[How much time it would take for a beginner to complete the L&M Fingerstyle guitar course]

4 hours ago, DianeB said:

@NinaJean Thank you for bringing some life to the fingerstyle thread!

Steve created the original L&M guitar course recognizing that fingerstyle, blues, and jazz were subjects in their own right. Giving them their due was beyond the scope of an introductory course. A few years later, by student request, he produced his fingerstyle and blues courses as supplements for these specialties. They were designed to avoid unnecessary duplication. So the original L&M course — at least up to those respective sessions — is effectively a prerequisite. The spotlight courses assume, for example, that the student has some familiarity with barre chords. I would not recommend them to a novice.

You mentioned that you have had several teachers. Were any of them trained in classical guitar, or the style you want to learn? If so, I think they could have escorted you through the first sessions of the L&M course, focusing on those skills, and in the necessary sequence, that would meet your needs and goals. A good teacher will observe and listen to you, and direct your study so that you can teach yourself.

At least, that's my experience. As I started session 10, my tutor examined the L&M materials, saw what I could and couldn't do, and we went from there. Yes, you certainly can work on the fingerstyle course and L&M course concurrently. But if you still struggle with "finding and maintaining direction," that's a signal that a true music instructor would benefit you. Please stay in touch. We have many knowledgeable and supportive folks here who will wish you success.

Thank you, Diane. Very helpful. Only one of my teachers  (I've had 5) specialized in fingerstyle guitar. In fact, he won the national fingerstyle championship one year in the mid 90s. But even he did not have a curriculum for me to follow. None of my teachers have. That is what drew me to the L&M main series. It had structure and was well thought out. However I drifted away from it when my desire to learn solo fingerstyle was not addressed up to the point I reached. I realize that I could engage a teacher via Zoom or some similar technology, but I hesitate to do that just because the face-to-face interaction was so helpful to me....especially being able to closely see what the teacher would demonstrate. I haven't entirely ruled out live-but-not-truly-in-person lessons, however the ideal would be for me to find a book-and-video combo series that I could tackle at my own pace.  Maybe that's not realistic, but I was hoping that perhaps the L&M Fingerstyle series plus this forum night fit my vision, with the added bonus of folks I could call upon if/when I get stuck. 🙂

 

[How much time it would take for a beginner to complete the L&M Fingerstyle guitar course]

4 hours ago, Eracer_Team-DougH said:

@NinaJean you are talking basically “chord melodies “

Steve relies a lot on music theory knowledge 

you may be ‘above’ the simple playing skills in early part of LMG, but Steve puts in a ton of music theory into each lesson esp session 7&8. (Which I’ve ignored for too long)

how’s your theory, can you pick out a flat 3rd in a F scale in your head fast?

yes you will need clean barre chords for fingerstyle 

can you do both courses at once? Possibly. If you’re just looking at the fingering tab in the fingerstyle course.

@DianeB might be able to fill in more than me

Thanks so much for your reply. My theory is not great. I've tried numerous times to tackle music theory, and I get it 'in theory' but not 'experientially'...if that makes sense. I will revisit the main course with that in mind.

 

[How much time it would take for a beginner to complete the L&M Fingerstyle guitar course]

I see that there hasn't been any recent activity on this thread, or on any thread in the Fingerstyle section, for that matter. So I'm not sure this will be seen, but worth giving it a shot. 

I found this particular thread very helpful. I want to learn solo acoustic guitar, or solo fingerstyle guitar. By that I mean I want to play the melody and accompaniment by myself. No other musicians. No singing. I have the main L&M series and remember trying it years ago but stopping because it was very basic in the beginning ( am beyond those for the most part) and there was lots of strumming (which I don't want to do, especially with a pick). 

That said, I am just launching into Session One of the Fingerstyle series and can already see that there must be some 'foundation' upon which this is built. Now, after reading here, it looks like I might want to return to the main L&M series and work my way through the first 10 sessions. Is that correct? (I have been attempting to learn guitar for more than 10 years; have had several teachers; spent lots of time trying on my own. I struggle with finding and maintaining direction on this journey.)

Bonus question: Can I do both at the same time, or do I really need to get through the 10 main L&M sessions BEFORE launching into the fingerstyle series? 

Thanks for reading, and gold stars to anyone responding! 🙂