3: Finally conquered the song āGoldā by Gabriel Rios. I had to, as I promised to play it on my good friendās wedding. It was a great success. Itās fun to play on guitar but not so easy to sing. I sing the falsetto parts in regular voice though.
2: Iām getting much joy of coaching guitar students to get oer hurdles and lift off plateaus in their journey.
1: Iām really happy with the Live Clubs Iāve been doing and Iām looking forward to make them better, refine the contents and create real ālessonsā out of them. I had some great feedback and I love to hear how they inspire people
Great thread, Silvia! Until I looked back, I wouldnāt have thought that I accomplished much
#1 ā Iāve reached a point that the full F barre is a functional chord in songs. Itās not perfect, and definitely not my fastest chord to change to, but itās useable, which has opened up a lot more songs I can learn. (Caveat here is that with my new guitar, Iām having more trouble getting the B string to ring out on this chord and othersā¦so a setup is likely in order for the new year).
#2 ā After over a year of thinking/talking about it and saving $$, I finally upgraded my guitar this final month of 2024. Iām still very much in the getting-to-know-you phase with my new 6-stringed friend, so far itās feeling really good!
#3 ā This one is a tie between a) occasionally being able to hear strumming patterns in songs Iām listening to (definitely not consistently, but Iāve been pleasantly surprised a few times), and b) being comfortable enough with my playing to occasionally continue practicing when my girlfriend is over, as opposed to putting my guitar back in its case upon her (or anyone elseās) arrival. Hopefully someday Iāll have the guts to play her a song
Ah Silvia, your achievements are grand! What a year you have had! And you have tapped into a vein of gushingly gorgeous community responses here! Such an interesting read, so inspiring!!
My 1,2 & 3 are % collaborating with @Jenndye429 & @DDye , nothing else comes close what that has taught me about creativity, recording, working with others and building meaning to my guitar playing. Feeling very grateful for having had that opportunity
Hi Silvia!
I Love this thread! Itās inspiring to hear otherās achievements & goal fulfillment! Very uplifting topic! Thanks for creating it!!!
#1 For me, itās being able to put chord changes into songs IN TIME for the first time everā¦ I use Justinās app & have found this year that just about any song that I know the chords to - even the dreadful full barre F - I can play along with after 2 or 3 attempts. This has been HUGE for my confidence. I also use Ultimate Guitar for TABs & also the āShotsā feature. For those of you unfamiliar, āShotsā are video shorts of other amateurs playing the song that Iāve just looked up the TAB forā¦ some are really good, some pretty bad but they often show people taking different approaches to a song that isnāt necessarily the approach the original artist tookā¦ I love that! I digress, I like to play along with the amateurs in their Shot videoā¦ itās kind of a duet feature for me!
#2 Completed Grade 2 & am Consolidating over the last few months - for me this means playing songs with the Grade 2 techniques & reviewing Grade 2 lessons a lot while attempting to add to my repertoireā¦ itās challenging but loads of fun!
#3 This may sound a bit strange to many - Finding out that I love the Blues! Iām still not a big fan of a lot of the āTraditionalā Blues artistsā¦ itās not their playing often, itās the (to me) overly repetitive lyrics sung in the style thatās so common. So, I wasnāt looking forward to the Blues segments in Grade 2. What I discovered during Module 13 was Acoustic Blues!!! I found a channel on Pandora that played mostly instrumental Blues music - lots of guitar & harmonica - that seemed to reach inside & pull out emotion. I literally found myself sitting in a parking lot one day with tears streaming down my face at the beauty of the song I was listening to. What really compounds the āstrangenessā here is that I love instrumental music, think surf rock, Flamenco, Big Band stuff like Glenn Miller or Tommy Dorsey, etc. but itās never evoked such a strong reactionā¦ I love the Blues!!!
So, I guess that no revolutionary ābreakthroughsā this year, but a definite improvement in song playing - in time with some dynamics - have made a difference this year! Itās been a good year overall!
It was a very good year!
Apologies for reposting a link in such a short timespan, but you did say the words
Congrats on your achievements- your enthusiasm is also infectious (although not enough to infuse blues enthusiasm )
Take a bow!
THAT link should come with a āViewer Discretion Advisedā warningā¦ it is arguably the absolute worst attempt by a celebrity to be (Iāll use the term lightly here) MUSICALā¦ I was expecting Sinatra or one of the others in his Rat Packā¦ all I can say is that, " When I was 17, it was a very good year " ā¦ because a certain āsingerā confined himself to beaming down to Strange New Worlds, Seeking Out new life and new civilizations, and Boldly Going where no man has gone before!
Thank you for applauding (or at least winking at) my enthusiasm!
I challenge you to listen to these songs & give me an honest opinion:
Stefan Grossmanās - āOde to Mississippiā
Mike Dowlingās - āSwamp Dog Bluesā
The Treble Makers - āStratosphericā or āGit Along Lilā Honkeyā
Charlie Musselwhiteās - āRoute 19ā
Les Paul & Mary Fordās - āBlues Stay Away From Meā
Imelda Mayās - āSixth Senseā (I think sheās one of your countryās products)
Dan Kaplanās - āVera Hallā
Finally, possibly the best of all, Amos Leeās - āArms of a Womanā
All but 3 of the 8 are instrumentals that evoke strong emotion for meā¦ itās about 30 minutes of your life (letās be fair here - youāve subjected us to WAY MORE than 30 minutes of your music ) that you might just ENJOY!!!
Sorry Silvia for the detour - ok, ok, it was a thread hijack - back to the āTop 3 Achievementsāā¦
Ahā¦I hope youāre getting better now, the fact that you didnāt give up should make you feel better. The discipline that learning an instrument requires is often of great consolation to me when I feel down or all over the place.
I think I wrote to someone else that their achievements were my favouritesā¦but yours are my favourites as well
Tonyā¦just
Dominique, thatās something that gets easier and easier along the way. To improve singing the intervals and play some melody help a lot!
Hello Molly, I can relate to this. I think that along the way we develop skills that help us to better understand what before was āWhat is he talking about? Why should I do this? How is it going to be helpful to me?ā
Congrats on your OMs!
Bob youāve got a super good mix of ingredients here! Wowā¦once more it turns out the essential things to be the most important (to me at least).
Hello Costance, Iām glad you did and found out you had āsomethingā to acknowledge, please note the āā!
@Boris1565 wow Boris, reading about your achievements is simply āwowā. Thanks a lot for sharing and letās keep on learning and have fun!
Quoting this for one more chance for people to read it!
Hi Ben, I know the feeling of getting obsessed with learning something without appreciating much progress in the short period and then you finally are there. It doesnāt happen overnight, it takes time and the reward for the effort we put in is huge! Congratulations!
You remind me of when I posted my first oneā¦I couldnāt believe all the supportive feedback, it really helps so much to record and shareā¦and being involved in this wonderful Community in general.
Shame on me that I never attended oneā¦due mostly to not finding the timeā¦ andā¦seriouslyā¦you all at JG have put out a whole lot of amazing stuff this year more than ever!
Thinking about this, I have some achievements that are fairly important for me
After BLIM Class 1, I can take a look at a lot of my ānot sure I can do thatā songs and have the confidence that yes, I can learn that reasonably quickly.
Good improvements on picking and fretting accuracy. It is not good yet, but is is only horrible, not dismal.
Iām noticing a feel for note locations on the fretboard now. This is from work I have done trying to get a feel for scale degree referenced from a root note. This is pretty exciting for me as I think it will go a long way toward any kind of in-the-moment play.
Sure you will! And Iām sure this will motivate you even more!
This happens to me as well occasionaly, and when it does it just feels great
This is what I would expect from you Jeff after all the amazing original songs the band released. Congrats! Youāre really making āthe dream come trueā!
Tod this is such big deal! I hope youāre very proud of yourself. I much struggled with timing in the pastā¦this is just something one shouldnāt give for granted. I still remember when I first realised I could change chords
and fingerpick in time along with Wonderful Tonight (donāt ask why, it was fingerpicking first for me, Strumming was a real struggle, so much that I was on the verge of giving it up).
Ahā¦come on!
Love to read thisā¦growing confident learners and players all over this thread
That is great to read! Guitar is hard especially at the beginning, then it can become even harder or more often easier, according to oneās expectation and attitude. Welcome to the Community Tee!
My number one goal for this year was playing with less tension; feel Iāve really nailed this one. It has really made a huge difference across all my playing. Still much improvement, but Iām a long way from January 2024.
Hand synchronisation. Another major goal for this year, and again feel Iāve made huge gains here this year. As it informs across all my playing, Iāve been able to both really refine some basics, and tackle some more complex pieces with better technique and confidence . Again, still many years of improvement ahead though.
Blues, blues, blues. You all know I love the Blues, and this years has been a big one. With Justinās great BLIM course, together with my own study, I feel Iāve made some big leaps this year. The fact Iāve identified several weaknesses to work on means I must be starting to get to know a few things.
Great thread Silvia! I enjoyed reading and celebrating everyoneās accomplishments
My top-3 are:
Taking the leap from āalmost done with Grade 3 but dabbled in Grade 4ā to joining BLIM. The course is fantastic and has helped me become a better student. Teach someone to fish, as the saying goes.
Mindset change from āside hobbyā to āgoal orientedā. More, and more structured, āhands-on guitarā time than my first 3 years learning guitar. Playing and practicing with purpose every day is (no surprise) a lot more impactful than noodling a couple times during the week and learning/practicing on weekends. I could not have done this without @LievenDV and @Richard_close2u whose clubs provided valuable insight into setting goals, and connected so many musical and motivational ādotsā.
Learning 2/3rds of Spanish Romanza, and justifying my 2023 purchase of a nylon-string guitar :). I tried to learn it the old school way, to push me to read sheet music (dots, not tabs).
I think the new year is a good time to reflect on 11 months of learning, so here are my top 3 achievements at the moment:
#1 Sticking with it for such a long time, and still enjoying it a lot.
It is always a challenge for me to keep myself entertained and interested while learning a new skill on my own, and Iām very happy it has worked so far. Credit goes to Justinās course that gives my solitary learning the structure it needs, to the community here that engages with my questions, and to the mindset of ādo what is fun for you within reasonā that comes from Justin, but also a lot from myself.
#2 Performing for my mum and sister
I learned a really difficult and very fast fingerstyle pattern, learned how to sing to it, re-wrote the lyrics to tell the story of my mumās work life, and performed it for my mum and sister at my mumās retirement party. I did so well, not one mistake, a lot of emotions, and we all cried. It was awesome!
#3 barre chords
Iāve only recently starting practicing F and Bm in earnest, and Iām quite proud that I went from āUgh, itās too difficult, better find a song withoutā to a place where they sound good almost every time, even if they do come too slow for actual strumming patterns yet.
What a year you have had! 
And you have tapped into a vein of gushingly gorgeous community responses here! Such an interesting read, so inspiring!! 
% collaborating with 
)
When I was 17, it was a very good year 
with you!
And Iām sure this will motivate you even more!
