PC-501 • Beginners Practice Routine

[Taylor]

So, I'm having, I guess, trouble with the C open chord. I can't seem to get it without going one finger at a time, like ring finger, middle then pointer.

Any suggestions?

[Dunk]

Dear all,
           i have a Taylor big baby i have been folowing the lessons
(just started) posted by Justin i would say i am committed to playing you see i know i have something inside me that needs to come out with music,  i found God i mean justin ...ha..ha,  and have started to use the practice routines but yesterday i spent a few hours working on chord changes which is or was coming on fine and dandy yet sore tips of fingers later,..!! found my chords are not ringing true today...? is it because my skin is not hard enough on the tips yet or is it a mental thing (i don't mean am i  mad...lol) is it what all players go through or is it just need to carry on practicing knowing that i will arrive. i am 42 is it my age  iam frustrated that i want to play all the time straight away trying to run before i can walk
DO WE ALL GO THROUGH THIS STARTING OUT PLEASE GIVE ME SOME TIPS (pardon the pun) cheers Dunk  

[close2u]

please don't double post 

http://www.justinguitarcommunity.com/index.php?topic=16231.msg104726#msg104726

[tanda]

Hi Everyone.
                I have just started to learn the guitar, but my problem is, I am over weight, so I have a bit of a stomach on me, so where most people rest the guitar on their stomach, and look at the fret board, and place their fingers, I find, I cant see the fret board, so I have to tilt the bottom of the guitar up, so I can see where my fingers are going, this means, I have to bend my hand round more to reach the fret board, which is quite a strain on my wrist. Anyone got any tips for us large players,(Apart from loosing weight, which I am trying to do). Thanks.

[tanda]

Sorry, can someone delete this post, I have found a better place to post it, it is now here, thanks.

http://www.justinguitarcommunity.com/index.php?topic=16416.0

[lerenah]

@ Dunk

Hi, actually yes, I think if your chords aren't ringing true the next day, you may find that you need to press harder on the strings and like Justin said, it will hurt for a while until you build up calluses at the tips of your fingers.  The frustration, I can definitely account for...lol.  I've been playing on and off for a couple of years, and I'm still at the beginner level because I don't play everyday, which I should.  So, I would say definitely keep the consistency in there and you'll get better in no time. Just work through the frustration. Hope this helps.

[lorezolutions]

i have just read this article to see how to structure my practice routine as I progress (I'm returning to playing after a long hiatus away from the guitar and groove the fundamentasl) but i wondered whether this is based on v1 of the beginners course? The reason I ask is in stage 5 of TB-020 it mentions "5 mins - Learn the Minor Pentatonic Scale" but in v2 of the course it is in stage 7.

[BubbleDragon]

How do you know when to move on to the next group of lessons?

I know I haven't "mastered" the first group yet, but things are progressing - I'm just getting a little bored with the same routine every day.  I've been working on the "A-D-E" set of lessons for about a week or so.  I get about 30 minutes in total a day, sometimes a bit more.  (I'm a new mum, and my boys really like to watch me play, even if it's bad!  Lol.)  I can do about 17-20 "round trip" changes in a minute on these chords, and I'm slowly getting the Three Little Birds song to sound pretty nice.  I also throw in a few rounds on the A Major scale and an exercise a teacher told me to do where I pick each of the strings sequentially on the first four frets, downpicking and then uppicking.  Kinda helps get my fingers moving and stretches out my ring and pinky pretty well.

Do I really have to master this one before I move on, or should I add to it and keep working on previous stuff as I go?

Sorry this is a pretty old topic, I didn't know if anyone would answer or not.

[B2604]

Hey, I have a little doubt. Justin says to advance to stage 4, only if you can make over 20 changes in a minute. Are those changes, the "round trip" ones or every single chord change?

Thanks in advance

[Bootstrap]

Every change

[B2604]

Thanks! 
I think I should advance then!

[B2604]

What's the average time you guys "stay" at one lesson, is it one a day?

[flyhead]

I've been on a couple since Maggie was Prime Minister.

[misterg]

What's the average time you guys "stay" at one lesson, is it one a day?

You need to practice the lesson until the content sinks in (not necessarily until it's perfect)  - everybody will vary, but I guess it'll take most people more than a day for that.

Sometimes stuff sinks in quickly and you can move on. Other times it seems to take ages to get the hang of something. A week is still a very short time in the scheme of things, let alone a day!

Andy

[B2604]

Andy,

I'm saying about the lesson itself, not the stages. To advance to the next stage, I really take more than 2 weeks usually. But there are some lessons, that Justin simply teaches a single chord. But either way, I see everybody takes some weeks to advance, so I think the time I stay in one lesson is irrelevant if I am practicing the whole stage for some weeks, right?

Thanks!

[misterg]

Err... probably.

Just don't get too far ahead or skip any lessons. It's important to cover the lessons in order.

Andy

[juzz88]

Hi guys.

In one of the videos Justin mentions that he thinks you should only practice 15-20 minutes a day, but that practice time is different to actual playing time.

What I want to know is, when you are a beginner and are learning your first songs, does learning a song fall under practice time or playing time?

Cheers.

[flyhead]

I think the general message is to prioritise a technique based regimen. As long as this is your main focus then there's no harm in spending an occasional session practicing a song, as long as it falls within the skill-set that you have acquired.

[Dii]

About practice time, i've been doing this course for a year, and what you need is self discipline. You need to know if you're confortable with the exercises and if it's natural to your fingers. I had to spend maybe 2-3 weeks in each lesson because i do have small fingers, and those stretches were painful, like the C chord , hurts ! 

[Joe_Navy]

I've only been playing for about a week and a half but the shortest practice time I've had so far is about 2 hours, and the longest was 6... I practice everyday, but I've been wondering if I've been practicing too much. I noticed Justin said it is better to practice ten minutes every day than 1 hour on Saturday. But like I said, I've been practicing two hours everyday at the least. Shoud I cut back or is this good?

[irishalkies]

I've only been playing for about a week and a half but the shortest practice time I've had so far is about 2 hours, and the longest was 6... I practice everyday, but I've been wondering if I've been practicing too much. I noticed Justin said it is better to practice ten minutes every day than 1 hour on Saturday. But like I said, I've been practicing two hours everyday. Shoud I cut back or is this good?

I'd reckon what Justin is getting at is it's better to practice 10 mins every day rather than 1 hour on a Saturday only, thus getting the point across that daily practice is better than sporadic practice. What you're doing is fine. Only stop if you feel any pain.

[StreetDeacon]

I'm on stage 4 at the moment.  I was wondering if it's ok to practice "rhythm guitar basics" and "forcing the changes" at the same time.  Kill 2 birds with 1 stone kinda thing.  Or would that not be a good thing to do?

[jerronimo3000]

I'm on stage 4 at the moment.  I was wondering if it's ok to practice "rhythm guitar basics" and "forcing the changes" at the same time.  Kill 2 birds with 1 stone kinda thing.  Or would that not be a good thing to do?

i think it would probably be more beneficial to do them separately.  If either your rhythm or chord changes aren't there yet you'll probably end up focusing more on one than the other which is essentially doing them separately.  I guess they could be done together, but i think it would be best to practice them separately.  I think you'd progress faster that way.

[StreetDeacon]

I'm on stage 4 at the moment.  I was wondering if it's ok to practice "rhythm guitar basics" and "forcing the changes" at the same time.  Kill 2 birds with 1 stone kinda thing.  Or would that not be a good thing to do?

i think it would probably be more beneficial to do them separately.  If either your rhythm or chord changes aren't there yet you'll probably end up focusing more on one than the other which is essentially doing them separately.  I guess they could be done together, but i think it would be best to practice them separately.  I think you'd progress faster that way.

Thanks for the reply.  I'll probably do that.

One other thing I noticed was that even though he goes over "forcing the changes", he didn't put it in the lesson plan.

[Joe_Navy]

One other thing I noticed was that even though he goes over "forcing the changes", he didn't put it in the lesson plan.

I think what he wants is for that to be integrated with the one minute changes section. Set a nice steady tempo that you feel comfortable with and try and make the changes without changing your tempo. That's how I practiced it.