When do I learn songs and other things on this platform?

Hi,

Hopefully that question makes sense. I am 17 years old and have been practicing the guitar off and on for a year. I can play every rose has its thorn (like how it is on the album) and have completed justinguitars beginner course. I am new to this site and liking it a lot. I joined because I have hit a brick wall with Justin’s site and it does not offer things that I would like to learn. During the time I was not on Justin’s site, I have been trying to play enter sandman. I mess it up all the time but I can consistently play through the whole song at 50%. My goal is to do 100% speed and then move on to some Tom petty songs. I started with the rock lessons because I felt capable enough to do so. However, I really liked how Justin layed out his lessons. By the end of it, you would practice a song and the things taught. Is there anything like this because I really do like learning songs. If this doesn’t make sense leave a comment and I’ll reply.

Thanks!

The top navigation link Learning Paths will take you to songs & courses.

This the song library.

https://www.guitartricks.com/songs?sort=popularity

This is the Core Learning System landing page with all the guided courses.

https://www.guitartricks.com/beginner

There are 3 primary categories of tutorials on GT.

1. Core Learning System. This is an integrated step by step curriculum of lessons that start at absolute beginner. The idea here is to isolate & streamline the curriculum all in one step-by-step process. Start at the Fundamentals, then work through the style course(s).

https://www.guitartricks.com/beginner.php

2. Song Catalog. This is all the songs GT has the secured the rights to teach.

https://www.guitartricks.com/songs.php

3. Instructor Directories. These are more specialized topics, sometimes organized in sub-categories. You can view the instructors & their specialty here.

https://www.guitartricks.com/instructors.php

For example, I have over a thousand lesson on various topics, organized by topic or focus. In general, these are for diving deeper into any given concept or technique. They are not necessary per se to the streamlined core learning system, but will help once a student develops more interest in a certain style or technique.

https://www.guitartricks.com/instructor.php?input=155014

At any level you should look for songs you enjoy, want to play & are close to your skill level. After all, that's why we learn all these ideas & skills, in order to play music! And that happens in the form of songs!

Quite often in the process of learning a song is when you will discover some new concept or technique that you have to learn in order to play the song & improve your guitar playing in general. Or you find a weak area in your knowledge or skill that needs practice & improvement. That's when the more detailed tutorials can help.

Most importantly, if you have a question about a certain topic, or how to do some skill, please ask. The GT database of lessons is enormous. That's one reason the forum is here, to help you find the resources you desire.

Hope this helps!

Hi Chris, 

Thank you for helping me but I am a little confused still. I am wondering if there is a practice schedule like on justin guitars website. An example is doing scales for 2 mins, power chord changes, a song repertoire, and then a new song to learn. Is there anything like that on here. I am asking this because I tend to find myself watching the videos learning but then not actually practicing. That has been my biggest problem, not practicing. That is why I bough a subscription here because I was thinking that it would give me things to practice. 

Each tutorial has a specific set of skills & ideas you are supposed to practice.  Usually at the end of each tutorial there is a play along or practice song summarizing & containing the material you are supposed to practice.  You can keep moving forward in the course to watch new videos.  But you aren't done with any given lesson or tutorial until you can play the content in time, and you completely understand the ideas taught. 

An example practice session for a student working through the rock course might look like this:

10 minutes:  Stretch, warm up hands doing simple scales/melodies, or strumming basic chords you already know.

20 minutes:  Play through material you can already do pretty well.  The idea here is just to get your fingers, ear & mind working on music.  But since you are playing something you can already do, it's more about fun & reinforcing your muscle memory on current repertoire.  You can refine skills, workout rough edges.  Work on part of a song, or a riff from a previous lesson.

20 minutes:  Work on something new & difficult for you.  This is when you are trying to play new material from whatever rock course tutorial you are currently working on.  This is not as fun & might be hard or frustrating.  But it's necessary to go through new material that challenges you.  Go slowly, be patient with yourself.

10 minutes:  Return to something you can already do pretty well.  The idea here is just to finish with something that is fun again.  Something that will give some satisfaction like a reward for getting through the hard part.  Hopefully this will finish your practice session on a good note!  You will be encouraged about your skills & motivated to schedule your next session.

This list can be adjusted for just about any material.  It can also be scaled up or down with a different amount of time to work with.  Warm up, fun, work, fun.

As a beginner, sometimes you don't have a lot of material to work with.  But this is where sheer repetition can fill in the time.  And focused repetition is exactly what you need to learn guitar.

Hope that helps!

Hey,

Thank you so much for helping out. This really helps me. I can not thank you enough!

Glad that helped.  Keep practicing & best of success!