Why 99% of Intermediate Guitarists STOP Making Progress...

Many guitarists reach an intermediate level after a few years of playing but only a select few ever manage to break free from the 'lost intermediate plateau' that they often end up stuck in for a number of years.

In today's video, I'm sharing with you 6 things that I WISH I had understood soon after reaching an intermediate level that would have enabled me to smash through that intermediate rut and bypass YEARS of not making progress.

[ScottGailor]

As a full-time theory/guitar teacher, this video is damm near perfect. I really enjoy your channel. Cheers

[bryanbaer]

25 years of “intermediate” playing…just started in on music theory, chord/triad construction, and fretboard memorization. After 9 months of working at it, I’m blown away at my growth!! Kicking myself for not figuring this out earlier! Unfortunately, YouTube wasn’t around in the 90’s, and getting good info was a matter of being around the right musicians/teachers. However, I could have memorized my fretboard and never did until last year (and still working on it). Great video with extremely good tips! I believe I’ve hammered down on all of these tips the past 9 months without realizing that it was these 6 simple things that were contributing to my improvement the most.

[joehguitar]

Wonderful video! I'll just add a point:

People love to talk about how their favorite guitarists or musician didn't need theory. It's not true. Some untrained musicians were so obsessive that they just built their own language for music. "Music theory", as we commonly refer to it, is usually just the most common terminology.

As an example, there's a great video of Allan Holdsworth explaining how he sees and notates scales on the guitar. He heard things differently and just started creating his own way of writing it all down. Hendrix, SRV, the Beatles, etc. are similar.

TLDR: there's no escaping music theory, you might just notate it differently

[PastaPatate]

What I don’t see enough of is emphasis on rhythm when it comes to phrasing and soloing. Targeting strong beats and thinking rhythmically when improvising.

[PSAImagingLLC]

This is absolute gold. And in this era of information access, there's no excuse for not pursuing theory at the minimums described. Well done, Ross.

[billa]

There is absolutely NO excuse for NOT learning ALL the notes on the guitar. It really is simple. Ross's circle of 4ths in his "Bullet Proof Guitar" course works great (and it's a great warmup activity), but there are so many other ways to learn. I didn't commit to doing so until I was in my sixties and it only took me a few days to memorize locations, and then a month or so to get them under my fingers without much thought. It will supercharge your creativity by giving you more freedom over and command of the fretboard. Even if you're a mere hobbyist, do yourself a favor and commit to learning all the notes on the fretboard. I guarantee you'll kick yourself when you discover how damn easy it is and wonder why the hell it took you so long to do it. I know I did.

[robertalford]

Ross, I'm so glad you popped up in my feed! I've been wanting to find someone to help me break through for decades, and at 50yo I had honestly come to the conclusion that my learning days were over. I've been stuck on the intermediate plateau for decades, but you, sir, have inspired me to stretch again, and I can't thank you enough.

[nathancourtney]

Ross,
I've watched you for a while now. Straight talk to an intermediate is just what I needed. I went so long in chasing equipment instead of learning what I needed too. Thanks for the encouragement. I took advantage of the free lesson. We'll see what happens.
Thanks Nathan

[Furtheronmusic]

Like Robert elsewhere here. I'm 60 and frankly been stuck for probably 30 years or more. You and a few others on YouTube have helped me push a little further on.

[tridan]

Been at exactly what you speak for 40 years or so and just want to say your advice is spot on point young man... well done.

[newmusic]

Thanks Ross for putting together such thoughtful videos, the way you outline and share your knowledge in bullet points that cut right to the content. Very helpful to understand how you’ve used music theory and what options we have to grow musically. Looking forward to diving into what you shared in this lesson, thanks for the resources

[prtauvers]

Great advice, especially about learning the whole fretboard…I’ve been an intermediate player for DECADES…it was easier to become a gear head than to learn the basics…now will dive into your triads course - it was your triads video from a couple years back that really changed my thinking and finally, slowly, I’ve been exploring again. Thanks!

[freespeech-advocate]

Nice 1 cheers for the free triad lesson. Keep up the good content, 🤟😎🎸

[overtonesnteatime]

Thanks man, so many need this including myself, it is very difficult to find material to really start grasping and understanding things past that intermediate level so again Thanks.

[northtrader]

Thanks Ross. Been listening to your wisdom for 10 years now. Hope things are going well for you.

[groovelife]

This is one of the best videos out there right now. No crazy promises or gimmicks. Learning the notes on all 6 strings was single-handedly the best thing I ever did for my playing. Years ago I decided to finally learn them after avoiding it for a long time. Over the course of a couple months I nailed it down. My personal belief is that before you even try to master the major scale you need to learn all of the notes on the fretboard. Otherwise you will always think in terms of shapes and what fret number that shape starts on.
You cannot become an advanced player without knowing the fretboard like the back of your hand. I don't care what anyone says, it's impossible. You may become really good at a technique, but if you can't walk into a jam session and communicate efficiently with the other musicians, and hang with them while playing, you are not advanced. Most players I've encountered that consider themselves advanced cannot even run the major scale up the neck using only the G, B and E strings without thinking about what pattern they are in based off of the low E, or change keys without having to change where they are currently playing on the fretboard. If you are in the 5 - 8 fret range, you should be able to change keys fluidly, without having to leave that area of the fretboard. If you have to pause to think about what note you're currently playing you don't know the fretboard, and you are not an advanced musician.

[badalicemusic]

This the most important and relevant videos out there for me, thanks Ross! I'm absolutely in the group of players your talking about so please know how helpful and inspiring this particular video is.😊🙏

[tamosleh]

Great advice Ross. Learning the notes of the guitar and knowing that there are no shortcuts is what made a huge difference for me too.

[j.thornton]

Excellent video. I can appreciate the straight talk approach. Tell it like it is. Thanks. Subscribed.

[ShadeHope]

Thanx Ross, You have been more help to me than any other has, I really appreciate your time and passion for this, Thanx again.. NO SHORTCUTS !