THE GUITAR HERO’S PATH
A Complete Roadmap from Beginner to Mastery
Core Principle:Technique, ear, theory, and expression grow together.
🟢 STAGE 1 — FOUNDATION
Bedroom Strummer → Garage Band Jammer
Focus: Consistency • Rhythm • Control
Skills
- Open chords & basic rhythm
- Warmups & fingerpicking
- First riffs & songs
Ear Training
- High vs low
- Matching pitch
- Simple rhythms
Improvisation
- Single-note call & response
Reading & Theory (Optional)
- Basic rhythm notation
- Simple single-note reading
Identity: “I show up.”
🔵 STAGE 2 — STRUCTURE & AWARENESS
Local Star → Community Rising Star
Focus: Fretboard clarity • Harmonic awareness
Skills
- Barre & power chords
- Intro to CAGED
- Pentatonic (1 position)
- Open & barre-chord arpeggios
- Blues rhythm guitar
Ear Training
- Major vs minor
- Hearing chord changes
Improvisation
- First blues improvisation
- Simple pentatonic phrasing
Reading & Theory (Optional)
- Open-position reading
- Chord symbols & charts
Identity: “Chords aren’t shapes — they’re notes.”
🟣 STAGE 3 — FLUENCY & EXPRESSION
Social Media Rising Star → Online Guitar Hero
Focus: Neck-wide fluency • Musical language
Skills
- All pentatonics via CAGED
- 5+ keys
- Diatonic (major & minor) scales
- Arpeggios up the neck
- Goal notes & phrasing
Ear Training
- Interval recognition
- Chord quality (maj/min/dom)
- Singing phrases before playing
Improvisation
- Confident blues solos
- Phrase development across positions
Reading & Theory (Optional)
- Multi-position reading
- Key signatures
- Scale construction
Identity: “I know where I am — and where I’m going.”
🔴 STAGE 4 — EXPANSION & CONTROL
Stadium Star → National Rock Star
Focus: Intentional sound selection
Skills
- Full arpeggios across the neck
- All keys
- Modes
- 3-note-per-string scales
- Advanced rhythm & harmony
Ear Training
- Modal sounds
- Tension & release
- Short solo transcription
Improvisation
- Modal & advanced blues/rock
- Playing over substitutions
Reading & Theory (Optional)
- Lead sheets
- Advanced rhythms
- Extended harmony
Identity: “I choose sounds intentionally.”
⚫ STAGE 5 — MASTERY & LEGACY
Guitar Hero Legend
Focus: Instinct • Expression • Musical freedom
Skills
- Harmonic minor scales & arpeggios
- Melodic minor scales & arpeggios
- Altered dominant sounds
- Jazz standards
- Advanced blues & rock tunes
Ear Training
- Hear → play instantly
- Full-song transcription
Improvisation
- Genre-fluid improvisation
- Advanced harmonic color
Reading & Theory (Optional)
- Strong to elite sight-reading
- Professional chart fluency
Identity: “I hear it before I play it.”
Technique → Awareness → Fluency → Control → Instinct
Where are you on the path?
Unleash Your Inner Guitar Hero 🎸