Confused Newby here.

[MikeS]

Wow, you are so kind to post (and type!) all that MikeS. !! Incredible. No wonder you are a "staff member". I didn't get any time to unravel this site yesterday as I was Grandparenting out of town. Again, I will have to go over your post a couple of times to digest it.

You mentioned "be more specific about what is confusing you". I guess the answer is (at the moment and only based on what I know) is that -
There are sections and I have yet to deduce their relationship (or lack of) to each other. Easy answer. The various forum areas are stand alone. If you are taking Beginning Blues then you ask your questions, post your audio the for THAT Course.
There is no "path". Let me compare it to another site that I was a member of - Guitar Tricks. They have a flow graphic of the path to be taken and when you click on the main titles of the path you see -
Guitar Fundementals 1 & 2 followed by three streams you can take - Blues Style, Country Style and Rock Style, each with Levels 1&2.
- you also see, once inside each level, the steps to take laid out, in order.
So far I have yet to see any path here at BGU. It could be that I just haven't spent enough time clicking. But when clicking overshadows picking it then gets a bit frustrating. Griff tried putting together a flow chart once and it became so big that it wouldn't fit on one page. Griff's courses are designed to get you from point A to pointB in your learning, so within any given course, you start on lesson One and go to lesson x in order. Plus Griff is a one man show, so We have all agreed that we'd rather him working on CONTENT than have him spend time on flow charts that change every time he brings out something new.
I will persevere though. With input like yours and Paleo's, I have to! Thanks fellas! Glad to help. Hang in there.

 

[Paleo]

There are sections and I have yet to deduce their relationship (or lack of) to each other.

So far I have yet to see any path here at BGU.

If you're talking about here on the forum, there is no "path". There are no lessons.

The Forum is for discussion and asking questions. There is no "instructional path".

If you have a question regarding any lesson in any course you can post it in the appropriate section.

As has already been explained, there is a General Category, then sections related to specific courses, etc. Various new sections have been added over the years and aren't necessarily in any particular order.


On the My Courses page, as has already been explained, the courses are listed alphabetically and in the pull down menu by category.

There is no "path" here, either.

It is up to you to decide what you want to do.

You can check out the course catalog to see what's in each course.

You can always ask for advice here.

Once you decide on a course, each course will be logically structured to help you achieve a specific goal.

A "pathway" within each course, if you will.

You can also check out the live session archives (@MikeS keeps a Master List) and Griff's blog for individual "lessons".

These aren't in any particular order. Griff usually covers topics that members have suggested or topics he's seen being discussed here on the forum.


Griff does have a pdf showing a logical "path", i.e. order, to go through his courses, depending on your current skill level and what you want to achieve.

The pdf is attached.

 

[Griff]

Wow, you are so kind to post (and type!) all that MikeS. !! Incredible. No wonder you are a "staff member". I didn't get any time to unravel this site yesterday as I was Grandparenting out of town. Again, I will have to go over your post a couple of times to digest it.

You mentioned "be more specific about what is confusing you". I guess the answer is (at the moment and only based on what I know) is that -
There are sections and I have yet to deduce their relationship (or lack of) to each other.
There is no "path". Let me compare it to another site that I was a member of - Guitar Tricks. They have a flow graphic of the path to be taken and when you click on the main titles of the path you see -
Guitar Fundementals 1 & 2 followed by three streams you can take - Blues Style, Country Style and Rock Style, each with Levels 1&2.
- you also see, once inside each level, the steps to take laid out, in order.
So far I have yet to see any path here at BGU. It could be that I just haven't spent enough time clicking. But when clicking overshadows picking it then gets a bit frustrating.
I will persevere though. With input like yours and Paleo's, I have to! Thanks fellas!

I understand what you're looking for, but I'm a little more hand's on and I would prefer to guide you personally, rather than try to make a diagram that's going to work for a large group of people with different aspirations and skill sets.

The good news is that you have access to everything, the next challenge is deciding where you want to go...

The first question to ask yourself is, are you more of an "Acoustic" or "Electric" player... but let me define those terms because most folks don't define them the way I do

If you intend to play with a band, mostly (or you aspire to, someday) then consider yourself an electric player - even if you tend to play mostly acoustic guitar.

Likewise, if you only aspire to play at home, by yourself, with no one else (or rarely with others) then consider yourself an acoustic player - even if you play electric guitar most of the time.

Why? Because it's the musical approach that changes dramatically.

From there, the rest of it falls in pretty easily.

If you consider yourself a beginner, or close to it, go through Beginning Blues Guitar first... shoot, I'd suggest at least going through the examples over the course of a few days even if they are super easy for you, just to be sure.

From there, if you are more of an acoustic player, start Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed... and if you are more of an electric player, start Blues Guitar Unleashed (the course.)

Once you start those, everything else is an offshoot. There are some acoustic songs that might be fun, there are some additional solos, there's theory... you get the idea.

But the core curriculum is in the "Unleashed" courses, so I always recommend starting there.

If you'd like my help, personally, send me a message (click my name and choose "start a conversation") and let me know what you're looking to achieve and I'll help you.

 

[Mike T.]

Thanks for the personal message Griff. I appreciate that.
This comment from you was interesting -
"Likewise, if you only aspire to play at home, by yourself, with no one else (or rarely with others) then consider yourself an acoustic player - even if you play electric guitar most of the time. Why? Because it's the musical approach that changes dramatically."

Ok I play 100% at home and by myself on an electric guitar "acoustically", meaning I never plug it in as no-one needs to hear me practicing. Trust me. But I'm not any kind of a "strummer" of songs. Just about the only thing that interests me is blues improv soloing to backing tracks using the minor pentatonic scale (I know all 5 positions in every key). I think there is so much to explore with this simplest of scales without adding major pent, major scale or any of the others.
What I really want to build is the ability to "tell a story" while doing the above. That's where I'm at. And I'll certainly take a look at "Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed".

 

[Griff]

Thanks for the personal message Griff. I appreciate that.
This comment from you was interesting -
"Likewise, if you only aspire to play at home, by yourself, with no one else (or rarely with others) then consider yourself an acoustic player - even if you play electric guitar most of the time. Why? Because it's the musical approach that changes dramatically."

Ok I play 100% at home and by myself on an electric guitar "acoustically", meaning I never plug it in as no-one needs to hear me practicing. Trust me. But I'm not any kind of a "strummer" of songs. Just about the only thing that interests me is blues improv soloing to backing tracks using the minor pentatonic scale (I know all 5 positions in every key). I think there is so much to explore with this simplest of scales without adding major pent, major scale or any of the others.
What I really want to build is the ability to "tell a story" while doing the above. That's where I'm at. And I'll certainly take a look at "Acoustic Blues Guitar Unleashed".

I suppose I should have been more clear, playing with backing tracks counts as a band... it's a group setting (even if most of the group is on track.)

So for you, go to Blues Guitar Unleashed first. Even if you skip the rhythm parts (DON'T, but I know you may not be able to help it) and go straight to the lead parts, learning those solos will be good for you.

You should also consider the Blues Speed Building Blocks course. TONS of good licks, and most people struggle with timing, counting, and technique, which that course will work for you in spades.

 

[Mike T.]

I need a stiff drink. Woosh, off I go to Blues Guitar Unleashed > lead parts > Blues Speed Building Blocks. I'll let you know if I survive!

 

[ChicagoNed]

This is great Mike! I've been totally confused since leaving Beginning Blues. I'm going to print this out and keep it next to my laptop at all times. They should consider an introduction video that teaches new members how to navigate the site.

Best,

Ned

 

[Mike T.]

If you're talking about here on the forum, there is no "path". There are no lessons.
The Forum is for discussion and asking questions. There is no "instructional path".

Paleo, I absolutely know what forums are for. I've been a member of many forums for over 20 years. I never asked for or questioned the lack of a forum "path" here at Griff's forum. How could there be a "path"? Paths are incremental building blocks of knowledge on any topic.
Most guitar instructional sites I've been a member of have had "paths". They create topics that build upon the previous topic and they show you the route through those topics. I can't imagine anyone who DOESN'T understand all that. By now I "get it" that there is no instructional path on Griff's site. One has to cherry pick whatever takes your fancy. I just have a problem with that approach - many times one doesn't know what one doesn't know. Something is missing because you didn't go through xxx. Whatever xxx is.