 5 in order. If you can get the Etudes Simples down and sounding good then you'll be in great shape for the Sor Studies. Also, don't play the Etudes Simples as fast as this guy, he burns through them.

They take a little getting used to, but I'd definitely recommend giving them a shot. I bite my nails and used to play with finger tips as others here are commenting. I always felt disoriented playing with the bulkier enclosed finger picks like these because your finger doesn't touch the string at all.

Finger picks give you much better volume and articulation than finger tips. The only downside is that it's hard to get a 'delicate' sound with metal finger picks.

Just to be clear, the finger-tone picks slip over your index and middle (and ring if you use 3 fingers to pick) and the slick pick is a thumb pick. If you've never used thumb picks, they're awesome. They allow you to strum and flatpick as well.

Cool... alongside the technical stuff (which you'll obviously need) I would definitely spend some time learning some theory to help with the composing.

If you want to do that the "slow and hard way" (but actually quicker and easier than messing around on the internet) I suggest getting a basic harmony textbook and working your way through it. Do all the exercises in a MIDI sequencer so you can hear the results. The book I used back in the day was Piston, but almost any harmony book will probably do. Then get a counterpoint book and do the same thing. Those are strong foundations, and it's stuff you can do away from the guitar. If you get the book and find you're not ready for it, work through the beginner resources in the sidebar of /r/musictheory and then try again.

Aside from that:

• Learn songs and try to figure out how they're put together.
  
  
• Compose your own stuff, even if you don't show it to anyone.
  
  
• Work on ear training. Learn your intervals and chord qualities and sing everything, even if it sounds bad.
  
  
• Learn your scales (or here if you want more theory).
  
  
• You'll need to develop a high level of technique. See here for some pointers. One thing that's worked well for me in the past is to pick one exercise and spend a month on it, recording my top metronome mark each day. Be careful not to hurt yourself.
  
  
• Always make time to work on your rhythm. There comes a point for a lot of players where this is the most important thing holding them back.
  
  A month is a good unit of time to learn something. If you sit down and make a month-by-month plan for the next two years mixing up these elements you should make very solid progress.
  
  I'm sure others will have more genre-specific advice, though!

Honestly it barely matters...

People have their brand loyalty, etc, but for a beginner, there is little difference. I'd go with light strings, because it's a bit easier on your fingers when starting out. Here are a few selections from three top brands.

Also, don't let restringing them be daunting. You tube has around a million tutorials for it, and it really isn't that hard.

You can download easy apps for free on your smartphone to use as a tuner, too.

Happy pickin

Martin strings
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BMHLHC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_3GvOCb5NSJA4S

Ernie ball (6 sets)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009AGEJ0M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_GJvOCbYN0A1TE

D'addario 3 pack (super popular brand)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000OR2RNM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_ALvOCbET0C0W8

The book you're linking only deals with rhythm, which is only half of the music.

The best course of action to learn new music style, is this :

First, listen to the style A LOT. If you want to write jazz, listen to jazz 2 hours a day.

Second, study the most famous tunes. Study the chord progression, try to understand how they works, re-write them in other key, other tempos, with others instruments. Learn how to play them inside and out.

Then try to compare them with music styles you know : what chords are used in jazz that aren't used in rock ? What progression ? You'll be able to pinpoint the differences pretty soon, and know instantly how to write a typical jazz chord progression (or any other style you've studied).

A good idea is also to re-arrange song you know : take a rock song, and try to adapt the chord progression to make it sound more country, or jazz. It's not an easy thing to do, but it's a great way to learn. And just in case, you can do that with ANY song in ANY style. There aren't any limit (Personal note : with my singer we often jam on the Tetris theme, trying to play it in multiple styles, jazz, funk, reggae, rock, metal, country, and believe it or not, it works).

Finally, I don't know of any book that explains the differences between every styles of music, but you can find some good reference book on particular styles. For jazz I would recommend the "Complete Jazz Guitar Method". There's four book in this series and it will go from basic rhythm playing to complexe soling in jazz music.

I have used D'addario, Ernie Balls, and Elixir. For price to performance I go with the Ernie Balls Earthwood Lights (mediums are probably fine too I just prefer lights), I used the D'addario when I first started playing and those always seemed very good but a tad bit expensive, same goes with the Elixirs I am using right now. The only reason I bought them is because Amazon was having a good sale and I got a pack of...8? I think... for about 6-8 dollars a pack which is far better than anywhere else I could have gone and gotten them from.

Prices

[Ernie Balls Medium Acoustic (6-pack) $19.89]
(http://www.amazon.com/Ernie-Ball-Earthwood-Acoustic-Strings/dp/B0064RN6UY/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1395279369&sr=8-15&keywords=ernie+ball+acoustic+medium)





D'addario Medium Acoustic (10-pack) $43.99


Elixir Polyweb Acoustic Mediums (8-pack) $109.92

I do bulk prices because I usually buy these packs so I don't have to buy strings for awhile and you usually get better prices over buying single, especially with the D'addario and Ernie Balls. But these are just my suggestions feel free to just buy singles seeing as I know how hard it is to justify dropping over 100 dollars on strings even if you play very often.

I'd been looking for a good resource for open G blues as well. I'm trying to pick up some slide playing in the delta blues tradition. In my efforts I picked up a book Called Bottleneck Blues Guitar. I've only just begun studying the book, but it looks good.

I did however, stumble upon a guy on youtube called Siggi Mertens who has great videos for just this style of play. Check out this blues slide guitar lesson.

Good luck.

heres a good book for learning chord structure and harmony: http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Harmony-Guitar-Stan-Smith/dp/079359913X

this will give you a super solid foundation that will be easy to build off of. however, the internet is not to be underestimated, theres lots of good stuff you cant find in a book.

Probably the single most important thing you can do is to get together and play with friends and fellow musicians, even those who play different instruments.

If it's of any interest to you, your chord is a B minor 7 add 11 because it contains the 1st, 3rd, 7th and 11th (4th) notes of the B minor scale.

I'd suggest there's a few ways to explore different sounding chords in the open position.

1. Maybe have a look at how chords are built from scales if you're interested in the way that things are put together. I found that this helped me guess pretty efficiently at what notes I could change within chords.
   
   
2. Just 'mess around' with the chord forms you know - what happens if you add this note or move that note by a fret or two in whichever direction. If I move the shape across strings, is it still the same sort of sound? I found that I did this first and then used the chord/scale thing from 1 to explain it!
   
   
3. Buy a chord book and try some of them out! This and later this were very useful to me.
   
   Hope that's of some help, please feel free to ask if I've left you with more questions than answers!