Just started Guitar tricks,have done various courses and always start at beginner. Consider myself a late beginner but I should be better.Now my question, I also do another course, would I be better just following Guitar tricks or do both.Just finished fundamentals 1,pretty easy.Starting fundamentals 2.it Advice for 3 30 minutes sessions.
Hey there,
If you start in Fundamentals 2 and find it too easy, just keep skipping ahead. And do as many courses as you can handle! As long as you keep making progress, you can't learn too much. When I first started at 13 years old, I had two lessons a week (each from a different teacher). So don't worry about learning from multiple sources. This will continue throughout your life!
-Carl.
Carl King
Director of Content
GuitarTricks
Los Angeles, CA
Hey there,
If you start in Fundamentals 2 and find it too easy, just keep skipping ahead. And do as many courses as you can handle! As long as you keep making progress, you can't learn too much. When I first started at 13 years old, I had two lessons a week (each from a different teacher). So don't worry about learning from multiple sources. This will continue throughout your life!
-Carl.
Thanks for the great advice,using different course keeps me inspired. Guitar tricks is awesome 👌
Just started Guitar tricks,have done various courses and always start at beginner. Consider myself a late beginner but I should be better.Now my question, I also do another course, would I be better just following Guitar tricks or do both.Just finished fundamentals 1,pretty easy.Starting fundamentals 2.it Advice for 3 30 minutes sessions.
Warming up is always a great practice for me.
I like to spend about ten minutes warming my picking hand. I'll play from Low E starting on five with my index. Then the middle on six, ring on seven, and pinky on eight. Hold the frets down and move down to the next string. If the A string on five is muted, I know I'm not playing on my fingertips. Four strums down, four strums up, on down up down gallop on each note. So, I start on Low E, strum four down, next fret, repeat, and move to the A string all the way down to high E, then back up to low E.
When I am done with that, I practice a few scale boxes all over the neck, calling out the route notes. I'll do the four down, four up, gallop, and then alternate picking. I noticed this helps my brain sync my hands together.
For strumming, I like the strumming pattern from Ziggy Stardust. I needed a video for that one. It's got a high barre card transition in the mix that helps me to precisely move my hand and place my fingers. I'm not too big on playing acoustic, but I find myself craving the sound once in a while.
Thanks for reading, and be safe.
You should stick mainly with Guitar Tricks (Fundamentals 2) as your core path. Do your 3 × 30 min sessions like they suggest. Use the other course only as a supplement.
Warming up is always a great practice for me.
I like to spend about ten minutes warming my picking hand. I'll play from Low E starting on five with my index. Then the middle on six, ring on seven, and pinky on eight. Hold the frets down and move down to the next string. If the A string on five is muted, I know I'm not playing on my fingertips. Four strums down, four strums up, on down up down gallop on each note. So, I start on Low E, strum four down, next fret, repeat, and move to the A string all the way down to high E, then back up to low E.
When I am done with that, I practice a few scale boxes all over the neck, calling out the route notes. I'll do the four down, four up, gallop, and then alternate picking. I noticed this helps my brain sync my hands together.
For strumming, I like the strumming pattern from Ziggy Stardust. I needed a video for that one. It's got a high barre card transition in the mix that helps me to precisely move my hand and place my fingers. I'm not too big on playing acoustic, but I find myself craving the sound once in a while.
Ziggy played guitar. Thanks and Bowie's best album, saw him in 74.Awesome.
Hi fasteddymac,
i am reading som pe good advice here as to your question. And it sounds to me like you have a pretty good handle on how to practice, whether you work with the GuitarTricks course, or combine it with something else.
My only little reminder is that you want to make sure your practice time includes some “micro-practice”. For example, let’s say you are practicing a particular scale. And there is always one little spot in the scale that is a little rough - don’t think it will magically get better if you just keep practicing the whole scale from the beginning.
Instead, take a few minutes to isolate any consistent hiccup-point, and try to figure out why it is giving you trouble, and experiment with how you might do it a little differently for better results. That is what I mean about “micro-practice”: drilling down on the details of any little problem spots, and THEN, integrating it back into the whole.
In other words, and THEN, play the whole scale from the beginning, and see if the whole thing works more smoothly now.
Micro-practice is super valuable with all kinds of different skills - strumming, chord clarity, chord changes, fingerpicking, whatever yoy are working with.
Have lots of fun with all this!!
- Lisa
Hi fasteddymac,
i am reading som pe good advice here as to your question. And it sounds to me like you have a pretty good handle on how to practice, whether you work with the GuitarTricks course, or combine it with something else.
My only little reminder is that you want to make sure your practice time includes some “micro-practice”. For example, let’s say you are practicing a particular scale. And there is always one little spot in the scale that is a little rough - don’t think it will magically get better if you just keep practicing the whole scale from the beginning.
Instead, take a few minutes to isolate any consistent hiccup-point, and try to figure out why it is giving you trouble, and experiment with how you might do it a little differently for better results. That is what I mean about “micro-practice”: drilling down on the details of any little problem spots, and THEN, integrating it back into the whole.
In other words, and THEN, play the whole scale from the beginning, and see if the whole thing works more smoothly now.
Micro-practice is super valuable with all kinds of different skills - strumming, chord clarity, chord changes, fingerpicking, whatever yoy are working with.
Have lots of fun with all this!!
- Lisa
Hi Lisa,thanks for the great practice advice, quick question, if I do 3 1/2 sessions a day should I focus on the same skill or say 3 different skills spaced out.I was thinking on the same skill for 2 routine and one routine on just licks ,songs,improv,basically having fun.Your thoughts.Thanks Lisa.
