Tips: I'm stuck on Rock Style 1 Chapter 4

I'm really enjoying the site, I've seen myself grow tremendously over the last month. I feel more confident in the things that I have learned, and I'm starting to hear things in the music that I listen to that I'm gaining knowledge about from here.

While I have a few guitars they have mostly been for strumming and collecting dust for the past 10 years. So when I jumped on the site I started in the core learning system with the Rock Style Level One. It's been amazing.

The only downfall that i've come to is that there seems to be a huge jump in the difficulty of chapter 4. Specifically in chapter 4 parts 2 and 3. I've progressed steadily, and now I can't keep up at all.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should be doing? Should I be taking a break from progressing through the chapters and simply work on speed for the soloing? Or is there another place I can go on the site to continue experiencing growth that is fun and continue making me want to come back every time i'm in front of my computer.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Hey, there! Glad you are enjoying GT!

Originally Posted by: joshuamorgan
The only downfall that i've come to is that there seems to be a huge jump in the difficulty of chapter 4. Specifically in chapter 4 parts 2 and 3. I've progressed steadily, and now I can't keep up at all.

There's going to be a wall in the progress of any player. You've just found one! :)

First remember to be patient with yourself. The difference between those two chapters is in intensity. The same types of riffs & licks are used in both. But in the 3rd tutorial the intensity is ramped up.

You can just play along with the chords & riffs for now & go forward in the course. This is true for any lesson in any course. Go forward at any hard point. Just make sure to revisit any & all lessons you skipped until you get them under your command.

In order to get better at those licks that are tripping you up, you'll have to break them down one at a time & work through them at slow speed. You might benefit from revisiting chapter 3 & the basic foundations of rock soloing techniques.

http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=20196

You will just have to keep repeating those basic licks & techniques until you can do them. Everything about the physical manipulation of playing guitar comes down to repetition. You have to repeat the motions until your mind & fingers know what they are supposed to do like it is breathing or walking; like it's second nature. :)

Hope this helps. Ask more if necessary & let us know how it goes at your convenience!

Hi Joshua

Feel your pain, but hang in there. I'm at a similar position working through the chapter 4 riff practice tunes.

I agree they do start to really stretch you, particularly the solo licks in practice tunes 1 and 2.

I don't have any magic bullets but I would say stick at it because when it starts to come and you can start playing along with the jam tracks up to tempo they are awesome and all of a sudden you start feeling like a real rockstar!

Sounds like we're at a similar point in our guitar learning - I've had guitars lying around for about 20 years and never really got anything to stick but am really enjoying the Rock Style 1 lessons and finally feel like I'm getting some where.

Things that have been helping me are:

1. Take it real slow and really work through the timing of the solos. Make sure you can count the timing aloud slowly before trying to play. Then try to play along as you count taking it a barre or few notes at a time. Then try it against the metronome - again - real slow. If the metronome trips you up, go back to just counting it yourself.

2. Keep replaying and playing along with the sections of the lesson where Anders plays the lick slowly to the metronome, so you can hear how the timing sounds when done properly and compare where you're not getting it.

3. Finally when I'm starting to get it, I download the jam track to a computer and use software like Audacity to slow down the tempo to something I can manage. That way I get the enjoyment of starting to play with the full jam track before I have it fully up to tempo.

Anders discusses some techniques similar to these in the section at the end of chapter 4 (Easy Riff Exercises) so definitely check out those lessons before you've tried to master the earlier lessons in chapter 4.

Hope this helps. I'm constantly having to rein myself in and stop myself from trying to jump ahead too far when I'm not yet capable. Make sure you are working on some of the easier Song lessons in conjunction with the Rock Style 1 lessons to keep yourself motivated.

I'm working on Every Rose Has It's Thorn (Michael Elsner version), Baby Please Don't Go and Are You Gonna Be My Girl. It took me about 3 months to really get to grips with Baby Please Don't Go, but I'm finally able to play along with the backing track. The solo licks in Every Rose Has It's Thorn are challenging but of a similar level/style to the licks in Riff Practice Tunes 1 and 2 so are a great compliment and again help keep you motivated.

Cheers
Martin

Christopher and Martin. Thanks so much for your input. It's awesome having someone give a few tips so quickly. I am very thankful!

Below is links to articles Wildwoman1313 wrote and are threads on this site. She is not teaching you how to play. She has condensed an enormous amount of knowledge and emotions into just a few minutes reading that almost everyone will experience at some point and now have a way to understand them.


http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39329
http://www.guitartricks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37902

She has more, these just seem like "must reads" to me.