I’m a disciple of the “less is more” school of guitar as personified by the late, great Paul Kossoff.
This is fun lol. Not work. If I did it less itd suck. Less to me is taking a short break. I love learning. Its like a never ending magic trick to discover new secrets to. Why would I want to do anything else. Seriously I just bought ncaa 25 and have barely played 5 games. Its not a stress everone relax 
Oh an update. I tried to tremolo 16th notes alternating strings for a whole episode of Mad Men after my last post. Didnt make it lol. But cool to try.
Hi @Whiplash41594, I think you are very wrong there. Playing songs is not about being recognisable, it’s about playing a melody that fits with the song, that enables you to play along with the original and which you could sing the lyrics to if you wanted. The melody can be very simple or very complicated, that doesn’t mather - they’re all songs, just different versions.
When starting out playing guitar, the first versions of songs you play will of course be simple. But as you progress, you will be able to build on these simple versions, adding new techniques, embellishments, … But the simple version you learned at the start will then serve as a solid foundation to add those newly learned things.
Even accomplished players start with the basic, simple chord progressions and simple down strums when learning a new song, adding the more complicated stuff step by step once they have those basics in their fingers. Of course, the better a player you are, the quicker you will be able to step up your game - but you still need the foundation of playing simple versions.
And just as an example: according to your criteria, for most people this is not playing the song we probably all know.
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Just woke up. Taking daily medicine then getting my guitar plugged into the amp and getting started while I wait on food! Afternoon everyone!
Are you misunderstanding me to that degree? You’re trying to sell me the app. I already have it, lol.
Ok.
Chords are an important building block of music. Single-note playing and leads are good, but chords are a fundamental part of playing that I need to learn. I know at least 9 open chords and have begun trying barre chords as I have built up strength through exercises. Well, I always tried, but now I can play them.
I understand the idea of “playing a song” is important to most people, but I’d rather be able to play all of a song. If I need accompaniment, I’ll skip it and do chord practice. If I want to practice all the chords in a song in time, the program is great. Practicing all the chords in a song until I can play them clean, then turning on the karaoke for guitar chords and playing in time—that is exactly the metaphor: guitar karaoke. Thank you for having me. I sing Justin’s praises to everyone.
Not at all, on both accounts. I am trying to explain to you that learning to play simplified versions of songs is indeed playing songs, and does make you learn more than just changing chords. As have several others before me. But if you don’t want to play those songs and are happy with doing exercises until you master everything you need to be able to play the songs you want to play in the way the original artist plays them, then go ahead, by all means. It’s your journey - we’re just trying to help.
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You’re missing the point, or pretending to. Yes, he plays more than chords. But you said that playing is not playing a song if people can’t recognise it when you play it without accompaniment. I told you that your definition of ‘playing songs’ is different than pretty much everyone else’s on this forum. And I added that clip just to show you that playing a version that is not immediately recognisable without accompaniment can still be ‘paying that song’ - no matter which techniques you use or don’t use.
I think you’re the one misunderstanding here. THIS is the community for JustinGuitar. If you’ve “found your own way” as other have, then so well and good. But this is the place to support those following Justin’s course. You don’t have to take the advice, as the saying goes “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink”.
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You just made my point for me. If I did not tell you what I was playing and played you that opening verbatim and you hadn’t heard it, you’d be clueless. It tells us, and it’s Springsteen. He has I.D., lol. You mention melodies. I thought you were talking about chords. Furthermore, I’m sure a lot of people who want to play but are unable will breathe a huge sigh of relief who thought their playing needed to be recognizable, lol. Kidding, of course.
Sounds great. Thanks for the advice. Sorry.
Is it cool if I interact and such without being all about his product? Is this a community that I can be involved in and share my own journey? Which involves Justin. Just not lately. Or am I going to keep being made to feel Im doing it wrong and Im a moody little brat that doesnt understand the help youre trying to impart. I understand your desire to be helpful. I just thought trying to be psrt of a community might be fun. I never do that. Very introverted. Gave it a chance. I turn 50 next year. I want to learn to play and I love guitar maybe more than any hobby I’ve ever had. I will respect whatever you say.
If you made an untitled midi file of that. First 30 seconds. No one will no what it is. NO ONE. Unless they already do.
That’s exactly the point. You said that if no one recognises the song you’re playing it’s not ‘playing songs’. I showed you that this is not correct.
Can we agree that what youre learning are the chords to a song. I can agree thats what youre learning. Not the total song. Can we agree? Thats the point on which this hinges. They are 2 different things. Both important. One more important to me personally. But everyones different.
Differences aside, I’m glad you found a path that works and is fun for you. 
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Do I just reply to the first post I made to keep this log going? Today I’m picking a song and working on it on and off all day. Perhaps the solo from I love you by climax blues band.
Yes , or easier that big orange ‘reply’ button at the bottom, which is easier if you do not respond to a specific post .
Greetings
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Yes, just keep replying with the organge reply button as Roger said, Scott
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I am very sorry for your loss, Scott.
I didn’t pick your post earlier, I am on holiday with limited forum reading time. You got a lot of feedback on your practice routine. I just hope you will not burn yourself with such long hours. You can always dial back and concentrate on few things only if necessary.
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Hi Scott, I wanted to add that I agree with you that based on your interests, the app wouldn’t work for you. If you want to get beyond the chords and play songs that sound more like the originals then you need to learn all the ways to go beyond the chords for the song. For that I highly recommend Justin’s song lesson or tutorial videos. You won’t find much that is not boring in grade 1 songs, since you are already in grade 2 or above, except for the song Brown Eyed Girl that teaches the intro to the song. The song lessons teach more of the original songs as you go to the higher grades. So look at the intro demos for the song lessons in Grades 2 and 3 and find a song that you like, where Justin is playing the type of music that you want to learn and then if you follow the lesson you will be able to eventually play like the beginning demo of the song. You could do this as just an addition to your other practice. Hopefully you will find some songs that inspire you to learn the entire song, but especially songs that bring you comfort as you play them.
FYI- since you can’t play song lessons in the app, you will have to open the Justin Guitar website in your phone and go to Songs and filter by grade or difficulty to play the song lessons. Also, “Wish You Were Here” riff lesson in Module 8 is a short example of a grade 2/3 song lesson and there is a longer version on the website.
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