Suggestion to help us learn proper songs

Hi everyone,

So i joined GuitarTricks a few months ago and though my pace hasn't been as fast as it should've been, i have to say that Anders blues lessons have been super helpful and really fun to watch, with that said, i wanna talk about a "problem" that am sure every other beginner musicians go through:

You know that day where you just don't feel like doing a theory/technic session, you simply wanna have fun and go through the challenge of learning a real song, but the problem is that you are too much of a noob to properly determine what songs suits your level now, for example i feel very confident when it comes to learning "The Thrill is Gone", because i've been focusing on the Blues section by Andres, but i'll probably be very intimidated when it comes to learning a "simple" 2 stars level acoustic song that has lots of bar chords and varius strumming technic, but at the same time i have no idea if i REALLY can and should be learning "The thrill is gone" now.

And for this problem i thought of the following solution:

What if, for each course, you guys add a "Recommended songs" section, that at the end of each "key step" of a course (when we learn a new major technics) a new song can be unlocked.

for example for the part-1 blues course, you can have a list of ~20 songs, it would be better if some of them exists as a separate course in GuitarTricks but that's not necessary for all of them, and after every one or two videos (when a "learning step" is finished) a couple of these songs get "unlocked", the unlocking is purely a psychological thing for the students and in my honest opinion it is the best reward a beginner musician can have, after all, nothing feels better than learning a full song and playing it A-to-Z with its backtrack.

I feel that this little gamification will increase our retention but most importantly reward the users with more "knowledge gift" by helping us achieve actual goals by finishing the right songs, and i also think that adding such a feature to the website won't be so much of a hustle, obviously some web-editing is required but making the lists shouldn't be a problem for veteran teachers like yourselves

I'd love to know what you floks think about this, both students and teachers.

cheers!

Originally Posted by: Aladine...but at the same time i have no idea if i REALLY can and should be learning "The thrill is gone" now.[/quote]

There's really only one way to find, right? :)

[quote=Aladine]What if, for each course, you guys add a "Recommended songs" section, that at the end of each "key step" of a course (when we learn a new major technics) a new song can be unlocked.

This is a good idea & I will pass it on to the GT admin! But even if GT posted links like that there are immediate potential problems.

1. What if students don't like those songs?

2. What if the student didn't acquire all the skills required yet even if they were included in the course?

I encourage you to just dive in & start looking for songs you like & learn them.

As soon as you have some skills you should apply them to learning songs. The only reason we learn all these notes, chords, skills is to play music. And that happens in the form of songs. Once you start learning some songs you can alternate between the course & the song you are working on.

Start now. Make a list of 10 songs you are going to learn over the next couple of months. Go to the GT song catalog & see what songs we have you might want to learn.

https://www.guitartricks.com/songs

You don't have to play every last lick in the song. You just have to be able to strum or play the basic chord progression or riffs enough to keep playing in time all the way through the song. As you improve your skills you can go back to the more difficult parts of the song & work on them to add them in later!

That's where the Made Easy versions can really help!

https://www.guitartricks.com/songs/beginner

Say you aim for one song per week. Pick one song to start with. Write down the chords or print them out. Start memorizing the chord progression & the overall form of the song. Make sure you can play all the chords or parts, or at least well enough to get through the song.

Pick a song & start working on it. Play what you can of it. If there are techniques beyond your current skill level, then make time to focus on those specific techniques or licks. But DO NOT let that stop you from playing through the song in the easiest way possible. If there is a chord, strumming pattern or some aspect that is too difficult for you right now, then simplify it. That's how we all learn songs at first. As a beginner you can't learn all the licks to a hard song. You learn a simple version first to get the basic structure right & then you add layers of complexity as you improve.

This is also where the styles courses & other GT lessons can help! You can go back & forth between the lessons & the song you are working on. If there is a riff, lick or part in a song that is hard then look for when it might be covered in the course.

Keep playing it everyday until it becomes second nature. Until you can play through the whole song without having to stop to remember which chord or part comes next. Until you can do it in your sleep.

Then pick another song & repeat the process. Don't stop until you know 10 songs. That's how you build a repertoire.

Again, the point here is the only reason we learn all these notes, chords, skills is to play music. And that happens in the form of songs.

Hope this helps! Please ask more if necessary. Best of success!

Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel

Pick a song & start working on it. Play what you can of it. If there are techniques beyond your current skill level, then make time to focus on those specific techniques or licks. But DO NOT let that stop you from playing through the song in the easiest way possible. If there is a chord, strumming pattern or some aspect that is too difficult for you right now, then simplify it. That's how we all learn songs at first. As a beginner you can't learn all the licks to a hard song. You learn a simple version first to get the basic structure right & then you add layers of complexity as you improve.

I see, I always thought about the simplified version as "cheating" and not aquiring actual progress, guess i was wrong, I will give this approach a try then, Thanks a lot !