I'd like to add my thanks to Lisa.

Some background.

At 60 I decided to put to test Fisher's Dynamic Skills Theory by picking up the guitar to learn it one note at a time, attempting to accelerate learning by connecting it with other skills I've developed throughout life. Most obviously, I think reading music is a huge bonus; but, being able to play the piano does not translate into an ability to play the guitar. But, with sheet music as a firm connection between instruments, I think I was able to get a stronger grasp of the theory behind what I was attempting to do. A caveat here is that prior learning can also be a barrier to new learning; sometimes I have to unlearn the old before I can learn the new.

Lisa's free beginner videos helped introduce me to some important concepts; but, they started with some practices that had already proven to be barriers when previously attempting to play the guitar. Diving into chords and songs might work for others, but I tend to learn differently. I need to build foundations before I try to frame the house. So, I put aside the Guitartricks method until I could get beyond the barriers I'd faced so many times before.

After scouring music stores for the right method for me, I found a book that focused on the dynamic skills theory approach I was looking for, a tiered building block approach that took me from individual notes to entire strings, to brief riffs, to chords, to simple songs. It took me about a week to complete the first book and start making progress on my second book. The speed of my progression surprised me because I had tried and failed so many times before; but, taking a building blocks approach built a good foundation, while connecting it with what I could do with another instrument.

I picked up some other books that started with the standard "let's have fun by playing chords and songs before you know what a note is" approach. Having a good foundation helped me quickly devour the books that had previously been barriers. However, being entirely self-taught, I was concerned that I was developing bad habits that could inhibit my development.

After a month into it, I knew I would like this experiment to become a life skill; so, I signed up for a month of guitar lessons. Those are good as a checkpoint to make sure I'm not developing bad habits; but, the progress of formal lessons is a bit slow for me. So, while taking lessons, I decided to revisit Guitartricks and walk through the beginner videos from the start.

Previously a barrier, Lisa's videos are now empowering. Approaching the end of Guitar Fundamentals 1, almost all of it has reinforced what I learned on my own in the last 6 weeks. Rather than being boring redundancy, this becomes an important repetition that reinforces and realigns my prior learning. In other words, even if someone already considers themselves decent with guitar, Lisa's lessons will be valuable in helping build and strengthen foundations for accelerating skills.

For example, while I had already learned every chord Lisa teaches in the Guitar Fundamentals 1 series, I was playing one chord at a time; my transitions were manual, slow, awkward. No amount of practice on my own was improving transitions from one chord to the next. The only advice I got from my instructor was, "do it slowly, keep practicing, and everything will come together..." Enter Lisa. She carefully demonstrates chord transition strategies that allow me to easily merge chords so that I'm not playing one chord at a time, but playing them as integrated elements of a song. That alone is worth the price of admission. While, for me, learning is one note at a time and one chord at a time, single elements do not music make; and, painstakingly plunking through individual elements makes for horrible music.

Another bonus for me is that Lisa has a firm grasp on the cognitive processes of learning, helping the student understand what needs to happen in the brain for learning to occur and helping the student understand the "why" behind the "how". While many instructors and students might yawn at the theory and the fundamentals, I encourage students to gain an appreciation for the theory and fundamentals. We might attain some level of skill without them; but, our abilities will be limited and our progress will be slowed if we don't understand the basics and have no idea why we're doing things.

I'm far from being able to make good music, but Lisa is helping me to start integrating the individual elements into cohesive music and accelerating my learning beyond what I'm getting from an instructor and is reinforcing and strengthening what I am getting from my self-study. Next week I plan to stop the live instruction as I advance toward the next phase of my skill development. But, I will not return to dedicated self-teaching mode; I'll have Lisa to guide me.

Thanks, Lisa and Guitartricks!

Regards,

Brent