Newbie Question

[Mike92869]

Hello All,

63 year old male here. Zero previous guitar experience. I'm just completing my second month of private lessons and absolutely love the challenge of trying to turn the noise I am currently making with my guitar into music that you all make with yours.

Are there any beginners (under 12 months of learning guitar) on this site that have had success learning guitar online from one of these folks, Lauren Bateman, James the Good Guitarist or Rob Hampton at Heartland Guitar?
Thank you in advance!

~Mike

[Earl49]

I can't speak to those specific web sites, Mike, because I learned to play long before the Interweb was invented. I hear good things about www.justinguitar.com

One of the things that I focus on with newbies that come to me for lessons is to choose 3-5 songs that YOU want to learn. Not my song choices, but the ones that you would like to be able to play on demand when someone comes over to the house. We focus on those because the goal is to... play songs. At workshops I actually hand out blank 3 x 5 index cards so that you can write down those titles and keep them handy in your case. It is important to be able to play a few tunes from memory without your eyes glued to the page for chords or even worse -- tablature. Your brain when reading uses a huge amount of its processing power for vision and optics, not unlike how a computer bogs down with multiple windows open at once.

[Mike92869]

Thank you for the feedback Earl. Great advice. Thanks again!

[Bob from Brooklyn]

There are tons of online instructors at all levels. Check out a few of them and find someone that connects with you.

[Mike92869]

That's for sure. Thanks Bob, but I was hopeful some of the folks here that are new at playing the guitar might of had more success with one over another.
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
~Mike

[redcrow]

I'm just about where the OP is in terms of my development as a guitarist. I do have the dubious advantage of a pretty extensive music background at a pretty young age. That said, I haven't played a musical instrument for maybe a little less than 40 years. I've just had 3 months "instruction" at the hands of a man who does not subscribe to Earl's school of thought, as in not at all interested in what I wanted to learn. I just parted ways him a couple weeks back. Like you, I looked at online courses but found some less than stellar material there too. Not saying there aren't some superb online courses. There surely are, but finding them can be daunting. I stumbled onto a highly recommended guitar teacher with some serious credentials who lives in Colorado, CO. I'm in Southern OR, but on a lark, I gave the man a call and discovered a very friendly and personable man who very definitely wants to know what I'd like to learn. Great, but he's a whole time zone away. Turns out most of his clients interact with him via a Zoom. Now I have a negative bias towards remote learning, but that was chiefly due to public schools having made such a hash of it. So I'm going to give that alternative a shot. What's the worst that could happen? Trust me, I won't waste another another 3 months on something that isn't working.

[Brent Hutto]

Originally Posted by redcrow

I'm just about where the OP is in terms of my development as a guitarist. I do have the dubious advantage of a pretty extensive music background at a pretty young age. That said, I haven't played a musical instrument for maybe a little less than 40 years. I've just had 3 months "instruction" at the hands of a man who does not subscribe to Earl's school of thought, as in not at all interested in what I wanted to learn. I just parted ways him a couple weeks back. Like you, I looked at online courses but found some less than stellar material there too. Not saying there aren't some superb online courses. There surely are, but finding them can be daunting. I stumbled onto a highly recommended guitar teacher with some serious credentials who lives in Colorado, CO. I'm in Southern OR, but on a lark, I gave the man a call and discovered a very friendly and personable man who very definitely wants to know what I'd like to learn. Great, but he's a whole time zone away. Turns out most of his clients interact with him via a Zoom. Now I have a negative bias towards remote learning, but that was chiefly due to public schools having made such a hash of it. So I'm going to give that alternative a shot. What's the worst that could happen? Trust me, I won't waste another another 3 months on something that isn't working.

Except for the slight disappointment of not being able to play together, remote online guitar lessons are a great option. Based on my own experience, online lessons with an excellent teacher with who matches your needs perfectly are far more useful than in-person lessons from a teacher with whom you do not mesh.

[tbirdman]

Another thumbs up for Justin Guitar.

[Charlie Bernstein]

Glad you're enjoying the ride! Welcome to the most addictive hobby this side of soap operas.

Longtime amateur here. Any tutorial will help. Just keep looking around and trying different sites. Lots of people recommend www.pegheadnation.com.

But more important than any teaching tool or teacher are the three rules of guitar advancement:

1. Woodshed.
2. Woodshed.
3. Woodshed.

The more you just plain play, the faster you'll advance. It's as simple as that.

[Mike92869]

Originally Posted by redcrow

I'm just about where the OP is in terms of my development as a guitarist. I do have the dubious advantage of a pretty extensive music background at a pretty young age. That said, I haven't played a musical instrument for maybe a little less than 40 years. I've just had 3 months "instruction" at the hands of a man who does not subscribe to Earl's school of thought, as in not at all interested in what I wanted to learn. I just parted ways him a couple weeks back. Like you, I looked at online courses but found some less than stellar material there too. Not saying there aren't some superb online courses. There surely are, but finding them can be daunting. I stumbled onto a highly recommended guitar teacher with some serious credentials who lives in Colorado, CO. I'm in Southern OR, but on a lark, I gave the man a call and discovered a very friendly and personable man who very definitely wants to know what I'd like to learn. Great, but he's a whole time zone away. Turns out most of his clients interact with him via a Zoom. Now I have a negative bias towards remote learning, but that was chiefly due to public schools having made such a hash of it. So I'm going to give that alternative a shot. What's the worst that could happen? Trust me, I won't waste another another 3 months on something that isn't working.

I agree. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Please make occasional posts on your progress. Thanks and good luck with the new instructor.

[Mike92869]

Originally Posted by tbirdman

Another thumbs up for Justin Guitar.

Thanks for the endorsement of Justin. I will take a look at his program.

[Mike92869]

Originally Posted by Charlie Bernstein

Glad you're enjoying the ride! Welcome to the most addictive hobby this side of soap operas.

Longtime amateur here. Any tutorial will help. Just keep looking around and trying different sites. Lots of people recommend www.pegheadnation.com.

But more important than any teaching tool or teacher are the three rules of guitar advancement:

1. Woodshed.
2. Woodshed.
3. Woodshed.

The more you just plain play, the faster you'll advance. It's as simple as that.

Thanks. That's for sure! I was at my lesson on Tuesday and my teacher noticed a groove in my index finger from the strings. He showed me a little trick by grabbing a nail file and smoothing out the calluses so they wouldn't keep getting hung up on the strings.

I watched some of the CMA awards last night for the guitar work. Not a one looked at the fret board while playing. Their fingers just knew where to go. ****, how many decades of playing does that take?

[TBman]

Originally Posted by Mike92869

......
I watched some of the CMA awards last night for the guitar work. Not a one looked at the fret board while playing. Their fingers just knew where to go. ****, how many decades of playing does that take?

With practice 4-7 times a week you should be able to play many chords without looking in a relatively short time.

Focus on being musical. The rest falls into place. Enjoy your journey.