Module 4 Practice

Beginner Grade 1 Module 4: Metronome, Stretches & THE Pattern
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Here’s a 20-minute practice schedule including all your new guitar skills.


View the full lesson at Module 4 Practice | JustinGuitar

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Hi all, question; I do my 10 minutes of song practice with the app, the “guitar-aoke” or guitar-hero style practice. Am I supposed to be incorporating strumming into that practice at this point? Is there a video that shows how to do that?

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Hello and welcome.

Yes you should incorporate any strumming pattern you like. I have seen some easy song lessons where Justin starts by playing along to the app. The only one that springs to mind is Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers, but that should give you an idea of what you are asking.

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Hello @jhinklej and welcome to the Community.
Your best advice comes from a left-handed Justin … aka Nitsuj. He taught himself to play left handed to check the veracity and quality of his new beginner course and, in part, to provide pointers and demonstrations of what the learning could look like at each stage.

Hope that helps.
Cheers :smiley:
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide

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Thank you for the reply! That’s one of the songs I’ve practiced I’ll give it a shot.

Cheers,
Jesse

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Hi @Richard_close2u this is exactly what I needed; I still play along like he does in module 1 practice 2/3, where I just play the chord at the right time, no strumming.

I see that in module 2 practice 1, he just strums the chord repeatedly on beat (I think that’s the phrase; he strums on 1-2-3-4) is that the best way to start?

Thanks again!
Jesse

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At the very beginning it’s perfectly fine to just strum on beat 1. That is the most important beat, and it is the one beat that you can’t allow yourself to miss. Then when that feels good, strum on 1 and 3. Then all 4! If you’re having trouble getting from beat 4 to beat 1 (I’m assuming a chord change there), slow it down until you are able to make that switch.

One other thing - even if you aren’t strumming on every beat, it is really important that you learn to keep your hand making the strumming motion the entire time. Keep that hand going up-and-down all the time.

Sounds like a lot, but just do what you can at first, stick with it, and don’t rush. Nobody is keeping score or grading you! Have fun!

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Spot on perfect advice from @Dave911

Cheers :smiley:
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Official Guide

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Hello all,
I find practicing with drum backing tracks more enjoyable instead of metronome. Will this be any less beneficial than the metronome?
Thanks.

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Hi there, I think it is okay to play along drum backing tracks as long as you are sure the track is in rhythm and with established bpm, sometimes those can be off. What I would suggest is perhaps figuring out what bpm your backing track has and enabling it to run in the background. Sometimes it is written down somewhere (like in video/track description wherever it is hosted on) or alternatively many metronome apps allow you to establish bpm by using tap button as you follow the rhythm.

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Moving on from the modules…it seems like there isn’t much pressure to have mastered anything when reading in the lesson about when to move on. At this point, I’m feeling a little like things are piling up. While chord changes are well above 30 per minute, except for the Dm which I am working on, other than that, it seems like the idea is that you’ve ‘had a pretty good go’ at the skills introduced and you don’t need to get good at anything. Am I the only one that feels this? With the chords piling up (six of them now) even though they’re memorized, trying to play them clean, with a moderate tempo, while attempting Old Faithful, AND hitting the right strings…I’m not mastering any particular thing, and seems like moving on to add more chords and more concepts is just piling on more that I’m not ready for. I expect feedback to be- stay on the modules longer or slow things way down. But I guess what I am wanting to know, is it really ok to move on without feeling like I’ve truly mastered even one thing yet?

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Hi Stacy,
If I remember correctly you can continue if you feel good about it, and you don’t feel that completely yet and then it is useful to consolidate … that often comes back in the beginning if I’m not mistaken …so if you don’t feel really comfortable yet and you notice that you have to improve even more (a good quality by the way), you continue practicing until the things you want to be better are getting better … …hope this helps…
Greetings ,Rogier

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@artax_2 Learning guitar is like learning to read. You wouldn’t expect a 1 year student to read University level books. They start of with short stories with simple words. Learning to play guitar is much the same. your not only learning chords you are rewiring your brain to have a relationship with your fingers and ears that it never had before. The more chord you learn and practice the easier it becomes to learn more chords.

Mastering thing comes with time you will get better

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Hi Stacy, if I’d waited until I felt like I’d mastered everything I’d probably still be on module 1!!
I agree the “have a good go” guidance is kind of vague but really we are all different for a prescriptive line to make sense across the board. Keep in mind that as you move through modules you will be consolidating the chords you know through both further exercises and song playing so the development will naturally come, as will the comfort.
The one thing to not do is fee like you’re getting bored or frustrated. If that’s the case and you fee happy enough with your chord changes etc then I’d say move on.
At the end of the day we are always learning and developing every time we pick up and play.
Good luck! :+1:

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Thank you for the responses!

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Hello everyone, first of all thanks to Justin and everyone that maintains this platform, I had a guitar laying around for the longest time and these clases really made me want to play it and improve my skills.

Now I think you’d want to know that I’m getting the spanish subtitles for the D minor chord video instead of the ones for this video, english subtitles look ok.

I apologize if this is not the right channel for such issues. Also feel free to remove this reply whenever the problem is fixed or if you feel like it :smiley:.

Greetings,
Daniel.

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Hello @viregaonkar and welcome to the Community.
The metronome has been a musician’s friend for centuries.
But I am a definite advocate of playing along with drum tracks. The guitar is a rhythm instrument that has additional capability to be a harmonic and melodic instrument at the same time. Drum are the king of rhythm and if you can set in with a good drum beat then you are on the right path to developing your rhythm skills which underpin so much.
Hope that helps.
Cheers
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Moderator, Guide & Approved Teacher

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Hello @artax_2.

I will invoke my mantra here:
Learn songs, learn songs, learn songs.
Why learn chords?
Why learn chord changes?
Why learn strumming patterns?
In order that you can play songs.
Go here and use the search filters for the grade 1 songs - there are more than 100 that you should be able to learn and enjoy.

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Hope that helps.

Cheers :smiley:

| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Moderator, Guide & Approved Teacher

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Thanks Daniel - I will flag the issue to the team.
Cheers :smiley:
| Richard_close2u | JustinGuitar Moderator, Guide & Approved Teacher

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I felt exactly as you stated in this post - then i found my inspiration was to choose several songs that i really wanted to “master” and made the chord changes in those songs part of my practice routines - that gave me some specific goals to “master” and work toward with a more exciting purpose while incorporating Justin’s routine. Moving on feels appropriate now. You Do YOU!!

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