Hello! Been playing maybe 5 months, working my way through the Beginner sections...
Should I be mastering each piece, e.g. arpeggios, before moving on? I mean, I know I'm not "mastering" anything at this early stage, but be "fairly proficient with"?"
Or is the intro series simply designed to give the player a small sample of skills that will be explored in greater detail further down the line?
Thanks in advance.
As usual, William replied with great advice!
You have the right idea by saying fairly proficient as opposed to mastering. In general, you are done with a lesson when you completely understand the idea being taught and, or can do the physical skill being taught. That doesn't mean you should be able to play it perfectly every time going forward. But you want to have a decent grasp of it, understand how to keep practicing it & how to refine it. Then go forward in the course your are working on.
Keep going forward to learn new things & stay interested. Keep going over old things as you gradually improve your understanding & playing.
Knowing how much & when to review is a very individual thing. You want to keep moving forward to keep improving & stay motivated, but not so much that you get overwhelmed & in over your head, then discouraged. Learning guitar is a constant process of repetition & refinement. For as long as you play you'll keep playing many of the same things over & again to keep them under your fingers while you gradually add new skills & improve your old skills.
Hope that helps. Keep practicing!
Christopher Schlegel
Guitar Tricks Instructor
Christopher Schlegel Lesson Directory