The Three Mistakes You Make That Harm Your Guitar Playing Creativity

The Three Mistakes You Make That Harm Your Guitar Playing Creativity

By Tom Hess

You become a creative guitar player by practicing the integration of many skills while also not making key mistakes that other guitarists make.

The following are frequent mistakes that hold guitar players back from becoming creative. Your potential to become highly creative goes up when you avoid these mistakes:

Mistake #1. Not Integrating Music Theory & Guitar Technique Together

It’s easy to get focused on becoming a very technical guitarist or learning how music theory works. However, don't make the mistake of learning these things without learning how to apply them into actual music.

Seek to apply every technique and musical theory into music by integrating techniques together and improvising. Start small by applying concepts with just a few notes, then work from there.

Mistake #2. Trying To Learn Lots And Lots Of Scales

It’s a common misunderstanding that learning tons of new scales makes you a more creative guitarist. You’re much more likely to become overwhelmed and frustrated by doing this. Learning scales is entirely different than learning how to play creatively. Adding more and more scales to your vocabulary does not suddenly give you an understanding of how to use them in a musical manner.

You get much better results by trying to learn how to be creative with the things you already know how to play. When you learn how to play creatively using scales you are familiar with, you are able to use this understanding with any other musical pattern or technique.

Mistake #3. Focusing On Learning A Bunch Of Licks By Other Guitar Players

On the surface, this seems like a good idea. Many guitarists think this is the best way to play as creatively as their favorite guitarist. However, memorizing a bunch of guitar licks by your favorite players achieves the opposite effect. You are more likely to rely on repeating the same licks over and over rather than actively think in a creative manner while improvising or making your own lead guitar licks. This prevents you from learning how to be more creative.

Learn the easy step-by-step process for becoming a much more creative lead guitarist by reading this article on how to create better guitar licks.