Starting from scratch

[Anna Taylor]

I haven't been on here for way too long, and as I was browsing through the forums, I was shocked to see this thread empty! So, I wanted to take action and be the first one to post!

My guitar journey has been very rocky. I'm "self-taught" and I put that in quotation marks, because I still have a long damn way to go.
I'm able to play basic chords. I can play basic songs I learn - a very decent amount of them - but I seem to have trouble when it comes to taking the next step and evolving.
So, I have decided to start from scratch and working my way up again. This way, I might be able to get rid of mistakes I have made from simply fucking around on the guitar without really knowing what I am/was doing.

My question is, how do you guys start, and how easy/hard is it for you all to progress?

 

[Imactuallyadrummer]

So I’m kind of in your boat. At the very least I’m gonna reply to follow the thread lol.

I probably can’t give “legit” advice since I’m kind of a newbie myself. But as someone who is kind of in the same boat as you - how many of the lessons have you done? They’re surprisingly pretty good at establishing the basics and learning good habits - even something like how to hold the pick “properly” - I almost think of it like picking up habits while driving - we should learn one proper way first before falling into different habits which may end up being more inefficient.

I also only learned like two weeks into doing these lessons that you can change the speed of the backing tracks, LOL! I had to turn my phone onto landscape mode to see that option Those are pretty handy to play over too..

When I’m playing I take turns “jamming” or playing songs one week and then doing some lessons the next week. That way my mind doesn’t feel too overwhelmed and it feels fresh doing the same thing over and over again. And I often have to revisit these lessons and it’ll feel better doing it a second time, a third time, until it becomes intuitive... Over time I hear improvements in the songs I play and hopefully the increase in difficulty will follow..

lastly I’ve been guided towards online lessons for if you feel truly lost. Haven’t committed to that yet cause got a lot of life things going on at this second but I still try to pick up the guitar for even at least 15-20 min a day

 

[Anna Taylor]

So I’m kind of in your boat. At the very least I’m gonna reply to follow the thread lol.

I probably can’t give “legit” advice since I’m kind of a newbie myself. But as someone who is kind of in the same boat as you - how many of the lessons have you done? They’re surprisingly pretty good at establishing the basics and learning good habits - even something like how to hold the pick “properly” - I almost think of it like picking up habits while driving - we should learn one proper way first before falling into different habits which may end up being more inefficient.

I also only learned like two weeks into doing these lessons that you can change the speed of the backing tracks, LOL! I had to turn my phone onto landscape mode to see that option Those are pretty handy to play over too..

When I’m playing I take turns “jamming” or playing songs one week and then doing some lessons the next week. That way my mind doesn’t feel too overwhelmed and it feels fresh doing the same thing over and over again. And I often have to revisit these lessons and it’ll feel better doing it a second time, a third time, until it becomes intuitive... Over time I hear improvements in the songs I play and hopefully the increase in difficulty will follow..

lastly I’ve been guided towards online lessons for if you feel truly lost. Haven’t committed to that yet cause got a lot of life things going on at this second but I still try to pick up the guitar for even at least 15-20 min a day

I've been on here for ages, but only ever did all the beginner lessons up to the intermediate lesson one, then stopped. I don't really know why, but I blame it on me not having the time or the drive to practice and really work hard to get better.

I'm glad you replied to the thread! My plan now is to start from the beginning and pretty much power through a lesson a day or so, and posting progress the next. Of course, the harder the lesson, the more time I'll need to practice properly, but I'm determined to make this work. I know I have it in me to be a gold player!

I totally understand you when you say you have a lot of life things going on lmao
I have a leading position at my job - recently got promoted - so things are super hectic for me as well, but I don't want to drown in work and let my hobbies die, you know?

How far in are you on the lessons/how far is your progress?

 

[Rad Synner]

Hey! I actually am more or less in the same head space as you in the sense that like i've been gone for a while and now back! In any case, welcome back!

I actually relate to you in a lot of capacities. I have been playing for almost 8 years now completely self taught with some good advice there and there but never concretely took lessons. The best advice I can give you is to really go with your own vibe and what you want and are capable to do! What I mean by that is that I dont think any guitarist have the exact same way of learning guitar and what works for me might not work for you and vice versa. Obvioulsy there are the basic advice of going slowly at it and being gentle with yourself and really going day by day!

I think going over one lesson per day is very nice! That is actually what I did/Do! Right now I finished all the beginner section but I am taking more time to really know and understand the CAGED system before moving on to intermediate! So far, I am getting a very solid understanding of that section so if you need anything, dont hesitate to ask!

All said and done, keep at it! I am sure you'll be a great guitar player in no time!

 

[Imactuallyadrummer]

I've been on here for ages, but only ever did all the beginner lessons up to the intermediate lesson one, then stopped. I don't really know why, but I blame it on me not having the time or the drive to practice and really work hard to get better.

I'm glad you replied to the thread! My plan now is to start from the beginning and pretty much power through a lesson a day or so, and posting progress the next. Of course, the harder the lesson, the more time I'll need to practice properly, but I'm determined to make this work. I know I have it in me to be a gold player!

I totally understand you when you say you have a lot of life things going on lmao
I have a leading position at my job - recently got promoted - so things are super hectic for me as well, but I don't want to drown in work and let my hobbies die, you know?

How far in are you on the lessons/how far is your progress?

Congrats with your promotion!! It's true... life/work balance is crucial. I'm lucky that my job doesn't require me to check my e-mail or disturb my non-work time too much (for now).
I think when you put your heart into wanting to improve at something you'll make the time for it, instead of being unable to "find" time for it. That's my experience with my other hobbies anyways.

I am on the CAGED system, so still beginner! I can feel a little bit of progress stagnation there as it's a lot of material to consume. But every once in a while I review some of the lessons I've completed and it seems like the more breaks I take, the easier the material becomes to absorb and understand. Of course I still feel like it's very valuable practice (physically) for my fingers to play out the scales, switching positions and being more comfortable with the fretboard in general, so I've spent extra time on these set of lessons. My hope is that in time all this will become natural to me and I'll be able to play without thinking too much about it

 

[Anthony Peña]

I haven't been on here for way too long, and as I was browsing through the forums, I was shocked to see this thread empty! So, I wanted to take action and be the first one to post!

My guitar journey has been very rocky. I'm "self-taught" and I put that in quotation marks, because I still have a long damn way to go.
I'm able to play basic chords. I can play basic songs I learn - a very decent amount of them - but I seem to have trouble when it comes to taking the next step and evolving.
So, I have decided to start from scratch and working my way up again. This way, I might be able to get rid of mistakes I have made from simply fucking around on the guitar without really knowing what I am/was doing.

My question is, how do you guys start, and how easy/hard is it for you all to progress?

Start from lesson 1. Some people will skip around and pick lessons that they are most interested, and that is okay if you are a more established player. But if you're wanting to start from scratch, I'd recommend going in order- they have them listed in the way they think works best for us students.

Progress is both easy and hard to make, it just depends on the material, or the way we process information differently, or whether you're in a good or bad mood. Try not to worry so much about achieving huge progress in a matter of days. It takes CONSISTENT work, and being self-aware of how you are practicing.

If you do those two things, every day, you'll be making true progress and surprise yourself in no time. As long as you get the tiniest amount better than you were yesterday, that is true progress.

Hope this helps. I recently started over too, and it's absolutely worth it. I'll do it again and again, to relearn things I'll inevitably forget about in the future. We're all on the same path. Just keep going. One step at a time.

 

[Anna Taylor]

Hey! I actually am more or less in the same head space as you in the sense that like i've been gone for a while and now back! In any case, welcome back!

I actually relate to you in a lot of capacities. I have been playing for almost 8 years now completely self taught with some good advice there and there but never concretely took lessons. The best advice I can give you is to really go with your own vibe and what you want and are capable to do! What I mean by that is that I dont think any guitarist have the exact same way of learning guitar and what works for me might not work for you and vice versa. Obvioulsy there are the basic advice of going slowly at it and being gentle with yourself and really going day by day!

I think going over one lesson per day is very nice! That is actually what I did/Do! Right now I finished all the beginner section but I am taking more time to really know and understand the CAGED system before moving on to intermediate! So far, I am getting a very solid understanding of that section so if you need anything, dont hesitate to ask!

All said and done, keep at it! I am sure you'll be a great guitar player in no time!

Ah, it's so good to hear that I'm not the only one who has been gone for ages and now wants to jump back in! Actually makes me more than happy to post my process, too! Lmao

Do you think it would motivate more of us beginners if we post our daily/weekly progress? Maybe more people are in our position, but just too scared to post stuff?

 

[Anna Taylor]

Congrats with your promotion!! It's true... life/work balance is crucial. I'm lucky that my job doesn't require me to check my e-mail or disturb my non-work time too much (for now).
I think when you put your heart into wanting to improve at something you'll make the time for it, instead of being unable to "find" time for it. That's my experience with my other hobbies anyways.

I am on the CAGED system, so still beginner! I can feel a little bit of progress stagnation there as it's a lot of material to consume. But every once in a while I review some of the lessons I've completed and it seems like the more breaks I take, the easier the material becomes to absorb and understand. Of course I still feel like it's very valuable practice (physically) for my fingers to play out the scales, switching positions and being more comfortable with the fretboard in general, so I've spent extra time on these set of lessons. My hope is that in time all this will become natural to me and I'll be able to play without thinking too much about it

Exactly how I feel, dude!

I just want to finally get better at playing, because everytime I look at other students on here I'm like "I could potentially do that... if I fucking practice more."

It's nice to see that other people are at a similar spot as me! It's actually quite the motivation for me tbh lmao

 

[Anna Taylor]

Start from lesson 1. Some people will skip around and pick lessons that they are most interested, and that is okay if you are a more established player. But if you're wanting to start from scratch, I'd recommend going in order- they have them listed in the way they think works best for us students.

Progress is both easy and hard to make, it just depends on the material, or the way we process information differently, or whether you're in a good or bad mood. Try not to worry so much about achieving huge progress in a matter of days. It takes CONSISTENT work, and being self-aware of how you are practicing.

If you do those two things, every day, you'll be making true progress and surprise yourself in no time. As long as you get the tiniest amount better than you were yesterday, that is true progress.

Hope this helps. I recently started over too, and it's absolutely worth it. I'll do it again and again, to relearn things I'll inevitably forget about in the future. We're all on the same path. Just keep going. One step at a time.

That's amazing! If I have any issues or questions with anything, I know who to hit up!

My plan is to go step by step, a lesson a day, and post my progress to let other people and myself see how long it takes me to get better!

 

[Chris Johnston]

Welcome back! I've been playing since I was about 11 (I'm 25 now) but I really only feel as if I started playing properly the past 5-6 years.

I was self taught for the first while and then lucky enough to get a private tutor that encouraged me to study further at college. That was where I really felt like a beginner! If I hadn't had that big wake up call I would never be a Guitar Tutor now.

The best advice I can give is to surround yourself with people that are more experienced and make sure you ask lots of questions until you understand things enough to explain them to someone else.

You'll find that you'll progress quicker the more experienced you get. Like you'll learn to recognise things quicker and your understanding will become fuller as time goes on.

Two things thing that will really do wonders for your understanding of your instrument & music in general is to make a point of memorizing all 12 Major scales verbally without your instrument (like you would do with times tables) and learning what intervals are - on your instrument. Those are two crucial things that will boost your progress! So many players ignore them and it just makes their life harder

Hope this helps and best of luck! >This is the video that helped me learn my Major Scales<

 

[Rad Synner]

Ah, it's so good to hear that I'm not the only one who has been gone for ages and now wants to jump back in! Actually makes me more than happy to post my process, too! Lmao

Do you think it would motivate more of us beginners if we post our daily/weekly progress? Maybe more people are in our position, but just too scared to post stuff?

I think so! I try to post something every 2 days or so with a bit of update with where I am and things like that! I am sort of keeping a journal in some sense that way I can keep tracks of what I do and where I am at in terms of skill so I highly encourage you to do that too! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

And I do think that the more of us who post, the more people would end up posting bout their progress and everything!

 

[Anthony Peña]

That's amazing! If I have any issues or questions with anything, I know who to hit up!

My plan is to go step by step, a lesson a day, and post my progress to let other people and myself see how long it takes me to get better!

Absolutely!! Feel free to message me any time, and I will do my best to be helpful. A lesson a day is a good strategy, IF you really focus on it each day. Some lessons will require more time than others to get a good grasp, but only you can hold yourself accountable for that. Best of luck!!

 

[Anna Taylor]

Welcome back! I've been playing since I was about 11 (I'm 25 now) but I really only feel as if I started playing properly the past 5-6 years.

I was self taught for the first while and then lucky enough to get a private tutor that encouraged me to study further at college. That was where I really felt like a beginner! If I hadn't had that big wake up call I would never be a Guitar Tutor now.

The best advice I can give is to surround yourself with people that are more experienced and make sure you ask lots of questions until you understand things enough to explain them to someone else.

You'll find that you'll progress quicker the more experienced you get. Like you'll learn to recognise things quicker and your understanding will become fuller as time goes on.

Two things thing that will really do wonders for your understanding of your instrument & music in general is to make a point of memorizing all 12 Major scales verbally without your instrument (like you would do with times tables) and learning what intervals are - on your instrument. Those are two crucial things that will boost your progress! So many players ignore them and it just makes their life harder

Hope this helps and best of luck! >This is the video that helped me learn my Major Scales<

Thank you so much! I'll try my best, taking it step by step so far!

 

[Anna Taylor]

Absolutely!! Feel free to message me any time, and I will do my best to be helpful. A lesson a day is a good strategy, IF you really focus on it each day. Some lessons will require more time than others to get a good grasp, but only you can hold yourself accountable for that. Best of luck!!

Oh yeah, I tend to take more time than a day on harder lessons, or I'll just get frustrated with myself lmao!

I'll definitely will make it a point to post clips, even just small snippets of what my progress looks like! Thank you!

 

[Anna Taylor]

I think so! I try to post something every 2 days or so with a bit of update with where I am and things like that! I am sort of keeping a journal in some sense that way I can keep tracks of what I do and where I am at in terms of skill so I highly encourage you to do that too! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

And I do think that the more of us who post, the more people would end up posting bout their progress and everything!

Exactly! I feel like lots of beginners are scared to post because they aren't comfortable enough, and it would be super cool to be able to break that cycle! I'll definitely post a small update later today!

 

[Chris Johnston]

Thank you so much! I'll try my best, taking it step by step so far!

No worries at all! Step by step is the best way

 

[Anna Taylor]

No worries at all! Step by step is the best way

We should have all beginners unite! Lmao

It would be fun to grow together and see how much progress each of us makes in say a month or so...

 

[Rad Synner]

Exactly! I feel like lots of beginners are scared to post because they aren't comfortable enough, and it would be super cool to be able to break that cycle! I'll definitely post a small update later today!

Yeah its always a bit difficult to expose yourself to others but you are right! I am lloking forward to your post!

 

[Anna Taylor]

Yeah its always a bit difficult to expose yourself to others but you are right! I am lloking forward to your post!

Alright, here it is, guys! First scale I have ever tried to learn - not as fluid as I want it to be yet, but I'm getting there slowly!

 

[Rad Synner]

Alright, here it is, guys! First scale I have ever tried to learn - not as fluid as I want it to be yet, but I'm getting there slowly!

Hell yeah! Thats awesome! I am glad you posted it! Dont worry about it being fluid yet. I heard the metronome in the back! Thats already awesome as it is! Show us how it goes over time!