Success Stories

I would love to hear some success stories for encouragement. I have been taking private lessons for 4 months and haven't made much progress (not on GT but locally). I can play maybe two chords and very little rhythmn. I have learned a ton of theory. Although theory is important, it is not that much fun. I don't feel it is balanced. BTW - I just started GT.

Hi Bryan

I think you will benefit by getting some songs started. This should help motivate you.

I'm not sure I agree with the way your instructor has gone about things or why you only have 2 chords down, however, right now you need a reason to play guitar - that would be songs

I think you will benefit by getting some songs started.

Hi.

not sure if you can count this as a success story, but here goes:

I've been playing guitar for 35 years. My dad showed me the chords to House of the Rising Sun and for a very long time afterwards I tried to learn from books. There was no internet back then. But for the next 30 years almost I played the same rubbish over and over without making any significant progress. I signed up to Guitar Tricks back in 2011 or 2013 for a year and in that time learned to play a song all the way through for the first time in my life. I didn't have the commitment back then to keep going, but the addition of some songs that interested me over the last couple of years pushed me to sign up again. I had almost completely forgotten how to play everything I had previously learned, but I can now fully and correctly play the following:

Boston - More Than a Feeling and Rock and Roll Band.(both rated 5 guitars)

Rick Springfield - Jessie's Girl

Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It

Judas Priest - Living After Midnight

John Lennon - Starting Over

Del Shannon - Runaway

The Clash - I Fought the Law.

Ryan Adams - New York, New York.

I've also learned bits and pieces of other songs and lessons. I can categorically say that this has been a result of GT's excellent tutors and if you're willing to put a bit of time and effort in, you can at the very least get to where I am.

As I said before, not sure if this is what you'd consider a success story, but I'm personally feeling quite chuffed. 😁

Originally Posted by: bryanlcarter

I would love to hear some success stories for encouragement. I have been taking private lessons for 4 months and haven't made much progress (not on GT but locally). I can play maybe two chords and very little rhythmn. I have learned a ton of theory. Although theory is important, it is not that much fun. I don't feel it is balanced. BTW - I just started GT.

Since I played forever, I don't have a story per se but, my wife is in much the same boat as you. She just started playing. She chose not to take lessons from me because she didn't want her frustration in learning to play to project to us (smart woman). So she got a local instructor.

She likes the local instructor but given it's weekly for a half and hour, she doesn't feel like it's enough. So, she uses me as an encourager and tutor.

It's only been a few lessons for her but she was a little unsure what/why she was learning. That's where I fill in the blanks. He was working her towards the meat-n-potatos 'cowboy' chords and an easy to play major scale. Getting her to play something musical.

Still, she wants to learn things an instructor weekly can't fill in. She will be working through the Fundementals courses. I'll just be her Sherpa along the way. Not teaching per se but being a guitarist helpdesk.

She's moving along better than she's giving herself credit for so I encourage and point out what I think; she's moving along nicely.

Is that a success story? Not so much but it points out that everyone has similar struggles.

Hi Bryan,

I picked up the guitar first time at age 52. Never played any other instrument so a true novice. I did my homework on web based lessons and ended up here at GT. A few yrs later I'm still here and I pick up my guitar every day I'm at home. Even took it away for xmas break. I'm not the best at playing but I can get myself through a range of songs.

The best thing in my opinion is to work your way through fundamentals 1 & 2. When you come out the other end you'll be pleasantly surprised at how much you can do plus what you know about guitar and music theory in general without being overwhelmed with theory v actual playing (it's a good balance). It's very structured and relevant to what you will move onto in your guitar journey. There were chords finger positioning etc that I couldn't physically do during this time but I followed the instruction and chipped away at it .... and got there eventually.

I now supplement my online learning with an instructor once fortnight to get one on one critique and coaching mainly for my actual playing. This was quite a time after I'd finished fundamentals 2, in hindsight I think I should have started with the instructor shortly afterwards to check on my dexterity with the instrument.

In summary do the fundamentals and even if some of the songs in the course aren't your thing don't get hung up on them, you can choose some on the same level that you may familiar with, and like, and you can play those ones heaps to consolidate your learning.

Success story.... well I'm not Eric Clapton but I can play the guitar and when I learn something new I've got a good grounding .... best of all I'm having a great time.

Best of luck mate, enjoy your journey 👍

I appreciate all of the stories and encouragement. I know it takes time and practice but to hear it is all worth it is a blessing. Thanks to all of my GT friends :)

I, too, think you will greatly benefit from what GT has to offer.

I'm 38. I started playing in July after a guitar was gifted to me for my birthday. (Well, technically two...an acoustic and electric.) I had never played an instrument when I was younger but always wanted to learn how to play guitar. But I thought it was something only "musical" people could do and that was definitely not me.

(Side story here: What made me fall in love with guitar? When I was very little, I remember my pastor singing and playing guitar to O Holy Night every Christmas Eve while candles lit the church. It was an experience! I couldn't believe how beautiful that guitar sounded. Ever since then, I've wanted to play.)

But once I had the guitars I was determined to learn how. I knew getting a local instrutor would be 1) impossible due to cost and 2) impossible because of COVID. And I knew I needed a structured program so I quickly found GT videos, fb page, site, etc. And then I was hooked! I am in Fundamentals 2, but have dabbled in about 25% of the acoustic course. I have been playing lots of songs, full songs!

But best of all, the confidence I gained from learning how to play transferred over to other areas and I am just generally a happier person. Now I am about two months in to learning how to play the ukulele too. I have definitely surpised myself! And I think you will too once you get started on this path. The instructors here are great and available for questions as well. You can definitely tell the hard work they put into getting these lessons just right. And as you can see, everyone on the forum is quite helpful, too.

Good luck to you on your journey!

Originally Posted by: bryanlcarter

I would love to hear some success stories for encouragement. I have been taking private lessons for 4 months and haven't made much progress (not on GT but locally). I can play maybe two chords and very little rhythmn. I have learned a ton of theory. Although theory is important, it is not that much fun. I don't feel it is balanced. BTW - I just started GT.

Hi Bryan

I have been playing the guitar for some time now, and I have tried to learn from various books, but it did not make any sense, and basically knew the cowboy chords. I could play a couple riffs here and there but no full songs. With the whole COVID thing I decided to take my playing more serious and started looking for a online training aid. That is where I came accross guitartricks. I have been a member since October 2020 and I must tell you the instructors on this website is world class. I have never loved playing the guitar more. I have worked through Fundamentals 1 & 2, Rock 1 & 2 and started on Blues 1, and I can tell you I have never had so much fun. My list is currently at 12 songs that I can play from beginning to end from some of by favourite bands: Blink 182, ACDC, Offsrping. I hve learned so much from this website and taking into account the cost of the monthly subscription it's basically a give away. The most important thing I can sy is to have fun and set goals and work towards meeting your goals. And lastly practice, practice, parctice. Some of the things might seem out of reach now, but if you put in the effort it will eventually all fall in place.

Cheers from South Africa

I'm 52 and started playing in November, partly to cure pandemic blues and partly because it's something I always wanted to do. Finished the fundmentals and now starting with the rock course with Anders. This week I've polished up my covers of Wish You Were Here and Norwegian Wood - pretty happy with that!