Help from good guitarists

Reading “The Practice of Practice” by Jonathan Harnum might help you level up, especially if you’re not working regularly with a teacher or mentor. Harnum defines practice more broadly than you might expect and offers some solid advice for musicians no matter the instrument or style. I understand that reading a book seems primitive given the wealth of multimedia resources available these days, but this one could really help you frame your project.

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Do you want to write/compose, or do you want to just learn to do covers that sound just like the originals?

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I don't really care to write songs, but I want to be able to play chord progressions and solo in any key, and play various shapes up and down the neck. Which would seem to necessitate me learning all the notes on the neck and the chord wheel, as you suggest.

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What would CAGED and triads do if I'm going to be a rhythm player 99.5% of the time?

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It gives you a choice of different ways to play any chord, just by moving shapes up and down the neck.
It can give a different feel to songs and can also make some things easier to play.
For example, I usually play a D chord by using a C shape moved 2 frets higher, but sometimes I will play it by using the A shape at the 7th fret. That allows me to easily change between a D, B minor and G quickly by only moving 2 fingers, my middle finger and ring finger.
Same with a C chord played in the A shape at the 5th fret. You can change between C, A minor and F very quickly.
All kinds of stuff like that when you learn it.

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like Auggie said, CAGED allows you to play different chords all over the neck. So instead of playing a C in two places using E and A string barre chords, you can play it in 5 places. It's helpful if you're playing in a Key where most of the notes are not in close range to the scale position you want to focus your solo playing in.

learning triads basically helps you learn the notes on the lowest three strings. it's great for embellishing chords, coloring chord changes, and allows you to play more chords in different places. the voicings are quite differnent, too. I would say triads would be more helpful than CAGED if you plan on playing mostly rhythm.

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Personally, I started learning the CAGED stuff first a few years ago, when I started trying to learn Merle Travis style picking with a thumb pick and fingers.
I found that I could do some things that I liked in 1 chord, by moving it around to different shapes and positions and changing my picking pattern for my fingers up, sort of like a banjo player. It could sound like a lot, but it's really just 1 chord.
Then I started learning to pick out different style bass lines with my thumb on the top strings, I wouldn't call it triads exactly, but it can be similar.
Now I'm getting better at it and am doing more complex progressions, throwing passing chords in and stuff.
I'm not where I want to be yet, but it seems like I'm getting there slowly.
It started out by learning to move the shapes and positions around though and learning the fretboard better.

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Congrats on the divorce

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Nah, I just play while she washes dishes after the kids go to bed. I cook dinner, she cleans up. win-win.

It’s a slow ramp up. Then plateaus. Metronome.

If you want to learn how music is “constructed”, buy a cheap, and I mean cheap keyboard. You use it to learn the voicings and intervals. It’s easier to learn because it’s linear in its layout. Each note can only be played in one place. No need to worry about learning to play it, unless you want to, it’s a tool to understand the language you’re using. Intervals. Triads. If you can get one that’s touch sensitive, all the better. Dynamics.

Metronome.

Learn to sing. Joe Walsh is quoted saying if you can sing a phrase, you can learn to play it. Sing with the notes you’re playing on the aforementioned piano. The quality of your singing doesn’t matter, once again, unless you want it to. It’s another tool.

Metronome.

I can’t stress this enough. Metronome. It’s an absolute necessity. I don’t care what you know, if it isn’t in time, it sounds like shite. There’s a new thing called a pulse watch which is supposed to be awesome. Haven’t tried it. I’ll report back if I do.

Learning to read music is a great way to start understanding what you’re trying to learn. It’s the written language. It has melody, harmony and timing right there. It’s literally teaching you as you read it.

Start simple. Stay simple until you master what you’re doing. But…at the end of your playing session, reach for something more challenging. When you master that, you’ve progressed.

Lessons if you can find the time. I’ve been playing 45 years and I’m taking lessons from one of the hottest young fusion players around. But, it’s not about how many years you’ve played. It’s about hours and minutes. Practice in your head. Listen outside your genre.

And for gods sake, go lightly on the YouTube tutorials. 99% are pure garbage. Start with Guthrie Trapp. It’s a bit elevated at times, but it’s honest. Develop a warm up. I like the 3 notes per string scales. It helps with those longer stretches. Which leads to cooler chord voicings. Think of it like football players warming up before a game. My warmup takes a little over a minute.

Metronome.

How do you become good at something? Focus. Practice. Practice focusing.

Shortcuts lead to dead ends.

There are some guys pretty passionate about playing on here.