Introduction - hello all from Scotty - about 3 years learning so far

Hello all,
I’m almost 55 and have been learning for about 3 years. I tried teaching myself when I was 18, no YouTube back then, just books and I soon lost interest. Over 30 years later I bought myself an acoustic on a whim.
YouTube is great but also wastes a lot of time. I thought that this app would help me structure my practice.
I would really like to ask advice on the best features and how to use the app most effectively.
I guess I’m an intermediate with lists of bad habits.
Does the app evolve with you and will it have intermediate modules when I finish all beginners modules?
Thank you
Scotty

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Welcome to the forum Scott. As far as I know the app only goes up to grade 3. Most people just use it for the play-a-long feature and use the website for the lessons.

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Hi Scotty,
Welcome here and I wish you a lot of fun :sunglasses:

Greetings,Rogier

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Welcome to the community. Great bunch here, you will enjoy the support here.
you have been playing longer than me. Haha, but no one worries about skill levels and all questions are always answered. There is a lot to explore on the site.

Good luck.

:metal:t2:

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Hi Scott.
The App lessons are those on the website and the website has additional supporting content and resources. Where the App excels is the ay along function.
Learn songs, learn songs learn songs.

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.

Richard | JustinGuitar Approved Teacher & Moderator & Official Guide |
:grinning:

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Hi Scott my advice go do them 3 grades it will not hurt I done them and wow I thought at first no not for me been there done it but I was so wrong I still learnt loads I had missed and if you are not a total beginner it doesn’t take long so just do it and welcome mate cheers Hec

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Hi Scott, and welcome! As Hec @DeltaTyne suggests, many folks who came here with years of guitar experience have started at the beginning and gone through all the lessons. You’ll probably breeze through. Everyone who has done this (there are testimonials on the community) says they have identified and corrected bad habits, and feel the time was well worth the investment even though they might have been familiar with much of the material. Because of your background, I’d recommend viewing the lessons on the website (and be sure to read the info on the page too!) and using the app for practice. I suppose the app “evolves” in the sense that you the songs are graded, through grade 3. Do check back if/when you have more questions!

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welcome :slight_smile:

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Welcome to fun-pile Scotty

App and Website don’t talk to each other, so if you “finish” lessons on one, the other won’t know–not a show stopper.

Richer content on the Website (discussions, text, etc).

I think because of licensing costs, the (no-cost-to-use) website cannot present the play along songs gratis where the annual rental fee of the App covers the cost of licensing the songs.

I like the songs on the app primarily because I can adjust the speed (down, only) in 10% increments, until I’m able to play along, and then ramp it up as my skill set allows.
The songs include

  • Auto scrolling display
  • Adjustable BPM
  • Strumming pattern suggestion
  • Written Lyrics
  • Tabs
  • Option of simple backing tracks
    or sometimes
  • Option of fuller backing band
  • Option of backing band with sung lyrics (on many songs)
  • Option of click only (ie a metronome to the scrolling lyrics/tabs)

I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s (I’m not done yet) and many of the 1,500 available songs appeal to me–many are also unknown, and some of those hook me in–always fun to learn about new songs/artists.

Making it easier to find appropriate songs to play along with
the list of 1,500 titles (with minor additions/removals regularly) can be winnowed down by

  • genre
  • artist name
  • words in the title
  • chords used (including “prefer advanced chords”)
  • recently added songs

There’s a bug presently in the App that on some hardware the App doesn’t recognize that a string is being played (in “Chord Perfect”). This is but a minor annoyance, or none at all for you, in that your ear will tell you if you’re playing it well.

There’s also a couple of smaller apps for sale at almost no cost (I believe no longer being developed) that you might find useful
These are at: https://www.justinguitar.com/store/apps

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welcome Scott I don`t use the app just follow the courses and the recommended songs for the particular grade I am on

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Hey Scotty, welcome to the forum. I started playing when I was 53, well over 10 years ago. Started with Justin’s beginner lessons, there was no app back then. Once I got to where I could play a couple of songs I started to just follow the lessons that interested me. Look forward to hearing more from you.

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Hi Scotty,

+1 for starting at lesson one. There will certainly be a few (possibly important or helpful) things coming up in the lessons you missed.

If you find the idea boring, you could ride on two rails:

  • rail one: starting from lesson one - you’ll go quickly through what you know already
  • rail two: at other times, just search for fun lessons or songs that are more demanding - there’s a nice search function at Justinguitar to search for “power chords”, “vibrato”, “bending”… whatever… Or search for “Chacarera” at Youtube - Haha , these were just examples of what I searched for, you’ll certainly have other, more fun things in mind :slight_smile:

PS. There’s also a practice routine function included in the website with a timer and metronome for each item, so you can divide practice in “work” and “fun” parts without having to think what you’ll have to do next…

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Hello Scotty & Welcome!!!
Nothing to add to the advice given above… just have lots of FUN & don’t forget that we love guitar & gear pics here!!! Helps to fuel the G.A.S. :wink:

Tod from New Mexico USA

P.S. G.A.S. = Guitar/Gear Acquisition Syndrome in case you didn’t know!!!

Hi Scotty, welcome to the community forum.