Intermediate Learning Pathway
Take the next step in your guitar journey.
Qualified beginners
Take the next step in your guitar journey after you complete our Late Beginner Learning Pathway.
3 months
Karl will guide you through 6 grades of instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
Strengthen your foundation
By the end of this pathway, you'll be a well-rounded rhythm and lead player ready to take on more advanced songs and pathways.
Take the next step
Once you've built your intermediate foundation, take your skills to the next level with the Late Intermediate Learning Pathway.
What you'll learn
In this music-first Learning Pathway, you'll learn how to become a well-rounded rhythm and lead guitarist who's comfortable in multiple genres.
- Polish your playing with expressive techniques
- Learn how to solo (and sound great doing it)
- Build a rock-solid rhythm guitar foundation
Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
Grade 1. Back to Foundations
In this first grade, you’ll review the fundamentals to prepare for the rest of the class. You’ll take things one step further by zooming in on your technique to become more intentional with your playing.
We're with you every step of the way in this Learning Pathway. In every lesson, Karl will break down a new concept and run through mini drills with you so you can lock it into your muscle memory. To cap off each day's work, you'll put what you learned in a musical context with a guided jam session.
Day 1. How to make everything you play sound better
You’ll start off the class by learning how to play simple notes with more intention so your lines express more of your personal voice as a guitarist.
Day 2. Power chords and riffs
Now, you’ll learn how to bring more attitude and conviction to your rhythm playing with a rock-focused approach to power chords and riffs. (Bonus points if you practice while standing up to prepare for performing.)
Day 3. A fun way to learn about rhythm
Karl will help you review rhythm fundamentals in a musical way so you can count clearly and (most importantly) feel the rhythms on the page in your body.
Day 4. Bending control and intonation
In this lesson, you’ll develop cleaner bending technique so your lead lines sound more vocal and always in tune.
Day 5. Unlock the fretboard with intervals
Now, you’ll map out the fretboard using your scale knowledge so you can understand melodies and chord movement more clearly.
Day 6. Break out of the box with B.B.’s Box
Karl will show you a B.B. King-inspired soloing tool that will help you move beyond basic pentatonic habits and create more melodic lead lines.
Day 7. The number system and Roman numerals
Finally, you’ll revisit the language system that helps professional musicians and producers communicate progressions quickly.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 1 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of professional L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 2.
Grade 2. Fretboard Focus
Now that your foundation is solid, it’s time to decode your fretboard and expand your musical options with practical shapes and patterns. From the 3:2 system and CAGED to triads and double stops, you’ll leave this grade with a set of pro-level tools to create your own music and support a band.
Day 1. Expanding on the 3:2 system
You’ll kick off Grade 2 with the ultimate cheat code for effortless soloing: the 3:2 system. This diagonal pentatonic system helps you create more fluid lead lines that flow across the fretboard.
Day 2. The minor 3:2 system
Now, you’ll apply the same fretboard logic to a minor key so you can connect related shapes across the neck over minor progressions.
Day 3. Intro to CAGED
Karl will help you map out your fretboard with a visual system built from familiar chord shapes, known as CAGED.
Day 4. Creating parts with triads
You’ll now learn how to use compact chord shapes to create clean, melodic parts that fit well in a full band. Triads have long been the professional guitarist’s secret weapon.
Day 5. How to visualize chords
Learn how to add more color to chords by connecting chord shapes to the notes inside them.
Day 6. Bluesy double stops
Now, you’ll learn how to add more character to rhythm parts and lead lines using just two notes.
Day 7. CAGED octave workout
Sweatband on because you’ll strengthen your fretboard visualization with a focused CAGED-based workout.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 2 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Grade 3. Rhythm and Feel
This grade is all about improving your rhythm and sense of pocket so you can support the band tastefully. You’ll approach rhythm from the technical as well as the musical side.
Day 1. The grid and subdivision
Begin Grade 3 by using a handy visual rhythm system to better understand how the beat is divided.
Day 2. Developing your sense of feel
Now, you’ll explore the other side of music, which is less intellectual and more emotional and physical. You’ll learn how note placement changes the energy and feel of a groove.
Day 3. Backbeat fingerstyle
A 2-for-1 lesson. You’ll work on your fingerstyle technique to create a fuller rhythm part with a built-in backbeat.
Day 4. Boom-chuck strum variations
In this lesson, you’ll learn about the beating heart of bluegrass. The boom-chuck is a rootsy acoustic rhythm that helps you support a song with strong time and feel.
Day 5. Chords and licks in 6/8
You’ll learn how to blend chord playing with melodic ideas using one of the most soulful time signatures ever.
Day 6. Feeling anticipations on every beat
Now, you’ll add rhythmic tension by learning how to push chords before the downbeat using syncopation and anticipation.
Day 7. Funky 16th workout
Cap off the grade with a syncopation-focused workout that will help you strengthen your pocket and feel subdivision.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 3 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 4.
Grades 4-6
In these last grades, you’ll turn scale knowledge into music, expand your rhythm vocabulary, and develop more sophisticated lead guitar skills.
Grade 4. From Scales to Music
In this grade, you’ll drill your scales in a fun, musical way. Rather than work through tedious exercises, you’ll study scales in a way that will train your ear and musical instincts.
Day 1. 3-step process for learning scales
Start off Grade 4 with a practical process for turning scale practice into musical phrases. You’ll learn how to make scales feel like creative tools instead of tedious exercises.
Day 2. Mixolydian
In Day 2, you’ll explore a major-adjacent sound that works across rootsy popular styles. You’ll hear how one note adjustment can create a more relaxed and bluesy flavor.
Day 3. Dorian
Now, you’ll add a brighter minor sound to your lead vocabulary. Give your minor playing a more open and colorful feel with this minor mode.
Day 4. Aeolian
Karl will introduce you to the natural minor scale so you can hear how its darker sound differs from Dorian. You’ll practice listening for the notes that give each minor sound its character.
Day 5. Blues scale
In this lesson, you’ll add a bluesier color to your pentatonic playing with just one extra note: the blue note.
Day 6. Three scales, one string
Now, you’ll train your ear and break out of vertical-scale habits with one-string practice. You’ll use one string to hear scale relationships more clearly.
Day 7. Scale and arpeggio workout
Finish off the grade and review your new melodic vocabulary with a focused workout. This will help you strengthen your ability to connect scale sounds with chord tones.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 4 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 5.
Grade 5. Rhythm Styles and Common Progressions
This is the grade that will make bassists and drummers really love jamming with you. You’ll become a more confident rhythm player by getting familiar with different styles and the most common progressions.
Day 1. Folky chord embellishments
You’ll learn how to add melodic movement to open chords with small melodic details that can make simple progressions sound more polished.
Day 2. Expanding on the number system
Now, you’ll dive deeper into the number system to understand richer chord progressions. You’ll start recognizing harmonic patterns that show up across countless songs.
Day 3. Intro to bossa nova
In this lesson, you’ll explore a laid-back rhythm style built around smooth fingerstyle movement and jazz-inspired harmony. Bossa nova is an essential jazz rhythm that can open the door to other styles in the genre.
Day 4. Folky fingerstyle arpeggios
Karl will help you create a flowing fingerstyle arrangement inspired by piano-style movement. You’ll practice turning a beautiful piano tune into a guitar-friendly song using arpeggios.
Day 5. The funky ii-V
In Day 5, you’ll use tight chord stabs and syncopated rhythm to bring a common progression into a funk setting. You’ll learn how restraint and precision can make rhythm parts feel stronger.
Day 6. Riffin’ in drop D
Ready to drop it low? You’ll use drop D tuning to create powerful riffs and low-string drones for melodies. Learn how tuning can change both the sound of the guitar and the kinds of parts that feel natural to play.
Day 7. I-vi-ii-V workout
Finally, you’ll practice a common progression in every key. This builds the kind of harmonic familiarity that makes learning songs and jamming easier.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 5 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to Grade 6.
Grade 6. Lead Explorations
In this final grade, you’ll take your lead guitar skills to the next level by approaching soloing and improvising through a more sophisticated lens.
Day 1. Intro to playing the changes
Karl will help you demystify the concept of playing the chord changes. You’ll target notes that define each chord to tie your solos closely to the progression and remove the guesswork from improvising.
Day 2. Unison bends and raking into notes
In this lesson, you’ll add a crunchy rock sound to your lead lines by bending one note while holding the same note on another string. You’ll also learn how raking into bends can thicken up your tone.
Day 3. Two-octave major 7th arpeggios
Now, you’ll map chord tones across a wider stretch of the fretboard to more easily find notes that outline the chord even when you shift positions.
Day 4. Fast legato minor pentatonic runs
You’ll learn how to combine hammer-ons and pull-offs to play faster lines using the pentatonic scale. The goal is to make speed feel fluid instead of tense.
Day 5. Intro to the chromatic scale and chromaticism
You’ll add some jazzy tension to your solos by stepping briefly outside the key. This gives your solos a more surprising sound while still keeping them connected melodically.
Day 6. Combining chords and riffs
This is a serious, pro-level skill that will instantly level up your playing. You’ll practice blending chord hits with melodic fills to add more movement and interest to your rhythm playing.
Day 7. Chromatic workout
You’ll finish the class with a workout that strengthens your fretboard awareness and hand coordination.
Performance pieces
Choose a song to learn that takes what you worked on in Grade 6 and puts it in a musical context. Here, you'll get to jam with a live-recorded band of pro L.A. musicians as your backing track.
Personalized feedback
Submit a video of yourself playing a performance piece from this grade for custom video feedback on your playing from our team of pro guitarists.
Final quiz
Make sure you're ready to move on to new challenges.
REAL students
Don’t take our word for it, take theirs
What guitarists love about this course
Your Instructor
Karl Kerfoot
Take your playing to the next level by learning fundamental lead & rhythm concepts from Pickup Music's Head of Education.
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Frequently asked questions
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