{"id":19195,"date":"2021-12-16T21:45:41","date_gmt":"2021-12-16T19:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.learnguitarmalta.com\/?p=19195"},"modified":"2023-12-08T15:00:40","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T13:00:40","slug":"intermediate-guitar-lesson-how-to-integrate-your-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnguitarmalta.com\/intermediate-guitar-lesson-how-to-integrate-your-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Intermediate Guitar Lesson: How to Integrate Your Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When you\u2019re a beginner on the guitar you spend most of your practice time learning new skills. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You start from knowing nothing and you have to figure out how to place your fingers, hold the pick, strum, read guitar tabs and play your first chords and songs, among many other things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you reach an intermediate level of guitar playing<\/a> you should spend part of your practice time learning new skills but equally important is mastering and integrating what you have already learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s discuss what these two terms mean for you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Mastery<\/strong>: Even a beginner can bend a guitar string. What no beginner can do is bend the note in tune every time, without any unwanted strings buzzing. If he could, he would not be a beginner but an intermediate guitarist. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    An even more advanced player will not only bend strings in tune but also experiment with different types of bends, with the speed of the bends, as well as apply vibrato to the bent note.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Thus, part of your practice time should be dedicated to improving and eventually mastering techniques you already know on a more superficial level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Integration<\/strong>: If you can bend a note correctly, even if not perfectly (since mastery takes time) you should also integrate it with your other guitar skills.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      This intermediate guitar lesson will be focused on this often neglected aspect of guitar practicing: Skill integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In this lesson<\/a>, I show you what skills you should be improving on and mastering at this stage of your guitar learning process.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For today\u2019s lesson, I will be choosing 6 skills or areas of knowledge that seem to have little to do with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      We\u2019ll first discuss each skill separately, and then integrate the skills, the result of which would be the ability to improvise simple guitar licks<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Intermediate guitar skills<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The following are the skills I\u2019ve chosen to integrate for this lesson. Let\u2019s look at each one of them separately first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The minor pentatonic scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The minor pentatonic scale is very easy to use, thus it serves our purpose perfectly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In this intermediate guitar lesson, we\u2019ll be using only the minor pentatonic in the first position. Keep in mind there are 4 other positions you should be learning to be able to play the minor pentatonic scale all over the guitar fretboard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      In this particular case, the root notes of the scale are on the low E string. However, since you\u2019re an intermediate guitar player, I strongly suggest that you memorize the name of all the notes on the guitar<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      You will find this very useful each time you apply a music theory concept (interval<\/a>, scale, arpeggio, chord, etc) to the guitar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Scale sequencing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      After you learn a scale pattern, you should learn how to play that scale in sequences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Sequences make a good exercise<\/a>, help you learn the scale thoroughly, and give you a lot of ideas you can use in your licks, riffs, and solos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      In the next example, the minor pentatonic is sequenced in groups of three notes: 1,2,3 \u2013 2,3,4 \u2013 3,4,5 etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      At this stage, your bends may not be perfect yet, which is why you should study string bending technique<\/a> both in isolation and in a musical context. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For now, I\u2019m going to give you three full upward bends to practice. Later on in this lesson, we\u2019ll be using them to create music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      All the notes in these bends (both the notes you pick and the target notes you reach with the bend) are derived from the A minor pentatonic scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n