My thoughts on AGBU

Walt H

cloudbase - Aint got time for gravity
Short answer - some of the best money I have ever spent.

I am nothing special when it comes to music. I have a jazz piano background, so I have a reasonable grasp on theory. I started studying guitar in Jan of this year. I discovered Griff in May and purchased this course May 9. The one thing I have going for me is an ability to practice well. My piano instructor the late great Keith MacDonald taught me how to properly practice. I have taken that to heart and play several hours per day. I have plenty of free time.

I have almost completed lesson 35 out of 36. Lesson 36 is a beast and I am both excited and prepared to spend some quality time working on St Louis Blues. All I have done is simply follow Griffs instruction each lesson. I have become a guitarist with this course, and I honestly could not be happier with my progress. I have several blues tunes that as Griff would say,"I own". People are shocked when I tell them I have been playing guitar for under a year. Again I am nothing special. I have logged hours practicing and simply have done what I am told.

I know I dont need to sell you guys on the awesomeness of Griffs instruction (he resonates very well for me). His thought process, description, and ability to break things down all work very well for my learning style. If you have any interest in playing acoustic blues by yourself please do yourself a favor and grab this course.

It bums me out that there is so little traffic on this subforum. I feel like with the quality of this course this forum should be booming.

Epic course Griff...I am both excited and sad I am completing it - and I am looking foreword to my next one

Walt
 

jmin

Student Of The Blues
It really is a great acoustic guitar course, Walt! I'm 2 pages (!) away from finishing St. Louis Blues...of course I've been working on the course twice as long as you've been playing guitar! I'm with the other people you shock when you say you've been playing for under a year. I don't think I'd be half-way through the course if this was my introduction to guitar.
I'd really like to hear some of your practice tips!
Sorry about the lack of traffic here...I know @Ivan and I, and a few others try to chime in when we got something... we're just not learning as fast as you!
 

Walt H

cloudbase - Aint got time for gravity
Thank you for the kind words jmin.

Like I said I have plenty of time on my hands, if I play for only an hour or so I feel like I have short changed myself and not done enough for the day. I generally play 3+.hrs.

The biggest tip I have is that perfect practice makes perfect. Meaning to really take your time when learning something new and not play any wrong notes. When you play a wrong note in a song you are subconsciously learning it...and you will make that same mistake - then you have to unlearn it, slowing the whole process

I also learned the importance of knowing/practicing scales, knowing exactly where the notes are, etc - which many find boring. I dont. I have simply convinced myself that I love em...and now I do (fake it till you make it).
 

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
Wow, I am amazed too that you're through it so quickly. It took me 2 full years to get through this course and I completed the Gibson Learn and Master and BGU before starting this course. I finished it in 2016,

If you don't mind, I'd like to hear you post your version of St. Louis Blues when you're done. I think I am the only one so far who has posted a recording of that. 3 years later my recording is embarrassing but I've left it here so I can go back and see how far I've come. I should post an update with it on a good guitar 3 years after learning it. I think I mentioned when I posted the original recording that I would... but I never did. :oops:

Great job getting through the course. So few of us seem to.

Eric
 

Walt H

cloudbase - Aint got time for gravity
Thank you so much for the kind words Jalapeno. I will post it up for sure. I want to get deep river blues dialed in prior to moving on - cuz I have been warned and I know that st louis blues is going to be a ton of work.

In terms of getting through the course I completely enjoyed every lesson except for like stevie does it. I just could not get it - and decided to move on. It was most likely b/c of my skill set at the time. I will go back and try and tackle that one some day.

I remember the day I purchased the course I saw all of the songs and I thought to myself, man if I could play those my life would be complete. So I just put my head down and worked. The sad thing is (or the great thing...not sure which) we are always moving the goal posts and I realize that I am just scratching the surface with the guitar. Griff definitely has a live one on the line here b/c there are currently no less than 4 new courses I have my eyes on. Luckily for me I am quite single minded and I am going to tackle BGU2 next prior to getting another.

Also, I would live to hear both of your versions. I am going to look up your one from 3 years ago
 

Ivan

Blues Newbie
Congrats on completing this course in record time Walt.

Ive had this course for several years and have started, and revisited it many times until I was inspired with Jmin’s and Jalapeño’s discipline and progress. They’re playing has evolved into a style of their own and it’s always a pleasure to listen to their showcasings.

I started this course....again...last August 2018 and decided that I wanted to play like these guys too. I’m on lesson 27 now and I’m convinced that I’ll take it to the end. I have too much too lose if I quit now. I’ve learned so much from this course so far. It has really been influential in everything else I play also and there’s still so much left to learn.

You’re right. There’s not a lot of traffic on this forum but ironically there’s an unlimited source of instruction, knowledge and support to make anybody a better player.

Looking forward to some of your own postings.
.
 

Walt H

cloudbase - Aint got time for gravity
Hey Ivan,
I tend to get tunnel vision when I do something. And guitar has really given it to me big time. For the past 9.5 months it has been my main focus in life - and the more I do it the more I enjoy it and the more I want to play. I started on St Louis Blues yesterday and pretty much worked on it all day. I figure If I keep that pace I should get through the song in just under a year or so o_O.
 

RobertCress

Blues Newbie
All these replies just give me more encouragement, I played from age 15 to 29 mainly rythm in 2 bar bands, one r&r and the other country. Alternating weekends with each. For some really stupid reason I quit playing at all, now at 61 I’m finding it difficult to get both my memory and my fingers to work.
I’ve always listened to the blues and now if I can catch on quick enough hopefully before I get to old to do it I hope to be proficient on acoustic and electric blues rythm and solo.
Any practice tips/routines would be appreciated
 

RobertCress

Blues Newbie
I forgot to mention I started abgu 2 weeks ago, also bought bgu 2.0.
Thought I should complete one before starting the other..........
 

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
Any practice tips/routines would be appreciated
Short focused practice sessions is how I go through Griff's courses. 15 minutes learning some new material, 10 minutes practicing older material or a song but really focused, 5 minutes doing skill building (scales, chords or what have you) 2-3 minutes learning the notes on the neck. Any remaining time is for noodling or playing songs or whatever is fun. For me that usually equates to about 35 minutes of work and about 45 minutes of fun. I use a timer when doing the focused practicing because it forces me to stay focused to get done with the material I'm working with before the ding.

But everyone is different so needs to adjust to their personality. I believe Griff when he says short focused practices will have the greatest effect because it works for me :Beer:

Eric
 

Jalapeno

Student Of The Blues
I forgot to mention I started abgu 2 weeks ago, also bought bgu 2.0.
Thought I should complete one before starting the other..........
That's how it did it, one before the other, but I did BGU 1.0 first because it was what I had. I didn't buy ABGU until a really good sale came along that I couldn't refuse. :) Since doing ABGU I've learned I actually prefer playing acoustic blues to electric blues. But that's just me.

Eric
 

Walt H

cloudbase - Aint got time for gravity
Robert. I would like to highlight what Jalapeno said about learning the notes on the neck. DO NOT SKIP that. It comes up in one of the early lessons. At just a couple of minutes per day you will get really good at it - and for me it made my life much easier down the road
 
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