Starting at 77

If this forum is a place where a newbie can ask what I’m sure would appear as ‘dumb’ questions, then I’m all in.

I purchased a Fender Player SSS and Fender LT50 about 10 days ago and I’m on Fundamentals I, Lesson 6.

Having studied the piano for ~10 years, my biggest challenge is my ‘piano brain’. The piano keys are logical. Chords are logical. The guitar strumming notes are anything but logical. They’re ‘upside down’ with the top note at the bottom. The notes do not seem to follow a logical pattern. And then there’s the fretboard!

But I love the tone of just ringing any note or strumming. I’m totally down for the challenge. It’s forcing a brain to learn totally new and difficult problems that keeps at least some of the little grey cells from going out to lunch.

My goal is to play some of the slow Pink Floyd tunes.

Mark

Welcome Mark. Never a bad time to learn to play guitar.

Yup, guitar chords can be challenging. The stresses we place on our shoulder, elbow and wrist can be tough on an old body. Not to mention the back. But dexterity and strength will improve over time.

Be patient, be easy on yourself and enjoy the experience.

Best of luck

Bill

Hello Mark,

A fellow Baby Boomer here. Welcome. For now, forget about reading the seemingly inexplicable notes on the site's standard notation. What you want to do right away is complete a relatively quick guitar tabs tutorial. "Tabs" refers to the diagram of six guitar strings with numbers and squiggles that's positioned immediately below the standard notation anywhere on the site. This will fast become your best friend in here and will put you on the road to playing those Pink Floyd tunes, including the faster ones.

And watch out for Bill. As you can tell from his avatar, he's capable of swallowing a man whole without dropping either his guitar or his cigar 😂

Sascha

Only when I'm peckish though 🙃

Sorry for the delay - I did not receive an email notification for any of the replies. I'll look around more closely to see if I missed an authorization.

I'm going to list a number of questions that I'm certain you all can explain straightaway.

1. To the right of Anders' video is the treble clef with his corresponding chord notes and the Tab (which I now get) and a metronome setting. BUT throughout my initial 1-6 lessons, Anders, or anyone else, has said zip about when or why I'm to study the information. So I've been hiding it. I'm having enough to do with just his lesson. But if the instructor isn't addressing the information, why include it? I don't get it.


2. By the way, this is what you mean about the tab- No? If so I think I can see the brain value:-)
   
   

   E|------------------------|
   B|----1-------------------|
   G|------------------------|
   D|------------------------|
   A|------------------------|
   E|------------------------|

   
   


3. I don't understand why playing scales hasn't been addressed? As much as I wasn't in love with them on the piano, after time, I credit the persistent practicing of them to my eventually becoming friends with the piano.


4. Here's a big learning concern. When starting the piano, you do so with the C major chord and the C root triad CEG. And then progressively following each next key, each next scale... But Anders starts with the E minor and then the G major. Nothing has been explained and I sure can't see any logical reason or eventual structure. So to summarize - I feel lost in a forest with no map or compass. Make any sense? 

I think that's more than enough for now :-). I just found the BIG red Subscribe button.

You should probably reach out to Anders directly Mark. I say this because he is the instructor and since you are questioning, maybe critiquing to a degree, I know he would appreciate the chance to respond directly. He will get back to you. He has his own section here in the forum.

I don't mean to sidestep you, Mark, but I'm with Bill on this one. Anything that I could say about Anders' logic and teaching style would be pure speculation, so it would be best to ask him directly in the "Ask Anders Mouridsen" forum. What I can say is that having started out my music career playing woodwinds in an orchestra, I distinctly remember experiencing some of your same thoughts and frustrations when I started here. Yet, now I'm a TAB junkie who uses the standard notation for timing and tempo only, and happily so.

Anders clearly skips around the musical landscape in the process of eventually covering everything. If you don't think that such an approach will work for you then you do have an alternative. Before Anders joined Guitar Tricks as an instructor, the Guitar Fundamentals course was taught by another instructor, Christopher Schlegel, whose course is much more linear and constructed in the unwavering logical fashion that you seem to be looking for. Perhaps give Chris' course a shot and then come back and finish Anders' course afterwards.

Sascha

I'll be darned Bill, a fellow 'alta cocker' (Yiddish for old guy). :-)

Mark

I understand your POV's regarding Anders and will definitely repost to Anders. Two reasons I posted those concerns here. I had a question the first time I tried a lesson. There was a Help button in the lower left. The result was an email from Danie saying that the button was for web related problems and that I should post my question here on the forum. Also, I didn't want to take up Anders' time with what I'm thinking are not great questions. But when I now look at what I typed, no question is sub par question.

I think I'll read a bunch of threads to get a better feel for the discussions.

I  will say that if not the hugest obstacle I'll have/am having old person memory is right up there-- like what happened 5 minutes ago. It's a double edged thing. On the one hand, really challenging the little grey cells (a la the famous Poirot) is a plus for the aging brain. On the other hand, the # of times it'll take to get something to stick is a whole nother thing.

Mark

I've now noticed two differences this forum has from others I follow.

When a misspelled word is underlined in red (my browser recognizing), if I right click to fix, I get a totally useful 'link something'?

When I  click a notification email I'm just brought to the forum NOT the exact post?

Mark

Mark,

I know exactly what you mean. I never just complete and learn a tutorial - I'll finish one, forget most of it, do it again, forget some of it, do it again, become unsure whether I got it all, do it again, etc.

Anyways, I don't think you've asked any "dumb" questions. They just happen to be more philosophical than technical in nature, and because it's Anders' philosophy of teaching that you're asking about, it's best to ask him directly. I only know that the main tenet of his teaching style is to do it in a way that keeps students motivated and hopefully even inspired.

Sascha

Thanks. I  posted to Anders.

And I'm getting notified even when the post reply is mine? Odd, No? If not, why.

Glad you posted to Anders. So now, I would like to speculate what he may come back with on E minor and G.

E minor blues. And Rock n Roll "G".

Let's see how off base I am in his line of thinking.

And yup, old and enjoying the experience of learning guitar. I've been at it for a few years now Mark and take my wins when I can get them. I learned my 1st song by ear lately and thought that would never happen. It's a simple song - Simple Man by Charlie Daniels and only uses 3 chords, E D & A, but after trying to "tune" my ears to hear what I was listening to for years, I was over the moon to get this one down.

Good luck with your progress.

Bill

Hello Mark,

You can also check Lisa’s course. It has a more structured approach. The scales are introduced later : they tend to scare students !

Why start with this chord instead of this other one : on the guitar, the shape of your fretting hand is different for different chords. E minor is one of the easiest chords, so it is one of the first ones to be taught.

Regarding Lisa's course (and another beginner course mentioned earlier)

Don't instructor's get annoyed if students are moving between and back instructors? Is there such a thing as mixing vs. skipping around?

Neither Lisa nor Anders get annoyed at students mixing or skipping around from one instructor's course to another. In fact, I know for sure that both Lisa and Anders have encouraged this practice in the past, so long as the student finds it enlightening rather than confusing. I can't speak for Chris Schlegel though. He's wound a lot tighter than the other two and may well be a critic of such practices.

Personally, simultaneously drawing from multiple teaching resources is by far the best way for me to learn anything, be that music, calculus, medicine, tying knots, computer programming, etc. When it comes to teaching, every instructor has his or her own strengths and weaknesses so mixing the teachings of numerous instructors simultaneously makes good sense.

Sascha

Thanks Sascha, you nailed all my concerns. 

Mark

Hey & welcome!  

As technology improved GT updated the content (better video & audio quality, lighting, etc.).  When the courses were updated GT used the opportunity to have a new instructor teach them to get a variety of approaches for students.  Each of the 3 instructors teaching the Fundamentals have their own teaching style with slightly different approaches to the material.  The idea is to provide a better potential experience for students that have more options.

Virtually all beginner guitar curriculums follow a broad, general path:  simple chords, strumming, single notes, picking, full open chords, progressions, scales, barre chords.  Then you are ready for stylistic specialized concepts & techniques.

Strumming is often done first because it's a wide motion & gets beginners introduced to the mechanics of playing.  Playing single notes (and scales) often comes a little later on guitar because it's a more precise & difficult motion.  Also, many beginner guitarists focus naturally on chords because that's the vast majority of what a guitarist does.  And you can play songs right away!  In fact many hobby guitarists exclusively play chords & songs.

There is some wiggle room in the order that things are taught.  But usually you get some combination of the above list.

GT instructors do not get annoyed if a student skips around.  That's an expected part of the structure.  Explore & find what is of value to you.

I did the first Fundmentals courses.  You might find them of value.

https://www.guitartricks.com/course/guitarfundamentals1v1(discontinued)

https://www.guitartricks.com/course/fundamentals2(discontinued)

Hope that helps!  Please ask more questions if you have them.  Best of success!

Thank you. You've answered a bunch of my beginner, getting_my_bearings questions.

BTW, is there a particular reason the forum sends a notification when 'I' have posted? FWIW, it's sort of annoying. When do I need notifying to what I just posted?

Mark