Love Guitar Tricks site but what about other?

Hello everyone. Before I found the GuitarTricks site I had already purchased Gibson's Learn and Master Guitar. Now I am confused on which to follow first and foremost. I was up to Session 7 with Learn and master then started exploring this site and fell in love with it I guess. I love the guitar fundamentals with Chris as my instructor here too. Some say Learn and Master is more in depth. My question is this. If I stick with Guitar Tricks to learn, can I ever learn the proper way to play so that someday I can be in a band? I really only have time to concentrate on one course not two.

Learn and Master is great it seems but is VERY technical with learning all the diatonic intervals, major intervals, perfect intervals, harmonic intervals etc......plus reading sheet music. I don't know if I have the ability at my age to learn and memorize all these types of things that that course requires before you can move on. Does anyone have any thoughts for me on this? Thank you all very much for taking the time to read this and reply.

Guitar Tricks or Learn and Master Guitar? I just want to learn what I need to to play and sound good with practice and dedication.

wow i am going through a similar thing but i think i am gonna start all over again with guitartricks and stick with it!!
Hail Iommi\m/

Hello. I am thinking of doing the exact same thing. Sticking with Guitar Tricks instead. How come you are thinking of this? Is there a specific reason??

Just wondering.

Jim

Does the Gibson DVD set include songs? Learn the music ( reading etc) from Gibson and the songs from Guitartricks. Don't sell yourself short because of age. Reading music good to regenerate brain cells ( Oh thank god!). Learning how to count will actually help you with tab. I must say it's much easier than we think ( reading) the hard part is getting it in your fingers. All in all my suggestion learn from both.

Originally Posted by: jpolitoMy question is this. If I stick with Guitar Tricks to learn, can I ever learn the proper way to play so that someday I can be in a band?

If GT didn't teach you to play....then what would be the point of it?

What do you see GT as and what do you think it teaches you? I'm seriously asking for an answer from you on that one because it will give a good insight on how outsiders view GT. I'm sure there are others thinking the same way and it would be helpful for the GT staff to know how the site is being perceived.

So to answer your question....Yes, you can learn through GT and be good enough to be in a band. Keep in mind you're on the GT website, so obviously everyone will tell you GT is the best. I'll try to remain unbiased and give it to you straight.

There are thousands of ways to learn guitar, and thousands of ways that are RIGHT. You can achieve the same goal by choosing many different paths. When it comes to learning guitar, you have to ask yourself WHAT exactly you want to learn. Is your goal to be a theory expert and know all the techinical stuff, or do you just want to play? You don't need theory to be able to play guitar. It helps, but you can do without it.

As far as being "good enough to be in a band", it depends on what music you are playing and what kind of band it is. You can learn 3 chords and be in a band that hits it big, or you can spend years learning everything there is to know about guitar and be in a band that goes nowhere.

No matter what your goals are, GT is definitely a great decision on a starting point for learning guitar and achieving whatever goal you want. They don't bombard you with overly complex stuff while learning, but give you the knowledge you need to go that route if you want. Once you have a strong grasp of what GT or any other program has to offer, THEN you can get more picky on your choices for learning.


....that reply was longer than what I thought it was going to be haha.

Hello all. First, let me reply to Phillybeatle. The Gibson set does include songs but not the kind of popular songs that Guitar Tricks is paying to obtain the rights to. They are songs available in the public domain. Not really the kinds of songs one would really care to learn from an excitement point of view. The course is very heavy on reading music and understanding what makes music work. They describe it on the DVD as a high level college course in music theory.

Now to reply to hunter1801,

I see guitar Tricks as a wonderful place to learn the guitar. That is why I became a full access member. With respect to what I think it teaches you, the teaching style is a little different from the Gibson course because the lessons are much shorter for each topic discussed where the Gibson course is very linear in its structure and each DVD lesson can go as long as 45 to 58 minutes plus additional bonus material DVD's which go for another 45 minutes of instruction and practice time.

As far as I go, the reason I even brought this up is because with the Gibson course it makes you feel that unless you memorize and ingrain in your brain all this complicated music theory, you won't really be able to play and understand the guitar as a musician should. I just don't know many guitarists who play reading a music book so that is why I am getting confused here. If it were up to me, I would want to learn the guitar, play in a band, know what I am doing for the songs we need to learn, and not worry about diatonics, augmented 5th's etc.....I was just wondering how in depth Guitar Tricks expects you to get to eventually be able to go through a Blues level 1 and 2 course or rock level 1 and 2 course as far as theory goes.

If I had a choice, I just want to play songs written by bands like Boston, Foreigener, kansas, heart, Fleetwood Mac...etc... without being slowed down by years of studying complex music theory. I just don't know if that is possible to do as The Gibson Course makes you feel like it is a must to properly progress.

Thank you for reading and responding to my previous comments and if you can, this one as well.

Take care,
Jim.

Hi Jim,

Guitar Tricks is designed to get you playing, and playing the right way. Theory, like diatonic intervals, major intervals, perfect intervals, harmonic intervals doesn't need to be known to play guitar.

Just think of the old blues guys, they didn't know any of that stuff and most of our modern music is born from the blues: rock, country, jazz, pop.

I would suggest, although biased, to continue with Guitar Tricks so you can get what you want (to play) then go back to Learn & Master when you desire to learn more technical aspects of theory.

GT also teaches these aspects of theory but doesn't expect you to learn them to start playing. I think Learn & Master offers great material, but I like our format better.

Thank you Neal for taking the time to read my post. I agree with you. I was torn because I had Learn and Master Guitar first but absolutely LOVE the Guitar Tricks website and teachers.

I am going to stick with this program as follows: Guitar Fundamentals 1 and 2 with Chris S. Then I am going to Blues 1 and 2 and eventually to Rock 1 and 2 then to the songs. I appreciate your reply and I am glad you are the host of the Guitar Tricks Channel! I look forward to your e-mail lessons too in my e-mail. Very informative stuff.

Thanks for helping me make up my mind on this matter! Keep up the great work on this fabulous website! P.S. I like this site far better than the other competitor on line.....

Jim.

Originally Posted by: jpolito Plus, my kids love you as Tony Bones and watch your halloween videos over and over again.

Anders Mouridsen is doing Tony Bones, not Neal haha!

Anyway regarding your question: I also have Learn & Master and bove love the lessons from Gibson and the lessons here on GT.

In my opinion Guitar Tricks will get you faster started to play and keep you motivated (at least that's what it did for me). Your main question, if I understand it correctly, if it's mandatory to learn the theory.

Fortunately not, BUT theory can do wonders for your playing. When I look at myself I can honestly say that guitar theory made me have a huge leap forward in my playing. I started to see things, could compose some things myself and really started to know what notes to play or 'land on.'

Hope that helps. Have a great time!

JJ

Hello JJ,

Thank you for your reply. I believe GT will keep me far more motivated to continue on my journey. But since Neal said I can always go back to the theory later on if I want too and you also think it's a good idea sometime, that is what I will do. But first I will go through the GT courses as I previosly outlined in my last response to Neal.

Thank you JJ for your reply and your time.

Jim.

Just to add, Stevie Ray Vaughan didn't know how to read music....and he's a guitar legend. Lots of others like that too.

Thanks Hunter1801. You are correct and that is very encouraging info!

Thanks for the reply,

Jim.

Great post. I also have been confused about what methods are best for learning to play guitar. I have been hopping around the different instruction methods for the last year or so. I just signed up for the 14 day trial at GT. I always thought the GT site was a lick based instruction site so I never even looked at it until recently. I'm still not really sure where I should start here but so far I've been watching the fund 2 instruction. Im just looking for a good way to learn to play blues and rock guitar for fun. Thanks again for your post.

Originally Posted by: ChrisGossGreat post. I also have been confused about what methods are best for learning to play guitar. I have been hopping around the different instruction methods for the last year or so. I just signed up for the 14 day trial at GT. I always thought the GT site was a lick based instruction site so I never even looked at it until recently. I'm still not really sure where I should start here but so far I've been watching the fund 2 instruction. Im just looking for a good way to learn to play blues and rock guitar for fun. Thanks again for your post.

No problem and thank you Chris. I am definately sticking with GuitarTricks and am going step by step as I decided to in my above listed posts. I think it's the best way to go of all my choices and I really love this site and the instruction available on it.

Jim.

Wow what a great thread. Remember what BB King said in the video with Bono? I don't know know chords man. Theory is great, but it is useless if you can't feel it and play.

Originally Posted by: Carlos15Wow what a great thread. Remember what BB King said in the video with Bono? I don't know know chords man. Theory is great, but it is useless if you can't feel it and play.

Actually....he said, "I don't DO chords". More of a reference to him playing his single note blues runs. He knows chords.

No joke Hunter. You missed the point.

No, I got the point you were trying to make, but the point is made irrelevant when you know the actual quote said and the person who said it. BB King definitely knew theory, so misquoting him and making it look like he doesn't know chords doesn't help anyone.

Haha. Actually I thought he said I don't know any chords. I stand corrected. I started laughing when I watched the video. My wife asked me why I was laughing my response was "do you really think that BB doesn't know any chords." No way. Beyond all that I think if I was sitting by you in a bar I would move. We probably go to different types of bars though. Been fun. Later.

Gotta go with what keeps you playing.