Get Better at Guitar: 5 Easy Ways to Check Yourself

You want to get better at guitar.

But how do you know whether you’re making progress?

For each song or piece you play, there are 5 ways you can check yourself.

Looking at each of these will show where you’ve made progress.

And you can see where improvement is needed.

Let’s talk about each one:

1. Right Notes

This seems obvious, but it’s the place to start.

Look carefully at your sheet music or tablature to make sure you’re playing the correct notes.

Listen to recordings of great performers and notice any notes that sound different.

Note accuracy is the foundation for playing an existing piece or song.

If you’re playing the right notes but the music still doesn’t sound great, it’s time to look at…

2. Right Rhythms

Are you playing the notes at the right times?

This is determined by the meter and rhythm values.

If you play regularly with other musicians, they can help you be aware of rhythms that need to be corrected.

If you play alone, you’ll need to check your own rhythms.

The metronome is a great tool for this.

When you have the foundation of right notes and rhythms in place, check a third element.

3. Good Tone

This seems subjective.

But start with some objective questions:

Is your left-hand fingertip placement avoiding buzzes?

Is your right-hand attack resulting in clear sound?

Once you answer yes to these questions, listen to guitarists whose tone you want to emulate.

Find ways to make your tone closer to theirs.

We’re making progress! Next…

4. Musical Expression

Like tone, this can be subjective.

You can learn a lot by listening to great performers playing the piece or song you’re working on.

Ask questions like these:

How do they make the piece sound interesting?

Do they change volume?

Do they change tone?

Do they alter tempo by slowing down (ritardando) or speeding up (accelerando)?

Based on your favorite version of the piece, write an expressive map.

In other words, write on your sheet music the expressive elements you want to play at various points in the piece.

Then practice following your map.

When you have these first four elements in place, the music is sounding good!

Just one more!

5. Appropriate Tempo

I put this last for a reason.

It’s best to get the first four elements in place before working on appropriate tempo. Why?

Because when you try to play too fast before you’re ready, the first four elements may go away.

On the other hand, when you’re confident with the first four elements, you’re ready to gradually increase tempo.

The metronome is a great tool here because it can help you avoid pushing the tempo too fast too soon.

Instead, start with a tempo where the first four elements are firmly in place.

Then increase the tempo slightly.

If you reach a tempo where the accuracy starts to suffer, drop the tempo slightly.

Practice accurately several times, and then increase the tempo again.

Doing this consistently will lead to steady progress toward the target tempo.

If great performers play the piece at a tempo that seems unattainable, no worries.

Just establish a target tempo that seems reasonable to you. And work toward that.

After you achieve that tempo, you can decide whether you’re content there or if you want to set a new goal for a higher tempo.

Before you check your playing in these 5 ways, start each practice session with a simple Warmup Routine.

For a free PDF of my Warmup, click here.

Keep making music!