We are developing a Beginner Journal to aid students working their way through Stage I, II and III of the Beginners Course. This is an actual, physical journal. In this Journal, student track their progress in a tangible and light-hearted fashion. We also want it to bring something extra to the JustinGuitar Experience while it ties in with the existing material. It wont be crucial to making progress but it will enrich the experience, help you making notes and tracking your progress.
Think of colorful bullet journals, doodles, boxes to color, chord shapes to draw, putting your mood and progress on paper, seeing your growth in knowledge and skill grow in a tangible and graphical fashion.
While we already have some fun ideas to include, we are curious to discover what YOU would expect from such a Journal. How should it make you feel, what should it include, what do you like in notebooks, journals, agenda’s, colour books, inside and outside…
Imagine yourself just beginning your guitar journey, being gifted a guitar for Christmas (by your family or by yourself because you earned it ;)). From a good friend you receive this Journal and you open it up…
Share your thoughts and ideas with us!
A big thanks from the JustinGuitar Team!
LievenDV
By the way, the Journal aims at beginners.
If you are beyond that level, imagine yourself being a beginner again!
An interesting idea, Lieven. I am an outlier on the continuum of journaling on the non-journaling side (despite enjoying updating my Learning Log). As such can’t imagine what I might want from this. But shall follow with interest.
Hi Lieven,
I’m also curious what others will come up with,…it’s all been arranged so very well here I think…but who knows,what creative ideas people come up with… .
I keep looping this sentence myself,and see so many beautiful things pass by
@roger_holland@DavidP
Exactly, that’s what this questionnaire is for.
To put my toe in the water and feel the temperature; get a taste of the expectations.
You know it’s not for everybody but you want to, at least, draw some lines on the chalkboard.
I noticed people tend to have different ideas.
It all has to make sense as well; how does it compliment the existing material, what is the deliberate redundancy? How does managing practice in a book compare with the online practice assistant?
How creative is the target group of this product and where is the drop off? There is always the risk of making it too crazy or people might find it childish or silly. Be too conservative and it becomes bland and boring.
I always love to hear peoples opinions and especially feelings.
Even without knowing anything about it, a first shared sentiment can be an important red or green flag.
One thing to add if the journal is to be published for it to be wire bound. That was always the good thing about Justin’s song books having the option to get a wire bound copy.
Also since joining the new forum it has become clear that there are a lot of learners that only use the application so some sort of journal would be a good companion to the application.
You could include pages similar to the below in it which Justin produced for Radio 2 along with Qr code link to website lesson and similar exercise recording templates that are in the old beginners course books:
Thanks @Socio valuable tips! Totally forgot about those docs you posted!
Indeed, the usability and experience of the product itself, like being able to leave it open, the feel, the kind of paper etc. matters too. I’m curious on how we’ll manage to tackle all these things as well.
It would also be a really nice touch to have a couple of pick holders in the cover with some branded Justin Guitar picks especially if you were given it to someone who was just about to start their guitar journey as a gift.
Hi Lieven, interesting idea! On one hand, I think this could be a really good supplement to the exising medias. On the other hand it would be maybe really important to not dissipate your forces. There already are the website, the app, the course books, the songbooks…
I really love this concept of learning, but in the beginning I was quite overwhelmed of all those options. I first ordered the Beginners course books and the songbook, started with them, then I found the website and on top the app. Very early in my journey, I first had to look for an overview, because books did not correspondent with the chronology from the website and the app showed not all content of the website and songs in the play along session were different to the songbook. So it took me some time to realise, that using the website as my basic tool works best for me. What I’m trying to say is, that in the beginning it’s relatively hard to get an overwiev, which medium is useful for what. Several times people wrote in this community, that they are using the app and didn’t even realise, that there is a website and that it’s full of precious content, which is not included in the app (yet?).
And on top, all those incredible offers like other courses as f. ex. music theory, ear training, strumming techniques and so on can be found on the website, but first have to be noticed by users.
If you’re planning to create another physical medium, I would appreciate, if there was somekind of a big chart showing all courses and items at one sight, including information, how things work together or which additional options are useful at which point. All this options in the beginning are a huge amount of input and if there was a graphical overview, one had a visual representation of progress and when to integrate additional skills. You can travel from Munic to Rome in maybe 8 hours, but if you consider to take a few brakes for a little sightseeing on the way, you maybe get more out of your trip…
Hard to say that in English, hope you’ll understand…
You make a good point about consolidation and what there is to offer.
Showing the path and relevant options is a crucial part and you are not wrong pointing out it isn’t always crystal clear. Considering the usefulness of an extra (physical) medium at this point sure needs to be taken seriously!
Btw, your info was very clear and easy to understand while my mothertongue aint English either
Yes, I had come across it as well shortly after starting the beginner course and saved the lesson plans into my repository of useful guitar information as you do
@Stuartw
I must be bit like you I have compiled something similar as I have gone along with print outs of parts of lesson such as chords etc. It also has songs, singing lesson, theory etc.
It is display folder with 40 pockets, I thought at the time that was easily enough, now thinking I am probably going to need another one and probably two!
@LievenDV
Have now had a chance to have a look the Radio 2 notes that @Socio posted. Not sure what direction this idea will go but if you wanted some revision notes/ aide memoir then they would be a good start.
As a Grade 1 beginner have already printed them off and will file them with the rest of the notes i have accumulated already.
I filled out the Google docs survey yesterday but thought I’d add a comment to balance. I’m similar to @DavidP, I don’t journal and can’t see how I would use this.
I keep two plastic binders of songs (one for current stuff, one for archived) and everything else is digital (I used the app, but switched to the website as it’s better). I did buy one of Justin’s song books a while ago but ended up printing out the songs from that I play and putting the print out in my own binder.
I like this idea. After going through grades 1 and 2, I began going through them again last year and continue to proceed through grade 2 now. I created my own binder this time through to take notes, draw diagrams, etc. - essentially building a journal such as this. I think a journal including the information @Socio posted would be great.
There are multiple learning styles. While some thrive on just apps and videos, others may reinforce their learning by writing their own notes and having something tangible they can thumb through. This would be a great help to the latter.
It’s a nice idea, although I’m not a real beginner anymore and I prefer (not) to take my own notes.
On a related note, I think a Notes/Notebook feature that would be independent of the lessons/songs would be a useful addition to the website. It would make it easier to jot down whatever notes or ideas I want to without having to search for a relevant lesson/song and add the text there.
I am loving learning through the website but it has been (and continues to be) a little confusing to grasp when to shoot of on tangents. Maybe this is just because of new in here and I’m a slow learner but I think the learning path should be made as intuitive as possible.
