What 3 pieces of advice would you give to future BLIM classes?

[twistor59]

1. Record yourself often and listen back, thinking “what would Justin say if he heard this?”
2. If you want feedback, don’t hold back on sharing recordings with the community because you think they’re sub-standard. There is no “standard”.
3. Don’t try to master everything in a unit before the next unit drops.

[DeltaTyne]

1, Read through the entire unit first without trying anything.

2, pick out the easy lessons, the ones that are not hard or not long, mark them as done, and then look at what is left, you will be surprised.

3, Do not rush even if you don’t finish before the new unit starts, you have plenty of time to return, I think all on the course will no doubt be returning after unit 6 is finished, cheers HEC

[roger_holland]

Don’t compare yourself to others ,…

Record yourself on video a lot, whether you share it with others or not…

The idea is to have fun, keep laughing and don’t set yourself goals that are too high… this takes most people many years to master properly…

Greetings,Rogier

[Alexeyd]

Well… more an advice to myself than the others.
1.Make sure you’ll have time to actually do the work in coming months
2. Do 30 minutes a day, no excuses
3. Don’t procrastinate
Can’t say I did any of these 3 up until now…

[Michael_K73]

1. Buy extra High E and B strings.

2. Get comfortable knowing you won’t get good at everything in the 6 months. (Focus on core things)

3. Realize that the real progress will start after the 6 months. Right now you are in boot camp.

-M

[linrosam]

Some points of note that I ‘thought’ I had sorted, but didn’t and unfortunately held me back in the first 2 months….

1. Be honest about your own starting position, your ability and your expectations ;
2. Set your workspace up before the course starts, you do not want to sit down for a 5 min practice and spend 30 mins getting it all together, then have no time to practice;
3. Get your computer set up and learn how to import a backing track; slow it down; record self playing. Once you have your own set-up, dont keep changing it or being tempted to try different bits of software. They all have some downsides in my experience. If it works for you then it will do!

[Malz]

1/ Upon seeing the preparation and course material, you may well feel overwhelmed by the amount of work to come. Don’t be, the work becomes progressively easier to handle and becomes a routine.

2/ Setup a practice routine and stick to it. When Justin says 5mins a day, it inevitably becomes 30 mins, so leave a good hour at least for daily practice.

3/ Use the playlists lots, use backing tracks and play, record and listen to yourself, a lot, you will see a difference every month you continue the course. Have fun.

[Boris1565]

1. The course is massive. Planned and organised approach is critical to get the most out of the course. Pick your battles, but it will take more than 30 mins 3x per week to cover main topics (licks, rhythm lesson, one standard).

2. Be active in the community. Record yourself, share and ask for feedback. Ask questions. Listen, understand and incorporate feedback received.

3. Listen to the playlists / licks / exercises a lot! It is much easier to learn HOW to play when you know exactly WHAT you need to play.

[sly]

1. Know your notes on the neck

2. Know your scale degrees

3. Practice, practice, practice

[mtglazer]

1. Don’t judge your progress against others in your cohort. You are you and you will progress at your own pace.
2. Don’t be too academic, playing and practicing are more important than the reading and video watching.
3. Don’t ignore your body. I had issues with a bicep tendon tear, radial tunnel syndrome, and tendonitis in a finger, all on my left arm. I took a month off to take care of myself and while I’m way behind in the class, I am having more fun than I did when everything hurt.

[JustinGuitar]

What an awesome collection of tips for new Blimmers, and helpful reading for me too!!

[graemecosh]

From a beginner grade 2/3 acoustic player:

1. This is an electric guitar course which adds to the challenge if you’re primarily an acoustic player
2. It’s difficult to get through a full unit if you’re time constrained, the JustinGuitar team can help you prioritize what you really need to practice
3. You have lifetime access to this course it’s unlikely most of us will get through everything properly in 6 months.

[UncleGreggy]

1. As Justin repeatedly warns, Do not get trapped in the medley. Licks aren’t supposed to be a song so don’t get trapped memorizing which one comes next. Learn the licks you like and can play and sort them by whether they fit / don’t fit with the I, IV, or V (or more than one chord). Then play the licks you like and can play * in time* to a backing track (of which there are many).
2. Read the incredibly smart comments by community members annd instructors and ask questions as needed. Go beyond the BLIM community or you’ll miss out.
3. Get the basic mechanics down cold for each unit (framework, bends, special chord shapes) as early as possible. The rest will follow more easily.
4. (Cough). The standards are ways to apply what you’re learning. E.g., you can play A, D, and E standards using 7ths 9ths, and slides, sub new turnarounds, improve your power-chord shuffles. Etc.
5. (Cough cough) You’ll never get it all down. So having fun > being an expert.

[ALI66]

Don’t be afraid to go back to the start! You have the course for life.

[Sostlund]

Don’t stress if you fall behind. As others have said, you can return to the material again and again. And if you’re still closer to beginner than intermediate (like me), make it a marathon not a sprint.

Also, pick your priorities. I have a weekly private teacher and thought I would get super-charged instruction by doing this course . This backfired for me. The BLIM videos and practice – together with the demands of life – made it hard to make meaningful progress on private lesson songs. I tried to align things and asked my teacher for BLIM-relevant songs, but this didn’t really work either because he is not synched to the course. So I’m taking the BLIM course at a more leisurely pace, which is a bit of a shame because there’s value in keeping up and taking part in the challenges etc. Instead,I’d recommend that if you also have a private guitar teacher, give him/her details about your BLIM practice, and consider less frequent private lessons.

[Mark_in_NJ]

@Sostlund

So I’m taking the BLIM course at a more leisurely pace,

I agree with what you are saying about private lessons. I started using my weekly lesson as an extension of BLIM. It helps that my instructor is a professional blues guitarist.

[DonnatheDead]

@Richard_close2u, glad you’re making this thread public. I think a lot of future BLIMmers want some of this good information before they sign up. It’s good to have a clear idea of what to expect so you know if you have time and true desire to take the course.