The Impossible Question

I know this is a subjective question and impossible to answer, but how long does everyone think a beginner should stick with each lesson before moving on? I'm currently on Chapter 3, An Introduction to Chords, and practicing the 4 chords.

I don't want to spend weeks practicing the four chords over and over but neither do I want to rush ahead and not get the basics right, especially as I'm not moving cleanly between chords (mostly with A Minor).

Any thoughts?

It is a subjective question, the best thing to do is to move forward when you feel comfortable, you'll get practice with those chords as you do.

You can't expect to get chord transitions perfectly right away, but as you incorporate new ideas and practices the chord transitions will get smoother. It's a fine balance between challenging yourself and getting competent with what you've just learned.

If it helps, you could make a log of new things you've learned that you think might need more practice, then spend a little time on each in your practice routine. That way you don't leave any "little kids" behind. :)

I'm on same level as you are, and what I do is moving on when i feel i can play the lesson, not necessary smooth but with an ok sound. I also review the previos lessons again just to keep my knowledge updated :)

Sorry for my english, I'm not english/american :)

In time you will learn all the chords.
When ever I taught someone I would give them all the chords,
A B C D E F G

Tell them to make each chord as best as they could before each practice sessions, then end each session with making all again.

Then I would give them a simple 3 chords song they already knew to practice for the week. More chords of course as they got better.

After 6 months of that they could make all the chords and play some songs they liked.

Depending on how fast they learned, I would change up the order of the chords.
This week play D C A F B G E, play them a few times before you start and as you end each session. Next week I would change the order again and increase the amount of repitions.

Doing it that way exposed them to the next chords they would be using before they got there and they would not burn an order into their brain. So when they got to the next song part of the learning curve was already practiced.

Of course bar chords were also introduced along the way. So I would also suggest to start making the bar chord A at the 5th fret, also D at the 5th fret. At the beginning and end of each session.

You asked for idea's and thats what I did and why.

I agree that this is a subjective thing.

I always encourage people to move on when they feel comfortable with the material. By that I mean that you grasp the content, and you are aware of what you are trying to do with it. Perhaps you can't play all those chords perfectly, but you know how to practice them and are aware which ones need more work then others. The concept is there, you just need to better the execution.

It's good to move on to the next lesson, but keep going back to that old material as part of your routine. I agree that it's no fun to simply play through those same lessons over and over, but try after practicing the next lesson going back at the end and refreshing yourself on the older material.

Oh yeah! And the most important part. Have fun with it :D

learning to play guitar proficiently is an accumulative thing... meaning, when you move on to something else you should be able to apply what you have learned in previous lessons as well as integrate what you are currently learning. now... as for me, i have found after playing for 12 years that there are things that i've learned that i have never went back and used because it just doesn't fit my style... in turn, i've pretty much forgot how to tap into it. i have terrible modal recall, for instance. but i very rarely find myself writing a song or playing and thinking "what mode would fit best here?" because i have accumulated an understanding of the instrument that transcends the notes and theory that is written on paper... to me, that's where i wanted to be the whole time... i never wanted to be able to rip off every mode and scale in perfect steve vai'esque fashion like a robot...

but then again, there's the subjective order of the question at hand... it depends on what you want to achieve. steve vai wanted to know everything and be perfect at everything... and he pretty much is now because he never moved on from something... he just kept adding to it.

Originally Posted by: baldbritI know this is a subjective question and impossible to answer, but how long does everyone think a beginner should stick with each lesson before moving on? I'm currently on Chapter 3, An Introduction to Chords, and practicing the 4 chords.

I don't want to spend weeks practicing the four chords over and over but neither do I want to rush ahead and not get the basics right, especially as I'm not moving cleanly between chords (mostly with A Minor).

Any thoughts?

my friend who has been playing for over 7 years told me it takes the brain about 21 days to learn a new "habit." you can never go wrong practicing chord changes again and again, in the long run, you will be glad you did ! I struggle with that 'C' chord constantly. sometimes I nail it, other times its messy, keep practicing-forge ahead...but don't overload. you're building a foundation of knowledge. I'[d stick with learning 3 new chords a month, and going between them

After three weeks I think I am doing OK. I'm playing for an hour most evenings and have worked up to lesson 4 "Simple Melodies". Each night I practice the simple chords and then move onto the simple blues riff, which instead of ending each time I loop around and play the same thing over and over for a couple of minutes. I wouldn't say it's perfect, but I can sense I am getting much more comfortable moving my fingers around. I am adding "My Country Tis of Thee" to my routine, which again isn't perfect but I'm getting there. My biggest challenge right now seems to be consistency with my finger pressure on both hands. It might sound reasonable once I get that right. I have to say though, after waiting all these years to finally start learning, I'm having a lot of fun.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts.

Right on! It definitely is something that can be very rewarding with hard work. Keep it up

I was planning to post some tips, but I see most of them seem to have posted the same ideas I have already.
Anyway, glad to see that they're helping you.
Keep it up man.
:)


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That's fine - keep going at it till your fingers tire, then practice some more.