Hi everyone, Eva here from Germany. I am in my fourth month of learning guitar, mostly with Justin’s course, and I thought it was high time I made an account and get involved with the community.
I’m interested in a lot of things, and I’ve been jumping around the modules quite a bit because I get bored easily and need to try new things to keep me interested. I absolutely love fingerstyle, and I’m working on a few songs both from Justin and other internet tutorials. I love all the classics; I’m learning Mad World and Jolene atm, but there is also a famous German artist and guitarist I love since childhood (Reinhard Mey), and I’m working on his style of fingerpicking as well.
Otherwise, I just ask my friends and family what kind of songs they like, and if they are not too difficult, or there are easy versions, I try learning them. I’m working on my first scale atm, because I do want to improv at some point, and I’m very glad a friend not just played with me for an evening, but also loaned me his steel string guitar for a bit. I only have an old nylon one from my family, and I love the steel sound a lot.
Hi Eva,
Herzlich wilkommen and I wish you a lot of fun
I read that you are busy and peek over the fence a lot and are busy with things that will come later, that’s really good, I have done that too (a little to much ),
But don’t forget to complete the program from 1 to grade 3 as much as possible because the foundation you lay will be useful to you for the rest of your guitar life…
thank you, I already feel quite at home in the community, seeing as how many people have similar issues and questions as myself^^
Yeah, I know about foundations from other things I learned by myself and in groups, and I make sure to start there for every new thing I’m trying. And then practice, of course, and being on the lookout for common mistakes, or things that feel weird, etc. I have found that practicing in front of a mirror is really good to control yourself, and I have an experienced player who has already helped me with an issue I had early on.
But if I only play chords, I get bored, so once I got through Grade 1, I started with fingerstyle basics. Now I’m doing scale basics, while also being two steps further in chords (learning bar chords, percussive elements, 8 note strumming), and one step further in fingerstyle (trying to get faster). This way, I can switch from one to the other, still hopefully learning good foundations, and no boredom in sight.
Welcome Eva! Glad you are enjoying the start of your journey!
Heed Roger’s understated wisdom. There are so many exciting things to do, but there will be some rote learning (boring…) to get there and the foundation is your source of success.
I would argue that some boredom is good. We need to train our muscle memory to do things without our thinking directly about it. To get there, some simple things need to be repeated, more than a lot. Embrace it as a meditation.
Hi Jamolay, and thank you! Muscle memory is awesome, I can feel it developing in real time, and it’s so much fun when you can suddenly play your chords without even looking in the mirror^^ Switching between two different guitars makes it a bit challenging, since my friend’s western guitar is quite a bit narrower, but I think flexibility is good.
As for practice and meditation, yeah, I’m doing that. Just mostly with the easy songs instead of, you know, just chord changes. I play the parts I find challenging over and over, on a loop, very slowly, or speeding up with a metronome to keep pace. It really has a kind of meditative quality to it, now that you mentioned it. I often find I’ve been at it for hours, when it feels like one hour max^^
nice to meet you (virtually), an other one from Germany here (Nuremberg)!
Wow, you’ve advanced quite well already! Learning fingerstyle techniques, scales, embellishments, and barre chords, those are all things I’m currently working on myself. This will definitely lay a solid foundation for your playing, and will keep you interested.
Wishing you lots of fun progressing your skills, as well as participating in the forum!
Danke dir, Lisa, I’m having lots of fun with the community already! It’s like wursteling around by yourself for while, and then suddenly realising that, hey, other people with the same struggles exist, and I can learn from them. It’s awesome!
And yeah, I am aware of the pitfalls of my kind of learning by now, I’ve often enough fallen into them while learning other things. But apparently, I am capable of finally learning from those times, even if it took quite a while^^
Great to have you here. You’ve found the perfect place for your musical journey and there are lots of tutorials for fingerstyle, too.
Seems that you are making very good progress already in just four months.
Justin’s course is very comprehensive (and lots of fun), so give the lessons a look to make sure you don’t skip some important foundations. I’m sure you won’t get bored
Hello franzek, and thank you for the welcome and the kind words. I had a lot of time in those four months, and I must have been bitten by some kind of bug, because on some days it was like I couldn’t put the instrument down for long It has mellowed out by now, and I do not have quite as much time, so it will probably go a lot slower from now on.
What songs are you working on right now? Oh, wait, maybe you have a log here as well? It’s really quite interesting to see what fellow learners are working on.
I don’t have a log yet - I’m really thinking about starting one (franzeks late leaning log would be the title then ). If I only had a bit more time…
I’m currently working out of Prague at the moment, but once I’m back I’ll definitely provide you the list. It will be a long one, I’m probably working on too many songs at once. Like you, I need variety, to keep me interested. I’m learning songs that contain the F barre chord, songs that I can sing along to, and songs in 6:8 timing for my fingerstyle beginnings.
Hello Gunhild, and thank you for the welcome! It looks like there are a lot of Germans here^^
I stumbled upon Justin’s fingerstyle tutorial on youtube, and I’ve been learning from his videos ever since. I just love the sound and feel of it, it’s just so cool!
When I started, I gradually watched all of Justin’s grade one and two videos, and I peeked at the topics for grade three. Just to get a feel for the course, and what’s important, and where I would find the information if I needed it. And, quite frankly, to see if it was a good course or not, but I suspected that it was good from the very first video, and knew I was right by the third^^ I am very grateful I found Justin’s course.
I also wish you a lot of fun and success on your own journey!
I’m looking forward to your list, if you can find the time. It was quite surprising when I wrote down all the songs, and saw how many there were already. But sometimes, it is also nice to take stock and see what is already there, I think.
One piece of advice I offer to people new to learning guitar is to keep you guitar on a stand OR hanging on the wall somewhere that is easily available. Then, when you only have 5 or 10 minutes (I like to pick mine up for a few minutes while the coffee is brewing in the morning) and play or practice something that you’re having a bit of difficulty with! Those extra few minutes here & there in your day really make a difference in how fast things progress!!!
Keep it fun and enjoy your six-stringed friends!!!
Hello Eva, welcome to the community forum. I keep it interesting by trying to watch as many of Justin’s song lesson videos as I can. Even the grade 1 song videos can have more advanced techniques added after the beginning lesson is given. An example is grade 1 song lesson for Mad World. At the 6:10 time in the video, Justin shows a simple fingerstyle version. In grade 2 the classic songs Can’t Help Falling in Love and Always on My Mind have interesting chord variations and fingerstyle. I also keep it interesting by alternating weeks between exploring new lessons and the next week practicing older lessons and using in songs for consolidation of skills. Have fun with guitar and learning songs.
),
It has mellowed out by now, and I do not have quite as much time, so it will probably go a lot slower from now on.
). If I only had a bit more time…