Improvisation & Where to begin with Guitar theory?

Learning guitar can be kind of overwhelming with all of the available options and resources including YouTube and free online resources like pdfcoffee but actually knowing where to start can be rough: technique? Music theory? Ear training?

First things first: following and developing a routine will be paramount, so my advice would be utilizing a 6-Step Methodology:

1. Stretching (1 min)
2. Right Hand (5 mins)
3. Left Hand (5 mins)
4. Technique (10 mins)
5. Improvisation (10 mins)
6. Songs & Writing(25 mins)

Keep in mind that a routine doesn’t have to be more than an hour (this routine is slightly less) if you are efficient and have clear goals in mind.

The second thing would be having aspirations: as a 14 year old boy with dial-up internet I had very limited options for entertainment. I turned to music and very quickly became obsessed with every Slayer and Pantera album on CD. I took it upon myself to study the ferocity and intensity that Jeff Hanneman and Dimebag Darrell performed and wrote with. By watching Dimevision and Slayer Live: War at the Warfield. I was taken aback by these men’s command over their instruments and it forever ignited my curiosity and fascination with music. Not too long after I started a subscription for Guitar World and was enveloped in the world of virtuostic guitarists, practice techniques, and transcribing.

The third and last thing I recommend is to maintain a journal, vlog, memos, or any variation of a tracker so that you can keep track of your progress and set goals for yourself. This can be as concise or as detailed and elaborate as you wish but the more data you can provide yourself with will be more advantageous.

Below I provided a few great starting points (albeit for intermediate & advanced guitarists) below that can shed light on a good crash course for guitar improvisation that are quite interesting and from 3 great guitarists: Alan Holdsworth known for his blazing atonal jazz runs that can be heard in metal pioneers Meshuggah to this day; Frank Gambale who has one of the best economy & sweep picking techniques as well as who collaborated with jazz fusion legend Chick Corea; and session guitarist and instructor Dave Celentano who wrote one of the best guitar scale books which I bought when I was 14 years old and still have 2 copies of to this day!

In the next coming blogs I’ll elaborate more on each one of the six areas of the methodology to provide greater insight and share helpful tips that help me to this day.

Frank Gambale's "Essential Soloing Theory Books"

Alan Holdsworth's "Just for the Curious" Book

Dave Celentano's "Monster Scales"