Hi Nicole
Yes, I’ve realized that SOS2 and SOS3 have a different focus. I’ll probably go back and forth between SOS3 and SOS2 in order not to miss anything important 
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Rachel,
And still only half way through Grade 2 , 
:
R
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Bruce here, from the northeast corner of the USofA, Maine, that is.
Serioso newb here. Started guitar/musical journey in August 2024, a month after closing my work email for the last time.
Now there’s more time for tackling those time intensive life bucket list items.
I’m near the end of module 2 of Grade 1 (using the App), and found that while I can
- get OK “scores” (40-60/minute) on the one minute chord changes
- I can consistently strum on the first beat,
- I can get my fingers on the chord (mostly) without looking
- When putting it all together, my brain goes haywire when I try to add “old faithful”, or really any strumming pattern, to the mix and my fingers go all over the place, then I get flustered, and I don’t even know where my hand is on the fretboard.
- It’s almost like my brain cannot process the information that the left fingers are sending
My thinking is that maybe, just maybe, if I can get the heel tapping and the strumming more on autopilot, then that’ll free up come cognitive ability to process input from the left hand.
Simultaneously, as @Richard_close2u says, just play more songs.
So, I drop the App play along speed way down, and that helps mightily too.
Cheers–>see you in the message boards
Bruce
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Doug here from Thailand hello all! I have been practicing guitar for about 3 years over a 15 year period so off and on but now retired and definitely on. One of my biggest frustrations has always been good strumming which actually surprised me. I would have never guessed this to be one of the biggest challenges but yes it’s harder than that dang F chord for me at least. I have used 3 different online training courses over the years and just recently decided to try JG. I think because it’s free I had dismissed it as a viable coarse but boy was I wrong. This strumming coarse I highly recommend to everyone struggling as I have. This coarse is a turning point for me in my playing and I appreciate Justin very much. One thing I will also say is having sort of a connection with your instructor has also played an important role in this journey. Justin is just a cool guy and since we must spend a lot of time with said instructor it is important. Thank you Justin!
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Just bought the full set of Strumming SOS materials. I’ve been playing for about a year and a half now and have been taking the last few months fairly easy. Back in the fall, I bit off a bit too much and got overwhelmed.
After some real consideration of where my difficulties lie, I’ve decided to pick up this strumming SOS program to tighten up my rhythm. Sometimes I do alright, but sometimes I struggle with it, so I think it’ll help.
I’m starting all the way at the beginning just in case there was something I missed and I already found something. In the lesson about holding the pick, much of it I figured out on my own, I’m a bit miffed that none of the beginner online lessons or in-person lessons really honed in on the detail of what it means to “angle your pick”. It’s such a simple thing to cover and yet it took me many months to realize what it took Justin a couple minutes to address.
So I’m sure there will be more details I’ve missed as I work my way deeper.
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