Hi everyone. I’m a newbie here so forgive me if I’m missing something simple. I’m confused about what I thought some of the exercises were supposed to be and what the app seems to want from me - specifically the chord perfect and anchor finger exercises.
My understanding from Justin’s video was that these are supposed to be done for a certain length of time - one minute, three minutes, whatever. Both exercises will tell me in the app how long I should do them for but then both will just wait until it hears me do 3 reps of whatever it is and then tell me I’m done with no reference to how much time has gone by. This makes no sense to me in particular for the anchor finger exercise. I was under the impression from the videos that we weren’t really supposed to be playing the strings at all for that one. What the app seems to want me to do doesn’t bear much resemblance to what I thought Justin described.
What am I missing? Seems like implementing a timer would be much simpler. I know I can just time it myself but then why am I using the app? ( I know, the songs)
Despite everything I just wrote, I am really enjoying finally trying to learn to play the guitar that’s been sitting, lonely and ignored, in my garage for the past 20 years. Well, except for the fingertips on my left hand but you have to start somewhere.
Thanks in advance for (hopefully) pointing out whatever it is that I have overlooked.
Hi @jobrien929 John, and welcome to the forum! I don’t have the app anymore, so I can’t check what’s happening there - but I’m sure someone else will jump in on this. However, I can tell you that what you thought you understood is exactly what you’re supposed to do: do the exercise for a certain amount of time. So if this is not what the app is doing, it seems that it’s the app not doing what it’s supposed to do - not you 
And if you have a couple of minutes, why don’t you pop over here and tell us something about yourself and your journey. It’s always nice to ‘know’ who you’re talking to!
Hi John & Welcome!
@LadyOfTheCastle has it right… Justin recommends a set period of time. I have the app but only use it for song practice & therefore can’t really say much else.
I will say:
Justin’s practice suggestions are exactly that - suggestions. If your practice routine calls for say 5 minutes of OMCs for chords that you are nailing regularly, put something you really like or want/need to work on in that 5 minutes.
I came to learn with Justin after years of “Endless Beginner Syndrome”, so quite a bit of Grade 1 and 2 were things I didn’t need to practice everyday for 3-5 minutes a day. Use the time wisely so you don’t feel bored!
Good luck with your guitar journey!
Tod
PS you can tag @MusopiaApps with problems with the app or within the Justin organization @FannyJustinGuitar or @larynejg , they can often help!
Thanks for the responses.
So do most people just use the website for practice? It doesn’t seem like that app isn’t working right - just that what they have it doing doesn’t line up with what Justin recommends to do.
@LadyOfTheCastle I’ve been putting off doing the “introduce yourself” post but now that I’ve actually posted I guess I probably should.
@CATMAN62 I’m pretty much starting from scratch. The next time I nail an exercise cleanly will be the first time. Something to look forward to, I suppose.
Hi @jobrien929, I use the website for lessons and practice, and used the app for the play along feature (for which it is absolutely great). The website has some more content, with a written out summary of the lesson and a link to Q&A on the forum. Always nice to see you’re not the only one struggling
Like the app, the website also has premade practice routines, but with 2 differences compared to the app:
- For the 10 min song practice at the end, there’s a ready made video with about 3 songs, with chord changes on screen. So you don’t have to go looking for suitable songs in the app yourself.
- You can completely customise your practice routine, say when you move on to the next lesson, but there is an item of the previous one you are just not yet 100% comfortable with, you can add it to your new practice routine and move on.
As for the “introduce yourself” post: sorry, if I pressured you. Of course, if you don’t want to, you don’t have to - no problem at all!