Think of it as more barre chord practice. Yes, moving to E will also easier and just keep same fingering for Am (2, 3 & 4) then back to F.
Much to celebrate in this update, Alexis. Keep doing what you are doing. Fabulous looking guitar!
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June 8th, 2022
How it’s been going:
Time really flies by! It’s been about a month since my last update so it’s about time I write out my thoughts. For the past month I’ve went through the Rock and Blues Grade 2 modules. I’m just about finished those, but I really feel like I’ve only just scratched the surface of both of those genres. Rock is near and dear to my heart so I knew I’d love it, but there’s something to playing Blues as well. The improvising and the groove really speak to me.
For the rock module I played a lot of Nirvana and blink 182, getting used to power chords and palm muting. Power chords are tougher than they look, especially regarding string crossing and sliding. I could not really 100% get used to palm muting either. I feel like I lost the mute whenever playing a 5th string power chord for some reason. Something I should def work on during consolidation.
For the Blues Module I thought the hardest thing I’d have to tackle was the B7 chord, and for sure it was difficult, but I’m surprised how hard the chord changes are for me when playing in the key of G. Def one of those things I want to look at if I have time when consolidating.
What I’ve been Playing:
- Smells Like Teen Spirit - Love this song! I’ve only really been practicing the main rhythm, not the other riffs, but I feel like I’m really close to getting it down. My only problem is when crossing between 6th and 5th string Pchords I sometimes fumble the change so still working on it. I’ll work on the other riffs after I get this down.
- In Bloom- I think this is my favorite Nirvana song, so I’ve spent a lot of time working on this. I can play through the whole song (Rhythm only of course: Intro, verses, and chorus), but it’s still sloppy so working on cleaning it up. Want to do a AVoYP at some point.
- Whips and Chains - I’ve only just begun this one. It’s an instrumental song from Troy Stetina’s excellent book on metal rhythm guitar. Seriously anyone who is interested in playing metal should take a look at these books. I found that the books do little in actually teaching how and what to practice but are very good at teaching you technique and gradually giving you harder techniques to master. I’m combining the book with Justin’s effective practice methods to good results.
- If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - I still play this during my rep revision. I’ve come to terms that it will probably take months (maybe even longer) to truly achieve smooth changes with the F chord, but I continue to have this in my practice to keep working on it.
The Plan:
I’m starting the final Module for Grade 2 on Saturday! What a ride! I’ll spend 2 weeks practicing exactly what that module has, but then it’s off to consolidation land where I’ll create my own practice schedule based on Justin’s. Planning on about 3 full months of consolidating.
The plan is to work on mostly rock and metal songs. I’m toying with the idea of starting a AVoYP series of myself going through the first 15 songs of Justin’s rock song book (which should be doable for me after grade 2). I’d treat each song as a rock study and really dig deep into them, practicing them until I feel comfortable enough playing with a backing track I find online and posting them. I feel like committing myself to posting them would help me stay motivated and make sure I work hard to get them as tight as possible. Plus I love checking off items on a list. 
New Gear/Purchases:
A rather mundane purchase after getting a brand-new guitar last month but I got my self a stool to play on! I’ve been playing on a couch in my office/play room which has not been ideal as I like to keep close to my computer while playing. So I decided what the hell why not. This things is great worth every penny
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Nice update Alex. Glad you’re enjoying rocking out.
You do realise that now you have a drum stool, it’s mandatory to buy a drum kit as well? 
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Thanks for the update, Alexis. Sounds like you are making progress, having fun, and have a clear plan for the next little while.
When I was doing the Beginner Course, I found G7 for the 12BB in G totally beyond me. B7 for key of E was tricky but practice did the trick. I have learned a song this year that makes use of G7 and am now able to play the cord. My finger stretch and strength having improved generally over time to the point where I could play G7. So if you find something to be just too challenging then I think nothing wrong in moving on and coming back to it later if it is not going to prevent you making progress. I did the same with power cords as I was playing acoustic, strumming songs, and had no need.
Look forward to your 15 rock song challenge!
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Hah! Funny drum story:
When I was a teenager, I participated in a program where I went to Japan for a month to learn and immerse myself in the culture. While there I met another kid from the US that was OBSESSED with the drums. He carried drumsticks around everywhere and practiced his technique every chance he could get.
One day I told him of passing interest in the guitar and our group leader heard us discussing music; as it turns out, he played the guitar. The group leader then found and rented a little jam room for 2 hours that had a full drum kit in it. For those 2 hours while the group leader jammed on the guitar this kid taught me the basics of the drums.
Afterwards I was convinced that as soon as I got home, I’d ask my mother to buy me a drum kit. Of course, my mother was less than enthused about the prospect! So, I never bought any drums and I lost contact with that kid a looong time ago. And there you have it, my dreams of becoming a drumming god dashed before they even really began…or are they? If I’ve learned anything from Justin is that it’s never too late…nah I think I’ll stick to guitar for a while.
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I’m glad it’s not just me! It’s good to hear that you were eventually able to break through that plateau. This community has been invaluable in constantly reminding me that I’m not alone in my guitar struggles and more times than not patience and diligent practice will help me break through my own plateaus.
I’m excited to try it! I love all of the songs in the book, and I’ve already been playing 4-5 of the songs with varying degrees of success throughout grade 1 and 2. I expect that if I do end up doing the challenge/study each song will take a month+ to really get them to the point where I could play and post them to a backing track. I’d likely continue doing it past consolidation and into grade 3 as well. Luckily, it looks like past grade 2 Justin’s method really opens up and is less about following a prescribed plan and more about pursuing personal goals and how to approach pretty much anything I want to learn on the guitar.
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Good story! I drummed as a teenager, looking back I have no idea how my parents and the neighbours put up with it. I’ve toyed with the idea of getting an electric one at some stage and the wife is not keen on that even .
Btw - B7 is also hard for me. One of the trickiest open chords so far.
Hi Alexis,
Well, that has now become a nice library 
… nice to see such a well-structured LL, you will look back on it later (and now of course) with great pleasure and pride…
Retroactively wishing you a lot of Happy GuitarandAmpandOtherGear Day`s 
Greetings,Rogier
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That sounds a great idea to keep motivation and interest up.
What drum stool is that you’ve bought? I’ve thought about one as I currently sit on a soft sofa seat which is not good for my posture.
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It’s actually just a regular ol’ bar/spa stool from amazon basics: Amazon.com: Amazon Basics Multi-Purpose Drafting Spa Bar Stool with Wheels - Black : Office Products. It’s pretty cheap but I have no complaints at all.
My wife says it looks like the stools that Doctor’s use hah.
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July 14th, 2022
How it’s been going:
It has been ~1 month since my last learning log and the start of my grade 2 consolidation so I thought it was about time to post something here. consolidation has been going great, there’s definitely some focus since I’ve been working on my rock study project and started studying Troy Stetina’s Metal guitar method. Nothing in those projects are technically “new” information/techniques since pretty much all of what I’ve gone through has been covered in Grade 2 but everything is helping me solidify that knowledge. Exactly what should be happening in my consolidation period.
What I’ve been Playing:
- Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Part of my Rock Study project. I already made a AVoYP that I posted in a previous log but this one I really wanted it to be the whole song, with tight rhythm, and using a backing track. AVoYP here
- Whips and Chains - Been working through the example from this book for ~1/2 of the month and actually playing this song the last couple of weeks. AVoYP here
- If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next - Or as I like to call it: “If I Tolerate This I’ll Finally Have The F Chord Down”. Moving this from my rep revision to full on song practice with backing track. I’m still having some difficulty with the F chord so the next month there will be OMC to F in my routine.
The Plan:
Focusing on Chapter 2 of Metal Rhythm Guitar Vol. 1 and If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next for my rock study. Eventually I want to add learning 3rd song into my routine (with the book and rock study songs) but right now there is so much work to be done on the F Chord that I really want to tackle it. There are a ton of songs that Justin has lessons for that I want to get into and I also have another Troy Stetina book “Total Rock Guitar” which has 22 original songs of various genres that I want to learn as well so there is plenty in the pipeline. I’ll just need find some time do it!
New Gear/Purchases:
Sadly my old Desktop PC died on me suddenly a couple of weeks ago. Since I’ve been getting into video production and using a DAW I decided why the hell not and got my self a Mac Studio! I work in IT for a university so I’m used to handling macs and I’ve been fascinated with the studio since it was announced. It’s been great for all of my previous work but really great for Garageband and just small ecosystem things like integrating with my iPhone. Plus, my audio interface looks great on top of it!
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Great log update. I think your project to learn the songs in the rock songbook is great. Some of the challenge of learning songs is figuring out which ones to learn - that just takes it away.
I think your playing is developing well from your AVOYPs. You’ve got a good sense of timing and rhythm, which makes me think you must have a critical ear for your own playing. Being able to notice what you need to work on yourself.
I reckon quite a few of us in the community work in IT/software - seeing as we’re on computers all day it makes it easier to participate.
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Thanks for the update, Alexis. I’m enjoying following your progress. You have a great approach/plan and are doing ever so well.
Had a quick peak to see what a Mac Studio is … wow, that is quite some PC.
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Awesome update Alexis!
We’re so close in where we are in the course you’re like a kindred spirit 
Love the clean desk setup and as I mentioned in your consolidation thread you’ve got an awesome plan in place for the coming months of consolidation. Keep it up, you’re giving me lots of inspiration 
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Thanks for saying that, some days it feels like my rhythm is great and others I’m like “Why the hell can’t I get this right?!” Lol. Metal Rhythm guitar Vol 1. goes deep in timing and how rests work so it’s been helping a lot.
I have noticed a lot of IT/Software folks here as well. Seems like work from home and working on computers is a perfect combination to start playing guitar!
It’s is definitely overkill for the work I’m doing haha, but it is replacing an expensive gaming PC and I didn’t want a downgrade. I was considering a Macbook, but remembered the Mac Studio from when they announced it. The Specs blow similarly priced Macbooks out of the water so I thought screw it and pulled the trigger.
My favorite part of this website/community is getting to see others on similar journeys to me progress and be inspired by their AVoYP posts. I really think I would not have stuck with it this long without it!
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cough, cough I have no idea what you mean there Alexis…
Mark - IT home worker from the UK… 
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I may have been known to tinker on the electric (unplugged) during MS teams calls…
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Ha! In the immortal words of DJ Khaled:
….or when I’m waiting for a script to run……or for someone to get back to me……or, okay fine I sometimes work in between playing guitar.
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