Home Forums Guitar Discussion Guitar Grading Your Guitar Skills

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  • #23609
    jeffAMM
    Participant

    The question of how good you are as a guitar player is one of those ying and yang issues. On the ying side is forgetting about what you know and just listening to the music you’re making. If you are happy with your sounds, you’re good! In the ying world, everybody’s got their own goals, ears, styles, likes and “good” is completely arbitrary. And I don’t mean this to be a hypothetical concept – some of the most enjoyable music listening experiences I’ve had have been with street corner music makers who clearly had very limited skills, but who were just out there making their music, and putting everything they had into it. Ultimately the technical skills we develop are about creating channels for creativity and artistic expression. If you can achieve those same artistic goals with few skills, then “ying” is your thing. However, there is a definite yang to this story.

    The yang of how good your are has to do with measuring guitar knowledge and skills against an objective, measurable benchmark. This provides an opportunity to measure progress and chart the needed learnings ahead. You may be happy with the sounds you’re getting, and people may compliment you on your playing, but you wonder what else you need to learn or what you should work on next. That’s the yang of the “how good” question, and in this post we take a look at the guitar grading system offered by the Registry of Guitar Tutors. See the rest on my blog Notes and Lines.

    Jeff

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    • #65251
      lee_UK
      Participant

      Tim the big Yin. 😆

    • #65265
      Tim
      Participant

      No worries, almost didn’t as it sounded like I was taking the P a bit, I wasn’t, I’m just not the kind of person who analyses things in this way.
      I have recently started writing things I can’t actually play then practicing them till I can, don’t know what that makes me? I guess I used to be Yin, now a bit of Yang creeping in, or something 😕

      Anyway, good luck with site etc,

      Tim.

    • #65279
      jeffAMM
      Participant

      Tim,

      You’re right on the Yin – my error. I’ve corrected it. Thanks for pointing it out.

      Jeff

    • #65263
      Tim
      Participant

      I always thought it was Yin-Yang?
      But anhoo, I think you can be the type of player you describe as Ying but also be technically good, Hendrix springs to mind.

    • #65266
      noodle69
      Participant

      i think i’m on the otherside of the coin , in that my guitar playing is regulated by myself !
      i have my own set of goals and know what it is i’m trying to achieve !

      another person grading me on what they think guitar playing is all about , will only serve to stifle my eagerness !

      one of my personal goals , is to be able to improvise freely over any piece of music , which is a tall order , but i have the rest of my life , to attain this value , which i personally think , is the ultimate aim , for me !

      i have yet to read a book which can give me this , and believe that one single method can never be suitable for everybody !

      it seems to me that the school of thought adopted by online ‘help’ , seems to be geared through the same methods of practice employed by businesses who try to define and measure quality and service delivery !

      but thats just me dude ! i think that you will do quite well (if this is your business) and good luck !

      😈

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