The Old Folks' Beginners Thread

Originally Posted by: sgautier8th

Tales From The Crypt:

To all the "Older" folks that are just picking up guitar (I'm 51) just checking in to see how everyone is doing. I've gotten hung up a bit (last couple of days) trying to follow along with Lisa M and make melodies out of scales (open and grid). I practice the song a number of times and then I get all finger-tied when I try to play it along with Lisa and the Band.

How long should it take to learn 12 bars of 4/4 and be able to play them through twice "in time with the Band" at a 106 tempo without making any mistakes? I've spent about 3 hours of practice on the same lesson and I'm still only perfect on 10-20% of my attempts! Anyone else having issues with this?

Last night I used the JamTracks to practice for the first time - awesome. Also, found the "loop" function on the video lesson and figured out how to use that too - also awesome!! (Also found the little "?", which told me how to use the loop function!)

Lisa M - thank you again for being such a thoughtful and patient teacher!

I just turned 61, I just started to get serious about playing this instrument, I have an odd question, I'm still in the beginning lessons with Lisa starting to play along with the songs. I printed out the notation, 4 pages. Now I want to follow along with her, but what is the best way to position the 4 pages of notation? I can't fit 4 pages on my music stand side by side, seems like a minor thing, but it's driving me crazy. I can't watch her and make the chord changes I'm to late at that point. What does everyone do?

57, and only a few days in to GT. Absolute beginner. Experiencing same issues as many others on here, but I really appreciate some of the tricks of the trade shared on here.

Hi I am 56 and began playing 8 months ago with my Taylor 812. So glad to have found GT. Back in my day we did not have this resource. Wish I had started 40 years ago. I grew up loving Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, so much great music there was. Trying to learn guitar has trained my ear; I appreciate and understand music even more. Seeing local bands; they make it look so easy and fun. It's not easy. If nothing else it's a great hobby. I need to practice now. Love to all.

Originally Posted by: cbianco45

Hi I am 56 and began playing 8 months ago with my Taylor 812. So glad to have found GT. Back in my day we did not have this resource. Wish I had started 40 years ago. I grew up loving Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, so much great music there was. Trying to learn guitar has trained my ear; I appreciate and understand music even more. Seeing local bands; they make it look so easy and fun. It's not easy. If nothing else it's a great hobby. I need to practice now. Love to all.

Hi and welcome.

I wish you much success.

Kind regards

Joe

Originally Posted by: cbianco45

Hi I am 56 and began playing 8 months ago with my Taylor 812. So glad to have found GT. Back in my day we did not have this resource. Wish I had started 40 years ago. I grew up loving Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, so much great music there was. Trying to learn guitar has trained my ear; I appreciate and understand music even more. Seeing local bands; they make it look so easy and fun. It's not easy. If nothing else it's a great hobby. I need to practice now. Love to all.

Hi CB,

I started last January at 55. Best of luck.

I'm 72 all you young pups out there!

About 20 years ago I self-taught chords and barr chords and learned to strum maybe 20-30 songs but it kind of got repetetive and boring and I quit maybe three years ago. So I decided to start from scratch and am now on Basics 2 learning scales. I'm wondering at what point do I stop and move on. What is the level of proficiency that is reasonable before moving on? Like being able to keep up with a metronome set at 100BPM? And then I notice when I learn a new scale, I kind of get hosed up trhing to remember the first one..Any tips?

Also, I wanted to share with those who are learning chords and chord changes that a metronome was essential to me and my progress. So if a particular chord change was giving me problems, first I would just deliberately move from one to the other and back, watching for any tension in my hand or arm and focusing on relaxing it. Then I would set the metronome for maybe 40bpm and go back and forth. When I was able to do that consistently I would crank up the metronome 5 -10bpm and continue until I could do 120bpm. I was amazed at how much quicker I could master a chord transition.

55 year old woman here.

I played some classical guitar about a hundred years ago but I don't remember the fretboard at all and never learned to play chords, so I'm basically starting all over again from scratch. My goal is to play blues and Americana/country stuff like Jason Isbell (his stuff is actually what got me onto Guitar Tricks in the first place; I really want to be able to play his songs).

I blew threw Lisa McCormick's intro course and loved it (she is wonderful). I know I should work methodically through Anders's Country and/or Blues course now and hope to do that eventually, but I really need to start feeling like I'm making some music at this point so I'm letting myself try to figure out how to play a couple of Isbells.

It's not exactly a roaring success so far (although it's fun). Coordinating chord changes with strumming with a pick absolutely kills me. My brain short-circuits. I'm strumming along and then there's a chord change, and there is a BIG PAUSE while I crane my head over the neck to check that my fingers are planting themselves in the right spots. It's kind of comical. Hoping for improvement...

52 here, have owned a guitar since I was about 17 or so, but never actually got any good at playing, at least not to the point where I knew what I was doing and why. Rocksmith came to the party several years back - tons of fun - and it definately made me able to play some songs, but I'm not learning anything beyond where to place your fingers and what string(s) to hit. Hopefully GT will get me more to where I want to be - able to comfortably improvise and have it sound "right". So far, Lisa's lessons are on the money - I've already picked up quite a bit and hope that the trend will continue as I finish this path and head down probably the Blues path next...

Originally Posted by: peninsulamike

I just turned 61, I just started to get serious about playing this instrument, I have an odd question, I'm still in the beginning lessons with Lisa starting to play along with the songs. I printed out the notation, 4 pages. Now I want to follow along with her, but what is the best way to position the 4 pages of notation? I can't fit 4 pages on my music stand side by side, seems like a minor thing, but it's driving me crazy. I can't watch her and make the chord changes I'm to late at that point. What does everyone do?

peninsulamike,

What I did is cut a piece of cardboard out of a TV box I had around. I cut it 38" wide by 13" tall, then scored it horizontally 2" up from the bottom, Then I folded it to a 90 degree bend, and duct taped the back side of the bend just to keep it folded. I sit that on my music stand, making my "shelf" 38" wide, 11" tall, with a 2" lip on the bottom. It''l hold 5 pages of 8-1/2" x 11 paper. I'll try to post a photo.

Hello, Old Fart might be a more accurate description here. Trying guitar again at 71. But going to 'do it' this time. Fingers are reluctant to move right but will try to work through it. I appreciate any and all tips from other' Old Folks.' Oh, I have a Strat and want to play some rock n' roll.

Hello, I'm an oldish beginner (52 next month). I try and learn a new skill or take up a challenge every year and this year it's guitar playing.

previous challenges have included completing a History Degree (that took 6 years), learning to play Sax, learning to ride a motorbike, taking up running (last year - can now run 10 miles), taking part in a 85 mile 24 hour walking race (tried 3 years in a row and the furthest I got was 56 miles and then I broke myself badly). [br][br]

It's great to read about everyone's journey with guitar and pick up hints and tips.

Hi from England (no sunglasses required). Really enjoying reading this thread, I'm 51 and picking up the guitar after a very very long time. I listen to a big range of music but have only just got interested in blues & country so I'm quite excited to learn how to play. I'd really love to play with a band eventually but this is a long way off!

Hello,

I am 42. I haven't told anyone that I'm learning guitar. Just so there isn't any pressure on sticking to it.

If I am good enough one day I might tell someone that I know how to play.

Right now I am stuck on one finger per fret. I'm getting my fingers mixed up, muted cords, and cords buzzing.

I have gotten a little better. Although it still sounds bad.

But it should be better with practice.

Originally Posted by: idadel07

Hello,

Right now I am stuck on one finger per fret. I'm getting my fingers mixed up, muted cords, and cords buzzing.

I have gotten a little better. Although it still sounds bad.

But it should be better with practice.

That took me back when I started learning about 18 months ago. I thought,"This is crazy. I'll never get the hang of this".

But it didn't take long and things started falling into place. Now I'm playing open and barre chords, improvising over blues tracks and those early days now seem so far away.

So stick at it and you will steadily improve. As they say,"Practice makes perfect".

Good luck and have loads of fun.

Kind regards

Joe

Originally Posted by: idadel07

Hello,

I am 42. I haven't told anyone that I'm learning guitar. Just so there isn't any pressure on sticking to it.

If I am good enough one day I might tell someone that I know how to play.

Right now I am stuck on one finger per fret. I'm getting my fingers mixed up, muted cords, and cords buzzing.

I h'm less ave gotten a little better. Although it still sounds bad.

But it should be better with practice.

Keep going mate. I have a bit of experience, used to play along in church years ago but that was all open chords, very basic. It helps that I've learned open chords before but there is so much to learn I feel like I'm starting from scratch. I get so frustrated with it sometimes I could smash the damn thing but I love playing and music soooo much that it's worth it just getting a tiny bit better as the weeks go by.

So I did not practice for four days. Now I'm practicing again. But I'm fustrated. I'm still working on the one finger per fret.

Why didn't I keep practicing those four days?

Really work just got in the way.

I actually put my guitar down after about twenty minutes because my wrist hurts along with the fustration.

I do feel happy that I've practiced. But I'm j7st not pucking it up as quickly. My thumb wants to do that out to the side position. On the bright side my pinky finger is doing what it is supposed too. Almost.

Hi All, Retired at 70 six months ago and my retirement present to myself was a Squire Classic Vibe 50's Telecaster with a Boss Katana 50 amp. I signed up with GT about a month later. I enjoyed reading all the posts that have preceded me and I realize that as beginners, we all seem to have the same issues. The common solution is practice. Personal motivation and discipline are musts. Unfortunately, they are easier to talk about than to acquire.

I enjoy the GT lessons. One thing that I only recently learned was that the resources that are available with GT on my desktop are super vs. just learning from Lisa through my iPhone. I have been getting an idea of the lesson songs through repeating the lessons. I practice parts and if things are not smooth, I slow down the tempo to .5 normal speed and then increase the speed slightly and move up to normal speed after my fingers got it right. It sure gives me a boost in confidence.

Also, I have found that the "Fretboard Trainer" in the resources section of GT is a game that helps me learn the notes up and down the neck. Try it if you have a difficult time rembering the notes.

My goal is to gain playing proficiency and also music theory and eventually buy a looper pedal. Hope that I'm still alive by then.

Tom

Originally Posted by: hlothere

Hope that I'm still alive by then.

Tom

57 and just started a week and a half ago. Can finally do the spider legs warm up (really slow) and actually get the notes to sound right. Up to learning to read tabs- up to 3 strings- but have trouble keeping up with the band- so I'm spending extra time here. (Lisa is a great teacher!)

Glad to be a part of this awesome site and will be thrilled to report further progress when it comes.