What makes someone an intermediate player as opposed to still being a beginner?
It's a very interesting question with many views on the distinction but I thought I would give you some guidance to help you identify your strong points and where you can take time to make improvements. If you can do ALL of these things it would be fair to say you are a well-rounded intermediate level guitar player and musician. This list is not meant to be completely comprehensive but just enough to point you in the right direction
Please do not see this list as something to demotivate you, it is arguably subjective and is only meant as a guide to help you fill in some of the blanks you may have missed since you started learning. You can use it to set yourself targets and distinguish your goals. Everything here is within your reach! If it seems like a mountain to you, you just need to start climbing the mountain today. Step by step
Please do not see this list as something to demotivate you, it is arguably subjective and is only meant as a guide to help you fill in some of the blanks you may have missed since you started learning. You can use it to set yourself targets and distinguish your goals. Everything here is within your reach! If it seems like a mountain to you, you just need to start climbing the mountain today. Step by step
CHORDS:
As a beginner, the thing that will take you the most time is chord changing and memorising all the shapes. I do not know of any shortcut so just practice practice practice. A tried and tested way to do this is learn songs.... lots and lots of songs. The side effect will be that in time, most of these skills will grow simultaneously. If you have not yet been introduced to chord theory you can check out my 8 step guide here - (chord theory essentials)
- Know ALL basic ‘open’ chords (see below)
- All 'power' chords
- All major & minor barre chords (essential barre chords below)
- Basic knowledge of progressions and keys (chord theory essentials)
- Understand how chords are made (chord theory essentials)
- Clean and consistent changing between all chords with a few different strumming patterns
- Play in some simple and compound time signatures such as 4/4 6/8 3/4
These barre chords should be the first ones you learn because they appear more frequently.
SCALES:
Apart from understanding the CHROMATIC scale you should be able to improvise with the following scales (in a minimum of 2 octaves) and know which one is best suited to the chords you are playing over.
For a grade 1 guitar exam you are required to know 4 scales; Em Pentatonic, C major scale, A natural minor scale and G major pentatonic scale. By grade 4 you would need to know all of these in ALL keys and you should be able to effectively use the blues scale too.
For a grade 1 guitar exam you are required to know 4 scales; Em Pentatonic, C major scale, A natural minor scale and G major pentatonic scale. By grade 4 you would need to know all of these in ALL keys and you should be able to effectively use the blues scale too.
- MAJOR
- NATURAL MINOR
- MAJOR PENTATONIC
- MINOR PENTATONIC
- THE BLUES SCALE
What scale is this one below?
Here's a backing track in D major you practice with
THEORY:
As well as learning the chord and scale theory these skills are highly important and useful to your adaptability when playing with others, writing your own music ideas down and adjusting song covers to suit your vocal range
- Be able to find any note on the guitar in all positions
- Reading and writing basic music notation. Melodies and rhythms (do you already have GUITAR PRO?)
- Change keys (with and without a capo)
TECHNIQUES:
As well as palm muting, vibrato, string bending, slides, hammer-ons and pull-offs these other essential techniques should be comfortable for you.
- No buzzing notes
- Not looking at your hands all the time
- Good rhythm and ability to play to a metronome at reasonable tempos
- Being able to play with others and improvise to backing tracks
- Able to teach yourself and ask specific questions on points where you are stuck to identify your next goals
EAR TRAINING:
- Recognise and copy basic basslines and melodies
- Recognise different chord types such as major, minor, maj7, dominant7, diminished. [TEST YOURSELF]
- Recognise intervals between root and the octave [TEST YOURSELF]
How did you do?
I hope this was helpful for you and gives you an idea of where to look next in your quest for knowledge. If you enjoyed it please feel free to join my facebook page and send me a message. I'd be happy to hear from you
Ryan
Ryan
