Greetings Earthlings

Hello there, I am just north of 50 yrs old and I had tried most of my life to play guitar and failed (my fault) 

But here I am many years later with a renewed sense of purpose and desire. I am treating myself as beginner because if I am honest with myself...

skill wise that's where I am. 

So I am going to start with Anders Level 1 Acoustic course here and I have some question even if the answers seem obvious.

1st.  How long should I practice each lesson and how will I know if I am actually ready to move to the next lesson?

2nd. I ultimately want to play Rock, Metal (Many different Flavors of Metal) and oddly enough I really like flamenco style guitar as well. so with the beginner lessons can I / should I also start doing the lessons in the specific genre I want to play at the same time or one thing at a time

(what is a good method) ?

Just so you know some of my favorite bands (in no particular order) are.

Megadeth, Testament, Machine Head, Rush, Dream Theater, Symphony X , Orbit Culture, Currents, Arch Enemy, Nevermore, Firewind

And any thing 80's Metal or Hair Metal

Glad to be here....please help with my questions if able, I want to get started in the most efficient way if I can.

Thank you

Welcome, 

Many folks on here, myself included, started at an early age, gave up for whatever reason and now coming back to it so your not alone. 

Just north of 60 myself so dont worry about your age. 

As for how to proceed if you feel your still at beginner level then I think it's best you complete the Fundamentals courses. Fundamentals are well fundamental to whatever style you want to play so shore up those skills then move around the site as you wish. Learn to play the music that you enjoy listening to and that will keep you motivated. 

Learn each lesson as best as you can before moving on, but don't feel you have to master it down. It's all a work in progress so don't let yourself get fustrated and bogged down on something you are having trouble with. Move on and keep incorporaing it into your daily routine and if you need to at a later time you can always revisit the lesson. It will seem easier then trust me. The beauty of online lessons is they never go away just because you hit complete. You can take the lessons and courses as many times as you need. The one thing to focus on is have patience and enjoy the journey. 

Good Luck,

Moe

Thank you for responding and the sage advice..... I can't wait to get started

Have a great day

mj is spot on.

Oh - and welcome. The GT house is in a bit of a stir at the moment but you're in the right place to learn.

Rumble

Hey & welcome!  Moe gave you excellent advice & I'm just going to second most of it.

"So I am going to start with Anders Level 1 Acoustic course here and I have some question even if the answers seem obvious."

You might consider starting at Fundamentals 1 or 2.  If you have any basic skills already, then you might be able to work through it pretty quickly a get a solid foundation or review.  And you might pick up a skill or idea that you have otherwise overlooked, but that will help you build that solid foundation you will need going forward.

"1st.  How long should I practice each lesson and how will I know if I am actually ready to move to the next lesson?"

You can consider yourself done with any lesson when you completely understand the idea and can confidently play the skills being taught.  That means you might have to keep reviewing and working on any given lesson for a while.  You can and should move forward in the course in the meantime to stay motivated & see what's ahead.  But keep reviewing & working on older material until you have it under your command.  Learning guitar is a constant process of refinement, of adding on layers of complexity to basic skills.

There is no substitute for hours of repetitious practice until the physical motions are completely second nature.  Make a regular practice schedule & stick to it.  Or go above & beyond it!

"2nd. I ultimately want to play Rock, Metal (Many different Flavors of Metal) and oddly enough I really like flamenco style guitar as well. so with the beginner lessons can I / should I also start doing the lessons in the specific genre I want to play at the same time or one thing at a time"

You can certainly have a look at the Rock course to see how your current skills line up.  In fact if your skills & understanding are beyond Fundamentals 1 & 2, then you should consider starting in the Rock course instead of the Acoustic course.  That's where you are going to learn to build the skills that will help with rock style music.

But you should be realistic about your skill level & your goals.

"(what is a good method) ?"

I'm not sure exactly what you mean here.  But in general, the best method is to follow a good curriculum, with a good teacher (so, Fundamentals or the Rock Style Course) & practice a lot.  Then practice more.  :)

Hope that helps.  Please ask more if necessary & best of success!

Thank you so much for the detailed response, I said in my original post that I was Starting with Anders Acoustic course I believe I mis spoke it is in fact the level #1 Fundamentals that I am doing it just happens to be taught by anders as well :)

I appreciate everything you said and I will keep these tips in mind as I move forward.