Hey & welcome!

Originally Posted by: Waddas77

I have been told a good drum machine/pedal really helps with learning and practicing.

Yes, playing rhythmically in time is absolutely essential to playing music.

You can use a metronome, a drum sequencer or a backing track. Anything that provides a solid objective time indicator to play along with in order to develop good time.

GT has a metronome & lots of backing tracks on most lessons. Hope this helps!