April 21st, 2022
How it’s been going:
It’s been almost a month since the last time I updated this log so I figured it was time to talk a little bit about my progress. I’ve spent about 2 weeks per grade 2 module so far and am currently working through practicing the Module 10 content.
F chord while tricky didn’t give me as much trouble as I thought it was going to. In fact, I have a much harder time with the mini F for some reason. Now doing changes from the F has def been a much bigger challenge. Another surprise for me was how difficult it would be to transition to alternate picking from all down picks in the C major skill. I’m still in week one of practicing that so I’m sure I’ll get better.
I’ve been alternating my guitar each practice session (Electric and acoustic) in preparation for the finger picking module. It’s been great getting a feeling for the acoustic and finding out that things that I can confidently play on electric don’t sound so good when I attempt on the acoustic. It’s getting better and better so I’m glad I’m doing this instead of touching the acoustic the first time in the fingerpicking module.
What I’ve been Playing:
- La Bamba - Surprised at how fast I got the riff down, the video looked much harder than it actually is. Practicing the C Major scale really helped here. I’m also practicing the rhythm (C, mini F, weak finger G) so I can combine practicing the push rhythm, weak finger G, and my greatest weakness from the last module: the mini F. It’s coming along.
- What’s up - I’m already getting nostalgic for grade 1 and it’s only been a month! Seriously though this is the perfect song for weak finger G since it has change to C. I practice this during repertoire revision so that I get a ton of weak finger G practice.
- Mad World - Another greatest hits from grade 1! This one I practice specifically for the mini A barre chord. It’s great, at first I was doing weak finger G as well but I found it harder to switch to D chord so I’ve just been using regular G.
The Plan:
I’m in module 10 for another week and some change so I’m going to keep going. I’m really excited for the next 3 modules since they are intros to genres that I’m really interested in. Especially excited to get to rock power chords and the rock module. I’m planning on spending more time on that module as there are so many songs I want to try. Particularly want to try playing Smells Like Teen Spirit with my mustang style guitar!
New Gear/Purchases:
Speaking of Smells Like Teen Spirit I know Justin has a Katana patch for the song with all the sounds that I would need to play the song on my Boss Katana. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a way to switch between the different sounds so I can play the song in one go. Fortunately, I’ve remedied that 
:
This thing is awesome! It lets me switch between 4 presets on my Katana! Easy set up too, I just had to buy a different type of chord to plug into my Katana 50 but after that it just worked. I’m still a little under a month out from the rock module but I’m definitely ready to rock!
EDIT: Here’s a video of me playing my acoustic! This is the first time I’ve recording my self playing on the acoustic. https://community.justinguitar.com/t/every-rose-has-its-thorn-shortened/