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Hi everyone!
I’m a 4 month old complete beginner and brand new member. After seeing a number of Brian’s lessons in my feed I really connected with his teaching style and decided it would be a great way to expand my abilities as I really enjoy blues/roots music.
After getting access to all the material it looks like there’s enough here to keep me busy for years and years, which is great. The question is “where to start?” so I’m hoping to get some ideas from the community. I’ve started working through the Essential Theory courses and plan on going through all of them. I’d like to start with some basic lessons as well. My skill level is solidly “early beginner” so I’m looking for any lessons to help me build basic dexterity and musical knowledge.
If I could get a few suggestions to narrow the list of possibilities that would be great.
Thanks in advance for any help!
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Hi Mark,
To kick off you might start by looking at the lessons listed under ‘Some lessons beginners might want to try’ submitted by Don D. (It has been posted recently so you’ll find on this or next page) There’s a selection there which will hopefully help you start on the right path with ActiveMelody.If you’ve any further questions, please feel free to post them on this Forum
Richard
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Although I don’t consider myself a beginner, I still have significant issues playing at Brian’s level.
I’ve started to go a back and look at his first videos.
Search on EPnnn where “nnn” is a low three digit number. Example EP003, EP004, EP005, etc.
His oldest videos are prefixed with LEGnnn, so for example LEG002, LEG003, LEG004, etc.Just stating the obvious, but he wasn’t as confident as he is now, so the pace of the earlier lessons is a little slower and scaled down imho.
Also work though the “Start Here” section. I’m currently working through the Pentatonic Licks on a daily basis. The “Start Here” is a a prerequisite that you shouldn’t skip (like I did) <grin> I’ve now gone back through it and I’m slowly finishing it up.
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‘Some lessons beginners might want to try’ submitted by Don D
Personally I can’t find “‘Some lessons beginners might want to try’ submitted by Don D.” on this forum.
Do you have a link to that by any chance? -
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Welcome aboard Mark. Here are a few suggestions:
1. Find lessons/course material that holds your interests.
2. Take your time, this is a journey that you must enjoy b/c it can get frustrating.
3. Ask questions and share thoughts on the Forum.
4. When comfortable, share some audio or video or your accomplishments (however small).
5. Listen to other members and players.I could go on and on. Follow your instincts and have fun. There is nothing easy about learning this instrument. Enjoy your small steps and challenges. You got this!
John
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Also work though the “Start Here” section. I’m currently working through the Pentatonic Licks on a daily basis. The “Start Here” is a a prerequisite that you shouldn’t skip (like I did) <grin> I’ve now gone back through it and I’m slowly finishing it up.
Hey Daniel! I’m working through the Essential Theory section right now and am really enjoying it. I also started the lesson in BLG005 as it seemed relatively doable for me.
Welcome aboard Mark. Here are a few suggestions:
1. Find lessons/course material that holds your interests.
2. Take your time, this is a journey that you must enjoy b/c it can get frustrating.
3. Ask questions and share thoughts on the Forum.
4. When comfortable, share some audio or video or your accomplishments (however small).
5. Listen to other members and players.I could go on and on. Follow your instincts and have fun. There is nothing easy about learning this instrument. Enjoy your small steps and challenges. You got this!
John
Thanks for the welcome John! I’m looking forward to being an active part of the community and building my skills bit by bit. After 30 years of wanting to play guitar I’m finally committing to learning the instrument. More time plus the flexibility of online learning have allowed me to actually make progress. I really enjoy Brian’s approach to teaching and there is definitely enough here to keep me busy for as long as I can keep playing!
I will be sure to ask questions as they come up and I think I’ll participate in one of the upcoming monthly challenges. -
Hi Mark. I’ve been an AM member for a couple months now and think you’ve come to the right place! Brian is an awesome teacher. Although I’ve been practicing for about 3 years now I still consider myself a beginner/intermediate player.
I enjoy posting some of my attempts at music in the “Showcase Your Playing” forum and have participated in 1 of the monthly challenges. They are an excellent way to put yourself out there and get some constructive feedback on ways to improve. Everyone here has been very helpful and positive.
Welcome Mark!
Joe
Joe
The sight of a touch, or the scent of a sound,
Or the strength of an Oak with roots deep in the ground.
--Graeme Edge -
My 2 cents. Start with learning your open chords and learn a bunch of easier songs. Whole songs. Don’t be a noodler. Practice with recordings or jamtracks to build rhythm skill. Then as hard as it is learn CAGED. More chords up and down the neck. It didn’t exist in the daybecause we just learned from records and friends. Learn to play songs with the CAGED chords not just the open chords. Practice with jamtracks a lot.
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Hey Daniel, I’m going to tell you what I would tell myself at 4 months of playing: go learn some songs. Get your fingers strong. Work on your technique. Work on rhythm. Have some fun. Take a look at some of the beginner lessons as other people have mentioned. But keep in mind that these lessons can be very frustrating for beginners and much of what Brian is teaching, while invaluable, I would not want to tackle as a 4 month beginner. In fact, I had a annual subscription to this site when I was about a one year beginner and it was very frustrating. Now, 5 years later, I think this is probably the single best resource on the internet.
My two cents worth. Mostly my aim is just to help you mitigate frustration. Welcome to the site!
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Hi Mark. I’ve been an AM member for a couple months now and think you’ve come to the right place! Brian is an awesome teacher. Although I’ve been practicing for about 3 years now I still consider myself a beginner/intermediate player.
I enjoy posting some of my attempts at music in the “Showcase Your Playing” forum and have participated in 1 of the monthly challenges. They are an excellent way to put yourself out there and get some constructive feedback on ways to improve. Everyone here has been very helpful and positive.
Welcome Mark!
Joe
Thanks for the welcome, Joe! I’m thinking that I might participate in one of the upcoming monthly challenges. They seem like a great way to motivate you to really focus on something, which I think is a good thing.
My 2 cents. Start with learning your open chords and learn a bunch of easier songs. Whole songs. Don’t be a noodler. Practice with recordings or jamtracks to build rhythm skill. Then as hard as it is learn CAGED. More chords up and down the neck. It didn’t exist in the daybecause we just learned from records and friends. Learn to play songs with the CAGED chords not just the open chords. Practice with jamtracks a lot.
I am working on a few songs currently and really focusing on getting the basic open chords nailed down. I’m supplementing that with the courses here on AM. I should be going through the CAGED portion in the next week or so and then it’s on to the blues section.
Hey Daniel, I’m going to tell you what I would tell myself at 4 months of playing: go learn some songs. Get your fingers strong. Work on your technique. Work on rhythm. Have some fun. Take a look at some of the beginner lessons as other people have mentioned. But keep in mind that these lessons can be very frustrating for beginners and much of what Brian is teaching, while invaluable, I would not want to tackle as a 4 month beginner. In fact, I had a annual subscription to this site when I was about a one year beginner and it was very frustrating. Now, 5 years later, I think this is probably the single best resource on the internet.
My two cents worth. Mostly my aim is just to help you mitigate frustration. Welcome to the site!
The quantity of material here is a bit overwhelming but I have found a few easier lessons that I plan on learning bit by bit. I’m a blues guitar fan so those are the lessons I’m drawn to. I expect that over the next year or so my abilities will improve enough that I can tackle more lessons but so far I’ve found enough to test my skills while I work on some basic songs and build my finger strength, strumming and rhythm.
I’m looking forward to the journey!
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