Beginner Grade 1 Time to completion

I’m going to try to nail all of the chords I’ve learned so far and try to be proficient at switching chords. Switching chords is my biggest weakness. Thanks for the info.

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Thanks!

Thanks Richard.

I’m just getting to the end of grade 3, and I started learning from Justin’s classic beginner course around 15 years ago. Don’t worry about it, it takes as long as it takes :sunglasses: :guitar:

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@DSC1755

This ^^^^

I may have said this before.

Its a marathon not a sprint.

Take your time, practice diligently and do all that is asked, lesson by lesson. Be honest with yourself when assessing your progress. Don’t look for quick wins. Don’t look for short cuts.
Stay on the path and don’t be looking at the clock.

:sunglasses:

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I have written this, or similar, in a number of topics.

Here is an overview of Grades 1 and 2:

image

And here are Justin’s recommended practice routines - to be done several times a week for at least a week for the first few modules and longer than a week as the course progresses.

Realistically, taking an estimated average learning and practice route of 30 minutes per day, increasing (after 3-6 months) to 60 minutes per day on core learning, several times per week, Grade 1 is likely to be a 4-6-month or more learning course.
I wrote this recently in this topic.

Beginner Grade 1 has 75 lessons plus essential consolidation. Each lesson requires at least one day of practice time but by the end of Grade 1, in Modules 5, 6 and 7, I would say that to do the learning justice and really get solid in the basics, each lesson should respectfully be given several days or a week or more, each of the seven modules probably starting at one week for module 1 up to several weeks for module 7. I would even (albeit exaggeratedly to make a point) go so far as to suggest treating each module number as a guide to the weeks required.
Modules 1 to 7 = 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 = 28 weeks. That is more than six months just there.
Grade 2 has 68 lessons. And as the learning ramps up the technical challenge and skill, each lesson and each module will require extended time to really get to grips with. I would suggest a similar approach.
Modules 8 to 14 = 8 + 9 + 10 + 11 + 12 + 13 + 14 = 77 weeks. That is more than a year.
Okay - those cumulative totals are on the high side. But I would rather encourage that over the opposite of not taking enough time.

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thanks that’s what i was looking for :slight_smile:

Thanks, for the info Richard.

For me it was about 6 months also. However I do believe you really can’t go to slow but you could move to fast.

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I think I did grade 1 in around 2 months, maybe a bit longer.

Depends how much practice you do though, and how quickly you pick things up. Make sure you pass all the graduation requirements before moving on.

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Its not a race.

If you work, have a family etc you are not going to put in the same amount of hours as a teenager can etc.

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It takes however long it takes…
Don’t sweat over time…
Sweat over technique & retention.

I did Grade 1 twice & am now doing Grade 2 for the 2nd time @ 2 years with Justin.
What’s cool is when people recognize what you’re playing or ask if you know a song & you can actually play it (easy chords & strumming maybe…) from memory!!!
Good luck & keep it fun!!!

Tod

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@DSC1755 You have a lot of good answers and I can’t give you a definitive answer because I’ve been an open chord strummer for many years before I started Justin’s classic course. But even when I started again with the new Grade 1, I still spent a couple of months on the lessons and I’m still continuing to learn new songs at the Grade 1 level. Give yourself time to learn a lot of songs at the Grade 1 level, especially in the website song lessons. If you have fun playing songs, you will also be improving your chord changing skills.

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I wonder if I’m going too fast I’m on module 4 of G1 after 2 weeks.

Hi @Metro07, you’re going pretty fast😊 Wether it’s too fast or not really depends on you. Previous experience, dexterity, sense of rhythm, … all vary from one person to another and influence the speed with which one can learn to play guitar. Not to mention the amount of time invested. If you’re comfortable with everything you’ve learned so far and met the criteria set out by Justin at the end of each module, you should be fine. If you’re still struggling with certain aspects, keep them in your practice routine until you feel fine with it, but if you start stacking up stuff that’s still a bit iffy, consider slowing down and maybe even returning to certain modules/lessons until you have the techniques under you belt. The first grades are really about building a string foundation, so it’s very important to master these. So take your time, but you don’t have to hang around if you feel you’re up to speed.

@Metro07 the easiest way to figure out if you’re going to fast is ask yourself.
Can I play any songs using the chords A D E using 1 down strum per bar?
If the answer is No it’s time to slow down and work on a few simple songs.

Well, I practice 30-40 minutes a day, 5-6 days a week, and I “finished” Grade 1 in about 7 months. Grade 2 took about 1 year. Grade 3 took about 1.5 years, plus 6 months for consolidation.

YMMV

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I have been going for a few years. Just on the start of grade 2. But went back over grade one before I started 2. I still do not consider I know any songs and am just starting to practice singing and playing. But I can play 12 bar blues in a couple of keys using different strumming patterns with 7th chords from memory including turnarounds. Not sure if that counts as songs. I can also make up my own songs in a couple keys. I also can solo over backing tracks using the a minor pentatonic scale though I don’t know any official licks. Not sure if that counts either but I definitely am having fun with that. I’m getting better at playing along with the app to more complicated songs and I can make the f maj barre chord quite well on electric guitar. I am starting be able to change from open D chord to f barre and f barre to c major open. And my wife and I just play along together to songs on the app. But 12 bar blues we can do together from memory.

Just keep going and have fun as much as possible

Great information…Thank You!!

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Thanks for sharing…thank you for the encouragement