Newbie Questions

I am a newbie to GT but an intermediate player (I have a decent understanding of music theory, though know there is always more to learn; I can do Travis picking and play melody with chords, etc.). I'd love some recommendations for how to go about using the site. So far I have worked through several songs and really like the instructional approach (I am a former teacher and feel that the way these songs are taught is wonderful!). I have done some of the core learning module and "in the style of..." lessons. I'm having trouble finding lessons that specifically target what I'm wanting to learn more of, which is how to improvise fills around chords. I could certainly continue with songs that will do some of this, but wonder if there is a specific set of lessons that will help me really be able to improvise underneath/around chord. Thoughts and suggestions greatly appreciated :) Jonathan

click on the channel tab. Lots of individual lessons on there.

You could click on each instructor and they list their tutorials.

Or just put a specific search in and see what comes up..

Hi Jonathan

The search tool brought up some suggestions when I typed in "fills", but I think the most valuable resource we have is Christopher Schelgel. I would suggest posting a question in his forum.

Good luck.

I think it's hard to go wrong to just pick a course and step through the whole thing, including the stuff you feel like you already know. I say "feel like" because I've seen many posts here from people who did that and were surprised to learn new things even though they felt like they already knew the course material. I had the same experience.

GT does a good job of structuring courses in such a way that one thing builds nicely on the next. It seems to me that the scattershot way of doing it removes most of the benefits of GT's curriculum and takes you back to the "watch random YouTube videos" method that tends not to be a very good way to learn.

Stepping through a course that includes things that you want to learn, but doing so in order, allows for a better learning experience when you do get to the skills you want to learn, allows you to begin to form a teacher/student relationship with the instructor, which enhances learning, and takes full advantage of the work that GT has put into how to teach skills. And our brains tend to learn better within an organized, cohesive curriculum, which is why the "random YouTube video" method doesn't work -- dare I say ever?

Of course you will probably go more quickly through the lessons that you're already strong on, but that's still a good solidfying of your skill set.

Hope that helps!