Paul Davids – Next Level Playing

My course for intermediate guitarists designed to help you break through to a new level of freedom and confidence in your playing…

… And become a well-rounded guitarist who doesn’t just play songs, but can create your own music, express yourself fluidly, and jam with other musicians.

Understand, Play, Create

Inside Next Level Playing, we’ll use three aspects of guitar playing in each level of the course, all designed to help you have fun and learn how to express yourself more freely on the guitar.

• Understand: You’ll learn the “why” behind every note, chord, interval, fingering, and technique so that you can stop the endless loop of playing by rote and understand what you’re playing.
• Play: You won’t just memorize theoretical principles and strategies; you’ll put them into practice with fun songs and riffs – supported by energizing backing tracks – and have a blast playing every day.
• Create: After connecting the dots with theory and practicing new skills, you’ll be ready to start creating your own sounds, improvising new riffs and noodles, and spicing up your favorite songs with your own personal touch.

Next Level Playing provides you with the step-by-step guidance you need… and then challenges you to start creating music for yourself.

Building Your Guitar Skills “Toolkit”

While working through this self-paced course, you will:

• Build your skills “toolkit” with systematic, strategically planned lessons that connect new skills and knowledge, giving you the freedom to create your own sound
• Understand the theory behind how chords and scales are connected, and use them in practical ways as a creative springboard to improvise, play solos, or create your own songs
• Gain confidence using your entire fretboard, and know how to find notes and chords easily in any position
• Become fluent in the “language” of music so you can more easily communicate and collaborate with other musicians
• Start improvising with scales and chords as basic building blocks, and then use artistic techniques to make your improv more expressive and completely natural
• Learn seven original solos, including the “how” and “why” behind every note and scale so you can gain confidence playing solos and even writing your own riffs
• And, you’ll be able to “get” other guitarists on a deeper level, whether it’s understanding every video on my YouTube channel or following along in John Mayer’s live chats.

What You’ll Learn In Next Level Playing

In Level 1, you’ll learn:

• Ways to find notes quickly, anywhere on the fretboard
• Better barre chord technique
• What chord progressions mean and how to work out which chords to play
• How to play major and minor chords everywhere on the neck
• The major scale and how we use it in improvisation

In Level 2, we’ll be looking at:

• How knowing one simple scale (the pentatonic) can be enough to play great solos
• Improving your bending technique and making it sound better
• Why triads are important, and different ways to play them
• Adding licks to your playing whenever and wherever
• How to play a solo and improvise in a minor blues

In Level 3, you’ll learn:

• How 7th chords can spice up your chord progressions
• How the neck is constructed by shifting licks up and down the neck
• How to transpose a chord progression into a different key
• Increasing your speed and accuracy across the fretboard with the pentatonic scale
• The Aeolian mode: the minor scale

In Level 4, we’ll cover:

• Becoming a faster, more versatile player with “3 notes per string” scales
• How to give chords a “solo” feel by adding embellishments
• Creating a unique sound by learning how to use the harmonic minor scale
• Incorporating triads and voice leading into your playing
• Learning a cool solo that uses the harmonic minor scale and coming up with your own version

In Level 5, I’ll show you:

• One of the biggest secrets to my playing: how I keep in time
• Fretting techniques you can use to give your chords a new sound
• How to use Dorian mode, which you hear a lot in blues, funk, and pop
• My picking technique, and different positions for arpeggios
• How to give your chords a fresh sound using hammer-ons and pull-offs

In Level 6, you’ll learn:

• How to play chords like Hendrix, Frusciante, and Mayer
• How the CAGED system can help you navigate the fretboard
• Breaking out of that pentatonics box by playing “diagonally”
• What target notes are, and how they can make your solos stand out
• A great solo in a 6/8 time signature combining many skills we’ve learned

In Level 7, I’ll show you:

• A great option for playing lead over 7th chords (it’s the “Mixolydian mode”)
• How to play extended chords (with the 9th, 11th, and 13th intervals)
• How to nail 12-bar blues rhythm and solos
• How to play blues shuffles and blues rhythm guitar
• How to mix your techniques and keep your solos interesting

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