I stumbled across this fellow and his program about two weeks ago; on a whim I signed up for the course. It seems to be an intriguing mix of learning strategies pulled from a number of places. Regarding the actual program, it’s more focused on the approach to practice and learning and doesn’t give a lot of deeply technical instruction. I’m seeing lots of overlap. Anyone else have any experience with this?
never heard of him but to me this IS where a lot of our focus should be. Once we have the mental concept of, say, 1way or 2way slanting, the next step is getting it grooved into our fingers etc.
to me, overall learning strategies ARE the battlefield. for example I ran across CTC stuff 4 years ago. So why am I not world class yet?? Because “knowing” and “doing” are 2 different things. We all still need to find the best methods to actually bring these licks up to world class speed
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I subscribed yesterday, lets see where it will bring me!
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Hey @guitarman
would like to ask how you like the program so far?
Could you guys give some more infos how its structured?
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That’s putting an awfully high expectation on the value of CTC material. Being told how to do something is one thing; having the talent to become one of the best in the world within only 4 years, or ever, is another thing entirely. Suppose the instrument were piano where what to do is explained much more simply. Even then, you could say, four years ago you started taking lessons from a world class pianist so why I am I not already world class as well? It’s unreasonable because by definition it’s rare to achieve… If anyone get get to “world class” level as long as he practiced enough, then it wouldn’t be considered “world class” anymore, would it? It would be rather ordinary.
You could also take something different from music, such as: I’ve played baseball all my life but 4 years ago started taking batting lessons form the batting coach of The Red Sox. I practice every day for hours. So why am I not already Major league Level as a hitter?
Or it should be something not physical at all such as: I wrote stories all my life but never became great. So then I studied literature for four years at an excellent university, so why didn’t I become one of the best novelists in the world?
It’s the rarity of being able to ever become that great which makes these abilities so special.
I hear ya but I disagree. for one thing, guitar shredding doesnt take world class athletic activity IMO. MAB isnt exactly Bo Jackson, right?
Take the CTC micro dissection of technique…add in some sort of realistic practice routine, 4 years is PLENTY of time to be a world class shredder.
yeah, maybe not on every possible thing such as tapping, arps, complex modal compositions, fingerpicking etc. yeah I get that. But on scalar shredding, if one isnt shredding in 4 years they are doing something REALLY wrong.
This is why I think the real field of research now should be proper practice methods to ingrain the mechanics that we all see pretty clearly now.
Heck, ive gained more in the last month just halfway applying some of Claus Levins focus ideas than in the past 4 years.
for my purposes “world class” speed would be something like sextuplets at 140bpm which is 14nps. At that point you are going to be somewhere around the 95th percentile
The problem is, as Claus describes, we stop at “good” and then we go on to other things. We spread ourselves very thin, becoming “pretty good” at a lot of stuff as opposed to fully MASTERING any one thing
or even worse, we do like I did when I first saw Intense Rock. I try the PG lick once, twice, maybe a third time, then I move on to something else lol. Thats how you can play for 30 years and be only “pretty good”
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I wonder if its some version of the “30 day method” where u take one lick and do it and it only for 30 days
myelinogenesis
aha, at least i have learned a new word to research lol
I haven’t devoted full attention to it due to work and family obligations. I’m not completely sold on the method, or more specifically, some of the concepts cited as structuring the method as I’m allergic to psychobabble; however, there are a lot of things in the program that do make sense. It does cite a lot of research in cognition, the science of learning, and behavioral theory. Taking a very broad view, it presents a very systematic approach for managing self-study, not just playing guitar. On a more detailed level, it presents specific tools for things like more efficient practice, managing practice time, and measuring progress. I’m not all the way through the program as it presents one lesson a week.
It’s broken up into a few parts that I describe as:
- How to practice a thing once you already know that thing
- How to learn a think that you do not already know, yet
- How to develop a practicing habit.
- How to structure a practice session and measure progress
- How to deal with sticking points
There are several more lessons pending. To start out with the program, you do choose a certain skill you want to work on. If you choose the coaching program, the coach gives you what you are to learn/practice for the 30 day period. If you don’t, they give you four suggested passages from different players that exemplify certain techniques, such as “alternate picking,” “sweep picking,” and so-called “economy picking.” You can also choose something entirely different on your own. Basically, you’re trying to learn the method as well as the technique you’re practicing so that you can learn anything else on your own in the future. There is a work sheet that you use and fill out over the course of the 30 days that is used as a tool to measure your progress, self-report your performance, and plan future efforts. Claus Sevsdrup uses something similar, albiet much more primitive, in his alternate picking program. Listen, everyone needs to keep a training log. That is definitely something I’m on board with.
Note, this will not teach you how to play guitar. You must already understand the basics of technique and how to perform certain things. For example, if you don’t understand the mechanics of sweep picking, this program will not teach you how to sweep pick. That’s where something like CtC comes in. Part of the program is self diagnosing and self correcting mistakes. You need to know where errors creep in so that you can adequately focus on them and cue yourself to avoid them.
There is a lot of overlap. What seems to be the most recent new idea of “practice a thing a fast as you can” shows up in this program. Voiles cites John Petrucci and “Rock Discipline” in this regard as he mentions something like this in that video.
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Actualy, there is a lot of information in this course. In the beginning, i was very sceptical. Thats because the focus in the first few weeks was to get you to practice. This was never one of my issues.
Then it got more to how to practice smart, and focussed. And this is where the course shines! Joshua shows his daily routines, how to keep track of stuff etc…
It might look like the 30 day routine, but it goes further than this.
I combined his way with troy’s for two weeks now, and got a lick from 120 to 150 in sixteenth notes. Sounds simple, but for me it was not.
Its a bit like the missing link. To learn to use all the information you’ve gathered around.
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yeah this is what I have been harping on lately. “knowing” about this or that mechanical pickslant idea is nice…but just “knowing” in your mind doesnt mean a whole lot. It has to be grooved into the fingers so its automatic. This is where practice comes in.
This is why I have been pimping the Claus Levin ideas for about a month now. I have always spent time with the instrument in my hands, but NEVER in a focused way. Now that I am learning to focus its almost like I am a different player after only a few weeks
once one has the mechanical insights, practice strategies ARE where the rubber hits the road
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This dude popped up on my Facebook wall and I was like damn… dude’s got mad skills. So I tried to Google him to watch some of his live performances… came up with bupkis. Everything I found was highly produced. In my opinion, this is a red flag. Interested in thoughts from others or a link to a live video he wasn’t party to…
Check out his Instagram feed. Lots of him playing solo.
Joshua’s story of having a recurring injury is definitely touching and eye opening. He is a good guitar player but all I heard from his program (from people who tried it) is that it basically advocates being disciplined, practicing to a metronome, keeping track of progress (e.g. in an excel sheet). There’s no secret to it
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Agreed. I didn’t find the materials inspiring enough to stick with it. I did like the spreadsheet approach, however.
My understanding is that it basically gives structure to people who want/need it in their practice regimen. Set measurable goals, measure progress, practice regularly, be wary of what you’re doing instead of mindlessly putting in the work, etc. AFAIK there’s no technical content.
Personally I’ve always done that, but if it brings value and improvement to some people, then that’s great
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