Aug 23, 2022·edited Aug 23, 2022Liked by Paul Hackett
Paul, I think your articles are great and nicely written. Interestingly, I am the guitar player you discuss as your target. Can play a few things moderately well. For those who can’t play well, they would think I was pretty decent. The problem is as you describe… I’ve been playing the same things for 30 years, so I recently decided I didn’t want to be that “noodler” type of player anymore. I set about trying to understand where my real gaps were, and this is what I found…
Biggest gaps of beginner/intermediate:
1) Knowledge - Internalizing the fretboard, knowing all the notes without having to think about it
2) Timing - developing and understanding time - lack of strong counting and rhythm skills
3) Mindset - getting frustrated with never being able to play like you really want to
4) Plan - beginning with the end in mind, what’s missing to get where you want to go
5) Technique - You get the big ideas, but need refinement - little things that make all the difference.
6) Practice - How did the best get so good? In detail…
7) Expectations - Knowing what is possible and realistic.
8) Theory - Once you have the fundamentals nailed, then you can apply the theory
I think Jake Lizzio is on to something, as you noted in your article about his Signals Rhythm Course for Guitar. He takes one of the topics above and goes deep. Too many courses out there try to be everything to everyone, all in one course. That’s not a strategy for mastery, it’s a strategy for creating several million beginners.
A suggestion, if you haven’t read Mindset, by Carol S Dweck, I would strongly suggest it. Followed by Grit, by Angela Duckworth. These two books are all about the why and how to achieve what your audience seeks. Few talk about these topics or understand them well. They were game changing reads for me and apply perfectly.
Thanks for the comment, Jerry. I think you really get what I’m trying to do. I’m going to save your comment and see how many of the items on your list I check off later.
Most people who’ve tried to play guitar for a long time probably know more about music than they realize, they just haven’t figured out how to put it all together yet. That’s who I’d like to reach with this course. Instead of going for the widest possible audience, I want to find students who don’t just buy the course to try it out, but actually work though it to the very end and finish it.
I’m currently at the stage of development where I’m trying to figure out what I can leave out. It’s a lot easier to include too much information. Choosing what to leave out takes a lot of careful consideration.
Jake Lizzo’s courses are great. I’ve learned a lot about playing and teaching guitar from watching his courses. I highly recommend his stuff whenever his name comes up.
I will definitely check out the books you recommended. I need a lot of help getting to where I want to be and I appreciate your suggestions. Getting things right requires constant study and learning of new concepts.
Again, thanks for the advice and well thought-out comments.
I *was* your target audience (long-time beginner struggling to get to intermediate) until a year ago. I think I've purchased pretty much all of the popular online courses and books in my search for instruction that resonates with me. I was stuck at the late-beginner stage for several years. Ended using a patchwork of various online courses to break out of the rut. I had the most success from a combination of adapting bass guitar online video courses to guitar and from a few jazz guitar courses, specifically David Beebee's "Pathway to Jazz" course, and Richie Zellon's "Bebop Guitar Improv" course.
At first glance, the jazz courses would seem to be too advanced for a late-beginner. However, what they did was reveal what I *didn't* know as solidly as I should:
*notes across the fretboard
*octave patterns
*triad and pentatonic shapes within the CAGED shapes
*the 42 interval shapes
*the CAGED shapes intervallically
I am often frustrated when an instructor says something like: "Spend a couple of weeks learning the notes on the fretboard." with no prescribed blueprint for doing so. I often found myself breaking down the week's lesson into a series of mini-lessons that I could master over three or four days. Giving someone enough to work on for a week is too long a period and usually too much. Three or four days is more reasonable and achievable, and is a pace that creates momentum and a sense of accomplishment.
Both the bass courses and the jazz guitar courses emphasized the practical use of theory through visualizing the fretboard as interval patterns. David Beebee and Tom Quayle even have an app (called "Solo") that helps you master intervallic patterns.
Paul Wolfe's bass courses and Richie Zellon's improv course emphasize the use of devices, common bits of musical vocabulary that comes up over and over again in music. This was a game changer for me.
The book and website "Improvise for Real" provides the best ear training course I've experienced. I'm still working my way through the material, but their approach, which emphasizes working with sounds over recognizing intervals, has really improved my ear.
I would now rate myself as a solid intermediate player, on track to be an advanced player in 2-3 years. It took a lot of time and money to cobble together a path to get from beginner to intermediate. If you can create a course (or series of courses) that can help streamline that process, my hat's off to you.
Thank you for the detailed response. All that you've learned is a tough process to streamline.
I agree with you that smaller steps are more manageable. Working with your guitar in hand is a lot better than trying to absorb pages of information for unspecified periods of time.
You've given me a lot to think about. I'm going to revisit the resources you mentioned. It sounds like you're well on your way, Derrick.
I am an example of your target audience. I am basically a complete beginner (I paid for Justin Guitar app for a few months and was consistent) with only a few chords that I feel comfortable with. I am really looking for a roadmap I can follow and learn at my own pace. Clear goals on when to move to the next lesson are essential for me. Interspersed throughout lessons, I'd like to learn something "fun", like a song or technique, to keep things interesting. I can only schedule around 20 mins a day to practice, but I find that I can do this daily, and not get burnt out. I'm a firm believer of slow progress over time.
As a complete beginner, I am willing to be a test dummy for whatever course you have in mind.
Paul, one thing to consider when building this course is an effective practice program for each lesson. Practice is purposeful playing. Often it is not outlined in detail to allow a fairly smooth skill acquisition. This could mean a schedule that would have 2-3 20 minute sessions for the first 3 days and up to 45 minutes by the end of the week. Each lesson should a complete practice plan and a skill maintenance plan. Learning new skills is not a race. It is a journey of discovery. Good luck. Steve McCombs
Thank you, Steve. That's a really helpful and insightful comment.
Most guitar courses don't give clear guidelines for practice. It's simply not enough to ask the student to practice. A better guitar course would not just outline practice ideas - but actually explain in detail what and how to practice. Using a metronome is a good example. Everyone knows they should use a metronome, but if they haven't been shown how to use one there can be a lot of fumbling around. I was already thinking of including a lot of practice materials. Your idea of outlining practice schedules is something I really like.
One additional point to make has nothing to do with learning or starting a new course. It's playing for fun every day. Sometimes that may only 10-15 minutes with favorites. It can help with skills, but it is mostly about keeping joy.
My biggest struggle with progressing beyond the absolute beginner has been the physicality of playing the guitar; fretting hand wrist angle, positioning of the left hand to make playing as easy as possible etc. I think these are the things an in-person teacher would pick up on, but I've not been in a position to take lessons. I'd like to see a course for the self taught guitarist that had a focus on these sorts of issues.
For sure. There are lots of things we aren't told about until sitting down with a more experienced player. There should be a standard list of things the self-taught guitarist should look out for.
All the best with this project Paul - it's a big undertaking to present a new guitar course that hasn't got students saying "already been there, done that". It's been my experience that the guitar students I teach in class, want to be able to make music period, as soon as possible. Melody notes embedded within basic open chords as found in current popular songs (not too many nursery rhymes please) are what they enjoy learning most and are what will hold their interest longest as they tackle advanced skills. Just my 2 cents worth.... Looking forward to what you create! Looks like you've got a good foundation to start with. :)
I am a lifelong dabbler, progressing in fits and starts. I want to play songs for myself and others. I'm mainly into accoustic music. Too of ten I find that sites are skill heavy without any helpful guidance on what do do with them. At this stage, I need to be held by the hand and gently pushed along. I thought that the "Skills Every Intermediate Guitar Player Needs" would provide an excellent place to start.
Paul, I think your articles are great and nicely written. Interestingly, I am the guitar player you discuss as your target. Can play a few things moderately well. For those who can’t play well, they would think I was pretty decent. The problem is as you describe… I’ve been playing the same things for 30 years, so I recently decided I didn’t want to be that “noodler” type of player anymore. I set about trying to understand where my real gaps were, and this is what I found…
Biggest gaps of beginner/intermediate:
1) Knowledge - Internalizing the fretboard, knowing all the notes without having to think about it
2) Timing - developing and understanding time - lack of strong counting and rhythm skills
3) Mindset - getting frustrated with never being able to play like you really want to
4) Plan - beginning with the end in mind, what’s missing to get where you want to go
5) Technique - You get the big ideas, but need refinement - little things that make all the difference.
6) Practice - How did the best get so good? In detail…
7) Expectations - Knowing what is possible and realistic.
8) Theory - Once you have the fundamentals nailed, then you can apply the theory
I think Jake Lizzio is on to something, as you noted in your article about his Signals Rhythm Course for Guitar. He takes one of the topics above and goes deep. Too many courses out there try to be everything to everyone, all in one course. That’s not a strategy for mastery, it’s a strategy for creating several million beginners.
A suggestion, if you haven’t read Mindset, by Carol S Dweck, I would strongly suggest it. Followed by Grit, by Angela Duckworth. These two books are all about the why and how to achieve what your audience seeks. Few talk about these topics or understand them well. They were game changing reads for me and apply perfectly.
Just my thoughts… hope it’s helpful!
Good luck!
Jerry
Thanks for the comment, Jerry. I think you really get what I’m trying to do. I’m going to save your comment and see how many of the items on your list I check off later.
Most people who’ve tried to play guitar for a long time probably know more about music than they realize, they just haven’t figured out how to put it all together yet. That’s who I’d like to reach with this course. Instead of going for the widest possible audience, I want to find students who don’t just buy the course to try it out, but actually work though it to the very end and finish it.
I’m currently at the stage of development where I’m trying to figure out what I can leave out. It’s a lot easier to include too much information. Choosing what to leave out takes a lot of careful consideration.
Jake Lizzo’s courses are great. I’ve learned a lot about playing and teaching guitar from watching his courses. I highly recommend his stuff whenever his name comes up.
I will definitely check out the books you recommended. I need a lot of help getting to where I want to be and I appreciate your suggestions. Getting things right requires constant study and learning of new concepts.
Again, thanks for the advice and well thought-out comments.
Paul
I *was* your target audience (long-time beginner struggling to get to intermediate) until a year ago. I think I've purchased pretty much all of the popular online courses and books in my search for instruction that resonates with me. I was stuck at the late-beginner stage for several years. Ended using a patchwork of various online courses to break out of the rut. I had the most success from a combination of adapting bass guitar online video courses to guitar and from a few jazz guitar courses, specifically David Beebee's "Pathway to Jazz" course, and Richie Zellon's "Bebop Guitar Improv" course.
At first glance, the jazz courses would seem to be too advanced for a late-beginner. However, what they did was reveal what I *didn't* know as solidly as I should:
*notes across the fretboard
*octave patterns
*triad and pentatonic shapes within the CAGED shapes
*the 42 interval shapes
*the CAGED shapes intervallically
I am often frustrated when an instructor says something like: "Spend a couple of weeks learning the notes on the fretboard." with no prescribed blueprint for doing so. I often found myself breaking down the week's lesson into a series of mini-lessons that I could master over three or four days. Giving someone enough to work on for a week is too long a period and usually too much. Three or four days is more reasonable and achievable, and is a pace that creates momentum and a sense of accomplishment.
Both the bass courses and the jazz guitar courses emphasized the practical use of theory through visualizing the fretboard as interval patterns. David Beebee and Tom Quayle even have an app (called "Solo") that helps you master intervallic patterns.
Paul Wolfe's bass courses and Richie Zellon's improv course emphasize the use of devices, common bits of musical vocabulary that comes up over and over again in music. This was a game changer for me.
The book and website "Improvise for Real" provides the best ear training course I've experienced. I'm still working my way through the material, but their approach, which emphasizes working with sounds over recognizing intervals, has really improved my ear.
I would now rate myself as a solid intermediate player, on track to be an advanced player in 2-3 years. It took a lot of time and money to cobble together a path to get from beginner to intermediate. If you can create a course (or series of courses) that can help streamline that process, my hat's off to you.
Thank you for the detailed response. All that you've learned is a tough process to streamline.
I agree with you that smaller steps are more manageable. Working with your guitar in hand is a lot better than trying to absorb pages of information for unspecified periods of time.
You've given me a lot to think about. I'm going to revisit the resources you mentioned. It sounds like you're well on your way, Derrick.
All the best.
I am an example of your target audience. I am basically a complete beginner (I paid for Justin Guitar app for a few months and was consistent) with only a few chords that I feel comfortable with. I am really looking for a roadmap I can follow and learn at my own pace. Clear goals on when to move to the next lesson are essential for me. Interspersed throughout lessons, I'd like to learn something "fun", like a song or technique, to keep things interesting. I can only schedule around 20 mins a day to practice, but I find that I can do this daily, and not get burnt out. I'm a firm believer of slow progress over time.
As a complete beginner, I am willing to be a test dummy for whatever course you have in mind.
Great ideas. I will put your name down for beta testers. Keep practicing.
Paul, one thing to consider when building this course is an effective practice program for each lesson. Practice is purposeful playing. Often it is not outlined in detail to allow a fairly smooth skill acquisition. This could mean a schedule that would have 2-3 20 minute sessions for the first 3 days and up to 45 minutes by the end of the week. Each lesson should a complete practice plan and a skill maintenance plan. Learning new skills is not a race. It is a journey of discovery. Good luck. Steve McCombs
Thank you, Steve. That's a really helpful and insightful comment.
Most guitar courses don't give clear guidelines for practice. It's simply not enough to ask the student to practice. A better guitar course would not just outline practice ideas - but actually explain in detail what and how to practice. Using a metronome is a good example. Everyone knows they should use a metronome, but if they haven't been shown how to use one there can be a lot of fumbling around. I was already thinking of including a lot of practice materials. Your idea of outlining practice schedules is something I really like.
One additional point to make has nothing to do with learning or starting a new course. It's playing for fun every day. Sometimes that may only 10-15 minutes with favorites. It can help with skills, but it is mostly about keeping joy.
Definitely agree with this.
I might be interested Paul. I am giving lessons to beginners, intermediate and advance players.
Thanks, Gilbert. I will email you soon.
My hurdles are:
1. As you mentioned, i have been stuck at the same level for a long time and struggle to get past my plateau.
2. I don’t have a goal or a target to shoot for.
3. I don’t have people to play with, and without people to play with my playing stagnates. Thus comments 1 and 2.
My biggest struggle with progressing beyond the absolute beginner has been the physicality of playing the guitar; fretting hand wrist angle, positioning of the left hand to make playing as easy as possible etc. I think these are the things an in-person teacher would pick up on, but I've not been in a position to take lessons. I'd like to see a course for the self taught guitarist that had a focus on these sorts of issues.
For sure. There are lots of things we aren't told about until sitting down with a more experienced player. There should be a standard list of things the self-taught guitarist should look out for.
Sounds exactly like what i am looking for
I think I've found the right audience.
All the best with this project Paul - it's a big undertaking to present a new guitar course that hasn't got students saying "already been there, done that". It's been my experience that the guitar students I teach in class, want to be able to make music period, as soon as possible. Melody notes embedded within basic open chords as found in current popular songs (not too many nursery rhymes please) are what they enjoy learning most and are what will hold their interest longest as they tackle advanced skills. Just my 2 cents worth.... Looking forward to what you create! Looks like you've got a good foundation to start with. :)
I am a lifelong dabbler, progressing in fits and starts. I want to play songs for myself and others. I'm mainly into accoustic music. Too of ten I find that sites are skill heavy without any helpful guidance on what do do with them. At this stage, I need to be held by the hand and gently pushed along. I thought that the "Skills Every Intermediate Guitar Player Needs" would provide an excellent place to start.
Good luck with your venture I agree with you on what is needed