Jump to content

how long does it take to complete L&M guitar course without any prior music knowledge?


Recommended Posts


  • Member ID:  2,726
  • Group:  Members
  • Followers:  0
  • Topic Count:  3
  • Topics Per Day:  0.00
  • Content Count:  4
  • Content Per Day:  0.00
  • Reputation:   0
  • Achievement Points:  0
  • Solved Content:  0
  • Days Won:  0
  • Joined:  04/28/2021
  • Status:  Offline
  • Last Seen:  

I'm in the begining stages of L.A.M guitar course and just out of curiosity, was wondering how long does it take to complete this course. Any thoughts on this who have completed the course, may be a session by session break down if possible

Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Member ID:  12
  • Group:  Members
  • Followers:  8
  • Topic Count:  184
  • Topics Per Day:  0.08
  • Content Count:  1,235
  • Content Per Day:  0.54
  • Reputation:   1,089
  • Achievement Points:  0
  • Solved Content:  0
  • Days Won:  177
  • Joined:  01/04/2018
  • Status:  Offline
  • Last Seen:  
  • Birthday:  07/19/1948
  • Device:  Windows

It is my opinion that there is absolutely no possible way to answer this.  And I base this opinion on being around here for a few years and seeing the dramatic differences in time it has taken people to complete the course.  That is to say, the few people that I have seen actually finish.  I have seen a couple finish it in what appears record, shocking time, maybe a year or less.  But for most that have finished the time can be measured in years rather than months.

I suspect that the reasons that there is so much variation in the time it takes can be attributed to a few reasons.  There are probably others.

  1. The amount of time available to practice.  Or perhaps a more accurate way of saying it is the amount of time people are willing to sacrifice to study.  We have lots of people on here that have careers and families and it is difficult to carve out study times.  We have others, yours truly included, that are retired and have much time available.
  2. There just is a variable in amount of natural ability students have.  We have seen students go on to play in bands.  We have others, again using myself as the example, that hope to be able to play along in the music room to a backing track someday.
  3. There is no way to document, but I think most would agree, there is a variable in the amount of dedication the student possesses.  This undoubtedly, to a large measure, effects #1.    But the amount of fire is going to change outcomes.
  4. Age effects progress. If you notice, I edited this reply.  After thinking about it I had to come back and add this one.  (Subconsciously, I didn't want to admit this?!?!?  😆) The good news is I and my fellow retired geezers have more time to study.  The bad news is we retain things more slowly.  

I'm sure there are other factors.  I wish that I could  give you a quantitative answer but I can't.  Sorry.  

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Member ID:  1,660
  • Group:  Members
  • Followers:  2
  • Topic Count:  9
  • Topics Per Day:  0.00
  • Content Count:  120
  • Content Per Day:  0.06
  • Reputation:   144
  • Achievement Points:  1
  • Solved Content:  0
  • Days Won:  27
  • Joined:  02/13/2019
  • Status:  Offline
  • Last Seen:  
  • Birthday:  12/12/1957
  • Device:  Macintosh

@arju  I tend to agree with the points @matonanjin raised.   I was one of those that went through the L&M course quickly - much too quickly.    I have a bit of music background, having played in school bands and choirs - but different instruments.    Then, after going through the course, I realized quickly that while I had gained familiarity with the concepts, I certainly had not learned it and definitely had not achieved any level close to mastery.    So I went through it again and focused more intensely on areas that I struggled with.    Even now, after having been through the Fingerstyle course, I still go back to the L&M course to reinforce certain concepts that still challenge me.      So the opinion of this geezer is to not rush through the course and measure your success by your enjoyment of playing, and not by a pre-defined time limit.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Member ID:  6
  • Group:  Members
  • Followers:  6
  • Topic Count:  30
  • Topics Per Day:  0.01
  • Content Count:  1,053
  • Content Per Day:  0.46
  • Reputation:   777
  • Achievement Points:  0
  • Solved Content:  0
  • Days Won:  144
  • Joined:  01/04/2018
  • Status:  Offline
  • Last Seen:  
  • Birthday:  12/14/1960
  • Device:  iPhone

Big "key" to LMG is 

Sessions 1 to 9 give you the tools to play guitar. 

Sessions 10 to 20 are as Steve calls them "extra tools for your bag"

Many people bail on the course around S8 or S9 as they can work with other musicians and other learning studies. Instead of keeping with it to the end.

So very few have "completed " the course, 

Because of LMG I'm one of a few "music ministers " at my church, I got to S9, an opportunity came up to play live in front of 500-1200 people and so for me LMG is sidetracked a bit, with intentions of getting back to it.

But I may never finish. 

Steve wrote a home schooling version.  It was intended for parents to monitor a child's progress through LMG.

Steve laid out a plan to finish the course in 2yrs.

But that's assuming you're a school age person,  with someone to look after the day to day adult stuff and you can concentrate on LMG like the rest of your schooling

Just don't get a 24hr IT job like I had for over 20yrs, you'll have a chance of finishing. 

 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Member ID:  1,462
  • Group:  Members
  • Followers:  1
  • Topic Count:  28
  • Topics Per Day:  0.01
  • Content Count:  393
  • Content Per Day:  0.20
  • Reputation:   688
  • Achievement Points:  0
  • Solved Content:  0
  • Days Won:  101
  • Joined:  10/10/2018
  • Status:  Offline
  • Last Seen:  
  • Device:  iPhone

@arju,

I appreciate everything already written here and can only share some of my own experiences.

I am a married father of 2 teenagers and work full-time. 
My L&M journey started after I decided to stop training for marathons (and running them). For many years, I was used to fit my training sessions into my daily/weekly professional and family schedule, which required quite a bit of flexibility and discipline (spending less time watching TV was a good starting point 😀)

When I started the L&M course, I replaced most of my running activities with guitar practice, still having to fit these into a busy life schedule.

The L&M course took me 2.5 years to complete from start to finish. I realised early on that I wanted to learn more songs so I did the L&M Songbook in parallel. I also used additional materials on some other course topics, such as Jazz and Soloing.

I don't recall everything in detail, but I remember that after 12 months, I had finished 12 sessions. The final 8 sessions took longer, about 1.5 years.

Counting in hours of practice probably gives a better insight into what it took. In those years, I must have been practicing guitar about 7 to 10 hours per week. So in total, it must have taken anything between 1000 and 1200 hours of practice to complete the L&M course

Hope this helps.

Wim.

Edited by Wim VD1
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Member ID:  14
  • Group:  Members
  • Followers:  5
  • Topic Count:  20
  • Topics Per Day:  0.01
  • Content Count:  528
  • Content Per Day:  0.23
  • Reputation:   548
  • Achievement Points:  0
  • Solved Content:  0
  • Days Won:  54
  • Joined:  01/04/2018
  • Status:  Offline
  • Last Seen:  
  • Birthday:  09/26/1951
  • Device:  iPhone

12 hours ago, matonanjin said:

It is my opinion that there is absolutely no possible way to answer this.  And I base this opinion on being around here for a few years and seeing the dramatic differences in time it has taken people to complete the course.  That is to say, the few people that I have seen actually finish.  I have seen a couple finish it in what appears record, shocking time, maybe a year or less.  But for most that have finished the time can be measured in years rather than months.

I suspect that the reasons that there is so much variation in the time it takes can be attributed to a few reasons.  There are probably others.

  1. The amount of time available to practice.  Or perhaps a more accurate way of saying it is the amount of time people are willing to sacrifice to study.  We have lots of people on here that have careers and families and it is difficult to carve out study times.  We have others, yours truly included, that are retired and have much time available.
  2. There just is a variable in amount of natural ability students have.  We have seen students go on to play in bands.  We have others, again using myself as the example, that hope to be able to play along in the music room to a backing track someday.
  3. There is no way to document, but I think most would agree, there is a variable in the amount of dedication the student possesses.  This undoubtedly, to a large measure, effects #1.    But the amount of fire is going to change outcomes.
  4. Age effects progress. If you notice, I edited this reply.  After thinking about it I had to come back and add this one.  (Subconsciously, I didn't want to admit this?!?!?  😆) The good news is I and my fellow retired geezers have more time to study.  The bad news is we retain things more slowly.  

I'm sure there are other factors.  I wish that I could  give you a quantitative answer but I can't.  Sorry.  

To underline your last point, there are a lot of things I do slower now😀

Greg

  • Like 1
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Member ID:  13
  • Group:  Members
  • Followers:  2
  • Topic Count:  7
  • Topics Per Day:  0.00
  • Content Count:  304
  • Content Per Day:  0.13
  • Reputation:   266
  • Achievement Points:  0
  • Solved Content:  0
  • Days Won:  16
  • Joined:  01/04/2018
  • Status:  Online
  • Last Seen:  
  • Birthday:  10/03/1947
  • Device:  Windows

Well Arju, you have a wealth of information from the previous posters. For my two cents you have to remember that this course is not a race and it must be fun. Your interest in becoming a guitarist will drive your pace. Be aware of the inevitable roadblocks that must be worked through. Personally, I use the roadblock as a time to take a break and learn to play some new songs. But I cannot emphasize enough that this journey must be enjoyable, otherwise, why bother.

Henk

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Member ID:  85
  • Group:  Members
  • Followers:  0
  • Topic Count:  9
  • Topics Per Day:  0.00
  • Content Count:  76
  • Content Per Day:  0.03
  • Reputation:   57
  • Achievement Points:  0
  • Solved Content:  0
  • Days Won:  13
  • Joined:  01/07/2018
  • Status:  Offline
  • Last Seen:  
  • Device:  Macintosh

I agree with the above thoughts.  I was one of the original students who used the Learn & Master course when it first came out, prior to its association with Gibson.  I had no knowledge of guitar prior to that and found sessions 1 through 9 to be foundational in my development.  I danced around the other sessions getting up to session 17.

Around that time I decided to take a detour into classical guitar.  I just completed Grade 4 at the online school Classical Guitar Corner Academy by Simon Powis.  I have now decided to complete the Gibson L&M course with detailed focus (and the bonus resource sessions) and then study the other courses (i.e. Fingerstyle and Blues).  Along the way I have learned to enjoy the journey of learning.  Steve's saying, "Learn all you can" rings true all day every day.

I just watched this video Steve recorded in November 2020.  It is one of the best explanations I've heard on how to succeed on your guitar journey.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1IXxDQAEeI

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites


  • Member ID:  243
  • Group:  Members
  • Followers:  1
  • Topic Count:  74
  • Topics Per Day:  0.03
  • Content Count:  541
  • Content Per Day:  0.24
  • Reputation:   530
  • Achievement Points:  0
  • Solved Content:  0
  • Days Won:  64
  • Joined:  01/10/2018
  • Status:  Offline
  • Last Seen:  
  • Device:  Windows

It takes as long as it takes. Can you do focused practice with the course everyday? Then you will make progress. If you don't it takes a long time. L&M Guitar is a focused college level music course. You can go far with the material. You will be a guitar player long before you finish the course. 

I am one of the early L&M crew. I have only seen 1 person finish the course in a year. But could they play well? I can't say because they never shared recordings. It is easy to go through the material, but the master part is harder. 

You are supposed to watch the lesson, work the material, workout with the skill for every session, and that is a lot of work. Don't forget the bonus materials. You have to play for fun too. 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More

About us

Guitar Gathering is a community of guitar lovers of all types and skill levels.  This is a place of learning, support and encouragement.  We are unapologetically positive.

If you've come here to gripe, demean others or talk politics then this isn't the place for you.

But if you've come to talk guitars, ask questions and learn from professionals and guitar learners from all over the world then come on in!

Get in touch

Follow us

facebook feed

Recent tweets

×
×
  • Create New...