Hey,
I need to tell you about a conversation I had when I was 15 years old that completely changed how I understand the guitar.
It happened at Music Machine, this independently owned music store in Napier, New Zealand. The kind of place with real soul, you know? Not some corporate chain, but a place that's seen decades of musical dreams walking through its doors.
I was working there part-time, completely obsessed with guitar, determined to learn everything there was to know about the instrument…
I mean everything.
Every scale. Every mode. Every chord voicing. Every technique.
That's when Colvin Steel pulled me aside.
…Colvin was this wise old guy who worked at the store. White spiky hair, giant mustache, always smelled of his home-grown tobacco. He was a guitar luthier who built guitars from scratch, toured the country in bands when he was younger, and at the time was playing in a jazz trio…
One day I'm going on about my master plan to learn everything about guitar, and Colvin stops me.
"Charlie," he says, "when you first start playing guitar, you think of it as a pyramid..."
I'm listening.
"You start at the bottom, you learn the foundations and you keep climbing up. Eventually you learn everything and as you reach the top, you've now mastered it, right?"
Makes sense to me. That's exactly what I'm doing.
"Well in fact," Colvin says, "the pyramid goes the other way."
…Wait, what?
"The more you learn, the more you find out you don't know. The more you realize how much there actually is you could learn."
He looks at me dead serious.
"It's simply impossible for you to learn everything. There's just not enough time in this lifetime, let alone half a lifetime."
And that conversation right there was when it clicked for me.
That's when I realized there's this 800-pound gorilla of a problem terrorizing the world of guitar instruction. Everywhere you look, you're bombarded to learn MORE.
Have you ever felt overwhelmed with the flood-like amount of guitar information fire-hosing its way into your eyeballs?
I know I sure was.
There's such an overwhelming push to learn more… Circle of fifths, the modes, reading music, exotic scales, and on and on.
The internet, while being this vast resource, often perpetuates the myth that you must master all these elements to be considered a "real" guitarist.
But let's cut through it.
The truth is, if you want to be a lead guitarist who can effortlessly navigate the fretboard, create songs and jam with others, you don't need to drown in theoretical knowledge.
What's more important is focusing on outcomes rather than accumulation of knowledge.
Learning should be purpose-driven, aimed at achieving specific guitar playing goals, not just hoarding information.
You've heard of KISS, right?
No, not the band. The acronym: "Keep It Simple Stoopid."
Simplify.
Shift your focus from trying to learn everything to targeted, outcome-driven practice.
Yes, learning’s necessary…
But it must be strategic and relevant to YOUR goals.
This approach is about breathing a sigh of relief because reaching your guitar aspirations takes much less learning than you initially thought.
Consider a race car team. They streamline their vehicle, stripping it down to bare essentials to increase speed and efficiency. They focus solely on the outcome: winning the race…
They remove all the dead weight.
You don't want to be on stage thinking about music theory, right? You want to focus on the music itself and the connection with your audience.
So here's what I want you to do right now:
Grab your guitar. Look at your fretboard.
Ask yourself:
"Am I trying to learn everything... or am I focused on learning what actually matters for where I want to go?"
Because if you're feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or frustrated with your fretboard knowledge right now, there's a good chance you're carrying too much weight.
You're trying to memorize every note position, understand every mode, learn every scale pattern, know every chord voicing.
And all that unnecessary weight is keeping you planted right where you are.
Tomorrow I'm going to share what happened after that conversation with Colvin…
How I went from feeling completely overwhelmed to unlocking the entire fretboard.
And more importantly, how you can do the same thing without spending the next 10 years figuring it out like I did.
Keep your eyes on your inbox.
Charlie Wallace
Guitar Mastery Method
P.S.
By the way, if you ARE still trying to memorize every note, then I’ve got this weird fretboard hack that makes it stupid simple - a lot of folks say it’s the best guitar lesson on the internet they’ve ever seen…
Just up on YouTube, free for the guitar community to continue to grow together and level up for the love of music - Watch That Video Here Now (Even As A Refresher)
P.P.S.
Do me a favor right now. Hit reply and tell me:
When it comes to the fretboard and playing lead guitar, what's your single biggest struggle right now?
Just type it out and hit send.
Although yeah I’m busy I try read every email I get the day I get it, and knowing where you're stuck helps me make sure what I share with you over the next few days actually helps you break through.
---------------------------
Hey there, rockstar.
If you have any questions or concerns, reply and let us know.
We appreciate the amount of time you put into shredding those strings.
However...
If you'd rather not hear from us again, use the link below.
But I have to warn you.
It's permanent, and I won't be able to send you any more lessons or updates.
Again...
Let us know how we can help by replying to this email.
Either way, rock on.
Guitar Mastery Method
1321 Upland Drive
PMB 1190
Houston, Texas 77043
United States