The Importance Of Skilled Based Learning

Songs, scales, riffs, chords, exercises… they’re all great. But one of the most important aspects is this: Developing Skills.

I so very frequently come across guitar students who have had previous lessons for years and years, but end up having very few actual skills on the guitar. They lack finger control, can’t form chords from reflex and can’t pick with accuracy. I always find myself wondering “without developing these skills, what were they even learning?”.

Developing skills is what makes you good at an instrument. If you have perfect skill, then there’s nothing you can’t play. Music theory, scales and all that other stuff – that can be taught quite easily. But developing technique is difficult and takes a (very) long time for most people. The sooner you become the more skilful, the better, because you can then learn faster.

Without our skills, we really have very little. So at UGA, we use The Ultimate Guitar Method. It’s whole purpose is to develop skills, knowledge which equals ability. Exercises, scales, chords, riffs… it’s all in there. But a crucial ingredient is the structure in which it’s taught. Each grade is designed to teach and then use – unfortunately I’ve seen many guitar courses that don’t do this. They teach ten chords in a grade, but they song lists only use six. They teach seven scales, but picking melodies only use two. It makes no sense.

We constantly update The Ultimate Guitar Method and whenever it’s up for review, I find myself resorting to the quote “The Ultimate Guitar Method = Logical Learning”.