Originally Posted by: mcchuck47this site is no different then any other guitar site,struggle,struggle,struggle,no assistance,other than post on a blog and hope someone encourages,you so they can continue to get your money.
I replied to your post here.
https://www.guitartricks.com/forum/thread.php?p=329268
Is there some other topic I can help you with? Please ask as much as necessary to get guidance or direction. That's what the forum is for! :)
Originally Posted by: mcchuck47this site is no different then any other guitar site,struggle,struggle,struggle,no assistance,other than post on a blog and hope someone encourages,you so they can continue to get your money.
Suck it up, stop whining, and practice.
Originally Posted by: mcchuck47this site is no different then any other guitar site,struggle,struggle,struggle,no assistance,other than post on a blog and hope someone encourages,you so they can continue to get your money.
Undeniably more skeptical than most, and never a sycophant, I can be critical when deserved even where it goes against the social grain, but you're way off target here mcchuck47.
Any musical instrument including guitar is 90% disciplined self-practice to accomplish the skill taught, including via any online tutorial method. The only aspect of that missing on GT with a subscription is direct [u]real time immediate interaction[/u] with a tutor face to literal face as in one on one. But then, you knew that when you signed up, ...didn't you? You can have that here at GT too, if you determine you need it and are prepared to pay for it?
To mention but two, in particular in terms of help (& encouragement), notably and commendably Christopher Schlegel is particularly active in these forums. he'll usually get back to any reasonable question asked in elaborative detail within a day. Other than the immediacy factor, you'd be hard pressed to find a better tutor anywhere, which is approbation of the highest indeed as as a love me or loath me trait, I'm a pretty tough taskmaster, on myself and others.
Lisa McCormick is the 'Mistress of Endless Encouragement' in her tutorials and forums. If you haven't noticed that over the past three weeks you've been a Full Access member, a person would have to either not be watching the lessons and paying attention, or deaf and blind.
Then there are the other members here who've already walked the mile in your shoes, who are, predominantly, helpful.
Note the response your post has 'attracted'? Do you think perhaps that the root problem with your negative 'user experience' might lie with your attitude, application and expectation rather than attributable to anything external?
All the best on your journey, whichever path you decide to take.
ManXcat 
Originally Posted by: mcchuck47i figured it out, how too print.
Keep at it Mcchuck47, nobody here wishes you ill will. Perseverance is key.
This year the diet is definitely gonna stick!
Originally Posted by: mcchuck47this site is no different then any other guitar site,struggle,struggle,struggle,no assistance,other than post on a blog and hope someone encourages,you so they can continue to get your money.
I know how ya feel, it's not the site though, it gets frustrating when trying to learn, feels like you keep hitting obstacle after obstacle, the more you try it seems the harder it gets, and believe me when i say, you are not alone, i am a beginner, and have hit the frustrating stage as well, where you wonder if anyone else sucked as bad as you, or you see others playing and ask yourself, did they have these problems when they first started? i asked a guy a while back how he was when he first started because he plays flawless now, he says he was worse than i was, but it takes dedication and the will to not quit, so hang in there and just keep at it and make yourself determined, and keep telling yourself, I WILL LEARN TO PLAY THE GUITAR NO MATTER WHAT, Hope this helps, Keep at it my friend, you'll be glad you did.
"Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you'll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you're gonna be rewarded."
[br]"Jimi Hendrix"
I know no one, amateur or pro, that says playing guitar is easy. See my signature block below.
Good luck, have fun.
john
I do enjoy what I can play. I joined GT because I thought I was missing some of the basics and needed more structure rather than trying too be so independent, Lisa's teachings are awesome I have taken lessons a while back and members of other teachings, Justin Guitar, Guitar Zoom and Blues Unleashed, all great too learn from by the way. its like I get too GCD and can change chords ok and thats where I hit the brick wall. I think alot of it is selve confidence and probably more mental than anything and no one too really share with> I can play a few songs and blues melodies, 2 finger barre chords and keep rythm sometimes. I need to get over expectations and just play and stay dedicated. Thanks everyone
Thank you
Originally Posted by: William MGOriginally Posted by: mcchuck47[p]i figured it out, how too print.Keep at it Mcchuck47, nobody here wishes you ill will. Perseverance is key.
Keep going mate.
I find Lisa's lesson very slow going, she takes ages to explain simple thnigs BUT - there must be poeple that want to work at that speed, so I take what I need and skip on.
I'm trying to use GT to learn "properly" and so practice what I've learned every day.
I also use you tube to learn a few recognisable riffs which keeps me interested and stops basic practice from being monotonous.
It can be a slow process but you'll start to find that you aren't struggling as much as you were - it's almost imperceptible, just don't give up!
Originally Posted by: mcchuck47I do enjoy what I can play. I joined GT because I thought I was missing some of the basics and needed more structure rather than trying too be so independent, Lisa's teachings are awesome I have taken lessons a while back and members of other teachings, Justin Guitar, Guitar Zoom and Blues Unleashed, all great too learn from by the way. its like I get too GCD and can change chords ok and thats where I hit the brick wall. I think alot of it is selve confidence and probably more mental than anything and no one too really share with> I can play a few songs and blues melodies, 2 finger barre chords and keep rythm sometimes. I need to get over expectations and just play and stay dedicated. Thanks everyone
While I'm in no position giving advice , what works for me is to have the mantra of " suck less every day" by lowering your expectations you focus more on the process and enjoy the ride , being too self critical can lead to frustration
[br]Here are some of the best quotes I know for pursuing any creative endovers. [br][br]“All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But it’s like there is this gap. For the first couple years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good. It’s not that great. It’s trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it’s not that good. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. Your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you’re making is kind of a disappointment to you. A lot of people never get past that phase. They quit."[br][br]And a bonus one. [br]"“Talent is a pursued interest. Anything that you're willing to practice, you can do.” said Bob Ross one of the finest painters of all time.
I thouhgt the Title of the Thread was some sort of joke. The GT instructors may take a few days at times, but they will always get back to you. Lisa and Chris are the quickest. Anders tours, so he can take weeks at times; don't know about the others.
I echo what others have said and we are ALL here for each other, so I hope you can feel the love brother. Is your guitar set up right for you? Do you have light strings and a low action to make it easier and more enjoyable to play (if you're not sure, for $40 at your local guitar store, they should put on new strings and set your action just right in about 30 minutes).
I'm not certain what you are referring to as a "2-finger" Barre chord, but I quit trying to learn Barre chords (and quit guitar) several times in my younger days (I am 51 now). It was only following Lisa's Fundamentals1 and Fundamentals2 courses (at age 50-51) that got me over that hump and many many more. There are lots of cool things in the lessons, like being able to print, open the tab in a separate window, create a loop in the video to practice a certain part, slow the video waaaayyyy down, that you learn as you go and I was also a little frustrated when I started (this past February), but take a little time to explore the site and all the bells and whistles. There are way more lessons than what are indexed in the Courses and if you ask the instructors for help on particular things, they will usually give you links to some more lessons on exactly what you need!
This is a great community here at GT.
How does the loop function work? I haven't figured that out yet. My guitars are set up for low action. I have a Fender Professional Strat and Tele and good amp, a left handed player by the way. I use Ernie Ball strings 9-42, a misquote on my part about the 2 finger barre chords, 2 finger power chords. I have learned so Much from GuitarTricks in the last 2 months from Lisa's lessons. I have leaned too slow down and break, the lessons into small pieces and isolate my issues and work on them until I get. For example, I worked on "keep that faith" for 2 weeks everyday until I could play along with the lesson without making mistakes, that is huge. I have learned too play without expectations and just have fun!!!! Thanks everyone
Originally Posted by: mcchuck47How does the loop function work?
[u]Note the start and end time points[/u] are on the video track progress bar of the section you want to isolate and loop.
Select the loop icon the lower right hand side of the popup video control panel and [u]toggle[/u] it to [u]loop on[/u]. The A and B markers will apppear at the beginning and end of the track progress bar.
[u]Move the A & B[/u] sliders to mark the beginning and end of specific section you want to loop.
[u]Press play[/u].
When you're [u]finished[/u], select [u]loop off[/u].
Originally Posted by: ChristopherSchlegel[quote=mcchuck47]this site is no different then any other guitar site,struggle,struggle,struggle,no assistance,other than post on a blog and hope someone encourages,you so they can continue to get your money.
I know I am new here but I have been here long enough to evaluate the program. I took guitar leasoons 50 years ago. I didn't learn guitar but that was not the instuctors fault. It was easy to blame the instructor for years But he did exactly what he was paid so handsomely to do - he taught. He was not paid to hold a whip over me and coerce me to practice. Could he have made the material more interesting? Surely, but the issue is, I never mastered the material he presented. So if you don't like the way the material is presented, do what I did -- quit. That's cool, but don't blame anyone but yourself. You even said it in your rant..."This site is no different then any other guitar site". The least common denominator between GT and all those other sites is YOU. GT and even "all those other sites" have produced a plethora of satisfied guitar players.[br][br]
Maybe You do need one-on-one instuction but that is expensive... as much per lesson, or more, as GT is per month. All the instuctor can do, different from GT, is tell you what you are doing wrong. If you don't listen to the instructor, will you say he is a bad instructor? Not to put too fine a point on it, but before the internet, many, many people learned guitar from books. The point was already pretty fine. You have to really want to learn guitar. Lots of homilies bear this out ... no pain, no gain, anything worth having is worth working for. The bottom line is there is always a cost that YOU must be willing to pay
Originally Posted by: db_208Keep going mate.
I find Lisa's lesson very slow going, she takes ages to explain simple thnigs BUT - there must be poeple that want to work at that speed, so I take what I need and skip on.
I'm trying to use GT to learn "properly" and so practice what I've learned every day.
I also use you tube to learn a few recognisable riffs which keeps me interested and stops basic practice from being monotonous.
It can be a slow process but you'll start to find that you aren't struggling as much as you were - it's almost imperceptible, just don't give up!
db_208,
Thank you for this comment. I too felt that Lisa went painfully slow, but I thought that maybe I could just skip a little ahead until I got beyond simple chords; I am 50 years old and feel some of the beggining is too elementary. I tried other online sites too, but I wanted to follow a course that has a begining middle and end, and guitartricks seemed to offer that. I feared that skipping ahead could be damaging. e.g. I might miss some important instruction. After two hours of viewing simple stuff, I was frustrated, but I think I will skip ahead a little to get a better feel for the site.
Tone,
I am struggling too I have finished guitar fundamentals one and found it a slog. I think it's down to the song choices. I have no interest in playing the songs on the fundamentals so I find it hard to get through the lessons. Even the individual songs to learn are not really my bag. I'm not trolling but I think you can probably learn just as much on youtube.
Where's all the songs by British Bands?? The Smiths. Joy Division. Echo and the Bunnymen. PiL.
Originally Posted by: treatedbadlyI am struggling too I have finished guitar fundamentals one and found it a slog. I think it's down to the song choices. I have no interest in playing the songs on the fundamentals so I find it hard to get through the lessons. Even the individual songs to learn are not really my bag. I'm not trolling but I think you can probably learn just as much on youtube.
Thanks for the feedback! We're always trying to improve and add songs that people are interested in playing. But it's a great balancing act of making song lessons for different types of people, and then also taking into consideration the difficulty of songs, etc.
We have a ton of beginner songs here: https://www.guitartricks.com/songs.php?input=beginners
And even more songs in the songs page that you should take a look at. Remember that you can always skip forward or backwards or even jump out of the fundamentals course if needed to give yourself a variety of learning. You don't have to stick to the course and go all the way through it all at once. We encourage everyone to try everything we have to offer! We know that learning can be different for everyone so feel free to experiment and jump around.
We enjoy the feedback, so let us know if you have any ideas on how to improve the Core Learning System, which includes Guitar Fundamentals 1 and 2, and the more experienced courses as well.
Billy
