Help me get on the right track

Tonal Sex

New member
I'm here to pick the brains of the people here who are better than me.

I can honestly say that I think I'm a very good player. But one thing I can't ignore anymore is learning at least SOME theory. But I wanted to start by learning theory that is geared towards the type of guitar I want to ultimately learn to play. My biggest influences are guitarists from the 80s. Nuno Bettencourt, Warren Demartini, EVH, etc. I want to learn to do what they do. I've learned a lot of it, but I'm not satisfied with where I'm at now. I've avoided learning the common scales, patterns, keys, etc. that they write and play in.

I was just wondering if anyone here could share some insight into what scales, patterns, techniques, etc that I should be studying/practicing to progress towards this type of playing. I appreciate any info and will probably have more questions as this thread goes along.
 
don't avoid the common scales. learn them! that's what all your favorite guitarists use with some or no modification.
learn your scales up and down the neck with different fingerings. once you can play a major scale for example effortlessly do new permutations of the scale ie...skip notes..play the scale in 3rd's.
for example G major play G, B, A, C, B, D, C. E. D. F sharp, E, G, Etc. then 4th's etc. the guys you like don't avoid common scales. they use them! cheers.
 
http://donlatarski.com/books.php

I've taught a range of students over the years from beginners to very advanced in rock and classical in addition to high school AP Music Theory. The above link will take you to the books that have worked best for the broadest range of beginning to intermediate learning styles and stylistic interests IMO. If you were to buy only one book, get his Practical Theory for Guitar. It is the bomb. No reading of notation is necessary, but the actual content is very powerful. He gets into some chord and scale theory that would be very intimidating if you only had examples to read off the staff in standard notation. Since all the examples are accompanied by chord and scale diagrams, it makes the material very accessible. It is set up to stimulate your creativity putting scales against suitable chord progressions to provide a roadmap for composition and improvisation. Can't say enough good things about this book.
 
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