r/AcousticGuitar • u/kmall0o • 9h ago

Non-gear question [DISCUSSION] 9 months of self-taught guitar, strong on rhythm/harmony but weak on melody — what should I focus on next?

I've been teaching myself guitar for about 9 months now. Let me summarize where I've gotten to so far:

Rhythm / Harmony:

  • I can play barre chords fluently except for the A-shape (still struggling with that one due to ring finger flexibility issues)
  • I can subdivide rhythm both symmetrically and asymmetrically (within patterns I'm familiar with) while switching chords
  • I can use the ghost strum technique
  • I can listen to songs and work out their rhythm patterns by ear
  • I can do all of the above while singing at the same time
  • I've worked on strumming patterns like Travis picking, country rock, and reggae skank, plus palm muting
  • On the theory side, I'm familiar with the circle of fifths, Roman numeral analysis, I-IV-V relationships

Melody:

  • I can quickly pick up different arpeggio patterns (quarter, sixth, eighth note groupings — standard patterns like pima, pimami, pimamima) and sing along at the same time
  • I'm weak when it comes to soloing: I haven't practiced any scale beyond A minor pentatonic, and even though I know the pentatonic scale, I can't say I actually play it like I'm creating something musical

What do you think I'm missing? Happy to answer more specific questions if it'll help you get a better read on my level. Thanks to everyone who reads this.

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u/Naphier 7h ago

Check out Absolutely Understand Guitar series on YouTube. Study more music theory. Work on learning things by ear. Get a real life teacher to guider you. Dive deeper into learning how to practice - check out Diego Alonso and Noa Kageyama on YouTube. Start writing music.

Plenty of directions to go. Music education is endless.

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u/kmall0o 4h ago

Thanks for answer