Hi Todd,
Nice job 
, and if you think youāre ready for the next one,ā¦then I say ādo itā 
Greetings,ā¦
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Just read this bit. Totally do this. Follow diversions and stuff that isnāt in lessons - by learning songs, and the new techniques for them. Follow your interest 
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Hey Todd, this is the lesson that David is referring to:
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Thorough reflect on your current level, Todd. Excellent to be so through on self-assessment to determine whether or not to move on.
An observation on chord changes. I donāt think it is necessary to spend time on all of the possible combinations.
Initially speaking youāll probably notice that many songs seem to be based on a common set of chords. Iāll not get into the theory as to why that is but for your purposes spending time working on changes between those chords may be better use of time than changes that may not crop up in songs, generally speaking.
For example, you may find the following chords often in songs G Am C D Em or C Dm Em F G Am, though you probably havenāt learned F yet, or A D E.
Based on that it may be better use of time to work Am-Dm rather than A-Dm for example. It will focus that drill on combinations you will encounter in songs. And I canāt recall changing between A-Dm ā¦ of course I only know a handful of simple songs.
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@roger_holland Thanks! 
@jkahn Thanks, that makes sense! Iāve definitely looked around at other lessons, particularly for songs Iām interested in.
@Socio Thanks! Iāll check it out!
@DavidP Oh, youāre right. Itās definitely not necessary to try every permutation of chord changes. I understand that some chord changes are more common than others, due to the chords being together in a musical key. Butā¦ there wasnāt a list of which chord changes to focus on; in the video (for moving on from module 6 in the app) Justin just says something like, ā30 changes between all of them,ā so, I just did all of them for my test here.
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@DavidP Hereās an interesting find, and how timely, given our recent discussion! I began reading through the lessons for Module 7, and, lo and behold, Justin lists the 25 most common chord changes for beginners, which he recommends working on. This is a tad funny to me, since there are only 28 possible combinations of the eight beginner essential chords, leaving only three of them out of this listā¦ but, here it is!
Taken from this lesson: https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/best-chord-changes-to-work-on-b1-702
In case anyone is curious, it appears that the three possible changes which are not recommended in this lesson are: A, Am; D, Dm; and E, Em.
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Toddās G1 Consolidation Hoedown
My Fellow-Travelers,
Having been blown hither and thither across a tumultuous, chordophonic sea from Module 1 to Module 7, I have arrived safely at the point of Grade 1 consolidation. I set off on this intrepid journey on or about 2022-09-18, and here we are, almost four months hence, on 2023-01-13. Some modules were much quicker and easier than others. I would say that module 5, wherein Cmaj was learned, was the slowest going; itās just a bit of a tricky chord for me.
Thus begins the great journey of G1 consolidation. These consolidation points, it seems to me, are important inflection points in the grand guitar-learning adventure. As such, it seemed right to make a post here, setting aside a log within a log, a āsub-logā if you will, to track my progress through this consolidation period.
Beginner Grade 1 Consolidation Objectivesā
- You should be able to tune your guitar with a tuner.
- Memorize and play the 8 essential beginner chords on the guitar.
- Be able to name any of the eight chords and play it straight away.
- Get the right sound from these chords at least 50% of the time.
- Play 30 chord changes in 1 minute.
- Play The Old Faithful strumming pattern consistently at 80 beats per minute.
- Memorize five easy songs.
- Aim to play comfortably 5 songs that you know from memory that you can play at a party anytime.
Additionally, Justin highly recommends:
- Completion of Music Theory Grade 1.
- Completion of Ear Training Grade 1.
So, where am I now?
I would say that Iāve already completed Objectives 1, 2, 3, and 4. Iāve also completed Grade 1 of Music Theory, and Iām working on Grade 1 of Ear Training (Iāve included intervals in my practice sessions for many weeks now, I just need to take the test.).
That just leaves objective 5, learning five songs. Iāve got one song memorized long-term (my first AVOYP, āThree Little Birdsā by Bob Marley), and Iāve practiced a whole lot of songs. So, I think my main goal will be continuing to practice my various chords and riffs, and learning four more songs by heart, so that I can easily bust them out like Justin says.
ā Source: https://www.justinguitar.com/guitar-lessons/how-to-pass-grade-1-b1-710
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Thanks for sharing all this Todd. Iām on a similar trajectory albeit on a much slower pace! Your progress is inspiring! Lots of familiar issues in this thread. Iāve also been working a bit on ā3 little birdsā. I just moved onto module 5 - although Iām still struggling a bit with Dm chord. Iām now battling the C chord which is presenting its own challenges! All the best as you continue your journey!
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Hey Andy!
Iām glad to share the journey, man! It sounds like we are in a pretty similar place, age-wise and guitar-wise.
I totally agree, the Dmin and C chords seem to be the two hardest chords of these eight for many of us. I think it just has to do with the overall shape of them. The C chord is just a bit of a stretch, and Dmin chord is justā¦ sort of an awkward thing for some reason. Just like the rest of it, it just takes practice. We will get there!
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I look forward to the songs youāll be learning 
The most fun ones for me were Hey Joe and Mad World. We started this journey around the same time so following your progress is really interesting to me.
I finished the consolidation last week and am working on the first module of grade 2. Youāre in for a treat It somehow made me feel even more like a newbie than when I started module 1 and Iām loving it
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Hey! Thank you so much! Thanks for checking out my update!
Mad World is one of the songs Iām planning to work on as well! I was actually just pondering my list of songs when I got your reply. The two definites are Three Little Birds and Mad World, now just looking at the other songs within Justinās lessons for a few more that I like.
I look forward to joining you in Grade 2!
Best Wishes,
Todd
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Todd
Good to see youāve shaken off the momentary melancholy and decided to crack on. Also good to see you taking a positive view about grade consolidation, many are to eager to rush forward to new challenges aka whatever grade is next ! But all that you do in the future will need to be built on a strong foundation. So now you have dug the footings, let the earth settle down and rest, while you ensure there are no cracks or weakness. When you are ready move on to Grade 2 and start mixing the cement !
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COngrats on reach the end of Grade 1, Todd. Enjoy the consolidation period!
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Thank you, gents! Yeah, Iām actually pretty happy to work on the consolidation. For me, I think it mostly means just practicing some songs for a bit and getting them down, which is generally fun.
Is it okay to work on a song that has another chord Iād have to learn? One or two songs Iām considering for my consolidation include chords I havenāt used yet. I figure, while Iām working on consolidating some chords, wonāt hurt to learn another.
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Canāt see that being an issue. Just approach like you would learning any new chord. Once you have it under your fingers, do some one minute changes with the chords that sit either side of it in the song progressions, so you can get a strong and solid feel for changing both to and from it. Good luck.
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Chords, chords, so many chords. Grade 2 introduces loads. And then thereās still more, not sure if we ever stop learning chords.
What chord is it Todd?
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Itās the F chord, which I know is coming soon in Grade 2. I want to play āDonāt Worry, Be Happyā by Bobby McFerrin. Iāve got all the other chords for it, just need the F chord.
I wonder if the mini-F chord shape (with just strings 1-4 would work)? Justin actually introduced me to that one in my 1-to-1 lesson, because in the bio they asked me to send him, I mentioned my favorite genres being Ska and Reggae, and he said it is very common to use in those genres.
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Will work just fine. If you can play the mini barre learn the song.
You can always use the full barre once you can play it. Or keep using the mini barre F if it sound good.
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Being the F you may as well watch the F chord lessons in grade 2ā¦ although makes me wonder if youāre better off leaving this song to grade 2, because F is one of the chords most people struggle with.
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No reason in principle as others have said, Todd.
Also as mentioned F is almost a rite of passage, and for many it is aptly named.
So Iād suggest watching the lesson as @jkahn said, and then include working on that as part consolidation and part kick-starting grade 2. There is nothing I see in Gr2.Mod8 that seems a pre-requisite to starting to work on Mod9. That said, Justin has decades of experience so structures the flow based on experience of what works well.
I know you have been considering other songs to include in your consolidation, so pick up a couple of others that are grade-appropriate in terms of the chords used and make sure that you cover all the chords learned in Gr1 in yur selection of songs. Then the song with the F can be considered a bonus, stretch goal.
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