Hi David,
Donāt fret over time away when life calls, it happens to everyone and if anything it can make you savour the time more when it comes around again.
I viewed the Wish You Were Here intro as a rite of passage and itās got so many interesting skills to develop in it, single string picking along with chords and different strumming, itās alot of fun and I still revisit it now.
Good luck and enjoy the guitar time whenever you can get it, look forward to your next update.
Mark.
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Appreciate you taking time to update your log, David. Your approach to dealing with the current conditions sounds good. Tobyās suggestion also makes a lot of sense.
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Good update David. I admire farmers for the hours they put in. Playing guitar is a hobby for us all so your approach to the work life balance is spot on.
Keep ploughing both furrows! 
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Hi David,
Nice LL,ā¦nice photos, canāt be made and posted too many 
Greetings,Rogier
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Hello everyone
Maybe Iāve come across as a bit negative in my update. That wasnāt my intention, I certainly donāt feel negative. I knew this situation was coming and that it would slow my progress but poor weather in late May caused a bit of a back log and then a lot of the work was to do at once. Iām not down about it. My update was more about keeping guitar ticking over through the summer.
@TheMadman_tobyjenner
ā Life gets in the way of living ā! Yer well - think we all know what you mean Toby. It sure does!!
I know what you mean about playing what youāve learned. Itās good to be able to pick up the guitar and play something without looking at my notebook and I sometimes do that. But I also want to keep the progress going by learning new things. I eventually decided that one new thing was enough for me at the moment but took me awhile to realise the riff is the better one to learn first. Thanks for your 2 cents, Iāll try to spend it wisely.
@Notter
This is what Iām talking about, Mark. Because the riff is a different style of playing for me, it makes it new and interesting and although it might take me awhile to learn, itās progress. Thanks for your encouragement.
@DavidP
I like to keep my log rolling, David, even if itās a slow roll right now. Thereās some good reading in the community but the log heap is my favourite. Everyone tells a different story and theyāre all told in a different way. I like that individuality. Thanks for keeping it all running smoothly for us.
@sairfingers
Think youāve hit the nail on the head, Gordon. Youāve caught what Iām trying to do. Thanks for your comment about farmers. A lot of us feel that the public donāt know where their food comes from. Itās nice to get some appreciation. Thank you.
@roger_holland
Thanks for having a read through my log, Rogier. It is what it is, no more, no less. Hopefully it will become more.
You guys are all way above my guitar level. Thank you all for popping by my log and sharing your words of wisdom. Maybe when Iām older my words will turn to wisdom too!
šø David
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As of today I can no longer say Iām 62 as Iāve put another candle on the cake.
62 has gone in the drawer with all the other numbers that Iāve been at some point or other.
Have you noticed that young people make out theyāre younger than they are, and old people make out theyāre older than they are.
ā Iāll be 64 next ā !
Iām young enough to learn guitar, old enough to know Iāll never realise my dreams, but wise enough to know it doesnāt matter. What matters is now. Now is now and I can only do what Iām doing now.
Iāve always felt that thereās some sort of musician hiding within me, but Iāve never been able to let him out. At primary school I learned to play Recorder to quite a good standard. At grammar school we were learning Recorder again but nobody else in the class had learned it before so it was back to book1 page1 which was boring and so I didnāt progress much further. I also had a dabble with a small piano accordion for awhile but wasnāt too chuffed with it.
After leaving school youthful exuberant life took over and I didnāt play any more music until I got my first guitar in my thirties. Well that didnāt go very well either, as reported elsewhere, and is a story that many of you have experienced for yourselves so enough said.
And so Iāve never been able to find my inner musician and let him out. But heās there. Iām sure heās there. My aim now is to find him and help him by learning to play my guitar and maybe, just maybe, Iāll be able to let him out one day. He deserves to be let out. He doesnāt deserve to be locked away forever inside this twit. And I donāt care if nobody else ever hears him. But I want to hear him. Iāll know then. Iāll know I was right. And thatāll be enough.
Thereās a long way to go. A lot of water will pass under a lot of bridges before my inner musician shows up. Learning guitar is not easy as we all know, but he is there. I know it now. I know it because Iāve heard him. I heard him way back in primary school playing my Recorder and I hear him now playing my Guitar, little tiny snippets now and then, so maybeā¦ā¦just maybeā¦ā¦
Thinking out loud but still keeping it real
šø David
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Many happy returns David. Iām sure that inner musician will burst out this year. Just keep plugging away following the yellow brick road that Justin has laid for you. Enjoy the rest of your special day.
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David
Happy Birthday 
You are catching up with me,
I am sure you will agree and as I have said before you are never too old to learn.
Michael
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@Socio Thanks James. Your new Coat of Arms is looking good!
@MAT1953 Thanks Michael. Yeah I agree. Age is but a number!
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A terrific quote. Youāre still younger than me David. I was 64 when I started learning and the Beatles song had a little bit to do with it as someone sent me the song on my birthday and watered a seed that had been lying dormant for many years.
The problem is Beatles songs and learning guitar are all more difficult than you think! 
Kudos for actually learning recorder at school too! I have memories of recorder orchestrasā¦ā¦ horrific. 
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Thanks Gordon. ā a seed that had been lying dormant for many years ā - thatās the inner musician. We all have one.
It disappoints me now, thinking back to when I was the only one who could already play recorder. It was as if the music teacher was knocking me back to the level of the rest of them instead of encouraging me to progress. What if heād encouraged me to learn a different instrument instead - sax, say. Wow! I love the sound of a sax. But I wasnāt thinking like that at the time, I was a shy little boy who did what he was told.
Anywayā¦ā¦no point in thinking like that now. Now is now.
Intrigued to hear about the āhorrificā recorder orchestra. Were you playing or watching? I played in a recorder concert in the Town Hall. It was good !
Many happy returns, David.
Your post reminded of Philip Toshio Sudoās book Zen Guitar. Have a look on this website: Zen Guitar I enjoyed the read, related to the ideas, and relate to your desires to find the āinner musicianā.
From my own personal experience, I encourage you to follow the path here. I had similar desires and also limited my expectations when I started with JustinGuitar almost 6 years ago. Today I am truly way beyond those expectations. Slow and steady, one lesson at a time, and you will discover that inner musician, unleash the musical creativity within, and share your song, here and even beyond.
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Thanks David. Iāve heard of Zen Guitar but I havenāt seen it. Thanks for the link, Iāll check it out later.
Work is still a bit fast and furious but guitar practice is definitely slow and steady. Justin lays out the path for us all but thereās no timetable so we can all make it suit our circumstances.
Iāll be doing my log update tomorrow and there isnāt much more to report! Iāll see if I can fill it out a bit.
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Blackpool Tower can be seen in this photo, slightly left of centre, 15-20 miles away. Pan left from there and the faint roundish structure is āThe Big Oneā big dipper ride
July 2022 Learning Log
With work running slightly smoother and kinder weather, practice has become a little bit more regular and Iāve made some progress.
The Wish You Were Here riff has taken more learning than previous riffs. The tab makes it look complicated but when I broke it down into chunks it became a lot easier. I learned the single note runs from the note names rather than fret and string numbers. Chord strum patterns were learned separately, then put it all together and worked on the rhythm and timing. I can now play it from memory and itās the most musical thing I can play because of the combination of note runs and chords.
With the riff practice going well I decided to start learning another song - Wonderwall
With all stuck 3&4, the chord changes are fairly straight forward so itās about getting the rhythm. Its 16th strumming which isnāt really till later in the grades but Iām doing it now to make it proper Wonderwall. Not easy but Iām getting there. I started by trying to do the 1e+a stuff and struggled with it. Then I looked at it as being all down 8th strumming with some ups thrown in and this is working much better for me. It needs more practice and then Iāll start learning Every Rose Has Itās Thorn again to practice mixing stuck and regular chords.
One thing Iāve noticed just lately with the stuck 3&4 chords - if down strums are just strings 6 5 4 3 and upstrums are strings 1 2 3 the strumming sounds much more musical than having that continuous drone on strings 1&2. Especially with the riff. Wonderwall is faster so not easy to be as accurate, though still may sound better when Iām able do it.
After reading the JG newsletter this month I looked up Justinās lesson about Neuroplasticity. Good a teacher as he is, I will not be doing handstands on a wobble board !!
Have fun Keep it real
šø David
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David
Will have to take your word about being able to see Blackpool Tower, definition on my iPad is not great.
Michael 
PS I agree about not doing handstands etc
@MAT1953
Yeah, sorry about that Michael. Itās good to see when I zoom it from photo library on my phone but I canāt see it on here!
Maybe itāll show up on a computer screen.
David
Donāt worry have been to. Blackpool many times including up the Tower.
Cheers Michael
Thanks for the update, David, and well done on the progress made. Keep on doing what youāre doing.
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