The guitar is such a versatile, accessible instrument, with an incredibly low barrier to entry. But what are the possibilities? What are the steps to guitar mastery?
Spoiler alert! The beauty of learning guitar is that it’s never been about levels, it’s never been a competition. The truth is, the guitar can take you wherever you want to go, at whatever your pace. Nevertheless, I thought it would be fun to attempt to explain some sort of fictional hierarchy of the folly that is Guitar Mastery, if only to confirm another truth; The guitar can never be mastered.
In the words of Les Paul himself:
A guitar is something you can hold and love and it’s never going to bug you. But here’s the secret about the guitar – it’s defiant. It will never let you conquer it. The more you get involved with it, the more you realize how little you know.
Les Paul
As I was saying, let’s have some fun, and try to articulate the steps toward Guitar Mastery.
Guitar Mastery level 1: Beginner
Let’s prove the folly of guitar mastery right at the beginning, because with only a handful of chords and the right song/image, you could bypass everything and make it to the very pinnacle of musical success. Or look at it another way, a few chords are all you need to play the vast majority of songs, especially the most well-known ones. For many, This is as far as they want and need to go on their guitar mastery journey, and isn’t it great that the guitar makes that so easy to achieve?
Guitar Mastery Level 2: Busker
For some, it’s human nature to improve, to push through the barrier of barre chords and more intricate strumming/picking patterns. I’ve been critical of the busker / open mic culture in the past. It’s all a bit competitive, and It’s more about how many songs you know parrot fashion than musical skill or talent. Still, there is at least some merit in learning songs, building up a repertoire, and of course, honing your performance. Congratulations, you made it to Guitar Mastery Level 2: Busker
Guitar Mastery Level 3: Singer / Songwriter
I’ve managed to contradict myself already, as I knew I would with this list. Being a successful singer/songwriter on guitar is really nothing to do with guitar prowess at all and everything to do with talent and ideas. So how do I explain Guitar Mastery Level 3 then? Well, for me, songwriting and learning guitar go hand in hand. I started to learn guitar because I wanted to write songs, so the guitar became a vehicle for that. I learned basic chords and wrote songs around those, then barre chords opened up the fingerboard and more interesting keys, then I learned scales and music theory, which allowed me to put together lead parts and make sense of what I was doing.
Eventually, I reached the stage of being able to produce a piece of music in its entirety, which was a long-time goal of mine. A massive itch was scratched and, to a large extent, reaching this level will always be good enough for me.
Guitar Mastery Level 4: Band member
We all have different paths of course. Not all guitarists, or even most, are singer/songwriters. Some just focus on the instrument. A singer/songwriter can all too easily fall into the trap of complacency, arrogance, and laziness. You’ll play in your comfort zone, to the song, rather than push, and there’s no better tonic to that than having to learn stuff you really don’t know, under time pressure, in front of people.
FACT: The biggest guitar-playing leaps I’ve made have been when joining bands of a higher playing standard than myself, and fighting to get myself up to that standard. Even better if you’re exposed to music that’s unusual and uncomfortable for you. It all gets stored in your guitar brain, and never lost.
Guitar Mastery Level 5: Touring musician
Sadly. In 30 years, I’ve never attained this level. Yes, I know touring musicians aren’t necessarily fantastically accomplished players. Maybe they’re merely playing second-fiddle to a pop act and really not doing anything earth-shattering, but what I’m getting at here is a level of professionalism a step above the casual or even semi-pro pub/club player. It’s about getting serious and playing for your day job, of not leaving things to chance, managing equipment, and spares, and having the stamina to perform night after night.
Not many get the chance to reach this level. Some are in the right place at the right time. Others earn their stripes or build a reputation to be head-hunted. Whatever way you look at it, we’re now a world away from Busker’s night.
Guitar Mastery Level 6: Guitar tutor
Level 6 you say? Above a touring musician? I know guitar tutors that are well below that level. I also know tutors that are far above the level of the average touring musician. Mostly, as is obvious, the guitar isn’t about levels at all is it? Becoming a guitar tutor is really something out of scope for the guitarist and the guitarist singer/songwriter. It’s really a completely different skillset of patience and planning. Or is it?
Well, it depends. Look at some of the phenomenal tutors at the GiT (Guitar Institute of Technology) in Los Angeles. That’s certainly levels above the average touring musician.
Guitar Mastery Level 7: Recording artist
So, by this stage you’ve made it as a successful recording artist, either solo (e.g. John Mayer) or as part of a band. You’re probably touring too. This is the end of the road, right? You and your guitar have made it to the top. So where do you go from here? Well, remember what Les Paul said earlier? There’s always something else.
Guitar Mastery Level 8: Session Player
Everyone’s different. Some players don’t like to work in bands. The real guitar purists devote all their energy to the pursuit of musical theory and fingerboard mastery. They are called upon as performing seals to get the job done with no compromise, to strict timescales in a variety of genres, which takes a special kind of dedication.
Steve Lukatther, as well as being Toto’s guitarist, is also famous for being a session player.
Guitar Mastery Level 9: Guitar Innovator
I’ve kept this category for all the guitarists that achieved something unique. Brian May for his guitar orchestration. Eddie Van Halen for the tapping, and Jeff Beck for manipulation of the instrument, to name just three.
Logically, there’s actually nothing to stop anyone become an instant guitar innovator by simply picking up the instrument for the first time and coming up with an unheard-of technique or sound. That’s the magic of an expressive stringed instrument vs something a little more mechanical and de-coupled, like a piano for example. The only limit is your imagination.
Guitar Mastery Level 10: Guitar God
What’s interesting about this final level is, it proves the whole pointless nature of this list. Joe Satriani is a guitar god from a purely guitar instrumental perspective, as well as being a renowned teacher (Just ask Kirk Hammett of Metallica). The same goes for Steve Vai, although he has dabbled in bands too. They both owe everything to Eddie Van Halen of course, who stood out by simply outplaying everyone else on the planet.
Taken to the extreme, we have the sheer uncompromising technical genius of Yngwie Malmsteen.
From an opposite perspective, there’s U2’s The Edge. Technically worlds apart, and yet as a guitar innovator he more than made his mark. Just look what an original idea and a delay pedal can achieve!
Brian May occupies a rather unique space in being part of Queen AND being a guitar innovator in his own right.
There are countless others. Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Mark Knopfler, and Dave Gilmour, to name just some of my favourites.
Conclusion.
Yeah, this was a rather silly article, but fun to write. I think the point I’m trying to make is, there really are no levels to mastering the guitar, as mastering the guitar is impossible, even in ten lifetimes. However, and more to the point, the great thing about learning guitar is that it doesn’t matter, as there are so many possibilities, opportunities, and routes to take through your own unique journey, long or short. You can be as ambitious as you like to build up your technical mastery, focus on the creative side, or, like me, a bit of both. You may have a plan for solo world domination or commercial success, but the guitar can also be a friend, a source of comfort, or simply something to occupy a couple of hours from time to time.
Most of all, the guitar, however you approach it, is worth your time, and will always give you something back in return. Whatever that is depends on what you put in.
As Yngwie says: Pick up that guitar!
Who knows where the road will take you?
Thanks for reading.