Guitar book instruction

I would consider myself an advanced beginner. I own both electric and acoustic guitars. I took private lessons for 2 years (2 instructors each for 1 year). One used the Mel Bay Guitar Method grade 1 which took 1 full year for me to complete while the 2nd instructor used the Alfred's method (I completed the 1st 3 books in the 2nd year) The 1/2 hour per week just didn't seem right. Most of the lesson songs I never heard so at times I didn't know if I was practicing them correctly. The 1/2 hour went by so fast that if I asked any questions it ate up most of the 1/2 hour. The instructors also seemed to be more interested in getting me in and out within the 1/2 hour in order to get the next student in rather than helping me to progress. I might add the lessons were not cheap. After I ended my relationship with private instruction I sent for the Gibson's Learn & Master Guitar 20 dvd course. The 1st disc I tried malfuntioned ( I tried it in 3 separate dvd players). I returned the entire course for a refund. I am now a member of both GT and JamPlay. I find that the GT instructors are more personal in that they take an active roll in forum inquires. Now for my question! After 2 years of private instruction I still feel that I should be further along in my playing and my confidence is lagging. Will following the GT course step by step be the answer? Are there any instruction book(s) which are recommended to use alongside the GT guitar site? I want to be able to play both the melody and backup to songs. I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

Hello Dorkman
following this course will probably help you but the problem with most courses is that the are structured in a linear way. That means you master 1 item (for example sweep picking) in lets say to months. After that you go for the second item and so on.
The problem is that every time you master one thing you are a complete beginner at another topic.
What you wan't to do is focus on more items at a time.
Here is an example of such a shedule:
5 min. warm up
15 min. scale sequences
15 min. arpeggios
20 min. improvisation
10 min. strumming
....

This might be common sense but it is a thing that also got me struggling for quite some time.
also you don't have to do every thing every day search like every week or so for your weakest point and focus a little bit more but not entierly on that.
I don't say that this course is bad but you have to use it in the right way :)
good luck and keep practicing.

I think that Kogler had some good advice there. You are not a complete beginner, so if you have the practice time I'd suggest splitting your time between a few key areas. You might want to work through the fundamentals course to make sure that there are no gaping holes in your technique/knowledge, while at the same time challenging yourself with a song that you'd like to learn or have a look at one of the style lessons.

Don't forget to enjoy the ride!

Edited to add an actual answer the original question- I think that with creative use of the resources at GT you should be able to make a practice schedule to improve considerably. You probably won't need any other books unless you progress to an advanced level and want to really specialize.

Over several decades I have accumulated a HUGE library of instructional books/tapes/dvds/CDs, etc. IMO, when it comes to actually learning-the-instrument and how to play it - GT is the way to go. Once you get to the point you have at least a basic command of technique and theory and more of your playtime is devoted to playing songs than practicing scales/techniques, etc. there are quite a few good/helpful/interesting books out there.

For example I have a book/cd pkg dedicated to Reggae. It's done well and I have absolutely benefited from it. I re-visit it at least once-a-year. Most significantly I have a LOT of the "Play-a-Long" type books that feature specific genres or artists with demo track and "minus-one" track. The tab is usually pretty good and learning a song and then playing it up-to-tempo and in-time (band setting) is invaluable because that is what I struggle with the most. It also encourages me to learn songs completely, start-to-finish, rather than just parts or favorite licks. GT of course +1's this by providing a visual of a muted guitar playing in the "jam-along" sections.... but the song selection is limited compared to available play-a-long books... and they're CHEAP! Hundreds of them on Amazon for $10-$15 ea.

As far as JamPlay... I am following closely to see if/when they run a $$ special on signing up for both Guitar AND Bass. I "tinker" with bass but I feel like I could up my potential for playing with others by being able to answer "yes" to the most frequent question I'm asked when I'm trying to network in the musicians community... Me: "Hi, I play guitar" ... Them: "Cool, can you play bass?"

Try a couple of the "play-a-long" book/CDs and force yourself to play the entire song, in time, and up to tempo ... I find it pretty satisfying.

Take Care

It's too bad you had the bad experience with Gibson Learn and Master Guitar. It is really an excellent set of learning materials. I mean this with all due respect to GT. Nor am I making a comparative statement.

But L&MG is very highly reviewed and I know of more than a few that are combing L&MG & GT for their learning materials.

I hope So Matonanjin I combinded Both Programs The Gibson M&l From E bay is not here yet I have been using Guitar Tricks and Wonder if I should return The M&L Series To E Bay Unopened I Have 9 Star licks videos and another guy from ebays dvd on stevie ray,Petty and pat TRavers I have 2 books styles for the studio by leon white and Fretboard logic by Bill edwards? Sometime you just have to much to do ?

I am two years into guitar playing and I really didn't learn much until I joined GT. I was a member of Jamplay and it was good but I found it to be stale. I agree with someone above that said you should go through the Basic courses. You may wind up breezing past Basic I and get something out of Basic II. While learning through these, hit some songs. I found that once I stopped being a baby and really trying songs out I tended to learn much faster. There is nothing like learning a song, especially one you already know and master it by keepin up with the band track. You realize that you are playing something like your heroes at least for that one song. Combining the Basics courses, then moving on to Blues, Rock or Country and learning songs is the way my friend. I wouldn't deal with books for now unless you are the detailed knowledge based type. Have fun!