A big thank you to Lisa McCormick!


Sleepers Hill
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Sleepers Hill
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Posts: 55
04/18/2019 12:00 pm

Hi Lisa, [br][br]I just wanted to say a big thank you for all your help in Guitar fundamentals 1 and 2. I started from the very beginning and I have now finished them both and honestly I cannot quite believe the progress I have made. I started a complete beginner and now I feel very confident with the guitar your lessons have been invaluable to me and were extremely informative, it was a blast! I am now moving into the blues course but I just wanted to say thank you for all your help! [br][br]Thanks again and best wishes

Tim


# 1
mathieurevel
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mathieurevel
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04/18/2019 12:35 pm

Well done mate. I started myself and did maybe 4-5 sessions only. How long did it take you to complete it all or how many sessions ? I m trying to copy her hand placement to do it properly (fingers closed together, perpendicular to the neck etc... ) Not easy to do the exercices WELL


# 2
sgautier8th
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sgautier8th
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04/19/2019 11:06 pm

Hey Math,

I started in earnest around February 7th as a beginner and I'm into Fundamentals 2 learning Barre Chords now. I suspect I have another 3-4 weeks to completion. So maybe 4 months total. Most weeks I spend about 10-15 hours at the guitar. There are times when a particular skill is frustrating as all heck, but those are the times when I just knuckle down and spend hours doing the same thing over and over and over and over and . . . Practice and repetition works. Also, try to work on a few different things at once, maybe go back and work on some things that you have "down" and then come back to the impasse. If you can find a good beginner song to work on, I found that that helps as well.

Good luck !!


# 3
LisaMcC
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LisaMcC
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04/24/2019 2:40 pm

Thank you Tim!!!!!! Congratulations!


Lisa McCormick, GT Instructor
Acoustic, Folk, Pop, Blues

Full Catalog of Lisa's Guitar Tricks Tutorials
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# 4
bdonnach
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bdonnach
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04/24/2019 7:12 pm

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


bdphd

# 5
BC-Learner
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BC-Learner
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04/30/2019 10:33 pm

Brent, would you like to share the titles of the books by Fisher that you found helpful?


# 6
LisaMcC
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Joined: 11/02/06
Posts: 3,965
LisaMcC
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Posts: 3,965
05/07/2019 1:31 pm

Dear Brent,

Oh, your letter means the world to me!!!

To read that you are discovering that music is really so much about fluidity - not just gluing together notes and chords in order and in time - that warms my heart. That is my life’s calling, to lead people to experience, trust, and delight in the FLOW that is music.

Thank you for being so willing, and for being so articulate in your story.

Love it, Love it, Love it.

- Lisa


Lisa McCormick, GT Instructor
Acoustic, Folk, Pop, Blues

Full Catalog of Lisa's Guitar Tricks Tutorials
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# 7
Dilbert79
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Dilbert79
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05/07/2019 3:16 pm

I have also gained a great deal from the fundamentals courses. I played guitar for about three weeks when I was fifteen years old and then I quit because it was "too hard". Really I was just an impatient teenager back then lol.

Fast forward to a month and a half ago, I'm 40 years old now and guitar is still on my bucket list. I dug my old guitar out of storage, started Lisa's courses and I'm aleady able to play one of my absolute favorite songs (Half the World Away by Oasis) and I'm nearing the ability to play numerous other favs as well. The chord change strategies were of monumental value to me and the basic theory as well. I'm thoroughly enjoying this. Thank Lisa!


# 8
The Real El Barto
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The Real El Barto
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05/09/2019 11:48 am

Allow me to add my thanks here as well, for using Kickapoo in the D minor course :P


# 9
jgul54
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jgul54
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05/14/2019 10:15 pm

At 52, I decided to learn guitar and boy I'm glad I did as i'm having the time of my life. That was a little over a month ago and I'm just about to finish up GF1.

Having some musical background and being an engineer, I desperately wanted structure to my learning rather than meandering through endless youtube videos. My research led me to Guitar Tricks, and I shall be ever grateful to Lisa, Chris and all the other great instructors here at GT. You guys take training budding musicians very seriously, are incredibly professional, but keep it fun. That is not an easy balance to strike and I very much appreciate the effort that goes into that. Thank you!


# 10
LisaMcC
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Joined: 11/02/06
Posts: 3,965
LisaMcC
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Joined: 11/02/06
Posts: 3,965
05/21/2019 12:38 pm

Aw, you all are making me so happy! Take that happiness out into the world with you, and congrats on all your accomplishments.

- Lisa


Lisa McCormick, GT Instructor
Acoustic, Folk, Pop, Blues

Full Catalog of Lisa's Guitar Tricks Tutorials
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# 11

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