Hi!
I have been dragging this guitar hobby around for a long time, nearly 20 years. Never really got to where I was making music. I learned the chords,scales, picking, strumming, etc, but not music. Music was for me in the basement, and that was fine.
Frankly, I think my engineer brain thought that if I keep practicing the things someday when I try to play a song music would come out. Turns out that is not how it works.
In the month I have been using the app and website,I have started making something closer to music. Justin regularly points out what I am doing wrong with simple fixes (although they have to be drilled in). Starting grade three today and taking the time to go through and listen to each lesson pick up the key elements I missed and put them into practice.
After 2 decades of trying, I am super excited to be making real progress every time I sit down. I know at some point soon my fundamentals practice is going to hit new material and the pace will slow, but weāll burn that bridge when we get there.
I am sure I will have a bunch of questions in the future and look forward to learning from the community.
Target genres: Folk and Blues (the inter webs tell me Justin is the right guys for the blues when I get a bit farther.
Welcome to the community, Grant! Iāll admit, Iām a bit jealous of your 20 years experience. Sounds like youāre on a mission to put the skills to work - kind of like being a āgreenā engineer right out of college (back in they day, anyway, before they required internships and the like!) Looking forward to hearing about your progress.
Hello Grant & Welcome!
Justin is the man to get you making musicā¦ as a 20-25 years āEndless Beginnerā, I can tell you that Iām playing new songs & truly learning in a meaningful way for the first time now!
Good luck!
Hello Grant. That is a great introduction to the community and Iām sure youāll make real progress and new friendships here. If songs are your goal, spend some time in the Songs section of the website. Justin does awesome lessons on a wide selection of tunes, all organized by genre and skill level. Have at it!
Great stuff and congratulations. Iāve come across a few players over the years that can do the riffs like smoke on the water but never graduated to doing a complete song or singing. For me once I learned my first song all the way through, admittedly a simple arrangement, I was off. Good luck!
welcome! Iām a fellow 20+yr beginner. Though it sounds like you made it farther in your preceding 20+yrs than I did. About a year ago, I started at pretty much Lesson 1 Grade 1 and itās all felt new, even though itās stuff Iāve been through multiple times in the past 20+yrs. At this point, Iāve deviated from Justinās lesson program. I use Justinās lessons and songs, TrueFire lessons and songs, and material that my instructor gives me to practice. In fact, right now, Iām working on āA Horse With No Nameā and have combined TrueFireās song lesson with Justinās lesson for the same song AND a songbook I recently bought. Using every resource I can find that helps.
Iām curious how youāre defining playing āmusicā though?
I feel like for me, that point comes when I start to āfeelā the music that Iām playing. Iām still not really at the point where I can sing with my playing, but I am making progress towards playing with others. Thereās a couple songs I can play with my wife (on uke and vocals), and a few more I can play along with the original recording (my wifeās not playing those songs yet). Getting better with that is a major goal of mine for the next year.
Playing songs and enjoying it more than working to make it happen would be making music. It seems ridiculously obvious, but just playing with a recording instead of by myself was crazy eye opening and lead to real progress.
I admit that several players and guitar teachers told me that, but I had assumed I needed to be able to play the song at a higher level to play with the recording. Now I get that the more you improve the more intricate you can be, but playing the chord is a fine place to start.
On the bright side, having several skills sets in the bank should make the first few levels move quickly.
totally get it. Iām going through the ābecoming more intricateā step on a couple songs. I mentioned āA Horse With No Nameā as one of them earlier, but Iām also doing similar with āWildflowersā by Tom Petty. Seems pretty simple on the surface, but thereās quite a bit going on in there when you start to look deeper.
Hi Grant, welcome to the community forum. I was a 20+ years developing beginner, if you donāt count the 20+ years that I didnāt play guitar in the last 50 years since I first learned to play guitar Iāve just finished two years in Grade 3 (Iām slow) while working on grade 2 consolidation. I didnāt realize until after a year in grade 3 that consolidation is actually using the techniques you have learned and play entire songs, so I had to go back to grade 1 and 2 and learn and record some songs. I also like folk and blues, so i know that you will enjoy the fingerpicking and blues modules in grade 3. Have fun learning how to learn in grade 3.
Steve from Raleigh, NC.
I guess itās good to know Iām not the only one out there that missed the message to use the skills in songs. Still feel foolish, it progressing quickly. I finished grade 1 and 2, and did a short consolidation before doing the first module of grade 3. After the how to practice lesson. I decided to hold on consolidation for a week and work on a couple of the skills I was weaker on (power chord switching and percussive muting).
Iām going to start inching forward in grade 3, and take my time adding and consolidating as I go.
Hello Grant.
Welcome to JustinGuitar and this fantastic community. Please take your time to look around and get to know the wider space. https://community.justinguitar.com/categories
We are a supportive and encouraging group of students and guitarists from across the world. Essentially, we are all here for music and to improve as players. We truly are a ācommunityā. Members help and support one another and a friendly, positive attitude underpins this. We hope that all - young or old, experienced or new players - adopt and foster the pay-it-forward ethos that Justin personifies and embedded all those years ago when he started the website and forum.
Also, please make sure to read the community etiquette announcement for some important information and guidance.
Iāve just finished two years in Grade 3 (Iām slow) while working on grade 2 consolidation. I didnāt realize until after a year in grade 3 that consolidation is actually using the techniques you have learned and play entire songs, so I had to go back to grade 1 and 2 and learn and record some songs. I also like folk and blues, so i know that you will enjoy the fingerpicking and blues modules in grade 3. Have fun learning how to learn in grade 3.