I've been on Guitar Fundamentals with Lisa for 2 plus years!...Does anyone have suggestions on how to move through the lessons faster? Or, am I just being too impatient?
I practice consistently, about 30 mins to an hour a day, about 4-6 days a week on average. I guess I'm okay with the progress, but I just want to gauge others experience of GT.
It looks like you had some lessons with Dave C back in the fall of '21. My suggestion is go back to him and let him give you an assessment of where you are at. 2 years of GF is a long time coupled with private lessons.
This year the diet is definitely gonna stick!
If my math is correct, you've spent between 200 - 600 hours on GF 1. That's way way beyond the pale fror anyone. I suspect that you are getting stuck on lessons by trying to match the rate of the instructor when playing the songs against a backing track. If that's the case, please realize that doing so is crazy. Both Lisa and Anders are professional guitarist who are playing those tracks at a pace that is comfortable for them, not a beginner. Being able to play as fast as the instructors is something to aspire to over months or even years - not on your first go-around.
Use the rate tabs on the left of the video screen to slow it down to what you can play comfortably. Once you can play it through consistently.... at any speed, move to the next lesson. You can always come back later to work on speed. If it's not the play-along tracks that you're getting stuck on, then you should definitely take the advice of Willian MG and seek professional lessons on this site so you can diagnose what's going so wrong.
Nicolai
Thanks for the feedback. I guess I need to clarify a little bit more. I have finished GF 1 with Lisa, but GF 2 appears to be considerably longer. I have also dabbled in the Rock 1 module with Anders, as well as fingerpicking with Lisa.
I try to do a new lesson every 7 days in GF2. For example, I play a lesson 7 times at .5x speed before moving to another lesson. Then, I rotate the lessons and incorporate a new lesson, while still getting reps on the previous lesson, until I can move to the next speed.
I figured that structuring my lessons like this would probably be close to the way an in person teacher would assign lessons. (Weekly)
Anyway, thanks for your responses.
That sounds like a very sensible plan, except for one lesson per week. GF 1 has 155 lessons. Doing one lesson per week would therefore have taken you 3 years to complete GF 1. I believe that GF 2 has at least that many lessons as well.
You really don't need to do the lessons with the backing track every day for 7 days. As soon as you can play it consistently at the 0.5 speed that you're using, then move to the next lesson. At half speed, you should be able to play it reasonably well after one hour of practicing. But, even if you still have trouble with a play-along after trying for an hour (and you will).... move to the next lesson anyways. The point isn't to completely master every play-along. The instructors put those in there mainly to provide an opportunity for beginners to flex their skills and have some fun playing real music.
As far as the individual lessons leading up to the play-alongs, there are the "Welcome lessons" where there's nothing for you to master. You just watch for 1 - 2 minutes and move on. The other lessons leading up to the play-along tracks are typically fairly brief, 10 min or less, and usually involve learing a single new chord or a new technique. If you truly need to devote a [u]minimum[/u] of 2 - 2.5 hrs to complete those individual lessons then you need to be evaluated by a professional.
Unless, of course, there's something I still don't understand.
Nicolai
Originally Posted by: jlew523Thanks, Nicolai. I appreciate your insight.
Hey, could you do me a favor. Whether you alter you game plan yourself or get an instructor to evaluate you, check back in and let us know how it's going in a few weeks. I'd truly like to know what was slowing you down. I'm sure other members would as well.
Just use the forum search feature to find this thread and then post your reply. Thanks!
Nicolai
Im about the same way, I struggle with playing. I'm almost 60 yrs. old, I started playing about 6 yrs. ago, had a few private lessons before that, been on Guitar tricks about 3 yrs. I play everyday. My progress is slow and my hands dont move the best. I can play mostly open chord songs, power chords and blues riffs, rythm isnt the best, but you know what? I'm having fun playing what I can play, that's all that matter too me, some things click some don't. I"m not giving up. I'll get there when I get there, we all have our limits. Have fun!!!!
Hey McChuck,
I'm 60 yrs old too and I know exactly what you're saying. I play every day and on some days nothing clicks. 20 yrs ago I could still learn a few licks or even a longer riff in a day. Now that's become a long arduous process. Fortunately, with lots of advice from numerous members and some instructors here at GT I've learned to accept that reality. And now, like you, I'm truly having fun playing, perhaps for the first time in my life.
Rock till you drop!
Nicolai
Alismaximus, thank you. I had never played guitar until 6 yrs ago, so with age things go a bit slower and that's ok. I have a good time and way more gear than I need. Guitar Tricks and it's community is awesome.
Originally Posted by: mcchuck47I have a good time and way more gear than I need. Guitar Tricks and it's community is awesome.
Oh, if only we were as proficient as the amount of gear we owned.... I'd be a friggin' full fledged rock star by now ;)
And I agree - the GT community is awesome. Some days, I spend more time on this forum than I do with my guitar. So many interesting people and always a lot to learn here.
Nicolai
