You are going to need some tools to help you improve. You should already have some of them - if you haven’t I recommend that you get at least these listed below.
A metronome. A real one. There is nothing quite like the original wind up metronomes for learning rhythm. It has a visual, auditory and physical click. Electronic and computer ones miss the feeling effects of the tick (unless you have the volume up way loud), and sometimes the visual effect is not quite as good - The swinging of the little weight backwards and forwards teaches your unconscious the in-between spaces of the beats as well as the beats themselves.
So go out and get yourself a proper mechanical wind-up metronome.
An electronic Chromatic guitar tuner. I’ve found by experience that the more you pay the better the quality – up to a point. A strobe tuner is a little over the top – great in a Kiss rock video but just a tad too heavy for my liking. I personally use a Boss tuner but there are several great makes out there to choose from. Chromatic tuners are easier - they are usually hands free. Computer tuning software does work quite well but I wouldn’t want to drag my PC with me to a session along with a guitar, amp, leads etc.
Using an electronic tuner is really important. Our ears are good but over the whole range of notes, they vary in accuracy. Some of the beginner books teach how to tune the guitar to itself which is fine and useful but if you want to play along with records, other instruments etc. a tuner is the only way to go. I’ll cover tuning again briefly in a later chapter
A Practice Journal – a notebook of some kind that is specifically used for recording information about your practice sessions, your thoughts and comments, results from the exercises etc. especially as you read the rest of the book.
Download and install a copy of Powertab - its free, easy to use and its fantastic. The powertab .ptb files for all the exercises are included in the download.
http://www.power-tab.net
Some fast fret – this is a type of gel that you rub onto the strings. I guess it’s got a silicone base because it makes the strings slippy again like when they are first put on the guitar – the rust and grime on metal strings makes your fingers stick and not slide about. I love that stuff.
A headphone amp unit – for electric guitar players – allows you to hear the sound in a noisy environment. There are some really great ones like the Rockman box, and some very poor quality ones. It’s your choice but you wont need one with lots of special effects for practicing the routines in here.
There will be other tools and software that I will mention along the way.