HELP!! I need to get "un-stuck".

[Deacon]

I've decided that I need to start working to develop my guitar playing to a more professional level. I particuarly want to learn to play jazz & blues based music but more complex than basic I-IV-V blues and pentatonic soloing.

I don't read music, and I want to learn that too.

My guitar influences lately have been artists like Larry Carlton, John Scofield, Denny Jiosa, Robben Ford, Dave Specter, Tomo, and many others.

I'm trying to find a good guitar teacher here in my home town, but I also want to start reading and learning.

Any advice for me?

Thank you so much!

[Luke]

Try Craigslist to find a teacher:

http://toledo.craigslist.org/search/lss?query=guitar&catAbbreviation=lss

[vivacuica]

I've decided that I need to start working to develop my guitar playing to a more professional level. I particuarly want to learn to play jazz & blues based music but more complex than basic I-IV-V blues and pentatonic soloing.

I don't read music, and I want to learn that too.

My guitar influences lately have been artists like Larry Carlton, John Scofield, Denny Jiosa, Robben Ford, Dave Specter, Tomo, and many others.

I'm trying to find a good guitar teacher here in my home town, but I also want to start reading and learning.

Any advice for me?

Thank you so much!

There is a tremendous amount of information on the internet now. Video lessons, blogs etc. I would Google what it is you want to know-- break it down. Modes? Melodic Minor scale? ii-V-I patterns? There's tons of this stuff on the web now.

If you want to learn how to read music, make sure you know first, what are the notes on the guitar, all of them, then buy a book with beginner reading exercises. There's lots of them, some put out by Hal Leonard, probably Mel Bay, I know Berklee Press has some.

I have a blog that covers a lot of this stuff (if I can make a shameless plug) with transcriptions and general lessons so check me out too. I'm adding stuff to it weekly and will soon have video lessons from basic chord pattern stuff up to how to play "out."

Good luck, it's a fun road to travel and you'll have lots of company along the way.

[xzzy]

Buy a copy of Edly's Music Theory for Practical People, and work through it cover to cover.

Instrument agnostic, is purely for improving your understanding of theory.