When to move forward with the next lesson?

Hi,

I'm taking Anders Guitar Level 1 course now and would love some advice on when I should be moving forward to the next lesson. Specifically, I've learned the E and Am chords but haven't mastered the transition between them. The next lesson is learning the C and D chords - should I just keep going or wait until I've mastered a lesson?

I don't want to overload my brain or my fingers but I also don't want to assume I shouldn't move on unless I've "earned it". Thoughts?

Hi,

This is always a balancing act. Staying too long can lead to frustration and boredom. But, moving too quickly can end up making you frustrated as well because you can't play the more common chords cleanly and you sound terrible. 

I think you will find some chords will come along more easily than others. For these chords I would stay on a lesson until you can play a nice clean chord at a slow pace. Don't worry about speed. Think about finger placement and the structure of the chord. Just play the chord clean. An example of this would be C, E, D, Eminor. These are the easier chords to learn. Once you have them down, continued practice will help with your speed. And even though you may not be able to imagine it right now, in time with enough practice, chords will just "fall into place" under your fingers without much thought.

A can be challenging as can G, but F is downright evil for newbies.

What I would do in this case, is make it a point to go back to these trouble chords often and over time things will improve. We can always repeat our lessons and this in general will prove to be a good practice, especially once you start learning songs. It is always a good idea to play a song once every so often just to keep it in your memory and your fingers familiar with it.

It is important for us to remember that guitar is a very difficult instrument to learn to play. But by keeping the pressure off and the fun in, we will be more inclined to keep at it.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the insight and encouragement! I agree, it seems like a balance between keeping it interesting and being patient enough to strum 'clean' chords. Also, I had to look up the F chord you mentioned... that's some serious finger yoga. Someday!

I find it very hard to go through the steps of learning all the chords in the fundamentals course, and due to me being uninterested, I am hardly absorbing anything I learned. All I wanted to do is learn the notes on guitar and fingerstyle so I could improvise whatever I want. I really don't want to go through every step just because it is structured that way.

Hi ShogunK,

I tend to go through a few modules at a time, roughly manage the content of the lesson, then move on. I then come back later - as it suits me - to work further on the module.  That way I don't burn out on a particular thing.

I'm doing that now with Ander's Advanced Blues course.  I'll also find other material on-site covering similar material. Many times I'll find the same licks/content given by different instructors in different settings.  It's pretty cool; like asking a bunch of different experts their opinions and getting their unique viewpoints on a single topic.

I'll probably go through Ander's course fully a couple of more times.  I'm betting I'll pick up a number of cool details I missed the first time around.

Apologies for the long winded response.

Rumble

Are you trolling?

This is word for word what was said on another thread and that also looked like a troll post to me.