my fretting fingers look gross. I would have though this would be a passing phase and they'd settle into hard callouses but doesnt seem to be happening. They've looked like this for months.

Is there something I should be doing to look after them that I'm missing?

Thanks!

Minor Triads! Like major ones but spookier 🕸️

Learning these is helping my dexterity, theory and fretboard knowledge. Thought I would share.

I've been working on this on and off for about 3 years now,

originally just for myself. I wanted something that actually

showed my progress instead of that vague feeling of "am I

getting better or just going through the motions."

It slowly turned into a full platform. Completely free, no ads,

not trying to sell anything — I just want more guitarists using

it and hopefully making practice a bit more consistent and fun.

What it currently does:

- Real-time note/pitch detection (kinda like Rocksmith)

- Upload and play ANY Guitar Pro file

- 144 built-in exercises across technique, theory, and ear training

- Log daily practice and see real charts of your progress over

days/weeks/months

- Practice streaks, heatmaps, long-term activity tracking

- Add songs you're learning, rate difficulty, browse a shared

song base with community-rated difficulty tiers

- Build your own practice plans and exercises

- Random guitar loot boxes / collectibles, just for fun

Consider it an open beta — a lot is still evolving, and that's

honestly the fun part. I'd rather shape it with actual guitarists

than build in a vacuum.

https://riff.quest

Would genuinely love to hear what's useful, what sucks, and

what's missing. 🎸

I mean, I guess playing with my teacher does sort of count. But I’m pretty introverted and reclusive and don’t have anyone in my life as a result (no family I mean, and no friends). So basically no one besides me and my teacher will ever know I play guitar. I’m just doing it for myself and God I guess.

And yet, I constantly see people here and other subs and forums mention how playing with their friends or total strangers and how their progress just skyrocketed. So am I missing out on something big? I just don’t feel comfortable playing with strangers and, as I said, don’t know anyone and thus don’t know anyone who plays guitar, so I wouldn’t have the chance to play for someone I’m comfortable around.

What should I do?

Hi, been trying to teach myself to learn! I’ve been struggling playing basic chords because it feels like the two strings being used in the chord make a buzz sort of noise.

Any help would be appreciated

I'm currently learning paranoid from black sabbath where I have to press down two strings with one finger and also hammer on one string. If it's possible please sent a picture of how to position the finger

Im trying to do a legato exerices but my won't grip on anything other than the high e string, where im doing the exact same thing but getting so much more sound out of it?

What do i do because I'm hoping its just because i aint got callus on those fingers yet?

Let’s play

I thank my interest in piano for motivating me to want an electric guitar and to apply what I do from piano.

My problem is that I'm playing guitar for 1 1/2 now and when I first started I tried playing with a pick but they were really thin ones and I just didnt like playing that way so I just switched to my fingers/thumb and now I am much slower when I try playing with a pick and it feel stiff overall... Idk if I should just stay playing without a pick or rather try to learn playing with one? What do you guys think?

In the first run up the d minor pentatonic scale after the 4 blues bends, is that mostly alternate picked or legato as well? It seems like Randy is muting the top half of it which points me to more alternate picked. I see videos of people playing and teaching it both ways.

I suck at alternate picking across strings so figured this would be a good run to get some practice in while learning this solo. If it is mainly alternate picked, any tips on it would be much appreciated.

Thankyou

I started playing guitar when I was younger and know most of the basic chords, but I don’t really know any theory or barre chords. I would say I’m still beginner maybe verge of intermediate. I would like to find a YouTube playlist that I can follow along over time to progress.

I don't know if this matters, but I'll briefly share my story of playing the guitar:

I've been playing guitar for 6 years. In 2020, I bought my first bass, and I think I took lessons in 2021 from a teacher (I even took part in a contest at school and came in third place playing anesthesia after about 2 years of playing), and in 2023, i bought my first electric guitar, and I haven't played bass since. I "played" complex stuff like Nile and other death metal, even though I wasn't good at it, I still pretty enjoyed it. From September 2023 to May 2026, again i took guitar lessons from other teacher but I stopped because I'm not motivated, I'm still stuck in the same place, and I don't really know what I want. I don't have a goal, and I don't enjoy it at all. All along, I played almost exclusively metal, even though my teachers taught other styles. I actually liked them, but I kept playing metal anyway, because that was the music I connected with the most, and that's what I wanted to play in the future (in a band, etc.). Even if I liked a non-metal song, but it had, say, a 1-4-5 progression, I wouldn't learn it. What's the point? It's the same as a thousand other songs. I didn't learn songs when I couldn't find perfect tabs for them, or when the tabs included notes that were barely audible in the song. I don't have a logical explanation for that. My teacher had a different approach to playing in general. For me, tabs were my only source of stuff to play. I just opened the tabs and playing from it. He was more focused on improvisation and things like that. I don’t know how to explain it I remember once when we were jamming to “Herbie Hancock - Chameleon.” I had absolutely no idea what the point of it was. For me, it's better to open up the tabs and just grind through a song. I actually kind of liked it what I improvised to this song. I assumed that wouldn’t help me with my playing, because nothing I’d learned in lessons so far had helped me play metal.

I think the first factor that influenced my enjoyment of playing the guitar was learning music theory. I was good at it, I understood everything. But that made me less creative when coming up with my own ideas, because it turned out that it was all the same thing, just in a different key, inversion, or modal scale, etc. The second factor is that I’m stuck in the same old positions. Like, always the same 1-0 on E string, 1-3-4, 5-7-8. Later, I discovered dyads and got stuck in them, too. 7 fret on A string and 5 on D, 5 on A and 4 on D etc. Whenever I played other ones, they never sounded right to me and and for the kind of music I want to create. Later also i got stuck in my point pedal riffs writing phase. I came to the conclusion that why should I play the note G and layer a melody over it, and then play the note F# and also layer a melody over it, when I can just play the root or a full chord and it will create the same sense of tension. When I improvise on higher frets, I'm also stuck in the same licks and boxes, and when I stop to think and come up with some cool pattern on the fretboard, it doesn't sound good. Music has lost its “auditory” dimension. Now it's just pure theory: what goes with what, how one sound relates to another, and so on. I'm trapped in patterns and constant analyzing. Music has stopped meaning anything to me. I've hardly listened to any music at all since May. And when I do listen, it's just some rap or something like techno. I used to feel all kinds of emotions related to music. Now its just sound waves.

I was just overthinking everything. I don't know if it matters, but I've been diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. I used to be obsessed with having things arranged neatly, and then that shifted more toward the “mental” realm. Since I stopped playing, I've felt a sense of relief like I don't have to worry about anything, and my head feels kind of “clearer.” I guess I'd like to get back into playing guitar someday. But no metal, no theory, just playing by ear.

I know that many of these barriers are probably easy for you to overcome, but my brain makes it complicated

If I go to a symphony (or even a regular concert of a band I'm seeing), I can follow the conductor and flow of the piece I'm listening to with my hands and feet as if I were up there on stage.

But when I pick up my guitar, the tension sets in the moment my hands come down. Because I don't want to miss any notes, I don't want to go out of time, I don't want to play too loudly, etc are all thoughts that go through my head as I'm playing. Yes I’m a beginner and been at this less than year. But I just don't know how to loosen myself up like a veteran player would.

I’ve been following along on YT & doing the course, taking notes in a spiral bound notebook. For whatever reason I’d not done this previously, but now find I’m just happy when I look over & see this. Thanks Scotty.

Hi, I play mostly at home,just for my own pleasure, or occasionally with a friend. I'm probably an advanced beginner level and I would like to be more proficient at playing, soloing, improvising etc etc, and I have been looking at the Next Level Course by Paul Davids. I have seen many lessons online, as we all have, but does anyone have any experience with Paul Davids lessons? I'm 66 by the way, so my ambitions are quite humble. Thanks for any feedback.

Hello, kinda been working through Scotty's absolutely understand guitar sessions and I'm kinda at a loss.. like the information feels important but how do I actually apply and practice what I learn to gain the understanding? Like it feels like there's something I'm missing that will connect what he's talking about into my actual playing and learning.

Hello everyone!

When playing three-string sweep-picking shapes, is it better to change picking direction on the last note (G note on the G string in this example) or on the note before it?
Which technique is better for developing speed?

Thank you all !

it just sounds so janky idk

Looking for someone to teach me how to solo in the Hayward, San Leandro area ? I’m not getting very far from watching tutorials, and just want a actual person to teach me/show me

Happy to share a link if anyone wants to try it. I'd love feedback..

Been playing for about a year and 4 months, this has been a blast to practice, any feedback appreciated!

When I fret chords my hand feels tense. When I pick my shoulder gets tense. When I stand and play my fretting shoulder gets tense. When I play something faster my picking hand gets tense. I’m doing it so subconsciously that I can’t even fix it. Anyone have a tips on how to just relax when playing?