Anders teaches all of the courses that you're engaged in and I can tell you what he'd say if you ask him (because I have asked him). He'd say chill already about the speed. Beginners should concentrate on technique, not speed. Playing faster than you are really capable leads to bad technique and bad habits. And then you will have some real problems rather than merely an imaginary problem with speed. That's basically what he told me.
The one beef I have with GT core curriculum courses is that the instructors task beginners with playing along to a backing track at a tempo that is clearly too fast for all but the most gifted beginners. They don't expect you to keep up. The stated tempo is something to shoot for when revisiting those lessons later, after you finish the course work and after you've established good playing mechanics and technique.
Who says you have to play it at the stated tempo anyway, especially on the first go-around? I've taken GF 1 & 2 with both Lisa and Anders, along with about half of Anders' Rock 1, Blues 1 and Acoustic 1. Certainly neither of those instructors have ever said anything even suggesting that you need to keep up with them. Unfortunately, they also don't say anything about slowing down the speed which makes me wonder whether the speed tabs were added after the videos were made.
I suggest you make use of the rate tabs to the left of the video playback screen and set the tempo to something you can comfortably handle, and concentrate instead on technique and timing. Do not let a lack of speed prevent you from forging ahead in the lesson plan. Getting fixated on speed as a beginner will absolutely lead to the kind of frustration that eventually causes one to just throw in the towel. Trust me on that one. I did it enough times before I wised up.
Nicolai
