How to Make the Most of This Beginner Course
Hopefully you're really excited to get digging into the learning materials we have in this beginner acoustic course. However, I just wanted to take a couple of minutes to explain how you can make the most of this course to manage your expectations and make sure you're actually using what we offer here at Andyguitar.co.uk to get the maximum benefit of the time you spend here with us. This first module should be watched in order, but can also be referred back to for things like how to get your guitar in tune, perhaps how to read tab or chord diagrams. These videos are here for future reference also, but the rest of the course, you can just keep progressing through, even if you feel like you're not perfecting everything as you go. It's actually a very dangerous thing to not move on until you can play each chord or scale perfectly, because going through the course, we attack similar things like chord changes, strumming patterns, and putting things together from different angles. So while we want to make sure things. Like finger placement and playing chords correctly and as good as possible that we can get in the time while you're watching a lesson, please still move on if you feel like you're not playing everything perfectly. That way you can be making the most of the practise routines and the song tutorials that we have available at every level of this course, and then be practising all the same things, but in the context of a jam track, a chord progression, or a song. You don't need to just practise one single. Again and again to get better at it. You shouldn't practise, for example, one chord, again and again and again to get better at it over like multiple days or weeks, it's best to get looking at that chord in the context that it's used as soon as possible, so make sure you're progressing through this course and actually not taking too long on any single lesson, it will always be there for you to refer back to at a later stage if you need it, but please remember to keep moving through this course, that's what it's designed to do. And you don't need to be perfect at every lesson, and you don't need to perfect everything that's covered in each video to move forward. We'll cover things again in musical context. And finally, I'm often asked, what's the big thing that makes the difference? What keeps someone who wants to learn guitar playing beyond the first few days, months, and particularly that first year when there is a very big drop off. And in my experience, there isn't one thing, there's 3. The first one is some way to get supportive feedback on your plane. The second is finding some kind of community or peer group that you can get peer to peer support from so that you're not always getting info from teacher, you're hearing similar things from a like-minded group who are all learning from the same syllabus. And we need to make the most of the technology available to us, especially when we're self-learning. Online, all those 3 things we offer at Andyguitar.co.uk and here's how we offer them. Firstly, along with your membership, as well as access to all the videos and learning materials we have at Andyguitar.co.uk, you also get access to the Discord community. Discord is currently where Andy Guitar members can connect with each other, ask people questions, and get peer to peer support from. Other fellow learners, this is so, so important at all levels, but especially at total beginner, when it feels like you're a total noob and you just want to ask sometimes what seems like silly questions, they are in fact questions that everyone asks. If you're thinking it, you're not the first person to have thought of what you want to ask about, and you can get those answers from our supportive community at any time. Even right now. We also have weekly live streams where you can ask me any of these questions and I'll answer them live. Perhaps it's a strumming pattern for a song or some kind of question about how to do something on your guitar that you can't yet do. Ask me. It's currently at the time of filming every Monday, but either way, we offer live lessons every week with me or the other teachers at Andyguitar.co.uk. Tune into them, keep. In touch with that live community and keep the chat going on the Discord to get the support you need. There are many other tips that we'll be mentioning throughout this course, but I don't want to overwhelm you at this point. Let's make a start with this course. I wish you all the best, and you also know where to get the support from if there's anything you want to ask me directly, or if you want to get more involved in the community aspects of what we offer here at Andyar.
In this video
How This Course Works
Level 0 is best watched in order, but you can also come back to it whenever you need a reminder, for example on reading chord boxes and TAB, or changing your strings.
From Level 1 onwards, the course builds level by level, with songs, jam tracks and a practice routine at every level, so you always know what to practise next.
Keep Moving, Don’t Wait for Perfect
You don’t need to master every lesson before moving on. The course comes back to chord changes, strumming and putting things together from different angles, so you’ll keep practising the same skills in songs and jam tracks as you go.
Spending days or weeks on one chord on its own is one of the easiest ways to stall. It’s much better to start using it in a song as soon as you can. Every lesson will still be here whenever you want to look back.
What Keeps People Playing?
The first year is when most people give up on guitar. In my experience, three things make the difference:
Supportive feedback on your playing, so you know you’re on the right track
A community of people learning alongside you, to ask questions and keep each other going
Using the technology available to you, which matters even more when you’re learning online
A couple of easy wins with the technology:
Record yourself. Your phone is all you need. Hearing yourself back is one of the quickest ways to spot what to work on, and a great way to notice how far you’ve come.
Slow things down. You can slow down both the lesson videos and the interactive TAB, so you can play along at a speed that works for you, then build it back up.
If you’re a member, the Andy Guitar Discord and my weekly livestreams are there for the feedback and community side. No question is too basic, and someone has always asked it before.
Where to next?
Carry on with Level 0: next up is choosing a guitar, budget vs premium.
Ready to start playing? Get in tune and learn your first chord in Level 1.