What Makes A “Good” Guitarist
Quick Checklist:
Here’s a short checklist you can use to quickly identify what areas you are already competent with and what needs work.
If you’re unsure what you’re “good” at, then make a short youtube clip and send us the link – we’re happy to view it and provide some feedback for you.
Guitar Playing Checklist:
- All open major and minor chords (e.g A, C, D, Am, Dm, Em)
- Can switch chords quickly and fluently
- Can strum any rhythm fluently
- All open major and minor scales ascending and descending
- Bar chords – F and B shapes
- How to move bar chords (eg C#m, Ebmaj)
- All open major and minor arpeggios
- Movable major & minor scale shapes (at least 5)
- How to play using all four fingers (using PIMA)
- The full musical alphabet
- How to find any note on the guitar
- All seven modes (Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian etc)
- All 5 pentatonic scale shapes
- How to use each pentatonic scale shape for major and relative minor
- How to move all seven mode “shapes”
- How to actually use the modes for various songs and chord progressions
- How to play and major or minor arpeggio at any fret
- Developed proficient alternate picking
- Developed proficient economy picking
- Able to sweep across all six strings
- Able to improvise in any key or mode
- Can play chord extensions and alterations (“jazz chords”)
- Understands how chords are composed, and relate to various keys
- Able to play in time
- Able to play to a metronome
Of course, there are many more aspects to “good” guitar playing. But this list will help assess your current progression and abilities.
If you are unable to play some of the items on the list, we can certainly help improve your playing and take you to the next level.
What Makes A "Good" Guitarist?
By nature, guitarists tend to be very competitive. We all want to be able to play the craziest, fastest and most complicated solos or percussive finger style songs. But that doesn’t necessarily make you a “good guitarists”. So what then makes a guitarist “good”?
1. Knowledge
Any decent musician MUST know their music theory. This would involve knowing the notes of every scale (major, minor, pentatonic etc.), knowing the modes, diatonic harmony, chord composition, circle of fifths, intervals and much more. This doesn’t just mean being able to play them on the guitar, but understanding their composition, how they function and relate to each other.
2. Skill
Of course a “good” musician needs to have some serious chops under his belt. Techniques like alternate picking, economy picking, fingerpicking, sweeping, legato and harp-harmonics all contribute to a guitarist’s abilities. Speed is also a factor here.
3. Sight Reading
If a guitarist doesn’t at least have a basic understanding of sight reading, then they’re really only limiting themselves. Remember – Sight Reading is NOT music theory, it’s simply the written form of what we hear. Aside from being able to sight read, other areas will improve from learning this component, such as timing, rhythm and your general understanding of music.
4. Originality and Creativity
Now this is a tough one. In a world where so many possibilities have been already used, how then can you be original in your use of music? If you look at any innovative guitarist, they’ve done something that other’s haven’t done before. I’m not saying you need to completely revolutionise the guitar industry, you just simply need to be expressive in your playing and composing. Every person is unique and so your own music should reflect that.
5. Listening Skills
All good musicians need to have good listening skills. After all, music is audible isn’t it! A “good” musician will be able to identify tonality, keys, modes, intervals, extension chords, altered chords, arpeggios, scales and chord progressions all completely by ear. They should also be able to figure out how to play songs on their instrument – even if their instrument isn’t even used in the song.
So how do you get to be good at these things? Get yourself a good guitar teacher (preferably from UGA!!). Practice. A lot.
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