Learning Guitar

oysterjar · January 2014

I am 31 and picked up the guitar nearly a year ago. I learned some chords, read some tab, watched youtube videos etc and was able to pick some stuff up so that I could play around a campfire well enough. I just recently picked up Rocksmith and have learned a lot more and I am actually learning music as well. I was wondering if any of the pro's here had any feed back on this game and any suggestions. Cheers!

MayDay10 · January 2014

I have been doing work. Practicing for perhaps 6 days a week for 3 months.

Learning via Justinguitar, Rock Prodigy, Rocksmith, and Bandfuse... as well as other internet research. Im doing well so far. Still in very novice territory, but I keep making forward progress. I can easily form and switch between open D, A, E, Am, Em, Dm, C, and G chords. Switching there is still room for improvement in speed and accuracy, but I see improvements each day.

Rock Prodigy has taken me into basic rhythm (basically 1/16th - whole notes on various BPMs), whole and half step relationships on one string and throughout the fretboard, Major Chromatic scale, Major scales on one string (0-2-4-5-7-9-11-12...), Open power chords E5, A5, and D5, and also put most of those things together.

Then the Rocksmith and Bandfuse I use for fun, do some of the exercises/games, a few lessons... keeping in mind what I have learned in the other 2 methods. I also fart around in the songs best I can just for fun and to get some gratification.

I also keep journals of my progress.

I am going to get through a good amount of "self-teaching" and eventually I am going to get a few lessons. My step father also claims he is a solid player and he wants to help.

The important thing is, Im enjoying it.

MayDay10 · January 2014

Cracked out Bandfuse on Sunday and played for a few hours. Really crushed my high scores on some songs. Parts that looked very difficult before were attainable.

Gonna grind it out this week and perhaps hit Rocksmith this weekend.

oysterjar · January 2014

What lessons do you specifically play on justinguitar? I know this might seem obvious, but did you just start with beginner then move up with each lesson, rinse-repeat? Im about to add justinguitar to my learning and looking for suggestions. I need to look into that bandfuse too. I played some songs on RS this weekend and some overall practicing of chord changes and variations of strumming. I need to hit it harder this week.

MayDay10 · January 2014

I just started at the beginning of the beginner's course. There is good information on every lesson, even the ones you may feel like you can just gloss over. Then you see/notice other lessons in different groups to fill in gaps. For example, the best way to plug in your cable is one, how to roll your cable is another, tuning with a reference pitch, finger exercises, changing strings, you name it.

So I just started from the beginning of the beginners course and move very slowly. I made a checklist of all the lessons so I know what I covered. I also check out the JG forums for additional info. A lot of it is hot air or people with very simplistic issues... but you can uncover gems that compliment the lessons... such as always tune the guitar up, and also this group of finger exercises:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSrfB7JIzxY

Bandfuse is cool. It falls short of RS14 IMO, but it has some redeeming qualities. If you can get it on sale, go for it for sure. It has playback and recording capabilities. The notes come in TAB form too which is good. A few good tracks Rocksmith lacks.

I am pleasantly surprised with Rock Prodigy too. The lessons are a bit lacking, but I am picking up some things out of there so far. It seems very helpful with rhythm and fingering. Its got a gamey feel to it with scores. There is a little latency lag for me though which is a bummer.

Justin Guitar is by far the best resource I have.

MayDay10 · January 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM2zxM-c5xU#t=54

oysterjar · January 2014

The band fuse format seems a little tougher to read. Rosksmith allows you to look ahead to see whats coming, although it took a little while for me to get used to. The stretching is interesting. I never gave it much thought and assumed that it just came with playing. Discussing learning guitar helps me want to do it more, thanks for keeping up the conversation!

oysterjar · January 2014

I checked out JG today. I wanted to skip over some videos but started from the beginning. That dude puts out a good lesson (for beginners anyways) Thanks for encouraging this.

MayDay10 · January 2014

Bandfuse looks intimidating on youtube and such. The framerates or whatever make the notes look like a blur. You also have a little less time to react than rocksmith. That video is also at the highest level. There are 5 levels to each song, and it doesnt do the 'dynamic' leveling up. Instead, say Level 1. Really easy, then toward the end of the song it will introduce a little bit of how Level 2 will be.

oysterjar · January 2014

Makes sense. It would have been a little to intimidating to attempt if it was played otherwise. When you do a JG lesson do you keep working on it until you figured it out or just do the lesson for a while and move on, then go back later? Sometimes it works better for me to attempt and move on and go back later. His lessons give me something to look forward to when playing and also something to gage my "mastery" of the subject as well. I was looking for something like this to keep things moving forward. I liked his distinction between practice and playing. I am going to keep that in mind when picking up the guitar and focusing on goals.

MayDay10 · January 2014

Yes. Remember his advice: Practice what you cant do. It is something I constantly have to remind myself...

He gives general guidelines on when to move on. Basically, it is when you know the chords by heart and can make switches 40+ times. He does warn not to dwell too long on lesson(s). Sometimes when you advance, the old stuff magically becomes easier. Its all self-driven.

Basically, I just advance a lesson every one or 2 practice sessions. They are fairly basic so far and I havent had trouble making switches or identifying the chords by ear. I take notes (lol). Ill do his strum-pick-strum for each chord for a timed 5 minutes, then Ill do about 6 one minute changes (my rule is to hit 60 changes 3 days in a row before I "retire" a change). I have a list of "retired" ones and will do 1 per session to make sure its still good.
Then I will do a few minutes of a chord progression or one of his songs from his site (I also bought his songbook).
Then I will do his auditory (JUSTIN) exercises. I made a few on my own to on my smartphone.

I plan on doing this until the end of Stage 3. After that the chords get a bit in unfamiliar territory and new strumming patterns are introduced. So I will slow down the advancement and use the song lessons, and some of the peripheral stuff he has to tide me over while I take a little more time.

chubbygungan01 · January 2014

MayDay10 said:
I have been doing work. Practicing for perhaps 6 days a week for 3 months.

Learning via Justinguitar, Rock Prodigy, Rocksmith, and Bandfuse... as well as other internet research. Im doing well so far. Still in very novice territory, but I keep making forward progress. I can easily form and switch between open D, A, E, Am, Em, Dm, C, and G chords. Switching there is still room for improvement in speed and accuracy, but I see improvements each day.

Rock Prodigy has taken me into basic rhythm (basically 1/16th - whole notes on various BPMs), whole and half step relationships on one string and throughout the fretboard, Major Chromatic scale, Major scales on one string (0-2-4-5-7-9-11-12...), Open power chords E5, A5, and D5, and also put most of those things together.

Then the Rocksmith and Bandfuse I use for fun, do some of the exercises/games, a few lessons... keeping in mind what I have learned in the other 2 methods. I also fart around in the songs best I can just for fun and to get some gratification.

I also keep journals of my progress.

I am going to get through a good amount of "self-teaching" and eventually I am going to get a few lessons. My step father also claims he is a solid player and he wants to help.

The important thing is, Im enjoying it.

Loving reading all this info. My hubby gave me an acoustic guitar last year for my birthday (Taylor GS Mini). I've always wanted to learn but, you know, scared to fail, then kids, work etc..... Anyway I hit 40 last year and have been pretty consistent with my practice and making steady improvement folllowing justinguitar. What an awesome website! But anyway, thanks for mentioning Rock Prodigy and the others, I'm definitely going to check them out! I plan to buy a Strat in a year or so (when funds allow!). The best part about learning this instrument is you start hearing new things in your favourite songs and appreciate the complexity of the playing a lot more. I'm in new awe of the boys that's for sure!

MayDay10 · January 2014

Where are you in JG?

Rock Prodigy is OK... Personally, I get something out of it. Im not sure its worth the money for a lot of people. I have also only completed 2 of the (14?) stages. I do believe that there is an option for acoustic where you mic it up.

Walking the miles · January 2014

A few years ago, I met Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, and I asked him for any tips on learning the guitar (at the time I was just getting started). He told me buy a guitar stand. That way the guitar is always out ready to play, it will be there in your face reminding you. Also, it is much quicker to just pick it up when you may only have a few minutes. No taking it out of a case, and setting up. Since that advice my practice time expanded greatly, and its all about practice.

chubbygungan01 · January 2014

Hey Mayday, I've finished the beginner course but I'm just trying to consolidate what I've learnt. I'm only up to 60bpm between a few chord changes, so have been trying to practice the ones I'm slow at. Having your guitar out is definitely conducive to better/more practice. I got my guitar last April and didn't really touch it for the first 3 months. Once I got it out on a stand that's when I actually committed to picking it up more, even if only 5 minutes at a time.

Cosmo · February 2014

I started out with some real easy songs... standard tuning... just playing the chords. Look up the chords and tab sheets and see if there are any instructional videos online.
'Long Road' is really easy... so is 'Wishlist'.
...
The toughest part is getting to the point where your fingers don't hurt anymore.

BinFrog · February 2014

Cosmo said:
I started out with some real easy songs... standard tuning... just playing the chords. Look up the chords and tab sheets and see if there are any instructional videos online.
'Long Road' is really easy... so is 'Wishlist'.
...
The toughest part is getting to the point where your fingers don't hurt anymore.

Gotta just keep playing.

BHealy · March 2014

chubbygungan01 said:
Hey Mayday, I've finished the beginner course but I'm just trying to consolidate what I've learnt. I'm only up to 60bpm between a few chord changes, so have been trying to practice the ones I'm slow at. Having your guitar out is definitely conducive to better/more practice. I got my guitar last April and didn't really touch it for the first 3 months. Once I got it out on a stand that's when I actually committed to picking it up more, even if only 5 minutes at a time.

Just be careful to keep it from drying out! I keep my electrics out, but store my acoustic guitars in cases with a humidifier.

chubbygungan01 · March 2014

BHealy said:

chubbygungan01 said:
Hey Mayday, I've finished the beginner course but I'm just trying to consolidate what I've learnt. I'm only up to 60bpm between a few chord changes, so have been trying to practice the ones I'm slow at. Having your guitar out is definitely conducive to better/more practice. I got my guitar last April and didn't really touch it for the first 3 months. Once I got it out on a stand that's when I actually committed to picking it up more, even if only 5 minutes at a time.
Just be careful to keep it from drying out! I keep my electrics out, but store my acoustic guitars in cases with a humidifier.

Cheers, will look into it

-Emma- · March 2014

Has anyone here started learning on the ukulele and then go onto learn the guitar as well? I certainly don't play the uke well, but I enjoy it

.

Any idea what Ed is playing here? Is it a Guitalele of some kind?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5RrcruaK6Q

Learning Guitar

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