When it comes to learning to play guitar, there are certain exercise regimens that can help you get there faster. If you are learning to play rhythm, you want to work on chord exercises. Forming chords, switching chords, chord progressions, and transposing notes.
That will work for your fretboard hand. For your picking hand, you want to work on strumming, arpeggiated picking, palm muting, and how you hold your pick.
Lead Guitar
You want to work on learning scales, finger exercises, hammer-ons, pull-offs, string bends, vibrato, and trills. All these concepts and techniques are associated with playing guitar solos.
You also want to work with a metronome to improve your timing, speed, and accuracy. With ear training and an understanding of chord changes and transposing keys.
Guitar Theory
You want to understand the 12 notes that make up the musical alphabet. You want to learn about the 8 notes that make up the major & minor scale. You want to learn about chords and scales that come out of these major and minor scales.
Knowing in-depth about chords and scales will allow you to utilize them better in your songwriting and learning of your favorite songs. This will also give you a better understanding of your guitar fretboard.
Conclusion
As you can see clearly, different exercises, concepts, and techniques are needed to be learned in each of these three areas. It is just a matter of which catches your interest. If all of them catch your interest, then you learn a little from each section. I recommend you start with one section first.
If you are just starting, work on rhythm. This is the foundation of all music. If you got that down, either learn about chord theory or lead guitar. Both will do you well at this point.
If you are already at the lead leave, then work on theory. Learn why certain notes work over certain chord progressions. This will enhance your playability as well as your musical knowledge.
If you’d like to learn more about concepts in these three areas, I recommend you check out the guitar method books I authored and self-published to help you progress faster in these areas.
I also offer private guitar lessons as well. If you feel you could benefit from this service, be sure to contact me and I will get you on the schedule. Thank you for your time reading and best of luck with your guitar playing.
Sincerely, Dwayne Jenkins