Neil, (or anyone who has time to respond):
Should one complete the "Acoustic Genius Series - Fundamental Lessons" (Parts I,II,III,IV,V,VI) before progressing to "Guitar Lessons 101?" My basic inquiry is what is the proper/suggested sequence? :blink:
Suggested Sequence Of Beginner/Basic Lessons
Doug- I think it's important you start playing songs as soon as possible because that's why we all wanted to learn the guitar in the first place. But to make this possible I really recommend starting work on the Acoustic Genius series at the same time.
Learning the guitar is not a sequential process meaning you don't have to learn one thing and then go to the next. It should be a concurrent activity where you are constantly learning many things all at once.
For example, I worked on 5 songs tonight (3 fingerstyle and 2 strumming) for about 45 minutes. Each had something different I wanted to work on. Then I spent an hour soloing over backing tracks in different styles and keys. Last night I spent my whole practice time working on songs I already knew but wanted to get tighter.
My point is, know what you want to accomplish before you start practicing. Stick to your plan. And then mix it up. Maybe work on 50% Acoustic Genius and 50% on songs you want to learn. Then the next practice session work on new songs for part of the time and then your good stuff the rest of the time.
But always keep it fun. If it isn't, stop and take a rest. And if you get frustrated, post a message on this forum and we'll all try to buck you up! We've all been there!
Good luck and enjoy the journey! It's a blast!!
Cheers! :cheer:
Learning the guitar is not a sequential process meaning you don't have to learn one thing and then go to the next. It should be a concurrent activity where you are constantly learning many things all at once.
For example, I worked on 5 songs tonight (3 fingerstyle and 2 strumming) for about 45 minutes. Each had something different I wanted to work on. Then I spent an hour soloing over backing tracks in different styles and keys. Last night I spent my whole practice time working on songs I already knew but wanted to get tighter.
My point is, know what you want to accomplish before you start practicing. Stick to your plan. And then mix it up. Maybe work on 50% Acoustic Genius and 50% on songs you want to learn. Then the next practice session work on new songs for part of the time and then your good stuff the rest of the time.
But always keep it fun. If it isn't, stop and take a rest. And if you get frustrated, post a message on this forum and we'll all try to buck you up! We've all been there!
Good luck and enjoy the journey! It's a blast!!
Cheers! :cheer:
Thanks BB, I definitely want to keep it on a fun, enjoyable level. But I started on "Wish You Were Here" and Neil began talking about "Em Pentatonic," and "E Dorian" and I only had the foggiest idea of what he was talking about. So I figured that there was some basic point that one needs to get to in the Acoustic Genius" series or the "Guitar 101" series before one actually progresses to songs. Thanks for your help...
dleewebb wrote:
Some folk learn in a linear way, others not so much..
If you take Bears advice..learn a song you love, the way wee have designed this , you will begin to learn by default the fundamentals...
Connecting them up in a quicker manner you have two options ..one go through acoustic genius in a linear fashion as part but not all of your learning ..and continue learning some of your favorite tunes..
Or jump ahead to a section that you find connects with a song and a technique or theory component..ie in this case go to the pentatonics section and learn concurrently with the song lesson ..
One other idea...the guitar 101 to me is a no brainer to spend 10 minutes a day on ...if you do this for a month you will end up taking leap frog jumps in your understanding of each lesson..
And one last thought..
You actually do not need to learn any of this stuff to play the songs...that is the beauty of the system..go as deep or as shallow as you want..and still get the joy in playing..
I hope this helps ..
Cheers
Matt
Just to pitch in a little here..Thanks BB, I definitely want to keep it on a fun, enjoyable level. But I started on "Wish You Were Here" and Neil began talking about "Em Pentatonic," and "E Dorian" and I only had the foggiest idea of what he was talking about. So I figured that there was some basic point that one needs to get to in the Acoustic Genius" series or the "Guitar 101" series before one actually progresses to songs. Thanks for your help...
Some folk learn in a linear way, others not so much..
If you take Bears advice..learn a song you love, the way wee have designed this , you will begin to learn by default the fundamentals...
Connecting them up in a quicker manner you have two options ..one go through acoustic genius in a linear fashion as part but not all of your learning ..and continue learning some of your favorite tunes..
Or jump ahead to a section that you find connects with a song and a technique or theory component..ie in this case go to the pentatonics section and learn concurrently with the song lesson ..
One other idea...the guitar 101 to me is a no brainer to spend 10 minutes a day on ...if you do this for a month you will end up taking leap frog jumps in your understanding of each lesson..
And one last thought..
You actually do not need to learn any of this stuff to play the songs...that is the beauty of the system..go as deep or as shallow as you want..and still get the joy in playing..
I hope this helps ..
Cheers
Matt
Doug- Matt makes some really good points. If you are trying to learn Wish You Were Here, one of my favorite songs, it doesn't really matter that it's in the key of E minor or the Dorian mode. Someday that information will be useful but not now if you are just beginning.
I totally agree that learning the guitar should not be linear, or sequential the way I described it. And it is really important to learn proper techniques and some level of theory as you go or you will rapidly get to a point where you can play some songs but don't really know anything about music or the guitar.
It's also important to learn stuff like correct fingerpicking, proper hand position, all the embellishments like hammer-ons, pull-offs, vibrato, barre chords, etc. And these need to be learned alongside learning the songs. guitar 101 and the Acoustic Genius series are both excellent for this.
But where I differ with some people is if a student stresses the technical side of the instrument too soon and too hard, they often drift away because it just isn't as much fun and far more frustrating than they thought it would be. An argument can be made that by learning all the technical stuff early it will cut down on frustrations later but I contend there will be plenty of frustration to go around regardless! lol!
Probably way more information than you wanted but it's important you have at least an idea of how to proceed because this is an incredibly frustrating instrument anyway and being overwhelmed with information doesn't help!
Good luck buddy and don't be afraid to post frequent questions if you get bogged down!
:cheer:
I totally agree that learning the guitar should not be linear, or sequential the way I described it. And it is really important to learn proper techniques and some level of theory as you go or you will rapidly get to a point where you can play some songs but don't really know anything about music or the guitar.
It's also important to learn stuff like correct fingerpicking, proper hand position, all the embellishments like hammer-ons, pull-offs, vibrato, barre chords, etc. And these need to be learned alongside learning the songs. guitar 101 and the Acoustic Genius series are both excellent for this.
But where I differ with some people is if a student stresses the technical side of the instrument too soon and too hard, they often drift away because it just isn't as much fun and far more frustrating than they thought it would be. An argument can be made that by learning all the technical stuff early it will cut down on frustrations later but I contend there will be plenty of frustration to go around regardless! lol!
Probably way more information than you wanted but it's important you have at least an idea of how to proceed because this is an incredibly frustrating instrument anyway and being overwhelmed with information doesn't help!
Good luck buddy and don't be afraid to post frequent questions if you get bogged down!
:cheer:
Thanks guys, I get your point. I think that my approach to all learning is essentially "linear." However, this may have been a problem that I was not aware of with regard to learning the guitar in the past. I will take your advice and refer to your comments as I continue to progress...thanks for the clarification and for your advice...