Not sure which forum I’m meant to into myself, but new to guitar. I’m in my 5th week now and have been following JustinGuitar and learning from scratch.
Based in Australia and have been slowly take small progress recordings a little here and there.
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Umm…so I’ve “failed” at piano, violin and drums for various reasons e.g. bit younger and less mature at the time. Difficulty in finding the time to practise etc.
I’m now in a space where I feel committed and the guitar sits next time at all times and I just pick it up and play when I have a spare moment. My last attempt at learning a musical instrument, fouth time lucky hopefully.
In terms of aspirations. I’m really playing for me and want to get to a point where I can play certain songs I like. There is some classic rock songs that sounds cool I’d definitely want to play, but also some music from Japanese pop culture is my aim.
Not a big metal fan necessarily but don’t hate it either. I would be happy if I can get to a point where I can learn the songs I’ve heard and like with reasonable pace and be able to play the melody as well (I think the guitar world calls that “lead”) but more for the purposes of replacing vocals on songs with the guitar’s “voice” since I won’t be singing :).
If I get that far, I’ll be stoked.
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I do feel like my practise routine is growing which is nice!! Songs are probably my weakest area since I don’t really know songs like music enthusiasts. So have just been learning bits and pieces here and there and following youtube on some play alongs to try the chords.
Ok so much for my low key just say hi in an existing thread.
But yeah I’m taking a look at the songs on the site. But I am happy to report the sore fingertips only lasted 2 weeks which was a nice suprise haha.
Oh and just in case anyone’s interested. I’ve moved on in some of the material in the beginner section and jumped around a little.
This is my current practise routine:
Working on A, Am, D, Dm, E, Em, Big G, C and started the F bar chord.
Open E minor pentatonic
A minor pentatonic
Open C major scale
and slowly trying to incorporate using the metronome into the practise as I become familiar.
Still trying to boost consistency on the chord changes - can I come back later for the stuck chords?
The only requirement I probably haven’t properly passed is committing 5 songs to memory. But I can definitely pass the chord change requirements at 30 per minute, but have been trying to push 60. So it’s still part of the practise routine.
I’m doing play along songs on youtube just to test it here and there so I can put it to pragmatic use.
So technically I’m kinda in grade 2 but bouncing around the beginner material and still have grade 1 material in my practice routine if that makes sense.
But it’s been quite fun learning.
The bit as I mentioned above that I probably need to spend a bit more time on is actually on song application.
Oh and thank you for inviting me to the community and saying hi!!!
Just select 3 of you best chords, perhaps D, A and E and you will get all the songs with just those chords. You can learn a number of songs with just those, at least enough to feel the mojo. From U2 to Johnny Cash, even so cool hip ones if those are not your jam.
While it was not a dream to play Desire by U2 or Walk The Line by Johnny Cash. I am really glad I have those easy song in my wheel house now. They do have value and they are good foundational type music. Belive it or not in these song lessons Justin gives some really good tips that are not always covered in his regular lessons. This is something I didn’t get until I was at the end of my second grade. Here is the first little bit of the results. Lots of solid songs. Haha a song I sang to my wife was ‘This land is your Land’ by Woody Guthrie she sang along. Totally cheesy but super fun. Now its like full on campfire song. So yeah lots to be found even for a punk rock snowboarder dude like me.
Sounds like you are on the right track. Keep up the good work. Lock in those chord changes now and then you will never need to worry about them again as you will have new ones coming up as you advance. Welcome to the community.
Welcome to the forum, always good to hear from another aussie here, there’s a few of us lurking in the shadows.
The fact that you’ve tried numerous other instruments means there’s a strong desire to become a musician. i encourage you to make playing a daily habit, even if it’s only 10 minutes a day, make it always happen. We are creatures of habit, if you do some introspection I’m sure you’ll find a number of habits that just happen now without thinking, make guitar playing one of those.
The reward is really worth it. Seems a hard effort at first but for me, once I could play my first song all the way through made such a difference. You’ll see posts around here that reinforce the songs songs songs message.
Yeah the song thing I’m slowly cracking. I sat down and just played through some last night. Honestly there’s some reasons why the other instruments didn’t do so well. This time it’s different!! (famous last words).
The force is strong this time!! haha
I’ve made it so it’s as easy as I can make it to practise which is why the guitar sits right next to me at all times now which has made me able to do about 2-3 hours a day so far for the last 4.5 weeks. Lets see how I go though - so far it’s been pretty fun which is why it hasn’t felt like it a chore!!
When I get a chance, I’ll try post a link of some recordings of my progress!
That’s exactly what I did. You hear comments on various forums about keeping your guitar in your case and that to me would have been a barrier to playing it more.
2-3 hours a day is awesome. Keep up the great work.
I’ve been playing for well over a decade now, yeah, my mind still tells me I’m frustrated with what I can’t do, but in reality, I’m doing things with music I never dreamed of before I started. Playing open mics confidently, doing cafe and festival open mics, jamming from memory with the other blokes every week at the Men’s shed. The reward is really stunning when I think about how much of my lifestyle involves playing music. Mostly to myself, but magical when it’s with others.
Over the Easter long weekend went to a musos camping gathering and every night played in jams around campfires that went for hours. Life is good as a muso
I really like you mentioned having guitar next to you works, because it really does. Its important to keep your guitar out and very reachable, so it encourage you to pick it. Good luck on your journey.
Hello Ben.
Welcome to JustinGuitar and this fantastic community. Please take your time to look around and get to know the wider space. https://community.justinguitar.com/categories
We are a supportive and encouraging group of students and guitarists from across the world. Essentially, we are all here for music and to improve as players. We truly are a ‘community’. Members help and support one another and a friendly, positive attitude underpins this. We hope that all - young or old, experienced or new players - adopt and foster the pay-it-forward ethos that Justin personifies and embedded all those years ago when he started the website and forum.
Also, please make sure to read the community etiquette announcement for some important information and guidance.
yeah it’s definitely on my agenda. I have some rough recordings from each week but I haven’t had the time to sit down and collate it or just keep the relevant bits
I’m pretty slow at working through my to do list but I hope to get there sooner than later!
Just so everyone knows that has read this introduction post or is lurking. I’ll be transitioning all my updates to my learning log as suggested by GrumpyMac.
Ontime - thanks for the push on songs. I’ve started dedicated a bit more practise time to just having some fun with songs a bit!!
