That’s exactly how I used to be and tbh it’s a recipe for failure! If you don’t follow the course to the letter you’ll never learn to play guitar properly; you’ll learn to play a few recognisable songs (probably badly) but it’s not about doing that it’s about learning to play a musical instrument correctly. Do you want to learn to play guitar or just haphazardly knock a few barely recognisable songs out.
I had been playing for most of my life when I started on here on the old site, I thought I could play OK, but I had a rude awakening, there was so much I couldn’t do properly and so much I didn’t know. Now I can confidently have a go at more or less anything - I make my own music now mostly, very rarely covers.
Basically you need to decide what you want to do, do you want to learn how to play guitar properly or otherwise?
I do mess with dynamics , cant say I am good at it but I am aware of it as a concept and I do try to incorporate it even if it doesn’t sound great yet.
Another thought. I’ve just looked up songsterr and the songs that come up on their list seem to be dominated by
Metallica, Iron Maiden, Guns n Roses, AcDc, Black Sabbath.
Are these the type of songs you are playing? If so, I’m not surprised they sound bad when played by using chords.
I might be on completely the wrong track here but it’s just a thought.
there is literally almost anything you can think of in songsterr lol
Ok, what type of songs are you learning Ron?
Songsterr is basically a digital song tab book nothing else, no tuition, the only redeeming part is that it plays it back to you.
A much better method is to find backing tracks and play along with them.
Here’s a better resource for learning to play songs, much better!
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9l_IFlDcihj7tOCyrx-7p4ROklmhko1b&si=HUGioCINjhpyvXKA
Bottom line I guess
I’d just keep practicing using chords in songs through the app.
it might not be following Justin’s course accurately but at least it gives you some foundation.
When I see I can make playing songs using chords slightly more engaging I’d put more time into that outside of what the app forces me to do.
I do put an emphasis on getting the right technique down I just hope that purely using the app to replace the song work I am supposed to do on my own won’t hurt as much afterwards.
it is what it is I guess lol
Follow my link I’ve added above.
How about posting a video showing us what you’re playing Ron.That might give us a better idea for suggestions.
I will keep that link , thanks 
You’re welcome, Angela also does more advanced as well, she’s very thorough!
It’s also worth having a look at her channel, there’s quite a bit of interesting content about her music!
Nice little lesson on Locomotive Breath (Jethro Tull) on there that’s just kept me from doing proper work for the last hour - thanks! 
Hi Ron,
This stands out to me:
If you are happy with the melody but not with the chord strumming, it suggests to me you are not hearing all the pieces in the music you want to play. The chords are generally the rhythmic fill where the vocals are usually the melody.
Try listening to a song you want to play to identify the various instruments playing. Be mindful to NOT concentrate on the melody part, but hear the stuff going on behind the melody. What is the drum doing, what is the bass doing, what guitar strumming is happening. This can help you hear what you are playing with beginner strumming and how it fits into the song.
You can also look at some of the very basic beginner songs that have a chord fill and nothing else. Try listening to “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield and “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac. Pay attention to how the chord strumming carries the song along to hold up the vocal melody.
My guess is doing this will help you see the place of the chords in the song and you’ll then be better able to play them with the song instead of feeling outside the song.
Hi @RonBlade , lots of interesting comments, here are a couple of mine:
The first songs you learn on guitar are really only interesting to listen to if you sing along (or if a friend sings while you play). Without a singer, the songs are not recognizable, as you say. Many people play along with the original recording and get some satisfaction from that. (This is a very good thing to do, btw).
Generally, for a song to be recognizable from the guitar part, there usually has to be some individual note playing – riffs or fills or solo sections. (It’s good to be aware of dynamics, but I don’t think chords + dynamics alone will make many songs recognizable.) These riffs/melodies require a certain level of playing, which you may not be at yet. For example, the little melody line which is incorporated with the chords in a song like Norwegian Wood.
Learning to play the main (vocal) melody of a song on the guitar can be gratifying, but to be frank, it will soon get a bit boring. Also, it’s not really learning how to play the guitar. It’s like learning how to play melodies with 1 finger on a piano. Sure, you recognize the melody of the original song, but it’s not really learning the piano (or guitar). (I should add that learning to play a song’s melody by ear is an important skill for more advanced players and, indeed, Justin has a lesson on it in Grade 3, I believe).
My suggestion is to stick with learning songs in the usual way: strumming chords. Play along with the original recordings. Even better, get somebody to sing along while you play. (BTW, you don’t have to figure out the strumming pattern on your own – find a tutorial on youtube that teaches the song).
Continue with the single note melodies if you like: there’s no harm it. Once you get a bit more advanced, you can try songs like Norwegian Wood, Heart of Gold, Needle and the Damage Done (lots of Neil Young songs are good for this), that are mostly strumming with some simple riffs or melodies incorporated that make the songs instantly recognizable.
Hi Ron, I don’t know Songsterr so I don’t know what you’re talking about when you refer to it. My 2 advices are:
- check the first grades of Justin’s Theory Course and learn what a chord is and how it is constructed…it’ll be easier to make friends with chords if you know what they really are! And…trust me…an entire new world will open up for you (especially that your ear is inclined to melody)
- when you play a song, choose a simple one, just focus on the sound when you switch chords, do it as an exercise, leave strumming patterns, just downstrum on the 1 or on all beats… it’ll give your ear some satisfaction … well, try and let me know…
Yousican does that.
when you play a song on Yousican at least in level 5 which is where I am at you just play the chords on the beat without a strumming pattern, its fine and all and it helps me get the dexterity to switch chords in the right timing.
but I dont bother remembering any of the songs cause the collection of songs in that app isn’t that great and like I said even when I switch the chords perfectly it doesn’t sound very good to me.
I just do it as a practice rather than actually caring about which song I play in the backround lol.
it just sucks that using the chords doesn’t sound good right now.
I did watch grade 1 of Justin’s music theory course.
thats wrong , even on YS there are strumming patterns , you just do not identify them
I’m doing grade 2. I sometimes struggle with strumming patterns if Old Faithful doesn’t work. But not for too long because if I’m bothered about learning the song, Justin will have a lesson on it, or someone else will. I recently learned “Don’t look back in anger” - it’s largely downstrums, but I only know that because I watched Justin’s lesson on it - prior to watching the lesson my playing was unrecognisable as the song.
Taking perhaps a different approach to what others have said - is there something else that helps with the way your senses work? Perhaps the sound of an amp or something you can / can’t do with the guitar controls or pedals.
E.g. If I play “Don’t look back in anger” through a Vox AC30 voicing with single coils - it sounds nothing like it should (to me). Humbuckers through an overdriven Marshall and then it sounds right. Conversely “Summer of 69” on a Marshall voicing doesn’t sound right to me, but sounds good through a Vox (single coils vs humbuckers don’t have a big bearing for me on this one, though I do tend to choose the single coils for it).
100s, maybe 1000s of songs use the same chord progression. But these songs don’t all sound alike. And that is what you are observing. That a chord progression is not unique and cannot be used to identify a song. Thus, unless there is an accompanying melody, or vocals there is no way to tell these songs apart.
Check this out:
While the chords are in your fretting hand, the music is in your strumming hand!
If I understand what you’re saying, what you’re experiencing is normal. With most songs, rhythm guitar alone, no backing track, no band, no vocalist, is not going to be recognizable, because the melody is absent. Very few songs are recognizable from the rhythm part alone.