What you do not state is where you are exactly in respect of Justin’s teaching path and what is causing you problems. Just power chords or are there other things you are lacking direction in ? Are you mid way through Grade 2 ? I have just reviewed the first 2 grades having completed the old Beginners Course some years ago. Yes Justin encourages you to find “your” way with certain things but there is clearly more direction than there used to be. Maybe you’ve missed something along the way.
As for sounding like the original, as has been said it won’t happen. Even with the same gear, same studio and same recording crew it will sound like you. As @CT Clint often says “find your own sound” be you.
To answer the where and what question. Yes I am module 12 now of grade 2 and can fingerstyle happy birthday decently well now, still working on it and sus chords or decently, but need more work. Feel good enough to move on. My struggle for instance is like G chord, boom there is a chord diagram no problem, put your fingers here play that for 2 minutes then change between it and a C chord lets say for 1 minute and you are done, easy enough, I can practice that for 3 minutes right out the gate.
When it comes to module 12 it is power chords, sliding power chords, and string crossing power chords. Here are some songs to learn to go with it. Okay to practice sliding power chords you need to find a song, let’s say cocaine by Eric Clapton, then you have to go to the video lesson on cocaine to figure out what chords to even play and slide to then you have to come back to the module and practice it for 3 minutes. String switching you have to play all the small things blink 182 for instance, well then, I have to go learn the songs chords which is different than the previous chords, after switching back and forth between 3 tabs on the computer and the practice tab it’s been an hour and a half, and you feel like you really haven’t practiced anything.
For me it is much easier to go okay here is an E power chord, c power chord, b power chord, f sharp, etc. then once I know those chords, then go find my favorite songs and play them after. This new way of practicing is just not what I am used to, and I feel like I am wasting practice time searching than I am actually practicing. I might just be misguided, but I hate feeling like I am wasting time, with something I am so passionate about.
I just have the smaller fender frontman 10g amp and I can hit the OD button and turn gain up and down, but it just doesn’t sound right. The first venture into effects and trying to figure out how to make enter sandman sound as close as I can to the original on this amp during one session and then change it to where it sounds like sultans of swing the next (sorry about the 2 songs I could think of that would be pretty different from each other with different sounds) and then to something like paranoid by black sabbath after that and I am not sure this amp can do that and if it can’t what pedals to get that would need to influence those different types of sounds. Also the bridge pickup on my Stratocaster replica vs the neck vs the different types of pickups is greek to me at the moment as well. my guitar actually has 3 pickups and 5 different settings the lever can be set to.
Hi Josh, I’ve only skimmed the posts here, but your statement above caught my attention. This describes me exactly! I’m also in Grade 2 (consolidating) and got frustrated by power chords (and later by the blues module). I didn’t understand how proficient I should be to move on, and certainly wasn’t enjoying any of the songs suggested for practice. (It’s funny - I like listening to a lot of those songs, but at this point in my journey I don’t much enjoy playing them.) I was frustrated and uninterested.
Like you, I decided to find a personal instructor. There is not a lot of choice where I live; I tried two, but didn’t connect with either. On to plan B: I’m now working with one of Justin’s approved teachers. It’s been so helpful! For example, he suggested incorporating power chords into a song that I’m already practicing - and enjoying. Now I’m learning two different ways to approach a specific section of that song - which also opens my mind to approaching other songs! Of course, it would be nice if the teacher and I were in the same room. But given the help I’ve gotten after only three lessons, I’ll accept Zoom!
I’ve written a lot there…if any of it resonates and if you want to discuss in more detail, feel free to PM me.
I think you need to slow down Josh. Power chords are not as easy as they look and take time to master. I wouldn’t even think about applying chords to songs until I can play them cleanly and do decent one minute changes. Its all about baby steps. Focus on playing the power chords cleanly with no other strings ring out. Just one to start with. Then repeat 2 frets down or up. Doesn’t matter what the root is, just play it clean. But say its 5th fret 6 string root A5 the go two up and play B5. To start lift your fingers and don’t slide, practice placing the power chord down accurately each time, you won’t always be sliding but you will always aim to play cleanly. When you can move from A5 to B5 and the chord rings clean (get it right with minimum distortion to start so it doesn’t mask sloppy play) then add G5 at the third fret. Play A5 B5 A5 G5, practice slow practice clean. Could take weeks could take months, don’t rush get it right. Repeat on 5th string same frets D5 to E5, add C5 and do D5 E5 D5 C5 slow steady accurate and right. Once you can do this then start thinking about songs. Slow and steady wins the day, you need patience and dedication.
From someone who has tried private lessons, just two lessons. But that was enough for me to just drop it.
He was a brilliant guitarist/musician. And he could learn me the beginner essential. But i had allready learned that through Justin… was a waste of time and money.
I echo what Jason said about good and not good teacher….
5 months is nothing, give youre self more time,
Dont be hard on youre self.
Im 3 years into it, and have just started to dip my toes into grade 3, we all learn in a different pace, but end of grade 2 after 5 months is pretty fast
Thanks for jumping in with feedback! Yeah, it for sure has been a good time. I practice sometimes on weekends 3-4 hours a day and an hour practice throughout the week. I was lucky and my fingers have already been callused through hard work in life, so I could go harder and longer than a complete beginner with softer fingers. I just put in a ton of work getting open chords and chord changes down with strumming and all the riffs as good as possible before moving on. I do think though it is probably a detriment to my frustration level though once I reach something I struggle with haha.
Josh, I only have experience with face-to-face guitar teachers in group settings and for me those courses weren’t very helpful, because obviously the guitar teachers didn’t have the time to concentrate on each student individually.
Somewhere in your initial post you are implying that money is not the issue. So how about you give both ideas a chance? Working together with a private mentor and trying remote lessons with one of Justin’s approved teachers? In the end, only you can decide what works best for you
Going with what you typed, I think an in-person instructor would be good for you. However, the issue is finding the right one. Much like finding the right material on the internet that resonates with you, finding the right in-person, or internet-based instructor can be quite the process. Though I am back playing after a hand injury, I will be finding an in-person or internet-based instructor in about six months.
Here is what I would do. If you want an in-person, find one who knows and is familiar with Justin and have them teach and augment those lessons. But before that, give one of Justin’s internet-based instructors a try. Don’t commit, just try. You have to find what works for YOU, as long as YOU will settle on something that works.
Missed this earlier, I will look at that! Just with the practice routines it says to go play a song to practice the chords, so that was what was getting to me, having to learn the songs chords first then actually practicing the chord, but I will try that and work on getting it down. I for sure have the dedication, just not sure about the patience. I want to be playing like a rockstar tomorrow and am nowhere near. There is just so many songs I have sung my whole life without music, I would like to add the guitar to it, but once I found out songs I sung actually aren’t very easy to play on guitar, it’s an eye opener. I can sing better than I can play guitar. Who knew?
I think you are over thinking here a bit. A much simpler way for me was to practice by just using common chord progressions.
For example, using I, IV, V progression start with a 6th string root and play it down the neck. Then switch keys and do it again. you could then try playing the same progression up the neck. From there, practice with the I on string 6 and the IV and V on string 5. And so on.
From there just pick another progression such as I vi IV V so you can add in a minor shape.
If you’re unfamiliar with chord progressions there’s lots of info here in the community.
Yeah, sounds like you need to come up with a solid practice schedule and be realistic with your self and your goals. Alot of these things can take years to master correctly. A good teacher will surely help. A slower pace is always a better option till you get perfect slowly. Practice perfectly, because practice makes permanent. Oh and of course practice, practice, practice, play songs play songs and play more songs TO YOUR ABILITY. Make it fun! So hard to get this one right. Still practice those other harder ones. But way smaller sessions till you get the basics down packed. Those other songs will become easier the more of a solid foundation and muscle to brain memory you have. I swear it’s true!
Learning how to dial in tones with your amp and your guitar is important. But it’s important to realise that you will never sound exactly like Clapton (or any other artist) for a range of reasons.
“Gear” is one of them. I put gear in quotes because it’s not just about the amp and the guitar (although they are important). There’s a whole lot going on as well: microphones, preamps, and the room they record in for a start.
Consider that any studio recording is often being recorded on valve amps costing thousands of dollars with speaker cabs the size of a piece of furniture, in a large, specially designed and treated room. It’s recorded through expensive microphones that have been carefully placed by expert sound technicians, and then recorded through expensive pre-amps.
Also, recorded tones sound very different from the amp in the room: the microphone and pre-amps will colour the sound a lot. Many guitar players will record their parts in the control room for this reason, as they hear the recorded tone from the microphones, rather than in the room with the amp.
Exactly this!
And this!
There’s a whole load of post-production that goes into a track and, if you strip back a recorded track to its constituent parts in isolation, the guitar tone is often quite surprisingly different from what we perceive when mixed with other instruments. Some guitar tones can sound quite bad in isolation, as part of the skill of mixing is to make the guitar sound good in context with other instruments, which involves stripping out frequencies that overlap.
I would focus on how to get nice tones from your gear, rather than trying to sound like someone else. Learning how to do that is important, but trying to replicate an artist’s tone from a record is a bit of a fool’s errand IMO.
