Y wont my guitar skills improve?

i started playing guitar about a year ago
when i registered for a free online guitar-givaway and won
and ever since the day it came i spent about 1 hr playing it almost every day

but y wont my skills improve?

i asked my friends who are prety good with guitars and they suggested me Hall Leonard Guitar Theories 1, 2, and 3

so i mastered them about a month ago

so i went to guitar center and bought a fretboard workbook right away
and today ive mastered it

but still no sign of improvement

could u guys give me some suggestions?

also, i would really appreciate, personally, if u guys would suggest me books that wil help me learn how to go beyond basic chords and scales

i really want to learn how to shred and maybe more

thanks guys!

i dont think that i am rushing thru the books too quickly because i have basic music knowledges from 8 years of playing the cello and piano

but i want to be good in guitar just as i am good in cello and piano

too sad that guitar dont have a "suzuki" or a "czerny"

I can't really recommend any books beyond songbooks so you can learn to play songs and not just scales. Do you jam with any friends? Another way to get your chops up is to get some lesson Videos. Watching other guys play, their fingering and technique is a good way to pick up unique tricks that aren't in lesson books and have the effect of making you figure out what to do and how to apply it.

Finally I'd recommend that you jam along with cd's and improvise over them instead of trying to copy note for note what the other guy is playing. That way you'll develop your own style and voice. As far as shredding is concerned remember the rule that one note, the right note, played at the right time and with the right feel can be far more powerful than a fistfull of noodly doodly that just overwhelms the song.

But shredding can be cool too.

One hour a day isn't enough! Trust me I know! Look on line at
www.ultimateguitartabs.com

Well if you have mastered those techniques and lessons that means that your skills have improved. Right?

If you want to learn how to really rock or shred then maybe you should start being creative and just string those chords together to make songs.

Also learn the basic techniques of hammer-ons and pull-offs and other little tricks.

To get better you have to practice. If you have been going through those books a hour a day, then maybe you are not challenging your self enough. Practice is only good, if you work on something your not good at.

one hour a day is not enough at all if you're wanting to progress quickly. everyone learns differently. also, if you're musically inclined, then trying to play by ear is best practice, for me anyway. it allows you to explore and learn from your mistakes. while it seems you're getting no where, you're actually progressing quicker than you think. just start out by learning all the chords you can and tinker around with that. find a song that has few chords in and try and pick it out. repeatedly switch between the hardest chords. no one starts out a professional, so the beginning is supposed to be learning from mistake. if you watch instruction videos and learn from books then you're only learning what's being taught.