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  #16  
Old 04-20-2019, 10:09 AM
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srick srick is offline
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El -

I started late in the game (age 53). I had a few basic chord shapes under my belt from many years ago, but pretty much 'rolled my own' with technique books and videos. Looking back, perhaps I could have jump-started that with the right teacher, but I didn't want to take the time searching.

Your direction will depend on the audience you are seeking. We have a generation that has learned about everything from Youtube videos; we also have a generation that learned traditionally from books and lectures.

IMO, the biggest issue that a beginner has to tackle is defining what they like to play and what direction they want to start going in. And, if that direction is not satisfying, or too difficult, frustration sets in.

If I were designing a 'method', I would want to define a set of basic skills first: rhythm and strumming, simple chords, chord changes, inversions, playing up the neck, etc. Then I would set up a flow chart. ie) go this route of you want to play acoustic blues or go this route if you want to play jazz styles.

My method would likely have some musical history mixed in so you could see how one style evolved into another, or how embellishments were added by one artist and then the next - almost a genealogy. i would take the student on a journey through musical history.

Over the last twelve years, here are the lesson sets that I have been most impressed with and that I have constantly gone back to (no particular order):
  • Fingerpicking Essentials - Dan Miller
  • Fretboard Logic - Bill Edwards
  • Toby Walker's videos and teaching

I hope this provides you a little food for thought. Every student comes with their own learning style and their own set of needs and skills. Because it is such an individual endeavor, there are countless niches to fill and countless approaches to teaching.

As a sidebar, I have recently been intrigued with Ellis Paul's songwriting lessons on Truefire. You should check them out as I feel they are a unique (and yet universal) approach to teaching an artform.

best,

Rick
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  #17  
Old 04-20-2019, 10:11 AM
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If your new challenge involves fingerstyle, I highly recommend Mark Hanson’s two books Contemporary Travis Picking and Art of Solo Fingerstyle.
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  #18  
Old 04-20-2019, 10:24 AM
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For classical or fingerstyle, I heartily recommend Parkening's two volumes. Starts at ground zero and builds at a nice pace.

Last edited by Imbler; 04-20-2019 at 01:46 PM. Reason: corrected spelling of name
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  #19  
Old 04-20-2019, 10:27 AM
taylorgtr taylorgtr is offline
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  #20  
Old 04-20-2019, 10:42 AM
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I tend towards individual tabs or groups of similar tabs rather than method. I’m an intermediate level player and find tab + YouTube to be the best combination for learning.
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  #21  
Old 04-20-2019, 10:43 AM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elmcmeen View Post
...Your input is very important to me...Please don't hesitate to share, whatever your level of guitar-playing, time, or interest. It would be helpful to know the ages of those responding...
Background:
66 years old; started playing in 1962, took lessons from a then-teenage jazz phenom named Jack Wilkins;

Retired classroom teacher, directed/arranged for school vocal/instrumental ensembles, founded school guitar ensemble; taught privately for 40+ years;

Played in the usual assortment of rock/wedding/acoustic bands since 1965, "coffeehouse" solo acoustic from 1970 - mid-80's (probably saved my hearing as a result), CCM/P&W for various denominations since 1967; freelance vocal/instrumental arranger and acoustic "hired gun" during the '80s;

Enjoy most styles of music that comply with OSHA noise-exposure safety levels...

My tuppence worth:
If you're coming to guitar relatively late in the game (meaning post-college and beyond) decide whether you're going to be a dabbler or a musician: the former can get away with a basic knowledge of first-position chords and single-string riffs, as well as a few simple strumming/fingerpicking patterns - enough to play most popular songs at parties, open jams, open mics etc. - while the latter demands a broader knowledge of both technique and theory...

During my freelance studio/arranger days one of the glaring weaknesses I found in many would-be performers - including some who possessed formidable natural talent - was (and still is) the inability to communicate their ideas meaningfully to non-guitarists; while I personally found it lucrative as a player-arranger, "translating" their raw ideas into traditional oral/written musical language and form, in the grand scheme their technical/theory deficiencies would (and did, in all but one case) ultimately work against them if they tried to progress beyond simple guitar-based instrumentation. Although my teaching work in a public-school setting required me to use a traditional approach/materials (in my case Alfred's for the younger kids, Mel Bay for the older ones), in my private work I would politely but routinely turn away prospective pre-college students who wanted to learn "only tab" - my argument being that they didn't know in which direction their music would take them, nearly all of them had friends who played/sang in school ensembles (which necessitated reading/understanding of traditional notation) and, if they decided to pursue college-level study, proficiency in both reading and theory would be required for any course beyond Music Appreciation 101...

While pen-&-paper may - as some prior posters assert - indeed become largely obsolete with the advent of digitally-based formats (tablets, notation software, etc.), the codification method we know as Western musical notation and theory evolved over the course of a millennium, and remains the standard for effective communication of the composer's ideas because it works: compact, concise, nearly impervious to misunderstanding on its most literal level, and absolutely vital to anyone who intends to pursue music on a deeper level. IME too many of us as guitarists tend to operate in our own little universe, one in which we isolate ourselves consciously or otherwise from the broader world of music - which requires us to speak the lingua franca of theory and notation fluently; earlier editions of the Mel Bay method stated that it was written with the purpose of "placing the (steel-string plectrum-style) guitar in the class of the violin, piano, and other 'legitimate' instruments" - and it's more than time we took ourselves seriously in this respect...
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  #22  
Old 04-20-2019, 11:04 AM
taylorgtr taylorgtr is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SprintBob View Post
If your new challenge involves fingerstyle, I highly recommend Mark Hanson’s two books Contemporary Travis Picking and Art of Solo Fingerstyle.
This is a song book, not a method, but I really like Hanson's Fingerstyle Wizard - decent arrangements of songs from The Wizard of Oz.
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  #23  
Old 04-20-2019, 11:09 AM
Deliberate1 Deliberate1 is online now
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I am celebrating my 63rd birthday tomorrow and my 2nd month anniversary of playing the guitar. I am using a hybrid approach to the journey. Combination of the Hal Leonard and Skeptical Guitarist books, along with weekly lessons which has focused this far on learning the fret board and chord structure. I have no previous formal theory training, but I am a long time jazz woodwind player. So musical concepts are no mystery to me - only their application to the guitar. So far, I am just loving this new journey. So refreshing to have a new outlet for musical expression so different than more than 50 years of melodic instruments. Likely headed to a camp this summer for the immersive experience - looking most intently at the program in Alaska. Very excited for what lies ahead.
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  #24  
Old 04-20-2019, 11:19 AM
Shadowfox Shadowfox is offline
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I learned on Hal Leonard's books. I love those books and find them a great balance between chording, picking, and reading music, not just tabs.
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  #25  
Old 04-20-2019, 11:32 AM
Joe Beamish Joe Beamish is offline
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Yes, in bits and pieces. Rarely from cover to cover.

More and more over the years, I’ve shunned books in favor of transcribing whatever songs, arrangements or solos I love by ear. This seems to be SO much more productive AND fun.
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  #26  
Old 04-20-2019, 01:44 PM
Guitars+gems Guitars+gems is offline
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Ok, I'm in my sixties and started playing guitar again almost 4 years ago. I first learned around age 20, from friends who taught like, "Put a finger, here, here, here; that's a G chord." I learned several open chords and played basic rhythm. No musical background. I never learned any theory or even the names of the notes on the fretboard or how the chords were put together. The only books I used were fake books. After about 10 years of listless playing I put the guitar down for the next 30+ years.

In retirement I thought maybe I could try to play guitar again, found that I still had the open chords in muscle memory and could change between them pretty easily. I watched YouTube videos of Marty Schwartz and others who used a familiar teaching style. I bought a book of Beatles songs, chord charts only. My ultimate goal was to hear a song I liked and be able to pick up my guitar and play that song. I want guitar playing to be fun. I am retired. There is no reason for me to voluntarily do anything that is not fun!

After about a year I found a teacher who started me on the Mel Bay Method Book One. I argued that I wasn't interested in learning to read notation. He sold me on at least trying. Playing the songs I wanted to play, he said, was dessert to the main course of learning this book. I found it dead boring, you know - single notes of Molly Malone, etc. It became a drag to practice and I dreaded the lessons and I was not having fun! It's true that I was learning where the notes on the fretboard were for the first 5 frets, and I think it helped my timing, but it seemed so pedantic. To learn a song I'd much rather use tablature than notation, though I know that tab doesn't cover timing etc.

I've learned a lot from The Skeptical Guitarist book, Vols 1 and 2, like how notes make up keys, how chords are put together. Those books teach what I want to learn and are not associated with boring practice. Applying what I've learned to what I hear, I'm finding where to go on the fretboard to find the next note I want. I listen to a song and from the melody notes I try to find the chords. That's going pretty well.

For any serious learning I'm sure I would need to use Mel Bay type books diligently, boring or not. But I tend to forget a lot of what I've learned unless I can use it. No doubt that is age-related. With my goal of keeping the guitar interesting and fun, without aspiration to gain expertise, that style of learning doesn't work.
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  #27  
Old 04-20-2019, 03:13 PM
Russ C Russ C is offline
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There are aural players, visual players and brain players - of course everyone is a blend with different strengths.

Because many don't know yet how they learn and perform music best it's wise to get some of each while you work it out. None is wasted.
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  #28  
Old 04-20-2019, 03:20 PM
Steel and wood Steel and wood is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ljguitar View Post
Hi El

Taught for over 40 years locally, and when the video age dawned, learning from books and paper handouts lost favor, and video lessons caught up quickly.

It's not that we cannot learn from paper/books/guides/charts, but the way people learn has changed…and still is. Perhaps someday we will return to paper.



Yep, this!

Started out learning from a book but quickly realised what I really needed to make sense of it all was face to face and then later on video lessons.
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  #29  
Old 04-20-2019, 08:25 PM
mawmow mawmow is offline
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I got a bunch of methods while I was away...
Finally began private courses last year and regret I could not do this before...
Methods do not correct your posture and fingering and cannot see your problems and suggest exercises to correct them.
I learned much in books, but reading is not practicing.
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  #30  
Old 04-21-2019, 07:06 AM
rstaight rstaight is offline
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Just turned 60 in February. Started taking lessons in the late 60's due to a head injury playing youth football that put an end to organized sports.

My guitar teacher used Mel Bay and Hal Leonard. Both are good systems. I used the same when she started sending me some of her students that had trouble connecting with an older instructor.

Once she felt confident you knew the fretboard, capable of reading music she was fine with you picking a music book at the store. Then she would work with that book breaking down the theory and progressions.

I was given a ukulele for Christmas a few years ago. The book that came with it was indispensable.

Two weeks ago I purchased a mandolin. I watched a few YouTube videos and now know the C, G, and D chords. Some scales, and can even throw in a bass note while strumming. Still going to a book and maybe some lessons.

Books are structured and make learning easier IMO. It makes reviewing easier. I still look at those advanced books as a refresher.
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