Goals & Destinations

Beginner Grade 3 Module 17: Finger Strums, Triads & The Musician
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Make the most out of your practice time by deciding where to take your guitar journey. Learn to set motivating, achievable goals!


View the full lesson at Goals & Destinations | JustinGuitar

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Iā€™d love to record quality songs in the style that I really like. Iā€™ve already recorded and released a song since I started my guitar journey and the course 6 months ago but I feel like thereā€™s so much stuff in my musical mind that I still donā€™t know how to express through my guitar as well as the quality of my recording is definitely lacking

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Hi all,

Looking for some perspectives here. Iā€™m just about wrapping up module 17. Iā€™ve found since jumping into the Orange there is a new skill in each module, some of which are going to take some practice.
Some of these I can already feel are going to be very relevant to me others less so. As a guy who loves punk and 80s style rock, The ones Iā€™m finding use for:

  • scales joining chords
  • plucking strings while strumming

Some Iā€™ve found less relevant:

  • finger style
  • peel offs

I know the answer in general will be put effort into the things you are going to use most but I was keen to hear some perspectives on what things should t be dismissed before say moving to intermediate level guitar. What skills seem to crop up often even if not immediately apparent?

Cheers all

PS I say the above then go against my own words as I am commuting to getting happy birthday finger-style to memory, in time for my little girls 3rd birthday on the 17th.

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That seems to happen to me on a regular basis, in that something will come along that I really want to play, and will require a particular skill that isnā€™t part of my ā€˜standardā€™ repertoire.

(Iā€™ve been working on fingerstyle for a while now as I want to play a couple of tunes that really require it!)

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It happens to me all the time :joy:

I started almost 3 years ago, and I think I started to have clearer ideas about the future path(s) of my guitar journey about a year in. Sometimes I wish I had 2 or 3 goals I could set in stone, but then where would all the fun and unplanned discoveries go?

My current ideas are:

Do all of Justinā€™s lessons on strumming and rhythm - this is something I wasnā€™t very diligent about
Music theory all the way - Iā€™m now in grade 5 of the course and itā€™s still very interesting
Fingerpicking - continue the Folk Fingerstyle module
Transcribing - this sort of happens every time I manage to ā€œdecipherā€ a short phrase or melody. It gets easier with time.

Longer-term goals:

Delve into Justinā€™s lessons on jazz guitar
Funk guitar - if my fingers can keep up

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I would like to become an all round better guitarist. I want to improve my finger style technique but also work on my soloing. I love learning new songs but need to concentrate on theory and technique.

More delta blues and folk.

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I would like to have some gigs and get more involved in the band of my friends. I have been playing guitar on/off since 2019. However, during the pandemic, I went on my guitar journey alone and did not learn to play with a metronome. Only now do I realize what was missing from my playing. I found the Greensleeves lesson very useful as it is the first song I learned to play with a metronome. I would also want to work towards playing Guitar more consistently. Winter break gave me time to play guitar every day but Iā€™m not sure how to keep it up[once winter break ends] as return to high school (I use this as an excuse) and end up procrastinating on this small goal once again. I would like to work on my ear to transcribe better melodies. I remember things[and overhear things] about people I do not talk to. Things like their favorite artist. I want to transcribe their favorite songs just for one day they think Iā€™m weird for playing 4 peopleā€™s favorite songs. Still need to work out how to accomplish and go forth with some of these. Thank you for reading [maybe skipping] all the way down.

(quick edit since Iā€™m lazy) practice my harmonics, palm muting, bending in tune, and learn to play triplets or anything that isnā€™t a quarter or eighth note, bend slide pull off on beat, maybe stop playing for 2 hours and end up not making progress

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My goal was to play well enough to strum campfire songs. Now Iā€™m sick to death of campfire songs :rofl: so my goal has changed.
I want to play folk songs especially fingerstyle. I want to be able to sing along and for it to sound good. I can play some songs ok and I can sing pretty well without the guitar but when I try to do them simultaneously Iā€™m too intensely focused on the guitar and the singing comes out sounding not that great.

A long term goal is to learn the notes on the fretboard well enough to be able to look at a musical score and play it without having to spend ages figuring out the location of the notes on the fretboard first. I feel like I should know the notes on the first frets already, I donā€™t know why itā€™s so hard to learnā€¦ If anyone has a good method Iā€™d love to hear.

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My big picture goal is to have guitar as a hobby to relax and have fun after a long day at work.

Therefore, I set the following medium-term goals.

  • Develop a solo song repertoire with song arrangements that sounds great on their own without the need to sing.
  • Spend time playing with metronome and backing tracks.
  • Record myself to keep track of my progress and to have memories of my journey.
  • Perform in a community open mic.
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Mine is kinda unusual one. I donā€™t ever want to play any other peopleā€™s material.

I want to play spontaneously - 100% improvise. Kinda ambient style mostly, but not exclusively.

I donā€™t use a pick - finger style and strumming only.

I use looper a lot - canā€™t quite improvise chords and melodies at the same time - that would be nice to achieve.

When and if I ever get to retire (Iā€™m 52 right now and still a beginner/intermediate) I would love to busk out on the streets somewhere with a little amp and a looper.

No singing for me - my voice amplified makes me cringe every time.

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Hi I really found this lesson thought provoking and challenging. I am into my 2nd year on Justin Guitar and trying to practice 1 hour per day.
I am 64 years old so my long term goals need to be not that long and probably a bit smarter.
I think entertaining family and friends as a solo musician is where I would like to get to but I would also like to be able to perform a couple of classical soloā€™s such as Parisienne Walkways by Gary Moore and some Tony Iommi Black Sabbath riffs as they enthrall me and excite me.
Not yet piecing together what I need to get there but still enjoying the musical journey - although for my old fingers it is at times a hard slog.
Great topic Justin so now I need to go away and think about goal setting - thanksā€¦