I donāt view this as being āOff Roadā. Everybodyās learning path is going to vary. Nobody is expected to stick to an exact formula and to play nothing other than that formula.
Hereās a rough outline of the path Iāve followed:
2001-ish - first acoustic guitar, tried (and failed) to learn from a book
2007-ish through late 2008 - lessons from 2 different private instructors. I switched instructors when I moved. graduate school and a very severe medical issue stopped progress
2018-ish - took a group beginnerās class through the local community college. went well to start with but the pace was too fast by the end and I got left behind. ended up with neuropathy in my fretting fingers (persistent numbness/tingling) that took months of no guitar whatsoever before it went away
2024 - took a beginner module from a different online program. some subtle instructional methods got through some barriers that had hindered me in the past and I finally started to absorb stuff and make some progress.
mid 2024 - got a private instructor, who pushed me on a lot of stuff. some probably too early (like soloing) but other stuff was great. one song he got me on is one I still really like to play regularly. others I revisit here and there.
late 2024 thru 2025 - took an online āguitar bootcampā class that had a beginner path. like the group class I took earlier, everything went well to start with but by the end the pace of the class was too fast and I couldnāt keep up. I also started to decide I wanted to learn some blues - took some beginner blues modules on another learning platform and did some really basic blues shuffle 12 bar rhythm stuff. also started Justinās Grade 1. A lot of what I had done prior was included here, but not everything. So I just went through Grade 1 in its entirety. I was doing too much and got overwhelmed. In early 2025 I stopped private lessons because I got laid off from work. I also stepped back from doing online lessons regularly because I wanted to work on refining what Iād been through.
2025 into 2026 - focused on my rhythm and playing with others. attended local guitar jams and local uke jams (with my guitar). focused on just playing songs. learned some chords along the way. got better at āfindingā the beat when Iām in a chaotic large group play environment. bought Justinās Strumming SOS course and worked through some modules to help out there. In late 2025 I bought Justinās Solo Blues course. Iām no singer, so this is my jam. Took a looooong time working on the piece in the first module. Decided that itās time I started to shift a focus to learning new material again. Finally managed to use a full F barre chord in a song (AND performed that song in an open mic performance!). Started on Grade 2 courses. Currently working on some early Grade 2 songs. Found a jam buddy and started working with him to put together a few songs to play together at an open mic performance. Bought a baritone uke and have now signed up to attend a weeklong uke retreat (starts this Saturday). Given the similarity between baritone uke and guitar, I expect a good bit of what I learn should transfer directly between the two instruments. And what doesnāt transfer directly shouldnāt be too difficult to transpose/transfer.
My pathway has been circuitous to say the least. Iāve been learning things the whole time. Yeah, Iāve colored outside the lines when it comes to specific courses. But instead of it looking like a big mess, Iām just making that artwork my own. When it comes to the songs Justin lists for different grades, I play the ones that interest me. And I find other songs outside that which interest me. Some of them go beyond the āgradeā Iām working on. Iām working on some Grade 3 songs right now, even though I havenāt touched any Grade 3 lessons. Some of the songs I enjoy playing arenāt included in any of Justinās grades. And if they were, I have no idea where theyād fit.
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I get inspired by the children who play so well.