How You Actually Get Good at Guitar
The real story of how practice turns into playing
Two weeks ago, I got booked for a gig. This one came with a challenge: 42 songs, most of which I'd never performed before. Two weeks to learn them all.
I dove in. Listened to the recordings. Worked out the parts. Practiced them individually. Felt pretty good about my progress.
Then I got to rehearsal.
I noticed something interesting: my brain was maxed out. I'd try to recall a part I'd practiced, but while I was thinking about the mechanics, I'd miss my cue. Or I'd start playing and realize I was trying to consciously control every movement instead of just playing. The songs I thought I knew well enough were still taking up too much mental bandwidth.
That's when I got curious. What was actually happening here? Why could I play these parts in my practice room but not access them smoothly in the moment? What was I missing about how learning actually works?
Turns out, your brain goes through three distinct stages when mastering any skill on guitar. Understanding these stages and more importantly, working with them instead of against them, is the difference between struggling through the process and actually building skills that stick.
The interesting thing? The gig got postponed. Which means I now have more time to actually apply what I learned during this process. And that's exactly what this article is about.
Whether you're learning one blues lick or 42 songs, your brain is going through the same three-stage journey. Let me show you what I discovered.
STAGE 1: The Awkward Phase
"Why does this feel so hard?"
You know that feeling when you're learning a new chord and your fingers won't cooperate? Your hand cramps up, you're staring at your fretboard, and you're consciously thinking about every single finger placement?
That's your brain in learning mode. And here's the thing: it's supposed to feel this hard.
Every new skill you learn on guitar will feel exactly like this. Whether it's your first open chord or an advanced jazz voicing after 20 years of playing - new always feels awkward. The pros feel it too. They've just learned to recognize it as progress instead of evidence they're failing.
What's Actually Happening in Your Brain
When you're learning something new on guitar, you're using what neuroscientists call your "working memory" - the part of your brain that handles conscious, deliberate thought. Think of it like RAM on a computer. It's powerful, but it has severe limits.
Your working memory can only handle about 3-7 pieces of information at once. So when you're trying to play a new Larry Carlton-style chord progression, you're asking your conscious mind to track:
Where does my 1st finger go?
How much do I stretch for the 3rd finger?
What's the voice leading to the next chord?
Am I muting the right strings?
Does this sound right?
That's already 5+ simultaneous conscious thoughts. No wonder it feels overwhelming.
This is why the first stage always feels awkward- you're maxing out your brain's conscious processing capacity. You're literally thinking about every single element because your brain hasn't automated anything yet.
Why This Stage Matters
Here's what most guitarists misunderstand: awkwardness is not a bug, it's a feature.
If learning something new on guitar doesn't feel hard, you're not actually learning - you're just repeating what you already know. The difficulty is your brain building new neural pathways, literally creating new connections between neurons that didn't exist before.
When you practice that new chord shape slowly, deliberately, consciously, you're not just moving your fingers. You're rewiring your brain.
Research from motor learning studies shows that this conscious, deliberate practice is essential for building new skills. You can't skip this phase. Trying to rush through it is like trying to build a house without laying a foundation.
Real Example: Learning Like the Pros
When you first try to play a Larry Carlton chord progression - those sophisticated jazz-influenced voicings moving through a series of changes - you're thinking about every finger placement, every stretch, every voice leading move. It doesn't sound smooth yet. It sounds like someone figuring out a puzzle.
That's Stage 1, and it's completely normal.
Here's the perspective shift: Carlton can play those same progressions without thinking about the mechanics at all. That level of automaticity - where your hands just execute what your musical mind hears - is where we're all headed. But first, we have to build the foundation.
The pros didn't skip this stage. They just understood what it was for.
What Actually Helps in Stage 1
1. Go slow enough that you can play it correctly
Speed is the enemy of learning in Stage 1. Your brain needs accuracy to build the right pathways. Playing something wrong at tempo is literally training your brain to do it wrong.
Slow practice isn't boring practice, it's the fastest path to real mastery.
2. Focus on how it SOUNDS and FEELS, not the mechanics
When you're learning that blues lick, you have a recording in your head of how it should sound - the phrasing, the timing, the feel. Use that as your target.
Your brain is remarkably good at figuring out the mechanics when you give it a clear musical goal. Instead of consciously tracking every technical detail, focus on matching the sound and feel you're hearing. Trust your brain to find the mechanical path to get there.
As you get more comfortable with the skill, this process becomes more and more natural. But even in Stage 1, letting the musical result guide you works better than trying to consciously control every movement.
3. Use small chunks with lots of breaks
Your working memory fatigues quickly. Research shows that learning happens best in focused bursts of 10-25 minutes, followed by breaks where your brain consolidates what you just practiced.
Three 20-minute practice sessions will build more skill than one exhausting 60-minute session where your attention fades.
4. Accept that awkwardness = progress - and learn to crave it
The most dangerous belief in guitar learning is: "If I were talented, this would be easier."
Wrong. Talent isn't ease - it's persistence through difficulty. Every great guitarist you admire went through this exact same awkward stage. They just didn't quit when it felt hard.
Here's the shift that changes everything: start craving that awkward feeling. When something feels difficult and clumsy, that's your signal that you're growing. That discomfort is one of the most valuable sensations you can experience as a guitarist because it means your brain is building something new.
The guitarists who keep developing for decades? They've learned to chase that feeling instead of avoiding it.
The Mistake Most Guitarists Make
They think the awkward phase means they're not talented.
Wrong. It means you're actually learning something new.
If practicing doesn't feel challenging, you're not in Stage 1, you're just repeating Stage 3 skills you already have. And that's comfortable, but it won't make you better.
The other trap? Not staying in Stage 1 long enough. Guitarists get impatient and try to speed up or add variations before their brain has really learned the basics of the skill. Give your brain the time it needs to build solid foundations. Rushing through Stage 1 means you'll have to come back and fix it later, or worse, you'll build sloppy habits that become automated.
STAGE 2: The "It's Starting to Click" Phase
"Wait, I can do this without thinking about it!"
Remember when driving suddenly got easier? You stopped thinking about every single movement and started just... driving? Same thing happens with guitar.
This is where most guitarists think they're done learning.They're wrong.
What's Actually Happening in Your Brain
Your brain is moving the skill from working memory (conscious thought) into what's called "procedural memory", the automatic, unconscious system that handles practiced movements.
When I did a deep dive into what we all call "muscle memory," here's what I found: The memory isn't actually in your muscles at all, it's in your brain. Your fingers don't remember anything. What's happening is the neural pathways you built in Stage 1 are getting faster, more efficient, more automatic. Your brain is essentially freeing up that conscious attention you needed in Stage 1 because the skill is becoming automatic.
Why Stage 2 Is Where Real Learning Happens
Here's the crucial insight: Stage 2 isn't about repetition, it's about variation.
Once you CAN play something, the real question becomes: Can you ADAPT it?
Because here's the difference between knowing a guitar skill and actually being able to use it musically:
Repetitive Practice (doesn't build real skill):
Play the same voicing in the same key 100 times
Practice the same scale pattern in the same position 50 times
Repeat the same lick over the same backing track endlessly
Your brain automates the EXACT sequence, but you don't build flexibility.
Varied Practice (builds mastery):
Play that voicing in different keys
Use that scale pattern in different musical contexts
Apply that lick over different chord progressions with different feels
Your brain automates the CONCEPT, not just the sequence. This is how you build adaptability.
The Research That Changes Everything
Motor learning research shows something remarkable: variation during practice produces better long-term retention and flexibility than repetition.
If you practice something only one way, you know it one way. But if you practice it ten different ways, your brain builds a flexible understanding that you can actually use in real musical situations.
This is why session guitarists like Steve Lukather or Larry Carlton can pull out the perfect part in any song, they didn't just learn patterns, they internalized concepts through varied practice.
Real Example: How Carlton Actually Learned
Larry Carlton most likely didn't just learn voicings for one tune. He internalized harmonic concepts so deeply, through years of varied practice across different keys, different progressions, different musical contexts, that he could pull them out and adapt them to any musical situation.
That's what we want. When we walk into a musical situation, we want to be thinking musically, focused on what we want to create, what we want to express - and have our hands execute what our musical mind hears. We don't want to be thinking "which voicing did I practice?" or worrying about mechanics.
That's Stage 2 done right.
What Actually Helps in Stage 2
1. Same skill, different contexts
Once you can play that chord voicing in one key, play it in three more keys. Once you can use that scale over one progression, try it over three different progressions.
You're not just drilling the same movement - you're teaching your brain the musical concept behind it.
2. Mix it up (interleaved practice)
Instead of practicing one thing 20 times, then moving to the next thing, mix them together. Practice chord voicing 1, then scale pattern 1, then voicing 2, then pattern 2.
Research shows this creates slight difficulty that forces your brain to actively recall and reconstruct the skill each time, which builds stronger, more flexible pathways.
3. Play with other musicians or backing tracks
Skills practiced in isolation often fall apart in musical contexts. Playing with others (or backing tracks) forces you to adapt in real-time, which accelerates Stage 2 development dramatically.
4. Challenge yourself with variations
Change the tempo. Change the feel. Change the context. Each variation strengthens your brain's flexible understanding of the concept.
The Mistake Most Guitarists Make
Repetitive practice.
They play the same thing the exact same way over and over. Their brain goes on autopilot, but they don't actually build real skill that transfers to musical situations.
You can practice for years this way and still struggle to actually use what you know when you sit down to play music.
The pros know: varied practice is harder in the moment, but it builds skills that actually work when you need them.
STAGE 3: The Magic Phase
"I'm not thinking, I'm just playing"
This is what we're all chasing. This is where music happens.
What's Actually Happening in Your Brain
Here's the wild part - when neuroscientists put professional musicians in brain scanners while they improvise and create, they discovered something remarkable:
The "thinking" part of their brain - the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex - essentially turns OFF during creative performance.
Not because they're not smart. But because all that technical stuff you built in Stages 1 and 2? It's now running on autopilot in your procedural memory, which frees up your conscious mind to actually be creative.
Your working memory isn't maxed out thinking about finger positions. It's free to focus on musical expression, emotion, interaction with other musicians, responding to the moment.
This is the state researchers call "flow" - where technical execution is automatic and creativity emerges naturally.
Why This Matters More Than Anything
This is the difference between playing guitar and making music.
You can't think your way into creativity. You can't be consciously focused on "where does my finger go?" and simultaneously create something emotionally engaging. The only way to access real musical expression is if the technical foundation is so automatic that you can forget about it.
Charlie Parker said it perfectly:
"Learn your instrument. Practice, practice, practice. Then when you get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail."
He understood the stages intuitively.
Real Example: When Technique Becomes Invisible
Steve Lukather recorded thousands of tracks over his career as a session guitarist - often learning parts on the spot, creating solos in one or two takes, working on multiple sessions in a single day. That kind of prolific output on tight schedules is only possible when technique is completely automatic.
Larry Carlton had a similar career - countless recordings, live performances, and studio sessions where he had to deliver professional-level parts quickly and consistently. Years of building technique (Stage 1) and strengthening it through varied practice (Stage 2) created the foundation that allowed them to focus on the music itself rather than worrying about mechanics.
When you build massive technical foundations through Stages 1 and 2, technique becomes invisible. You can focus entirely on the music.
What Actually Helps in Stage 3
1. Trust what you've built
You've done the work in Stages 1 and 2. Your brain has automated the skills. Now you have to get out of your own way and trust the process.
2. Stop overthinking
Conscious analysis is the enemy of flow. When you're playing music, your job isn't to think about mechanics - it's to listen, respond, and create.
3. Focus on the MUSIC you want to create, not the mechanics
Where you put your attention determines what your brain prioritizes. If you're thinking about finger positions, that's what gets your mental energy. If you're thinking about the musical result you want - the emotion, the groove, the conversation with other musicians - your automated skills will execute while your conscious mind creates.
4. Practice letting go
Flow states don't happen by forcing them. They happen when you're challenged just enough to stay engaged, but not so much that you're overwhelmed. Find that edge where the skills are accessible but you're still reaching slightly.
The Power of Skill Stacking
Here's something that changes as you develop: the entire process speeds up.
When you're learning your very first chord, Stage 1 feels impossibly hard because your brain has no foundation to build on. But when you've already taken dozens of skills through all three stages, something remarkable happens: your brain has built a massive support system.
Every skill you've already automated is there supporting you when you start a new skill at Stage 1. Your hands already know how to form chord shapes, your fingers know how to move between frets, your ear knows what to listen for. The new skill you're learning isn't starting from zero - it's building on everything you've already mastered.
This is why experienced guitarists can learn new things faster than beginners. It's not magic or talent - it's skill stacking. Each skill you take through the three stages makes the next skill easier to learn.
The Mistake Most Guitarists Make
They never build enough automaticity in Stages 1-2, so they're stuck forever thinking about mechanics.
They try to "be creative" while their conscious mind is still maxed out tracking finger positions. It doesn't work. You can't create from that state.
Real creativity requires technical freedom. And technical freedom requires deliberate practice through all three stages.
How Skill Stacking Accelerates Everything
Here's the encouraging part: the entire three-stage process speeds up dramatically as you build more skills.
When you're learning your first chord, Stage 1 feels impossibly hard because your brain has no reference points. But when you're learning your twentieth chord voicing? Your brain already knows how to learn chords. All those previous skills you've taken through the complete process are now supporting you.
Every skill you master through all three stages makes the next skill easier to learn. Your brain gets better at the learning process itself. What used to take weeks in Stage 1 might now take days. What used to require months of varied practice in Stage 2 might click in weeks.
This is skill stacking - and it's why experienced players can pick up new techniques so much faster than beginners. They're not more talented. They've just built a massive foundation of automated skills that supports every new thing they learn.
The Practice Protocol: How to Actually Move Through the Stages
Understanding the stages is one thing. Actually moving through them efficiently is another.
Here's the strategic approach that works:
Stage 1 Practice: Building the Foundation
Goal:Create accurate neural pathways through conscious, deliberate practiceHow long:Expect 2-4 weeks of focused practice for a new skill to move from "completely new" to "starting to feel familiar" Protocol:
1. Slow is pro. Play new skills at 50-60% of target tempo. Your brain needs accuracy to build the right pathways.
2. Focus blocks. Practice new skills in focused 10-20 minute sessions. Your working memory fatigues quickly.
3. Perfect practice. If you can't play it correctly at the slower tempo, go slower. Practicing mistakes just trains your brain to make those mistakes automatically.
4. Listen, don't watch. Close your eyes and focus on what you HEAR, not what your fingers look like. Your brain coordinates movements better when focused on the musical result.
5. Sleep on it. Memory consolidation happens during sleep. Practicing something new, sleeping, then practicing again the next day produces better results than marathon sessions.
Stage 2 Practice: Building Adaptability
Goal: Transform isolated skills into flexible, adaptable abilitiesHow long:Expect 4-8 weeks to build real flexibility with a skill Protocol:
1. Context variation. Practice the same skill in at least 3 different keys, 3 different tempos, and 3 different musical contexts.
2. Interleaved practice. Don't practice the same thing 20 times in a row. Mix different skills together. This slight difficulty builds stronger pathways.
3. Real music contexts. Practice with backing tracks, play with other musicians, use the skill in actual songs. Skills practiced in isolation often fall apart in musical situations.
4. Progressive challenge. As one variation gets comfortable, add a new challenge. Different feel, different harmonic context, different tempo.
5. Notice the concept. Ask yourself: "What's the underlying musical idea here?" The more you understand the WHY behind the technique, the more flexibly you can apply it.
Stage 3 Practice: Releasing Into Flow
Goal:Get out of your own way and create music How long: This isn't a destination, it's a state you practice entering Protocol:
1. Set it up. Create conditions for flow - play with others, use backing tracks, record yourself. External musical context pulls you out of your head.
2. Focus on outcomes, not process. Think about the music you want to create, not the mechanics of creating it. Your automated skills will execute.
3. Embrace mistakes. In flow, you're reaching. Some things won't work. That's normal. The willingness to risk mistakes is what allows creativity.
4. Record everything. You can't evaluate flow while you're in it. Record your playing, then listen back later to identify what worked and what needs more Stage 1 or 2 development.
5. Build your foundation continuously. The more skills you have automated, the more freedom you have to create. Keep cycling new skills through Stages 1 and 2 while you use existing skills in Stage 3.
Common Traps That Keep Guitarists Stuck
Even when you understand the stages, there are specific traps that derail progress. Here are the big ones:
Trap 1: Staying Too Long in Stage 1
The pattern: You keep practicing something slowly and correctly, but never push it into new contexts. Why it's a trap:Your brain automates the specific sequence, but you don't build adaptability. When you try to use the skill in real music, it falls apart because you only know it in the practice context.The fix: Once you can play something correctly 3 times in a row at your practice tempo, it's time to move to Stage 2 variations. Don't wait until it's "perfect."
Trap 2: Skipping Stage 1 Entirely
The pattern: You try to play things at tempo before you can play them slowly and correctly. You're forcing Stage 3 execution without building the Stage 1 foundation. Why it's a trap:You're training mistakes into your muscle memory. Your brain automates sloppy execution, and now you have to unlearn bad habits before you can build good ones. This is much harder than just building it right the first time.The fix: Ego check. Slow down. Build it right. Playing something slowly and correctly is infinitely more valuable than playing it fast and sloppy.
Trap 3: Blocked Practice Autopilot
The pattern: You play the same thing the exact same way for 30 minutes straight. Your mind wanders. You're going through the motions but not actually engaged. Why it's a trap:Your brain is on autopilot, but you're not building real skill. Research shows that this kind of mindless repetition produces minimal learning.The fix: Stay conscious. If you notice your mind wandering, that's your cue to change something - different key, different tempo, different context. Variation keeps your brain engaged.
Trap 4: Never Trusting Stage 3
The pattern: Even when skills are automated, you consciously monitor and control everything. You never let go and just play.Why it's a trap:You can't access creativity while consciously controlling mechanics. Your playing stays technically correct but musically lifeless.The fix: Deliberately practice getting out of your own way. Put on a backing track and commit to NOT thinking about mechanics - only about the music you want to create. Yes, you'll make mistakes. That's how you learn to trust the foundation you've built.
Trap 5: Confusing Noodling with Practice
The pattern: You pick up your guitar and play things you already know for an hour. It feels good. You think you're practicing. Why it's a trap: You're using Stage 3 skills you already have. It's fun and comfortable, but it's not building new abilities. You're maintaining, not improving.The fix: Separate practice from play. Practice is deliberate work on skills you don't yet have (Stages 1-2). Play is using skills you've already automated (Stage 3). Both are valuable, but they serve different purposes. If you want to improve, you need dedicated practice time.
Why Understanding the Stages Changes Everything
Here's what most guitarists never realize: every time you think "I'm not making progress," you're probably in Stage 1 of a new skill while comparing yourself to your Stage 3 abilities on old skills.
Of course the new thing feels hard compared to what you can already do. That's not a sign you're failing - it's a sign you're learning.
The pros understand something simple but profound: awkwardness is temporary, but the skills you build last forever.
When you embrace Stage 1 difficulty instead of avoiding it, when you build flexibility in Stage 2 instead of just drilling repetition, when you trust your foundation enough to release into Stage 3 creativity, that's when real growth happens.
Every great guitarist you admire has cycled through these three stages thousands of times. They didn't skip steps. They didn't have some magical talent gene. They understood the process and trusted it.
Your Next Steps
You've already experienced this three-stage process in other areas of your life. Think about something you're really good at, maybe it's your job, maybe it's cooking, maybe it's a sport.
Remember when you first started? Awkward. Then it got easier. Then one day you realized you could do it without thinking.
Guitar works exactly the same way. The only difference is you're learning the language of music.
Here's what to do right now:
1. Identify where you are with your current practice
What skills are you in Stage 1 with? (New, awkward, requires all your conscious attention)
What skills are you in Stage 2 with? (Getting comfortable, but you haven't varied the practice yet)
What skills are you in Stage 3 with? (Fully automated, you can use them without thinking)
2. Adjust your practice approach for each stage
Stage 1 skills: Slow, deliberate, focused practice on accuracy
Stage 2 skills: Variation - different keys, tempos, contexts
Stage 3 skills: Let go and create - trust what you've built
3. Stop judging yourself for Stage 1 awkwardness
It's not lack of talent
It's proof you're learning
Every guitarist goes through this
4. Build one skill to real mastery
Pick ONE thing you've been practicing. Move it through all three stages deliberately:
Stage 1: Get it accurate (even if slow)
Stage 2: Practice it in 3 different keys, at 3 different tempos
Stage 3: Use it in real musical contexts without overthinking
Watch what happens when you actually complete the cycle instead of jumping between partially-learned skills.
References
Core Model: The Three Stages of Skill Acquisition
Fitts, P. M., & Posner, M. I. (1967). Human performance. Brooks/Cole.
Establishes the foundational three-stage model of motor learning: Cognitive, Associative, and Autonomous
Stage 1: The Awkward Phase (Working Memory, Deliberate Practice)
Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81–97.
Supports the limited capacity of working memory (7 ± 2 items)
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993). The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance. Psychological Review, 100(3), 363–406.
Supports the necessity of conscious, effortful, and deliberate practice for skill building
Schmidt, R. A., & Wrisberg, C. A. (2008). Motor learning and performance: A situation-based learning approach (4th ed.). Human Kinetics.
Provides context for the importance of slow, accurate practice to avoid training mistakes
Stage 2: The "It's Starting to Click" Phase (Variation and Transfer)
Shea, J. B., & Morgan, R. L. (1979). Contextual interference effects on the acquisition, retention, and transfer of a motor skill. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Learning and Memory, 5(2), 179–187.
Supports the claim that varied practice (interleaving skills) is superior to blocked repetition for long-term retention and flexibility
Squire, L. R. (2004). Memory and the brain. The Neuroscientist, 10(3), 200–211.
Clarifies that "muscle memory" is procedural memory stored in brain structures like the basal ganglia and cerebellum, not the muscles
Stage 3: The Magic Phase (Flow and Automaticity)
Limb, C. J., & Braun, A. R. (2008). Neural substrates of spontaneous musical performance: An fMRI study of jazz improvisation. PLoS ONE, 3(2), e1679.
Provides scientific evidence for the deactivation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during creative flow in professional musicians
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. Harper & Row.
Defines and describes the flow state where automatic technical skill frees up the mind for creativity
Walker, M. P. (2005). A role for sleep in the consolidation of motor sequence learning. Sleep, 28(8), 911–918.
Supports the importance of breaks and sleep for memory consolidation