Anders or Lisa

Hi everyone. Just signed up last month and really enjoying it. I went with Anders on the beginning guitar and am almost finished with His first round of lessons.  I self taught about 50 years ago (strumming with Dad etc) but like many, picked up a lot of bad habits. My question: Is it a good idea to restart with Lisa McCormack's class and maybe pick up some extra pointers or would this be much the same class?  Thanks , Jerry

Never touched the blues stuff before but a couple of his lessons got me thinking I might "major" in that.  Addicting!

Hi and welcome;

I don't think it would hurt to do Lisa's class. She teaches the same thing, but in a more structured way so you might pick up a few tidbits here and there you didn't get first time around with Anders. You could also dabble a bit into the Blues 1 module simultaneously. Were kind of our own coaches here so feel free to move around a bit and explore.

Good Luck,

Moe

Funny you should ask! I came to the forum tonight specifically to see what people thought of Anders vis a vis Lisa.

To me, it feels like Anders is the updated, hipper version of the beginner curriculum (and I am still quite new, so haven't gone more than the first two chapter with each instructor), but I think people might miss a lot of great info if they leave Lisa out of the equation. She doesn't bring the European cool that Anders provides, but there is so much great information and discussion on elements beyond the how-to of things, whick probably will prove invaluable as one progresses.  Lisa takes time getting the student into things, but she uses that pace to build great habits and get the student thinking about what they have to do to improve.

Maybe I won't feel the same way at the end of the Beginner course, but right now I would say doing both versions would reap the greatest results. 

Why choose?  Both are excellent.  Do one course, then do the other and benefit from both.

The biggest benefit I've had from full access here is the chorus of voices available, rather that just listening to one.  It's like have a circle of friends who are all awesome players who all share their unique perspectives with you.  Listen to all.  Apply what works for you.  Ruminate on the rest.  Repeat as necessary.  Then play-play-play.

Rumble

Im thinking I'm agreeing with you.  Since I'm not in a hurry, think I'll do both  We're paying for it, right?

Thanks Moe

Hi @jermcbroom

I also just took a course after 21 years of not playing guitar, believe it or not I just forgot how to do it, first time I took a course by Lisa, and she happened to teach how to use a pick on the strings, basic lesson. Then there were some lessons that Lisa delivered which I thought were quite difficult for beginners, then in the middle of the lesson I moved to the course taught by Anders, and I found ease there.

But Anders teaches the technique of using a pick almost at the end of the lesson. By the time Anders taught some guitar chord techniques and finger techniques, I had already mastered the technique of using a pick, because I had learned the technique taught by Lisa at the beginning.

I currently have two course teachers, Anders and Lisa. As far as I know, different teachers have different techniques, it just depends on our ability but of course with some effort at first.

Keep the spirit, goodluck.

This topic probably begs the question of GT: Why did you present two GF courses? Was there something you saw lacking in Lisa's course?

I'm pro both instructors btw. But this can be a confusing topic.

Hi William, the simple answer is, we wanted to present more options!

Anders has a different teaching style from Lisa and dives in to playing a little faster. Lisa goes further in depth with the function of the guitar etc. Anders course was never meant to replace Lisa's, it was to provide additional information presented in a different way. Nobody learns the same way so it is helpful to have multiple instructors that can teach the same topic in multiple ways. 

Lisa will ALWAYS be a member favorite and it is unlikely we will ever take her courses down. Additionally, Lisa's fundamentals course was older and was shot with a lower video quality. In an effort to keep the site as up to date as possible, we shot Anders videos in 4K.  

You can choose one instructor, or learn from both! Hopefully this helps clear up some confusion. Thank you for the feedback. 

Yes! Yes! Yes!

The variety of perspectives is the very reason I renewed my GT full membership.

The day all of the instructors are in lock step on every single topic is the day I'm out of here.

Yes!!!

One instructor may explain something in such a way that finally helps you grasp it, then the other instructor may do the same on another aspect.

This shouldn't be a debate, use all of the tools available to you. Like Rumble said "take advantage of both these instructors knowledge."

Thank you Rumble, you gave this person excellent advice.

My 2 cents;  I like both Lisa and Anders.  I personally find Anders as much a motivational instructor as a

guitar instructor.   Lisa has a few things Anders doesn't cover, But Anders is like a hammer hitting a nail.

He really wants us all to succeed.  No nonsense instruction from him I find.

I'd say do both and decide as you go.

Agree, very nice way to put it

I would like to say that I regret Lisa’s course being labelled « old course ». It pushes people toward the « new course » - with Anders.

I did GF with Lisa and I loved it. I am now doing Acoustic with Anders. Yes, he is a great teacher, technically very formative - but how many times can you hear « Check it out » and « Let’s get started » ? Plus, after a while, I find his practice tunes the same, always the same structure. I was so glad to find Lisa’s strumming course (difficult to find) and to be playing SONGS again !

Being female, and petite, I must say that I particularly appreciated Lisa’s talk about guitar size. And one thing I liked about GT was that there were female as well as male teachers. Now, it seems that all the female teachers are gone… I hope that we will see other female teachers coming to GT in the future.

Anders speaks to me unbelievably well, I'm always right there in the room with him. He's probably a tad overly protective over people's hurt feelings or frustration but it's easy to just gloss over that and focus on the lessons. 

That being said, Lisa is next on the menu as my plan is to suckle the bone marrow out of this site for every drop of knowledge. How lucky are we to go over the basics twice in a different manner, rather than doing dry repetition.

Love this site.

I've used both of them. When I first started it was Lisa. And I really liked her course. Then I stopped for awhile  and eventually got back into it and saw that there was a newer beginner course with Anders so I thought I'd try that as well. I've since "graduated" to Rock level 1 now and I'm glad I took part in both beginner courses as I'm sure both teaching styles benefitted me. I didn't dislike anything about either course. 

@Jerry,

I finished the introduction lessons of Anders. They are magnificent. Although I start now with the introduction lessons of Lisa too. Perhaps not necessarily, but beside a good repetition, she has certain different details. For instant the C major scale over more strings, at the first three frets.

After doing most of Lisa's first course, I think it would benefit massively from having notations added on the video screen, like Anders does. Other than that, it was a very pleasant experience,  her singing adds a lot of ambient to the basic strumming lessons.

I used to join Lisa McCormack's class. I really her teaching style. Her explanation is easy to understand for me. Therefore, I learned many things from her

That is an excellent point

I've done both courses and really enjoyed them both

The main separation was the singing, Lisa does and I don't remember Anders singing/playing even once

You having pointed this out to me now makes me feel that Lisa gives a singer/songwriter approach, more focused on the single entertainer.  Whilst Anders continually educates you about your position, role and function within the band setting.

Both approaches are great, only you can answer which is the better option for you... (to do first!  then go do the other one 😋)