Noted but Justin appears (to me) to be referring to resources in this particular lesson and not to others. No big deal really just thought that I had missed something.
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I spent a while consolidating from Grade 2 and was nervous about when to jump into Grade 3 (in case I needed more time) but Iām excited to get back to the scheduled lessons! Anyone on the fence, take your time at the end of Grade 2 but donāt hesitate to start if it helps keep you motivated to practice more.
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Hey there,
I am little bit lateā¦ Learning around 18 months and still dont have any strict routine. I am tried to make routine many times and now I am trying it again. Can anyone give me short look on my list? I am sure it will upgrade through first learning sessions. Till this point I was learningā¦ Like a punk or how to say it and because I want to be really good in guitarā¦ I heard from many guys doing this. Like Justin, Joe Robinson, Paul Davidsā¦ thanks for your time. 
By the wayā¦ I am not married, no kids, not two jobs, no animals or having to care about someone now. I can really put hours into guitar on daily basis but only if it makes sense.
Technique
- Joe Robinson Am, E, Am, E, Dm, C and E (thumb only, ad note, add notes, roll all) 5 minutes
- Bending B string with pinky (Windy and warm) 3 minutes
Knowledge
- C Major scale, Em scale (thumbpick) 5 minutes
- What is arpeggio? 5 minutes
- Learn 6th string notes, play them and name them 5 minutes
Repertoire
- Find names for Pauls song - blues and chill 3 minutes
- Freight Train look for spice it up - 5 minutes
- WIndy and Warm connect beginning and first verse 4 minutes
Ear training
- Figure out Happy birthday 5 minutes
- Later then dig more about this free time
Time / Groove
- Correct palm mute placement, not too much, not too low
- Tap foot and use metronome
- Play with dynamics, really silent and really loud, NO WONKY 5 minutes
Improvisation
- Learn basic chord progression, then apply simple fingerstyle pattern, first base only, then add notes 10 minutes
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Michal, it looks good to me if these are practice elements that are useful and interesting to you. I would probably add another song or two in the repertoire, but that is my preference. You will need to reevaluate every week and especially every month to see what needs to be changed.
@SteveL_G99 Hello Steveā¦ yeahā¦ it looks good on paper, but reality is same like my whole learning guitar. I dont follow it at all. I just do what I want.
My biggest problem is when I try to learn some strumming song where you change few chordsā¦ it sounds too repetitive and boring really soon. So I end by some fingerstyle again, because it pleases me moreā¦ also fingerstyle feels easier and more natural to me. Its strange.
Now I am working on D to Bm to G to A fingerstyle chord progression in 6/8. First run pure change chords. Then using some adds and then walking the base lineā¦ I really like sound of connecting chord over base line. After I get more comfortable I will try to add some phrase or melody on TOP of that and that is what fills me with joy.
I am sure it is not fastest progress, but it is way how it fulfill me.
Also I started to work on new song āHome Runā from one guy from Singapur and in this song I can see why I dont like and why I like strummingā¦ I really need melody in chords. Then it satisfy me.
I am doing everything at once but just naturallyā¦ because when I walk that base line for example I am thinking about what the name of note is or what are same notes of chords and what is changing. Somehow it still works.
I left thumb pick for nowā¦ using bare fingers again feeling more comfy then ever, because thumb pick learned me how to palm mute and now I can apply it without it.
And palming base and letting melody pop up is really great for my ears.
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Michal, I would also suggest that you copy the link for your post on your practice elements and put in your Learning Log. I noticed that you hadnāt used your Learning Log since you started it. It might be a good place to organize all of your ideas about practice. A lot of people in the community also post videos in their learning log of practice items that are in progress to get feedback from the community.
If you donāt like this type of documenting practice and want to have an alternative to your practice list, I have seen a suggestion of writing practice items on the back of small cards or slips of paper and pulling out of a basket, for a more random practice session.
I am not really a good person to provide advice, since I was all over the place with guitar when I was your age. I didnāt get serious about organizing my practice until about 2 1/2 years ago and I am now 69 years old 
Hello Steve.
I am not sure if I understand right, but I got my own learning log, but I dont update it that much. I just updated it with latest info I shared with you.
Also I am somehow tracking my learning in YouTube videos, but it is not something really big. Its almost beginnings or when I got something in hands. Sometimes its good to look into it and motivate myself how far I get. But every coin has two sidesā¦ and I can also see how not much I can. 
Honestlyā¦ sometimes I think I am pretty annyoing by how many topics I open on community and asking things, but I can remember Justin saying in one videoā¦ āalways askā and I really like to know.
This sounds great! Well done dude 
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Michal, my apologies to you. I did not see the updates to your Learning Log that you put into your beginning post in your Learning Log. I usually put additional updates to my Learning Log by using the orange reply button at the bottom of the post and making a new post for my update. Then the update is announced to the community and I am able to get responses from others in the community. This does not happen if you just edited or update your first or beginning post in your Learning Log.
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I spend a lot of time practicing, at least 3-5 hours a day. I love it. One technique I use to get the most out of my practicing is combining multiple things into one, as long as itās not too much to handle. Curious to know if anyone thinks Iām on the right track here.
For example I was a big fan of that percussive hit lesson that Justin introduced at the end of Grade 2, but Iām not very great at it just yet. I combine that with music theory, scales / modes and improvisation by first looping myself doing a basic chord progression with percussive hit strumming. For example, last night I looped myself doing a D > G > A > F#m (I > IV > V > III) strumming progression. Then over the loop I improvise a couple different ways, first by going up and down their respective scales (D major diatonic, G major Lydian, A major Mixolydian, F# minor phrygian) in a few parts of the neck. Once Iāve got the notes of each respective scale relatively down in my working short-term muscle memory, I switch it up by trying to improvise various melodies that follow a kind of start and resolution as the chords change. I target the root note of each scale when the chord changes, and make sure to hit the 3rd and 5th at some point during the melody (minor 3rd for the F# minor phrygian). When I hit the three chord notes for each scale, I identify the note name (D, F#, A ; G, B, D ; A, C#, E; F#, A, C#) by saying it out loud, and ideally try to locate a position on the neck to play them in where a triad is possible on adjacent strings. If the triad is some type of inversion, like first or second inversion, I try to identify that as well mentally. For example this is where I was improvising last night:
I find that this practice method helps me work on improvisation, strumming techniques, scale memorization, music theory, finger coordination, picking speed, and learning the notes of the fretboard all at the same time. Each day I try to do a different chord progression and identify different notes and scales in a different order; and once I have it down reasonably well enough to start without racking my brain for 10-15 minutes, Iāll add another chord to the progression. With this activity I started with just one chord looped, then added a second chord, etc.
Curious to hear if anyone has an opinions on where I can take it from here. I think Iāll try to start focusing on chord progressions that end up having a chord with a fifth or third that happens to line up with the root note of the next chord to perhaps give it a more harmonic feel. I also want to explore perhaps the harmonic minor modes, or other types of mode patterns like the natural minor scale. Iāve only been doing this so far with first pentatonic scales and now major diatonic modes. As a side note, the blues in A and 12 step blues shuffle riff techniques that Justin taught in grade 2 Module 13 were a great base to loop over for improvising pentatonically. Mixing the shuffle riff up with one of the different types of 12 step progressions like the quick change progression that he taught earlier in the module was a good time and another example of combining practice techniques to get more out of my practice.
Also as a note, I know the chord progression in this example is probably not a very common or harmonic one, but I basically just pick a random key and throw darts at the wall to see which series of chords sounds workable together - just trying to shoot for something different each time.
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I did something similar to this when I was working on these items. I chose to use the ā5 most common chord progressionsā played in the key of C and the key of G. This gave the chord changes more relevance to changes Iād likely use when playing songs. I also added the 1-4-5 in A and the 1-4-5 in E to provide practice with A and B7 chord changes.
Sounds like you are learning both technique and theory, and are thinking of ways to apply both. Good for you!
I understand that C and G are very common Keys for guitar but Iām curios why you picked then to practice scales over. There is only 1 note difference between the 2 scales F - F#.
I personally would have picked C and E if only picking 2 Keys or done like Ryan and just picked random keys each day.
I personally donāt practice scales. I find it a waste of time. Once you get the intervals into your head and compensate for the B string shift all the patterns are the same.
I find hearing the difference between the relationship of the intervals to make music just makes more sense than memorizing patterns.
yeah I wouldnāt say I memorize scales but rather the intervals, it is slightly helpful memorizing certain fingerings at first as a way to hammer in the intervals I feel. For example last night I actually did this improvisation practice with the harmonic minor modes instead, this time in the key of E minor. So the I > IV > V > VI progression was Em > Am > B Maj > C Maj, and only by knowing the intervals in the harmonic minor scale I was able to figure out the modes expanded from that in a random spot on the neck and improvise with it. I also noticed all three of those triads can be done on the top 4 strings, which made them fun to target as well
The scale I found for this progression:
The triads:
I just looked at Justinās harmonic minor scale lesson and saw that he has this same fingering in it, so it was advantageous for me to know the intervals ahead of time and then be able to memorize it by improvising rather than trying to memorize specific fingerings. However I did just find out that one of the points of this scale is to utilize dominant 7 chords, so iāll give that a shot next go around
The main reason is that this allowed me to practice Major scale pattern 1 in two different areas of the fretboard. Pattern 1 in G has the lowest root at the 3rd fret, where pattern 1 in C has the lowest root at the 8th fret. This allowed my fingers to get used to both the wider fret spacing at the end of the fretboard and the closer spacing in the middle.
My main reason to practice scales is to build/maintain finger speed, dexterity and string muting, as well as memorizing the patterns. Iām just starting the Major Scale Maestro and Essential Blues Lead Guitar modules in Grade 4, so I havenāt practiced the other 4 Major Scale patterns or the other 4 Pentatonic patterns yet.
I only practice scales for 5 minutes a day; one day itās Major scale, the next day is Pentatonic. I have separate practice items for reactive listening, practicing using licks, etc.
Turn on a Fuzz pedal and practice scales at speed. You will quickly hear how good (or BAD) your string muting is LOL!
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