Are you one of those guitar players who has trouble with their rate, pace and level of growth on the instrument? Quite often, along the learning curve, music students (and this certainly applies to guitar students), will feel like their growth and their skill development is happening exceptionally slow... 



Most of the time, the core of the problem is rooted within what the student is doing far too much of. Doing too much of the same style of playing, playing the same scales, and doing the same chords - day in - day out. It doesn't stretch the student to keep playing the same way every week of the month. Without variety, we cannot grow as musicians.

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STAGNANT STUDY:
For a lot of players, in far too many cases, there's simply way too much of the exact same thing being studied on a daily basis. When you do this, the level of musical exposure is far too limited. Due to the limited amount of new; styles, scales, chords and musical situations, the guitar players growth ends up stagnating. If this is allowed to continue for too long a period, months can go by with very little progress actually taking place.



TAKE LESSONS:
One of the reasons guitar students start taking lessons is to expand their horizons. And, getting high quality, well crafted material, that's logical and that follows a specific plan of growth over time is paramount. Because, on the flip side of this, if your guitar teacher starts every lesson by saying to you, "What Would You Like to Do Today," then... they're not doing their job as an instructor.

Good programs and good teachers will always offer their students a wide assortment of material, and that's what we need as practicing guitar players. Every music style you try, and every music theory principle you practice along the way, will slowly change you as a player.

Constant exposure to; new grooves, new chords, new scales, and new theory principles will open the door to new ways that you can use to apply ideas on your guitar. It's so valuable to you, that if you don't get this exposure, you can stagnate for years and years without any real noticeable progress.



NEW STYLES /NEW MUSIC:
I'd like you to try a few different stylistic concepts to help you better comprehend what I mean. For example, if you're a guitarist that only performs Folk songs, but, you've never tried playing any Funk grooves. Practicing some Funk would be a benefit for expanding your overall skill set.

The issue that would be a struggle in playing Funk would come down to the performance of Funk's 16th-note grooves. Most players who are locked into popular strumming ideas (familiar with Folk playing), generally have likely never had very much exposure to funky sixteenth note rhythms.

Here's an example of a Funky 16th-note groove that you can try. If you've been exposed to playing Funk in the past, it may not seem difficult. But, if you haven't ever tried Funk, this study will take some practice time to play.

FUNK RIFF:



Another style of playing that is incredibly valuable, and makes a huge impact on your skill level is Jazz. A lot of guitarists will shy away from jazz because of the amount of major 7, minor 7 and dominant 7th chords used within it. Plus, there's all the chord extensions, and the scales you'll have to become familiar with.

But, learning jazz, (even learning a little bit of jazz), doesn't have to be that overwhelming. There are ways of side-stepping traditional Jazz music like Dixieland or Be-Bop. And, starting with other forms of the style.

There are also other Jazz styles that are full of really cool harmonies and opportunities to learn how to use unique scales. Smooth Jazz and Pop Jazz still apply many harmonies and lines that are unique, without that old-school style and influence from within traditional jazz.

As an example for you to try, here's a group of smooth-jazz chord changes that you can practice to help introduce you to the jazz sound.

SMOOTH JAZZ RIFF:




CONCLUSION:
Taking the time to learn how to play other styles of music will help expose you to different directions of playing faster than anything else out there. Doing this will also help get you to expand upon your abilities and become a far more well rounded musician.

The flip-side of this is that you never explore learning other types of guitar playing and your skill level stagnates. Although this is an easy path to fall into, (just playing music you're familiar with and there's no real effort involved with the songs), doing so does not push you to grow as a musician.

If you want to truly expand as a player playing the same stuff every day probably isn't a favorable avenue to take, since it severely limits your exposure to learning different rhythms, new scales, unique chords and new guitar techniques.

So, if you're feeling like Your Music Skills Aren't Growing... try branching out by exposing yourself to different styles of music... It really will do wonders for your guitar playing and your guitar technique.



VISIT THE WEB-SITE:
Well, hey, thanks for joining me, If you'd like to Find Out What You Should Learn Next on Guitar - take a look at the courses over on my website at CreativeGuitarStudio.com.

My step-by-step; Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced courses will cover what you need to know, along with how to be able to move forward and become the best player that you can be.

I've worked on developing these courses since 1992 and I feel that all together they're the best guitar program you'll ever find. The courses will help you learn to identify what's required to get you up to the next level of guitar playing, in a very organized way, that makes sense.

I look forward to helping you further at CreativeGuitarStudio.com ...Until next time, take care and we'll catch up again on the next lesson. Bye for now!