Hey Guys! I'm an intermediate player who's a little bit lost and doesn't know what to learn next. Basically, what I know when it comes down to playing electric guitar are:

-All The Notes On The Neck (Octaves)
-Barre Chords (CAGED System)
-Power Chords (Palm Muting)
-Triad Chords (Not familiar with all shapes but understand how it works)
-Some Finger Exercises (Building finger speed & power)
-Playing With Metronome. (Building skill on timing)
-Techniques (Minimum Movement;String Bending;Rolling;Vibrato;etc)
-The Major Scale (All Five Positions)
-Minor&Major Pentatonic Scale (All Five Positions including adding the Blues notes)
-Improvisation With Backing Track Using Different Licks (But not so creative)
-Playing actual songs with a band (As a Rhythm guitar just strumming some basic chords / riffs though, I can't lead and solo, always wanted to, but it sounds horrible lol)
-Bought Justin Sandercoe's Practical Music Theory pdf file. (Already got down some basic ideas in music theory. Still reading through it at a very slow phase and only once in a while though.)
- Recently, I don't know what to learn, so I decided to learn some new songs I personally love that are at my level, like "Tears In Heaven" by Eric Clapton, which is a great song, not too hard and not too easy and it suits my level & taste in music. Or "Hotel California" by The Eagles including the solo. Those songs are a bit challenging for me at different points, which is great for improvement.

I think that's pretty much it, of course I still have A LOT more to learn, but I just thought it would be helpful if someone who have been through this road could give me a direction on what to learn next. Perhaps also sharing your effective steps on learning guitar from experience.

BTW. It would be best and extremely helpful if you guys could not only say "what" but also explains "how" XD, or a link to a video/website that teaches it would do. THANKS!!! : D

_________________
Check out my Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Destinaxe
And don't forget to Subscribe!

I think it's time to close the books, shut off the audio/visual stuff and work on your personal technique. See, the problem with excessive study aids and cursive exercises is that one winds up sounding robotic/mechanical across the board with no personal interpretation of what they are playing whatsoever. Further, these aids although helpful, become an addiction to where if the player doesn't get their habitual 'fix' from such things, they cannot expand their student level repertoire. Notice I didn't use the word, "progress" or anything akin to it here.

Here's some specifics and suggestions: You've stated that you essentially just hump basic chords while playing along with whatever song. Ratchet this up. Memorize the real chord work and patterns and keep working on it until it literally sounds like you wrote it. The same goes for your soloing which you've stated sounds horrible. Break down everything into sections and don't move on to the next section until you've mastered the current one(s). These are two perfect areas to conquer which will accelerate all aspects of your playing. When you need a break from one, go to the other and vice-versa. Oh, and don't agonize over such stuff as (but not limited to), where exactly is your fretting thumb at all times, how you are holding the pick at all times, are you fingers directly behind the fret at all times, etc. Granted, some of this business is indeed, necessary but a lot of the time it is not. The key here is to enjoy yourself while progressing.

I hope this is helpful to you.

_________________
You dig?

^ Smart guy!

Find your own style. Don't spend a lot of time trying to perfect someone else's style. I'm sort of a Country picker and when I'm hitting the wall, Ill take a simple 3 chords and work on chicken picking.

Do you have an acoustic? If not, get one.

And sorry for the bad recording. I was under the influence of adult beverage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FO2NrtSby_Q

_________________
Gary