5 Year Electric Guitar Progress - From Zero to Hero

Five years ago, in August 2018, I finally made the decision to start learning the electric guitar after having thought about it since I was a kid who played Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
At 17, I took the first step, bought an inexpensive pre-owned Strat for 40 bucks, and started learning on my own through internet lessons.
The beginning was rough, but once I got rid of the starting struggles such as finger soreness and sounding like a cat in pain, I started to really enjoy the process and to have a blast during this journey. From pretty cool moments learning my favorite Metallica songs to extremely fulfilling live presentations; I would do it all over again.
I consider myself mostly self-taught, but I’ve also been enrolled in lessons: two years of non-private lessons twice a week at my university, and private once-a-week lessons this last year with a specialized Rock school. I think it’s a great idea to start learning online, but I’d also encourage anyone to get enrolled in lessons further down the road. The motivation pump and getting to play with other musicians is priceless.
Now, the guitar has become a part of my life. And it will remain that way for many years to come.
Welcome to my 5-year journey, I hope you can find some motivation in it for your own guitar adventure.

[@KarolisLaisvas]

I'm a total newbie (1 month playing) and I'm just now learning the intro to Sweet Child O'Mine, which is what inspired me to start learning guitar. I hope in 5 years I can play the whole song like you. Thanks for the inspiration and good luck in the future!

[@alonsovz]

I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to play it way sooner ;) keep rocking !!

[@corpsious]

really inspiring stuff man, keep on rocking :)

[@myguitardiary666]

Very nice! Great progress in 2023 also, keep going at it! 🤘

[@alonsovz]

Thank you I really appreciate it 🤘🤘

[@hotwelder21]

That is fantastic. Great job.

[@connorpixley4835]

I expect another update in 5 years, keep it up!

[@alonsovz]

That’s the plan. Thank you !!

[@RobTai]

great job 💪💪!! i love the sweet child solo and featured it in my progress video too 😂😂

[@stellong4963]

Very inspiring you remind my self i started to play the same year like you in may of 2018

[@RustamSuItanov]

Great progress!

[@alonsovz]

appreciate it brother!

[@JEG1988]

Wicked inspiring great video!!

[@alonsovz]

thanks I appreciate it !!

[@MrBrendan20004]

GH3 goated. Nice work my man very inspiring

[@alonsovz]

thanks man I really appreciate it !

[@JohnDoe-ym1mm]

I've been trying to learn the guitar on and off for about 10 years but never made an effort for more than a week at a time (at most). This is a huge motivating boost to try and continue though, you rock!

[@alonsovz]

I’m glad to read this. You’re making a great decision by not giving up and coming back stronger!! Keep rocking 🤟🏼

[@HALLOJUMBOw]

bought mine 3 months ago at 23, inspiring progress :D

[@alonsovz]

Great decision, best of success !!

[@managedmisdirection]

I started 3 months ago as well -- 52. Boat loads of awesome fun.

[@Topichrist]

thank you

[@RainbowGhostOverdrive]

Nice work bro

[@alonsovz]

hey thanks I appreciate it !

[@RainbowGhostOverdrive]

@@alonsovz That last perfomance sounded pretty good on your part.

[@Yayhooray]

Loved the video my man. Definitely enjoyed every moment of the journey. During this 5 years you must've collected a buncha pendals. I'm also interested to see your pedal collectio. 😄 Also you should get tats for real you look very cool.🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@Yayhooray]

Also not to mention this was really inspiring my bro. Thankyou very much for sharing your journey. I'm thrilled. 😁

[@alonsovz]

I'm glad you liked it!! i'm sorry to disappoint you, but I actually don't own any pedals hahah (yet!) I had a Boss DS2 for distortion but sold it when I got my new amp as it didn't make that much of a difference (: for playing around I normally use the Garage Band pedals connecting myself to my computer through my audio interface! Btw, the pedals I used in the show at the end were lent from my school I'll definitely start getting myself some asap hahah

[@alonsovz]

the purpose of the video was actually to inspire other players, and reading this lets me know that it is working at least for some people, thank you!!

[@rabbit-in-box5282]

Wow, I should really break my hands

[@brokenguitarist1]

Good job dude! I am also thinking of uploading my 5 Year Fingerstyle guitar progress🤞.

[@alonsovz]

Thanks man, and do it brother 🤟🏼

[@bebber_]

damn thats amazing dude, ive been playing for about a year and a couple months but i feel like im not close to where you were around that time. you got any tips or what you did to improve so fast?

[@alonsovz]

Here you have some piece of advice even though I don't know your exact specific situation, hope it helps: Record yourself. I'm sure you're making substantial progress but change is slow and you won't notice on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes I felt like I was in the same place for months until I saw an old clip. That'll bring your motivation back up. Strive to practice at least a little every single day. That'll keep your mind and fingers in shape as opposed to practicing irregularly for multiple hours. If you can, get enrolled in lessons. Learning through the Internet is fine (I've done it for most of my journey) but, if it's within your possibility, go for it. Even if it's just once a week it'll be very helpful. Bonus if you find some sort of school with other players that have similar taste in music (I'm in a rock/metal school, for example) and practice with them whenever you can. Lastly, focus on playing what you love. F** boring exercises or a "predetermined" learning path that you don't really want to take. Everything that matters is that you enjoy what you're playing so you do it more. I often get criticized bc I didn't quite learn to alternate pick until year 1 or 2, or bc I used to suck at strumming. I was focusing on heavy down-picking to be able to play Metallica bc that's what I love and what gets me playing. Of course, I learned these skills further down the road.

[@RizkyAshary]

nice

[@jojomarvelasquez3564]

for me its pretty much the same progress as you.. i just learned lead guitar first because my main inspiration is led zeppelin and guns and roses so yeah page and slash riffs and solos, mainly solos.. i learn rhythm parts here and there but i mainly play leads and hot solos..

[@alonsovz]

Tbh lead is really the sexy part of it. Congrats man keep on rocking!

[@AkagiRedSun]

You know you’ve could’ve spent just as much time on Fortnite or CoD and still not good enough to win local tournaments like other millions of kids. Good job choosing instrument!

[@simpleuser7937]

We all apologies mister guitarshredgod2011 for not being good enough

[@SpiritofPoison]

similar to mine (except i’m only coming up on year 3) for me meshuggah is what metallica is to you.

[@Lucas-sj2lf]

You got an 8 string ?

[@jarlbalgruuf8375]

I’m interested to know how long you practiced for each day on average

[@alonsovz]

Around 1 hour a day, sometimes less, sometimes more (:

[@jarlbalgruuf8375]

@@alonsovz wow that’s amazing, and how long have you been playing now?

[@alonsovz]

@@jarlbalgruuf8375 it's been 5 years and 3 months so far (: thank you !!

[@harzentdenielle7863]

Did you watch youtube tutorials when you are trying to lesrn a specific song?

[@alonsovz]

Of course! Mainly at the beginning I used YT videos and/or tabs most of the time. Now, I try to learn them by ear whenever I can but I still use them often

[@bytevass6798]

7:16 115 ez

[@alonsovz]

you just completed the Easter egg

[@driedwater2996]

De donde sos?

[@alonsovz]

De México, saludos !

[@driedwater2996]

A huevo@@alonsovz

[@Proceedtheweedian]

😂…

[@alonsovz]

yo share the joke with the rest of us