Hello everyone in this awesome community. I started grade 3 Module 15 about two or 3 weeks ago after spending July & August consolidating., so thought it would be a good time to start a log since practice is more individualized and longer.
I’ve actually not enjoyed this module much. Really feels like an “eat your vegetables” “take your medicine” module. I’m ahead of the curve on some things (strumming comes naturally) and behind on others (F chord is still a WIP) so tailoring to weaknesses. I can’t “learn” a strumming pattern. I just have to hear it at full speed and I can replicate it. And my rhythm and timing - when I know the chords - is good. F chord on acoustic is still a bit of a chore but no problem with the electric (may change my acoustic to extra light strings next change - it’s set up well). I stand up with the electric and play along to Mr. Jones and Neil Young songs like Down by the River for fun.
I really don’t like the capo for two bit. Lesson hurt my brain. I strummed along ok to Justin’s GCD at the end of the lesson no prob. Also played at the fifth fret along to CSN’s Southern Cross on Spotify with mixed results. I don’t have a jamming buddy and, being an introvert, I’m not hunting one down. But I’ll keep eating my vegetables.
For Knowledge, I’'ve gotten through the first 4 videos of Scott West’s Absolutely Understand Guitar. For transcribing, I got Blitzkrieg Bop pretty quickly and then challenged myself with the Grateful Dead’s Morning Dew, including the embellishments/opening riff. Will work on Molly’s Lips next.
For Improv & Jams, I don’t know. I don’t hate it but I don’t love it. I got through it in grade 2 OK. Now it seems such a big part of practice and it does not motivate me to play. I’ve skipped it in every practice so far b/c I’d rather work on repertoire and nailing F and Bm chords since there are so many songs I want to play that use those two chords. I faithfully practice the finger gym and using scales to connect chords. I’m good on D shape exploring.
How important are the capo for 2 and improvi + Jams parts of practice? Those are really the only things I have simply not enjoyed to this point.
I’ll try to post progress regularly and hold myself accountable. Cheers and happy playing!
The first thing that jumps out at me from your comments is you need to change things up. If some things are not enjoyable you’re on a slippery slope of demotivation. That’s not a good place to be. This is a fairly normal feeling for everyone to get to a point where it’s not as new and exciting as it once was. My advice is to think about what do you want to achieve with guitar and set some goals. Once you have some goals in mind that then dictates which areas to practice. Rather than following Justins path (which is a great starting point) you also need to find your own path. To some extent you do need to eat vegetables, you need to keep showing up each day. But you get to choose the flavour of the vegetables, if that analogy makes sense.
Abbreviated practice yesterday due to work schedule:
Played for about 10 minutes during lunch. Practiced Jason Isbell’s “24 Frames” and “Love Song” by the Cure
Very short evening practice (all on acoustic):
5 min finger gym
5 min of one-minute PFC:
C to F: 39
G to F: 40
G to Bm: 39
NEW: Trying out barre A to Bm - only 16 but this was first attempt. Christmas will be here before you know it and I want to play Happy Christmas (War is Over) smoothly
Hope to have more time later today before I go to see my daughter’s band play at her college bar
Makes perfect sense, thank you. Now that I’m on the path where I need to choose my focus, I’m just learning judgement about what is necessary/foundational and what is somewhat optional.
I love so many styles of music but the The music I love and want to play is Americana - Grateful Dead, Neil Young (I know, he’s Canadian ), Jimmy Buffet, Tom Petty, Jason Isbell, Drive by Truckers.
Goals:
*Next 6 months: Get proficient at linking chords with individual notes and scales and take next steps fingerstyle
*Next 6-12 months: Expand the repertoire and play an open mic acoustic set
*Long term: I’m 58. I dream of retiring near the ocean in 4-5 years and playing songs in some cool bar with people singing along. Bonus stretch goal: front a retiree cover band playing the music I love at some beer hall or something for kicks
For today, Monday, 9/21 practice was a review. I went back to my consolidation routine because I hadn’t done it in a few weeks. The muscle memory was there for the most part:
Everything was good. I had an abbreviated 15 minute practice Friday, then no practice Saturday BUT… my wife went to bed Saturday night so it was just me in front of the TV so I grabbed my daughter’s acoustic (I gave it a solid cleaning) and just played for about an hour. Played mostly stuff I know but also tinkered with figuring out Ripple and the individual notes into chords at the beginning and actually made progress (a little ear trining). Also played Hotel California, Uncle John’s Band, Not Fade Away, Southern Cross, Box of Rain, Morning Dew and Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town. Just had fun…and a couple beers
** I like the finger gym exercise and do it daily, often a couple times. I have some weak spots I need to continue working on:
weak pinky. it lags behind and is still too inaccurate
on barre chords it’s my middle finger that I have to work on landing first. I don’t curl it enough or it just lags a little behind the other fingers. Or it lands behind my ring finger
Last night, 9/22 practiced ab out 45 minutes. Ran through the grade 3 module 15 practice
5 minutes finger gym
5 minutes of 1-minute PFC F and Bm
C to F: 31 a bit of a rough start
*G to F: 45
G to Bm: 45
A barre to Bm: 20 (improvement!)
A to Bm: 35
5 minutes linking chords with scales G - C and D - A
5 minutes capo for two: capo at 5th fret and played with Justin’s GCD in odule 15 video and played along to Southern Cross on Spotify made dinner
20 minutes repertoire work - Uncle John’s Band (G to Bm), Morning Dew (refining the individual notes between chords), stood up with the electric guitar and played Down by the River
Frustrating week. Just been too busy. Played a little over the weekend, including some songs including F and Bm. Did the finger gym daily snd often more than once daily. Also watched this video “Capo Theory Masterclass” which I found helpful in explaining CAGED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRefOq6_kd4&list=WL&index=2&pp=iAQB8AUBsAgC
Sat down to practice tonight and it was all trash.
5 minutes finger gym
10 minutes connecting chords with scales C-G and D-A, which went OK. Still not perfectly clean
Song practice: Redemption Song - sloppy and error-ridden and not in any kind of rhythym
20 minutes: Thought I’d spend some time transcribing and just didn’t really like it. I found Polly by Nirvana hard to figure out. And I’m not a huge Nirvana fan anyway. Figured out Bad Reputation by Freedy Johnston, mostly but still have a bridge to figure out. It’s mostly open chords. Last two weeks I transcribed Blitzkrieg Bop and Molly’s Lips in just a couple minutes. And i figured out Morning Dew and have been practicing it. But tonight was not good.
5 minutes - stood up with the electric and played Down by the River by Neil Young to finish with something I like. Then called it a night.
Better tonight. 9/29. I was just too tired last night.
5 minutes finger gym in the morning
5 minutes finger gym in the evening - slow improvement in accuracy
5+ minutes pinky workout
5+ minutes connecting chords with scales C-G, D-A - getting a little quicker and cleaner
5+ minutes Technique: F and Bm PFC changes
C-F: 44
G-F: 44
G-Bm: 41
A-Bm: 40
Worked on Barre A to Asus2/4 - opening chords to Box of Rain
10 minutes capo for 2: Played along to Justin’s video and Dead Flowers on Spotify. Played a little Southern Cross too
10 minutes Repertoire and playing along/strumming
Acoustic:
Box of Rain - includes A to Asus2/4 and one Bm at the end
Comes a Time - played 3 times - good practice for Bm and F
Electric: Mr. Jones (F and Dm) - played twice, once standing up. Lovesong by the Cure (F), and Imitation of life by R.E.M. (nothing hard, just fun to play)
So about an hour today. That was so much more fun and let’s me work on things I need to improve on
10 minutes finger gym
10 minutes connecting chords with scales, G-G, A-D, Em -Am, Am-Dm, and some other experimentation with F and C and others
5-7 minutes of spiderwalk - top of the neck, keeping fingers in place for the stretch, alternate picking at 80bpm
I may have moved on to module 3 too quickly and I need to improve my picking accuracy. Will also spend more time on scales, specifically alternate picking
Happy October! I think I’m finding a groove for practice now.
5 minutes spider walk. Top of the neck, alternate picking 90bpm. Got better as I warmed up
5 minutes finger gym, 60bpm
New: More than 5 minutes of 60bpm metronome F and Bm chord changes, C-F, G-F, G-Bm, A-Bm, D-mini F. I’ve been stuck at 40ish changes with 1-minute PFC so mixing it up and forcing myself to change faster even if not perfect
2 minutes of Barre A to Asus2/4
40ish minutes of repertoire playing along to Spotify:
Seated acoustic: Box of Rain, Comes a Time, and Lovesong (lot of Bm and F changes)
Standing electric: Mary Jane’s Last Dance, Down by the River
an enjoyable little practice of over an hour
ETA: I have a new goal. When I graduate grade 3 and get to intermediate. I’m buying myself a Gretsch Steamliner G2655 Jr. I’m now on a mission
Had almost a week off. Just have not had time and then a little under the weather Tuesday & Wednesday. Got back at it a bit yesterday. Even got my morning run in.
Lunch: Watched video lesson 4 of Absolutely Understand Guitar, then played Uncle John’s Band
Evening Practice:
5 minutes chromatic scale at 60bpm
5 minutes finger gym
5 minutes connecting chords with scales
Cooked dinner for my wife and oldest daughter
post dinner while watching Bruins game: about 15-20 minutes song work. Morning Dew, You’ve Got to Hide Your love Away, then some finger style: Everybody Hurts and Happy Birthday
Nothing felt right tonight on acoustic. Nothing. Acoustic kept slipping on my lap. Tried classical and regular position. I adjusted my stool height but my guitar just felt too big for me tonight and I couldn’t keep it upright. Kept sliding to a 45 degree angle against my body.
5+ minutes chromatic scale
5 minutes finger gym
10 minutes of metronome training at 50bpm: F/C, G/C, Mini F/D, G/Bm, A/Bm
15 minutes of song practice. Uncle John’s Band, Lovesong, Morning Dew, and You’ve got to Hide Your Love Away.
like i completely forgot how to play an F chord tonight. just a frustrating session. feel like I need to go back to the beginning of grade 2 and start all over.
Edit: walked away and picked the guitar up after dinner. Just song practice. A bit better but was even messing up D and Dm. Definitely plateauing and in a rut and need to be patient and work through it
I’m just about ready to move to grade 3 module 16. I took my time with 15 and I need a new stimulus.
Tonight I watched Absolutely Understand Guitar lesson 5. Appreciating the emphasis on theory.
More electric guitar tonight.
10 minutes finger gym, and different scales
15 minutes of song work on electric.
Had dinner and the picked up the acoustic and did some metronome chord changes for F and Bm at 55bpm. Also connected chords with scales. Then more song work on acoustic
), Jimmy Buffet, Tom Petty, Jason Isbell, Drive by Truckers.
cover band playing the music I love at some beer hall or something for kicks
