Hey from Aaron in Maryland, US

Whatsup folks! Played for a while as a kid. Never took it seriously enough to get good. Look forward to learning.

I’ll look for more info about this to structure practices and balance songs with the module practice before I start firing questions!

Thinking about starting at the blues module because I remember most of the essential stuff…I also want to tackle Confortably Numb. The solo will be tough, but whatever… thoughts welcome!

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Welcome to the forum Aaron. Why not start with the beginner course? You should blow right though it and it will give you the structure you’re looking for and fix any bad habits you’ve picked up.

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Welcome Aaron! :wave: :slight_smile: Great to hear you’re getting back into it. :guitar: :metal:
The blues module is great fun! Although, having been someone who has also recently committed to guitar more seriously (and with some previous experience under my belt), I would highly recommend going through right from the start. Much of it is stuff you likely already know, but it doesn’t hurt to have a refresher and I definitely picked up on a few things that I’d skipped over previously. Even if it’s just a quick once through, I think it would be totally worthwhile :slight_smile:
In any case, all the best with your journey! Look forward to hearing how you progress! :guitar: :sunglasses: :+1:

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Thanks for the suggestions! I think you’re right. I’ll do that. Cheers!

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Hey Aaron. Welcome to the community. Good to hear from you and good luck on your progress. I started with Justin over 10 years ago and I don’t think the course grades were quite as structured back then. I gained a lot from picking and choosing which lessons seemed to suit me. Now there are times I go back to some of the newer lessons and often gain a bit from it. Look forward to hearing more from you.

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Hi Aaron,
Welcome , start from the beginning, you’ll probably fly through it with some great new tips and tricks,…and you’ll be playing the blues well before you realize it,…but above all, have fun :sunglasses:
Greetings,Rogier

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Hello and welcome to our community Aaron. :slight_smile:

Oooo, comfortably numb, I look forward to hearing that one when you’ve cracked it.

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Thanks all! I am starting at the beginning as suggested! Day two and, yes I think it is a good idea to re learn a bunch of this stuff. So, I will do the practices and play along with the app, which is actually really pretty great with the backing tracks…The one thing I have a question about for those that know is regarding scales while working on songs. I will choose a harder song eventually…should I also pick out whatever scale goes with the song to work on? Is it recommended to add scale module in addition, or should I wait until it comes up in the course?

Also, do you guys do the regular practice then pick a song to do at the same time as one of the “developing” songs in your repertoire?

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I’d definitely endorse that. I’ve been sorta learning the guitar off and on for ages, and am just about to have completed the first grade in a week! BUT, I’m so glad I did as I learned a LOT, dropped a few bad habits and felt vindicated on a few others idiosyncrasies and gave me the momentum to plough on into the next stage (though I am gonna pause and make sure I’ve got a decent mastery of the Grade 1 stuff first). Also am doing the first two grades of theory to boot.

I’d say I’ve learned some things new, and a lot of things better.

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Hi Aaron and welcome! Sounds like great ambitions to have, I’ll look forward to hearing how you get on! Enjoy :slight_smile:

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Hello Aaron, and a warm Welcome to the community :hugs:.

I normally tend to work on more than one song. There are just too many fantastic songs I’d like to learn :smiley:. And I love the variety. On the downside, working on several songs at the same time automatically means, that it takes longer before I finally feel, that I’ve mastered even one of them :wink:.
But I think, there is no right or wrong answer. The individual preferences are just too different :innocent:.

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Hello Aaron and a very warm welcome to JustinGuitar and the community.

To address your questions …

This suggests to me your will have learned in an unstructured way, playing riffs and bits and not building secure foundations and good technique.

I’m glad to hear it.
Piece by piece, step by step makes you a good all-round guitar player and musician. The app allows you to walk in parallel with my mantra - learn songs, learn songs, learn songs. Cool!

For scales, wait until they come along in the course.
Justin has extremely robust rationale for introducing scales as he does, when he does. He also has a video in which he discusses when not to learn scales. It encourages students to make the most and get musical with just one scale before even considering learning another. Being able to whizz fingers up and down multiple scales for no musical benefit or expression is not learning to actually play. It is like doing endless gym work without going out and being an athlete or team player.

Good question - split songs into those on your rota you can comfortably play at your current level and are keeping fresh against those you are developing and learning new.

I hope that helps.
Any questions - keep asking.
Cheers :smiley:
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