Learn guitar while doing IFR for guitar?

Does anyone have suggestions on complementary learning material for learning guitar while also starting in on the IFR for guitar course? I’m most interested in traditional, old time, jazz, swing, blues – these sorts of genres.

Lisa

Welcome to the forum @lisah2u.

I dont have any specific suggestions.I did the same thing, but I didn’t follow any specific other material in the sense of a course. I just picked tunes that appealed to me, & essentialy I’ve continued in that.

A little later I decided I needed to address my ‘technique’, i.e. the physical/technical aspects of playing & for that I found the book (& associated materials) The Principles of Correct Practice for Guitar from Jamie Andreas to be excellent (& readily compatible with or adaptable to an IFR point of view).
https://www.guitarprinciples.com/the-principles-of-correct-practice-for-guitar/

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Thanks, David. I’ll check into it! I’ve got some basic material and videos for Texas style rhythm guitar which I’ve been learning from since my original objective with guitar was to learn rhythm guitar to accompany Texas and Western swing fiddle. And then… I discovered I really liked guitar and would like to learn more.

I discovered IFR about the same time. IFR feels like finding home. Playing and performing fiddle leaves me with great guilt since I prefer listening and feeling the music over playing for others. Now I understand why. So part of the experience with guitar is playing an instrument without those strings attached.

Similar here @lisah2u . I play for the joy & interest of playing. Listening to & learning from the sounds. I’m involved in making music for relaxation & self-amusement (&, as a side benefit, self-improvement?). IFR provides a framework within which to have that experience; a framework that makes sense to me in a fundamental & holistic way.

Yes! @DavidW And thanks so much for the referral for the guitar principles site. It’s exactly what I’ve been looking for. It does seem an excellent companion approach for guitar fundamentals in alignment with IFR.

Hello @lisah2u and welcome to the forum.

I play a bit of guitar, but I’m mostly self-taught. I’ve dipped into various courses and methods, but never committed to any in particular.

I love the IFR approach, learning by playing and enjoying it, but gives you a reference framework that is transferable to any instrument.

I too love traditional music, of the Scottish kind, and I love playing with fiddles!

I’m sure @DavidW’s recommendation is a good one. Get good foundations and don’t try to move on too quickly, would be my advice.

I wish you joy on your journey.

Thanks very much @mem ! I’ve been enjoying sing the numbers in my commute to work.The closer I listen, the more I realize I need to focus in on the tones in context – I’m so conditioned on melody (as a violinist), it takes concentration to hear other elements, such as the bass line or harmonic elements. So it is, indeed, quite a slow journey.

Slow is good, “Go Slow, Go Deep”

Biggest mistake you could make (and I think we have fallen prey to this one) is to try to move too quickly, before the learning has been fully absorbed. So my advice would be to take your time, and keep going back over stuff you’ve done. Each time something else will be revealed and enjoyed.