Bars & Strumming On 1

Don’t let @Richard_close2u hear that :scream: His tried and trusted motto is “learn songs, learn songs, learn songs”. It’s important to start out learning songs, even if its just strumming on beat 1, on beats 1 & 3, on beats 1, 2, 3 & 4. It’s about building up your rhythm foundation. As @JokuMuu suggests if you have the app find some songs that you like to work on developing your rhythm, learning song structures and changing chords during songs.

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Joku - yes, I do. I use it as tunner and used it for playing with songs, but how Sequences said - song are in this stage simplified so it does not “sound” to me like I am playing different track. I am gonna do deeper research what will fit for me, because I understand that playing songs in early stage is important, but it also should be fun and I am finding more fun in learning chords and changes right now. :slight_smile:

Sequences - thats exactly how I feel about that! Its just different and very simple… feels like I am ruining song with different sound. :smiley: I am gonna do deeper research what will fit to me… I had this experience for example with “Ooh la la”. Song is great but my playing did not sounded same… also when I saw, that people on YouTube are playing it on different chords I am confused then how I should play it.

Socio - hello, it was just my point of view in this early stage. I really understand how important is playing with songs, but this time its more fun to learn chords and chords changes than playing with music… how I wrote above… I just dont feel good while I do it, because I expect sound to be more like original and not so simplified. From other view I understand simplicity, because I wont be able to play it on harder level (right now). Few days ago I tasted fingerstyle and I think thats my way… I am learning the easiest pattern… playing it with C or D and man… that sounds so relaxing and deep I could play it all day. Last day I was playing it while my girlfriend was sleepy and tired and this made her sleep well. She said its so relaxing. :slight_smile:

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I do absolutely understand what you mean, playing these two chord songs was annoying for me as well :nerd_face: Seeing that you are at C already, maybe take a look at the app again - there are several easy songs where the recommended strumming pattern is “Old Faithful”, trying to go for this strumming pattern, it will soon sound much more as if you are really playing a song :slightly_smiling_face:

It’s most important that you have fun :grinning: I always had a special weakness for fingerstyle, even when I have never been good at it :laughing: Again, the app does actually come in handy. Try e.g. “This year’s love” with easy 6/8 fingerstyle, it’s my go to when I don’t feel like practicing anything else, and it even sounds good playing along to the app like that :slightly_smiling_face:

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Yeah… I am trying C. Its really one of the hardest for me now. Like D minor is over 3 frets too but pinky makes it much easier. I tried C with fingerstyle and its new dimmension for me. I know it will sound fun for experienced players, but it brings me joy and thats what it is all about. :slight_smile:
Actualy… before I started with guitar my friend recommended to me Old Faithful Plus because of extra up strum you got gap for chord change. So I can do this strumming pattern without thinking about it now, because its the only one I do. And reason is same… its sounds like something against 4 downstrums. But thats again my personal view. I can understand why 4 downstrums are good. To this time… I am not playing with metronome and I know I will maybe regret it one time, but I dont really like it. :smiley:
Also I will check your recommendations, thanks. :slight_smile:

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Hey, but that’s fantastic news actually. You have that strumming pattern down, so why not try with that one instead? :slightly_smiling_face: with or without app :nerd_face:

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Thanks for that :slight_smile:

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22 changes!

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Hi Lori, welcome to the community forum. Congratulations. With practice you will achieve 30 changes per minute.

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my fingers are too thick! help

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Hey Alec, welcome to the Community! Fellow beginner here. Though I’ve been at it a while now I remember that feeling - how do people only depress one string with a finger? Well, it turns out that those callouses that will (thankfully) begin forming soon will help with that. In the meantime, be patient and kind with yourself, and stick with it. And do check in with the Community with all your concerns. We’ve been there!

In the meantime, maybe head over here and to introduce yourself, and tell us about what brought you to guitar and to this Community. :smiling_face:

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Amazing videos! Thank you!

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This is my first time and I did 41

Well done, Sanethma! You’ve got a great start. And welcome to the community! Maybe head over here and introduce yourself to the whole group. :smiling_face:

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I’m a beginner and just starting with Grade 1 - Module 1 (12 lessons). Just curious how others are progressing through the lessons. Are you trying to work on 1 or 2 lessons per session?

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I have found that I ran through all of the early lessons quickly, and stopped when I had a full set of practice items. This does not mean you should charge ahead, but listen to lessons as you have time and mental ability to keep it straight. Keep the practice items list down to what time you have to do them, and practice everything through grade 3 at least a little bit. Watch the Nitsuj lessons for ideas on when to move on.

My method was to fill my head with lessons, then work on as much as I had time for. Once I was willing to drop an item off the list, I’d watch another lesson and fill that time with that new lesson’s item. You might find it useful to jump to the end of a module and see the practice routine Justin recommends.

This was the primary way I managed my practice time through the beginnings of grade 3. After that, it was a little more dynamic. You should be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses by then and alter your lessons and practices based on what you need.

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Thanks sequences. This input is very helpful. Jumping to the end of module to understand the practice routine is especially helpful

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Put the timer on for 1 min and did 57 cord changes so I realise I’m not to bad after all :+1:

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So, I am coming from Yousician and have been playing about a month. I have the notes pretty good down in memory(A and D).

When trying to play Born in the USA or listening to the lessons. Do I play just the first beat of each chord or every beat. I.e: strum beat1 then beat2 then strum beat 3 and then beat 4 before moving on from lesson 1: changing from A to D ?

Welcome, Johan!

When you’re first starting out, playing the chord on the first beat of the bar is a good place to start as you’re learning how to strum and keep time in the context of a song. As you progress, you can move to other strumming patterns – for example, a downstrum on each beat, or a strumming pattern including upstrums (such as “Old Faithful,” which Justin teaches later on in Grade 1).

As for moving on from Module 1, there is a lesson at the end of the module suggesting criteria for moving on:

" 1. You’ve memorized the A and the D chords.
2. You can change between A and D at least 30 times a minute. If this seems impossible and you can’t achieve it after a few weeks, you can move. Later on our journey, you’ll learn some other tricks to switch faster between chords. I don’t want you to get bored! :slight_smile:
3. Nitsuj spent 4 practice sessions on Module 1 and took around 5 to 6 weeks to go through Grade 1. Check him out to help you decide when he felt ready to move on."

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I’ve found doing this to a drum beat metronome video really useful. Counting along with the visual cue really helped me. 60 bpm seems to be my sweet spot right now where I can feel comfortable making the chord changes. They don’t always sound perfect, but I can get there. Hoping to speed it up and consistently hit quality chords over the next couple of days.

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