Where Were you At After 1 Year?

[Fingerstylist]

I'm coming up on a year of playing and was wondering how my progress stacked up against others. I know it's not a competition or anything, it's just something I'm curious about. So far, I know quite a few chords and have several fingerstyle pieces under my fingers. There are some I can play well and more that I'm trying to put the polish on. So where were you at this point?

[Bob1131]

You've made good progress. I started playing when I was 12, so my progress was different due to my age, interests, and the quality of my guitar at the time. My point is, progress depends on many, many factors, so comparisons from one player to another are impossible and impractical.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Fingerstylist

...So where were you at this point?

Hi FS...
I was jumping into the middle of any opportunity to use the guitar, and playing things just a bit beyond my ability...I knew how to moderate back even then so I didn't embarrass myself when playing in public.

And I was in a duo right away, because two of us could play more than just one of us...

You description of you progress leads me believe you compare pretty favorably with the ''intuits'', ahead of the ''average joe'' and lagging behind the ''prodigy'' types (those cute little Asian 8 year olds who play like Tommy E).

[Sugarlander]

You sound about like me after 1 year of playing. Keep at it.

[CrawfordCentury]

I was 15 and a sophomore in high school when I picked up the guitar. By 16, I got to the point where I could say with certainty that I sucked.

But I stayed with it, and by 17 had learned quite a bit and had developed the foundation of the style that's with me 20 years later.

[shawlie]

I was around 15 and didn't have a strict practice schedule - but I played an awful lot. I had no tabs to work with, but in the first year I got fairly good at alternating thumb type patterns and had a book of chords that I learned quite a number of. It was a very fun year, I remember.

[rcadian]

I started to learn on May 18th, 2008. I was 39 years old and about to turn 40. I started but then gave up on learning fingerstyle pieces and concentrated on strumming recognisable songs that people could sing at parties and family get togethers. By the time my year anniversary came along, I could identify and replictae just about any strumming pattern and was able to play hits by The Eagles, Rod Stewart, Oasis, Pink Floyd, The Beatles and Dylan as well as a few others without needing to follow a chord sheet... I could do hammerons and pull offs - although in playing round the campfire, I found the former are far more important than the latter). I couldn't - and still can't - switch perfectly between a Bm barre chord (the only one I've found that I really need) and any open chord - other than a Am - but I'm getting better. There are also songs I listen to that I just don't have the ability to tackle (Sister Golden Hair, for example) and that frustrates me... But what I can do still amazes me - and my family and friends. Learning the acoustic guitar has been one of the best things I have ever done in my life...and the help and advice and tips I've got from this people on this site have unquestionably helped (as well as costing me money through having GAS!)...

Good luck, best wishes, and stick with it...

Rc

[Fingerstylist]

Interesting stories guys, keep em coming.

Larry, those little Asian kids are downright amazing. It seems like Sungha Jung learns a new piece everyday. And that may not even be an exaggeration.

[mmmaak]

One year after I first started playing? Pretty much nowhere

One year after I joined the AGF, I probably learned more than I did in the last 5-10. Having the right guidance/influences can make a *huge* difference

[Fliss]

One year after I first started, I only had basic chords and a few strumming and picking patterns, so you're definitely ahead of me!

Fliss

[EVANSSS]

I was 14 when I started playing, after a year of hard work and sore fingers I can distinctly remember being able to play 'stairway to heaven' and all my friends thinking I was awesome.

I could play the basic CAGED shapes, a few classic 'schoolboy' tunes (hotel california, house of the rising sun etc) and knew no theory what-so-ever.

After you have the basics, learning becomes much more fun though I think.

[815C]

I would have been 13 after my 1st year of playing.

I knew the following songs....

House of the Rising Sun
Sitting On The Dock Of The Bay (verse only - didn't know the chorus)
Something (Beatles)

I could also pick out some partial melodies of Black Sabbath, Ten Years After, and The Guess Who tunes on the 6th string of my guitar.

I'd received a $5 acoustic for Christmas a year before and during the summer had mowed yards in Ft. Rucker, Alabama @ $3/yard to buy a $25 electric and a $30 amp from the PX.

I didn't really progress much until a couple years later when my future brother-in-law started hanging around our house. He taught me quite a bit on guitar.

[Don Lampson]

I started the guitar when I was 10 with a five dollar Stella. The first year, I learned timing, lots of chords, and simple note reading.....

Toward the end of that year, my parents bought me an 0018 Martin. I started learning to accompany my singing. My major breakthrough came in my second year!

By twelve, I could play all the Johnny Cash songs he'd recorded at that time, (1956) and won the sixth grade talent contest, by singing "Folsom Prison Blues"! I was on my way to being a real performer!

At 14, I was recording, and doing some fairly big shows with a "boy band", called "The Outlaws". I wrote several songs, and was a decent finger picker by then!

I remember it all like it was yesterday, even though 50 years have passed under the bridge since then! Gawd! Where did all that time go to?

Don

[usb_chord]

Attempting to play things I had no business playing.

[Fingerstylist]

Originally Posted by usb_chord

Attempting to play things I had no business playing.

If I had a nickel for every time I've done this...