How I Got WAY BETTER at Guitar in a Month 

Update: I've been experimenting with some right hand stuff, if I keep on this and have any breakthroughs I might do another installment in this series. Also, I might be switching to the Dunlop Flow 1.5mm...they're pretty good.

Sammy G, sneaking in a beard progress vid with guitar. Always inspiring.

As a music teacher, I LOVE this video. Kids learning instruments always expect to be perfect right away, and all they ever see is flashy finished projects. Nobody ever posts their practice routine and documentation of improvement, so when you tell them that they need to take the time to practice, they just won't hear it. Great video. Wish more people did stuff like this. Also love the ship dawgs merch. Let's live happily!

Listen to this at 2x speed to get WAY BETTER in 15 days

Sammy G in G3 when?!

I love the fact that this guy that I believe to be so accomplished takes time to show us some stuff that he's struggling with/working on. It normalizes a lot of the stuff that I feel as a beginner to have someone who can actually play pushing through.

It is nice seeing you again, Sammy G.

It's so weird watching him without a beard

Once I saw Sammy G talking I literally shouted “What the hell happened to his beard?!”

Dovydas Rydes.

It's funny seeing how relative things are. Having spent all my time in my conservatory years learning classical guitar + technique, my chops are great and I can sight read almost anything but I'm now wishing I spent more time working on composition and improvisation. I think, as musicians, we all feel like we are weak in some area or another.

“practicing makes my brain get fatter” has got to be the best sentence i’ve ever heard

Some awesome exercises here! Thanks for sharing :)

Damn I laughed HARD reading about not being a idiot driver lol

honestly paul is an amazing shredder but he scarcely shows it.

When I tried learning to sweep, I did it with the guitar unplugged a lot because I could move around the house and play more and multitask. What happened is once I was starting to pick up speed, I noticed when I added distortion/overdrive I could hear all the noise of my fingers releasing the strings which I couldn't hear unplugged, and had to relearn to play it differently. A clean tone will hide a lot of the string sliding noise but a distorted sound might hide all the dynamics you get with a clean tone. It seems it's important to practice with the sound you want to play with in the end too.

This is the kind of video makes me feel insecure about my guitar skills. But also shows that with enough determination and persistence that it can improve drastically in even a short amount of time. Great video as always! Incredibly motivational.

Welcome back! 🎸

That PRS at 12:45 is gorgeous

i was literally wondering about a minute or two ago, haven't seen ol SammyG for quite a while... and boom, he's back. but, who's this ?

Get "Sammy G's Practice Guide For Playing Fast" as part of the Digital Deal over at www.patreon.com/samuraiguitarist 🙏🎸

Love this one. Was working on very similar things last few weeks

That sweet sweet new content Also it's great seeing him be completely vulnerable by showing us his struggling with something despite being a professional musician. It's brave, educational, and entertaining. Thanks Sammy G. Really stoked to see you post vids again. Sweet new ax btw

My experience with the Jazz III regarding that “catching” issue relates to some imperfections cutting them from the molds. It can create little burrs along the edges. I typically use either some reasonably fine grit sandpaper or an Emory board to smooth them down. Hands down, night and day difference.

5:56 that slaps harder than it should, damn

This was a fun ride man. I can tell it was a trip to get through. At the end of it all, it was just so refreshing to hear you play some music. That's what it's all about man! Much love to ya! Keep on playing man. You have a gift.

“Just the tip” -Pete Thorn, 2021

I just smoke a bunch of weed

Loved the track at the end man! I really enjoyed seeing your improvement as a guitar player in the form of a song rather than just demonstrating that you got quicker at the exercise

This was such a great video. Love the honesty up front. As someone who also went to school for music but haven't done much with it since I've noticed my speed and dexterity suffer on the instrument. Really inspired my to focus on technique as well. And also as a recent joinee of the "raising a new musician" club, congrats!

Makes me happy to see you upload again!

So inspiring to watch you practicing and struggling and achieving your goals in this task. I find myself on a similar journey where speed isn’t the ultimate goal to shred. But, speed as a tool for varied dynamics using speed is a goal Of mine. Well done.

I have the opposite experience of Sammy G. I concentrated a lot on developing good technique since I didn't have a teacher to learn theory. My knowledge of music came mainly from learning songs and developed my musical ear that way. I learned enough songs over the years that I internalized patterns that sounded good to me and used my ear as a guide. I learned just enough about scales that it gave context to the songs I was playing. I got what I wanted and can rip through Yngwie, Marty Friedman, and even Jason Becker, but wanted more knowledge to be able to expand my musical vocabulary. During all this down time indoors, watching Sammy G's videos and other RU-vidr's content on music theory gave me the foundation I needed to add formalism to my playing. It was like having a turbo-charged car driving down familiar roads, but now it's like studying the map and driving wider distances. Sincerely, The other side of the spectrum

Your section on how you tackled your issues in section 2 is really brilliant. Well done, dude! I haven't seen you in a while, so it's nice to check in, and this is a great video.

Love this, more of your improvement processes please! This is actually immensely helpful!

I think this really shows a great lesson to people like me who are still in the beginning stages of guitar playing and shows what good steady planned practice sessions can yield and how to realize what to work on.. I learned a lot from this and honestly it really takes some of the stress off of always wondering if ill ever make it past simple cord transitions and play an actual song.. thanks for sharing

Great video Steve! Great to see the progress!

"By the time my beard grows back, we'll see a change for the better" truer words have seldom been spoken

Wow, the solo at the end was really good! Not too much fast licks, but just enough for the Oh! effect. Well done!

I think anyone interested in picking faster should look into pick-slanting mechanics Troy Grady style. You're otherwise missing out on the fundamental barrier to playing fast when there are string changes.

Dude! I’ve been hesitating about launching into a big practice regiment to improve my ability but you’ve inspired me to go for it! This video came at a perfect time, speed has always been a weak point for me and after seeing you tackle it, I think I’m ready to try it myself. Thanks so much for this!

Welcome back Sammy G! It's great to see your technique and speed progress, and see your beard return at the same time. Like watching Commander Riker get tough after growing the beard at the start of Star Trek TNG season 2.

I am absolutely loving this video. Makes me want to practice. Something about seeing musicians I enjoy practicing and honing their crafts.

great job!! its a big step forward and i hope to hear more shreddy stuff on the channel in the future!

Great video! Makes sense. Seeing it laid out this way helps. Thank you.

Your phrasing is already one of my favorites in the YT guitar community. Now that you have the chops I just can imagine what amazing stuff you'll be able to come up with. Well done Sammy G!

What a comeback Sammy G 💥 I admire what you put in this video, thanks and bravo! Loved the tips from the community too. Remember to shake!!

Super inspiring! I'm going to add this to my guitar warm up! Thank you for sharing!

I use the John Petrucci jazz III pick. I love this pick because I can play fast and clean while still having good note definition. Both are important to me when playing guitar and this pick delivers.

Wow! Incredible video. So very helpful. Thank you!!

So COOL to see Dovydas on here!! Love the guy and he's playing his new guitar gifted from a subscriber

This is really inspiring. The guitar solo at the end is awesome! 🔥

Thank you! This is really helpful information, explained well.

Great breakdown Sammy G! Goes to show self-reflection and smart practice plays a huge part in improving!

Very inspiring. I love your solo at the end!

Dude this is a crazy video, all the experience and knowledge. Amazing.

Paul Davids has such a great tone. And his guitar sounds pretty good, too! I'm glad you did those exercises because your solo at the end smokes.

Honestly,as far as RU-vid guitarists I think you are in a league all by yourself.I love your chord play and note choice for riffs and leads.your humbleness makes you even more badass.cheers

The song at the end was well worth the wait. So cool to see you put all the practice to work!

Loved the little tune at the end!

Great stuff! Thank you

Great introspection and observations.

Thanks for this! As a beginner-ish guitarist it's soooo helpful when good guitarists post practice and progress on techniques they're working on. Especially being mostly self-taught (because pandemic) - seeing how other people go about practicing, and seeing them be less-than-perfect at something, is so useful and makes me feel like I'm actually on a track to getting better. This kind of video makes me so much more motivated to go practice than watching some person shred something way out of my league. There's a time and a place for those videos too, it's just nice to see something different.

Inspiring progress man, great job!

Absolutely fantastic. Thank you for showing your progress. And I admire your discipline. A true samurai, I guess! My topic at the moment is sweeping. Never done that, although I play the electric guitar for 30 years now. You gave me a lot of motivation. Thanks again and good luck!

Welcome back, Sammy G! Love that Crestwood!

nice to have you back. thank you.

This is really a great video and a brilliant concept.

This is probably the best video I've seen on the subject. You are a fantastic artist, Mr. Sammy G. Congrats!!

@samuraiguitarist: Your final thoughts sounded like a confession with the sentimental piano music, and that solo at the end was wicked!

Loved the driving rant. Good to see there are just as many fools on the road in Winnipeg, and it's not just isolated to Thunder Bay .. Really cool exercise, your improvement was neat to see.

Great idea for a video while you were taking a break from YT. Love that you shared other channels.

This is such a good, complete, quality piece of content. Thank you Sammy G.

That was fun! Thanks!

6:00 this is brilliant! That 8th notes mixed with 16ths is super practical too!

12:50 - What a beatiful guitar. Love that neck.

No cap I love how there has been so much collaboration in da music RU-vid scene for these big RU-vidrs. Shii like da music Avengers irl

What I appreciate most about this video is your honesty and transparency. This video is helpful.

That's what I love about you Samurai Bro, You are so humble and down to earth that if you feel there's something that you feel benefit's you that, you share with us... God bless you for sharing all that you feel is worth sharing cause... I do benefit from it my friend. The approach is not only different but, I found it to be a bit of a game... learning to be better doesn't have to be boring... I love learning new things and challenging myself... It makes playing come alive with-in us...

This is an AMAZING video, congrats!

Great video! Watching this made me want to really practice for the first time in years.

I’m really grateful you did this. It’s one of my biggest issues. Thank you. 🙂

Thanks for sharing @samuraiguitarist. Deep practice builds Myelin. Hard to find time. Older me wishes I'd done this as younger me. :)

This was such an inspiration for me! I studied classical saxophone at uni, and I never put the right amount of time into technique. This video makes me want to practice technique, and to take it seriously. Thanks Sammy G 💕

Some of the best playing I’ve heard from you!

Hey, Really cool man that you are deciding to up your chops. i know youve said that where ever you were when you got out of college you'd be content, but you got hungry again and that's awsome!

Great stuff man! I've actually been on a similar kick since the new year, making sure I do chromatic speed stuff every day. Started much lower, but I've gone from like 85 BPM to 110, making small adjustments here and there to try and keep the notes clean. It's been huge in terms of improving my right and left hand muting. Gotta keep it going!

These are great videos, inspiring.

Missed these videos, welcome back! 👋😁

Thanks, Sammy. I'm actually a novice mandolin player, but I always enjoy your videos. This one inspired me to practice (playing a little faster), not because I want to play super fast, but because I can see how it also otherwise refines technique. I've been working off the "if you can play it slow, you can play it fast" line but I've found if you really want to play fast it's best to practice both! I have the added bonus of having a less than fully mobile right wrist, which presents some challenges, but seeing the way it can be approached from different angles has encouraged me further.

Hey, Sammy - not like it's a big stretch or anything, but a ¼" hole (~6mm for our friends up north) drilled thru the top of any pick makes for GREAT gripping power. Cheers....

This is exactly what I need right now. Subbed.

Well done Sammy :) Sounds really good!

Thanks for that Sammy. I will now go and work on my Dime licks

Great video Sam! I recently stumbled upon your channel and I really think you've got awesome content and a personality. I too had been struggling with my speed of playing and this video shall help me immensely. Thanks a lot. Greetings from India 🇮🇳❤

i’m like only on day 1 and i’ve learned a ton from you. thanks for your return!

Glad you improved sammy G! Much love!

I just got home from a delivery shift and that driver section was absolutely amazing as I was was dealing with this stuff all day LOL

Oh such a good idear, I need to do this.

RAD video!! Good to hear from you.