Next Step in Guitar?

Question:I have been teaching myself to play guitar

I can play chords: C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb, B, Em, Am, Fm
I can switch between chords easily
I can barre some chords
I can read tabs and sheet music

i've played lots of instruments and currently play violin, so i am perfectly comfortable with music.

truthfully, i have been at a dead end for a long time and haven't been picking up my guitar everyday, because, i don't really have a goal or something right in front of me to learn next

What do I learn next?

another question

Should I get a teacher?

i want to someday play lead guitar in rock

What's the next step?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I have been teaching myself to play guitar

I can play chords: C, D, E, F, G, A, Bb, B, Em, Am, Fm
I can switch between chords easily
I can barre some chords
I can read tabs and sheet music

i've played lots of instruments and currently play violin, so i am perfectly comfortable with music.

truthfully, i have been at a dead end for a long time and haven't been picking up my guitar everyday, because, i don't really have a goal or something right in front of me to learn next

What do I learn next?

another question

Should I get a teacher?

i want to someday play lead guitar in rock

What's the next step?

1. Learn the Chromatic Scale as it pertains to chords that move up and down the fretboard. The common F chord is a great way to start.

2. Learn how to transpose a song from one key to another key signature.

3. Experiment with the key signatures. Run through a sequence of chord progressions, but add chords not normally associated with that key and see what happens.

4. Learn to play a song in the keys of Ab, C#, Eb, and Bb. Don't depend on tablature to perfect your guitar expertise because it won't. Your knowledge of reading sheet music will take you faster and farther in the joys of music making.

What kind of music do you like?

i wouldn't get a teacher, instead find a friend who's been playing guitar for a long time. My friend's been playing guitar for 5 years and in six months I can play all the way through:
Crazy Train
War Pigs
Paranoid
N.I.B.
Iron Man
Johnny Be Good
Mother Nature's Son
Blackbird
Brown Eyed Girl
Fixing A Hole
Love Song

It just takes a friend to motivate you, plus it's much more fun than playing on your own.

Read everything that's in one of the green links on the left side of this site, http://cyberfret.com/ while keeping in mind that you want to try and do the following:

If you'd like to play lead then learn the all the modes of the pentatonic and major scale and acquire the ability to link them together. (By link I mean know that you can follow G Major up into A Dorian into B Phrygian ect.)

Also you might consider buying Troy Stetina's Speed Mechanics for Lead Guitar, it's the goto book for people who need help developing technical prowess.

Learn how to turn the chords you know into Sevens, Nines, Elevens, ect.

Practice.

Once you're confident enough to do so, join a band, it's a good experience.

I often get better by pushing myself to learn to play something more difficult than anything else that I can already play. In the actual exploration there are many ways to go. I try to tackle specific areas individually as to not be completely overwhelmed by music theory. I never found a great teacher so I teach myself via the internet nowadays.

As one who also plays lots of instruments, I know where you are. Have you tried fingerstyle ? OK it's a bit folk/country orientated, but it's good practice for the right hand and it means your chords have to be accurate. Have you tried recording yourself playing chord sequences (12 bar blues or whatever) and experimenting with lead lines/riffs over the top?
Play chords in different inversions further up rthe neck and see what riffs you can build round them. Hope this helps, and God bless you in your efforts.

Learn your 7th and 9th chords!

Then you can put some funk in your trunk.