Active Exploration: A Key to Guitar Mastery

In my 10+ years of experience as a guitar teacher, I’ve noticed a common thread among my most successful students: they are constantly exploring and experimenting with the instrument.
Working with a skilled teacher who understands your needs is invaluable, but we typically only get one hour a week with them. No matter how great your teacher is, one hour a week isn’t enough to achieve mastery if that’s your only practice. Following your teacher’s assignments to a T might get you pretty far, but if you want to build a deep connection with your instrument and express your unique voice, a willingness to explore is essential. You need to try new things, even if they sound bad or break the “rules” of playing guitar.

I’m grateful that the curiosity to explore the guitar was always in me, but I understand the fear some students have of playing something “wrong.” I’ve had many students who were afraid to try improvising because they worried it would sound bad. Here’s the reality: it’s going to sound bad for a while. The important thing is not to judge your playing as good or bad, especially in the moment. Your abilities are what they are right now, but they can always be improved. The sooner you can get out of your own way, the sooner you can tap into your innate creativity and find your unique voice on the instrument.
Creativity is independent of skill. Getting better at fast scale runs or sweep arpeggios doesn’t necessarily make you better at making great music. Technical facility is valuable, but creativity comes from listening—really listening to where the music wants to go and the story it wants to tell.
Self-judgment is one of the biggest obstacles between a player and their creativity. That’s why I always encourage my students to go beyond practicing the concepts I teach them. If I show you a new chord or scale, experiment by moving it around the neck or changing some notes. For lack of a better phrase: fuck it up!
If you’re self-conscious, try playing with headphones. I understand the fear of sounding bad in front of others. First, they probably don’t think you sound bad. They’re likely excited that you’re working on your craft. Second, if it really bothers you, headphones can create a sense of a safe space where you can try anything you want.
There’s an interesting article on how babies learn to speak that you can read here. The author explains that “At birth, the infant brain can perceive the full set of 800 or so sounds, called phonemes, that can be strung together to form all the words in every language of the world.” This is similar to our guitar practice. Like a baby learning to speak, we should make as many sounds as we can and explore different possibilities. As we grow, we narrow our preferences and tune into our unique voice through genuine exploration.
This type of exploration also helps us make better connections to the material, aiding long-term retention. When I was at Berklee, we had proficiency exams each semester requiring us to perform scales, chords, and arpeggios in various keys. I had a rigid idea that we had to play everything perfectly in one position with perfect fingering and no expressions or articulations. This made some things awkward to play. In my second semester, I shared this with my instructor David Fiuczynski. He enlightened me with a simple yet profound idea: No one says you can’t use slides, hammer-ons, or other articulations. Find a way to play comfortably. This helped me realize that these exercises were meant to make music, so why not play them musically?
Whether you’re studying with a teacher or learning through online courses and videos, it is imperative that you think of the information you’re being shown as inspiration for your own creative exploration of the instrument. This is how you will find your voice and your love for the instrument.