I’m really not good with this sort of thing. I would like to create this as a diary of my journey but I’m a disorganized mess and I struggle with putting pen to paper. Currently my learning log consists of multiple digital and hand written notes scattered all over the place so I feel like it would be helpful to condense them all down in one place. As such this may start out as sort of an info dump until I can hopefully start posting more consistently.
Originally I was really into surf rock which is what inspired me to learn to play in the first place. I also liked old cowboy western songs because they’re really fun to play and I still use them as warmups before practice. But what interests me the most is 80s/90s indie/alt/grunge.
In addition to playing I’m a very handy person and I spend as much time obsessively tinkering with and setting up my own guitars as I spend playing them.
My gear:
Guitars:
Fender Jagstang: my pride and joy. My main guitar that I use 90% of the time. It’s super comfortable and does everything I want it to do. Fully stock except for flipped & locked tailpiece and TOM bridge.
Squier 70s CV HSS Strat: My backup guitar. I only use it occasionally for the extra versatility of the stock pickups which I actually really like.
Fender Jazzmaster: my first guitar, a righthanded partsmaster that I built from scratch and modded to play lefthanded. Jazzmaster body with Strat neck. Stripped down wiring with one knob Sonic Youth style. Tone Hatch Vintage Class 62 pickups. One 500k pot I stole off another guitar when the original 1 meg pot broke. AVRI tailpiece and mustang bridge. Has been rebuilt more times than I can count.
Epiphone SG: fully stock except for iron gear humbuckers. I don’t use it. Keeping it around so I can eventually convert it to lefthanded.
Amps:
Fender Super Champ X2
Effects:
Boss DS-1
Fuzz Imp Drat!
Currently I’m in grade 1. I know all the basic chord shapes and stuff but felt like it was best to start from scratch anyway and I’m glad I did. It was super helpful. I’ve never actually learned how to play and have always sort of figured it out myself but that means I may have developed bad habits.
Main takeaways so far:
1: focus on strumming and rhythm. Strumming with the pick and fretting notes for the most part are pretty straightforward, none of it is new to me. The main limiting factor in my practice sessions is the muscles in the palm of my hand gripping the neck cramping and giving out from frequent chord changes. I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong or if I just need to develop more strength over time.
2: I need to improve my recording setup. I like record myself play because it’s a good way to improve my skills, but all I have right now is basically just my phone and the quality of the recordings is really bad. My amp has a line out but I can’t afford a computer and recording hardware/software as I am currently recovering from a major surgery but it is something to think about.
3: Timing. I have a tendancy to want to play fast but I have to remind myself is slowing down is not just ok but even good. I feel like a metronome would help.
great you started your own learning log. You are doing it for your “future self”, trust me.
There will be point and not only once… when you struggle with rut and learning log is great mechanism to prove yourself you are doing progress and it is worth it.
Stay focused and relaxed on your journey, it supposed to be thing for you that you WANT to do and not HAVE TO do.
If I can give you little advice set your big goal, split to to smaller goals and even that split into much smaller goals, so you can always focus on small parts that are together something really big.
For example setting goal playing Wonderwall in 14 days perfectly… will frustrate and demotivate you.
Setting goal to learn chord progression in 14 days and then connecting it with BASIC strumming… will please you more and it will work.
Hi Claire,
Very nice for you (and always for some others too) that you are starting an LL … it sounds like we have a lot in common , but after missing/forgetting a lot and then starting for a week and I never stopped writting down on pieces of paper when I finally put a pen in my hand and start collecting large and small papers and fill them with riffs/licks/potential songs lessons to watch etc etc etc … now there are more than 100 notes around me …waiting to be sorted out …
The nice thing is when I get there in the ??? As much time goes by I see things that seemed very impossible at the time that are now almost to very easy… or other very nice songs or riffs that I had forgotten… so chaos can bring very beautiful things…
and what is in your favor (hope ) is that your first post is already very neat and structured… mine is a mess, but …well …who cares, it is your own and you can post what and how you want … the greater the chaos in the beginning, the neater and progress you made when you/we look later
Do what feels good to you and all or most will be fine
@GrumpyMac It is really individual. In the world of goals and routine it is necessary to follow dates but of course being in reality with them. Not setting unreal goals.
For me it was learning Freight Train in 2 months… I was learning parts and connecting them. I had few days for some part and it worked for me after 1 month.
If I was more free with this with ignoring any goal date I am not sure if I will hit that.
But overall I am not following any strict routine… I am pretty punk in that and that is something you can see in my Learning Log.
Being a left-handed rebel of sorts, I never was motivated to make a learning log. I do have a system and tools that work for me - a binder, a pencil and an eraser. Old school.
This is basically my approach. I’m really bad at following a set schedule because then I get overwhelmed with the expectations I set for myself. I’ve found I have way better success viewing it as playtime, focusing on something that inspires me and having fun with it and that makes learning easier and I tend to get more practice time in. Because once the guitar is in my hands I inevitably get carried away and lose track of time and before I notice an hour has already gone by. That being said I do try set a goal of playing daily.
In college hand writing everything by hand was super helpful because it was easier for me to visualize the information I was learning that way. So before joining Justin Guitar I tried making a physical journal and…proceeded to fill it with doodles
I feel like keeping a digital album helped more for music related stuff because it’s much faster and easier to save things I like and I can use the mirror image feature to instantly flip chord diagrams to lefthanded format. My next goal is to get a dedicated laptop or tablet or something specifically for guitar use because my phone is pretty limited.
College? Yes, I have a vague recollection of writing out organic chemistry fromulas pre-midterm exam . Sounds like you’re on a good path Claire. One thing Justin suggests that I found useful was writing out chord shapes as you learn them. As a warm up I sometimes go back and review slash chords, add chords and alternate shapes and embellishments, to think about using them in songs.
That sounds like an awesome journey! Having everything in one place will definitely help, even if it starts as an info dump. Your gear setup is sick—especially that Jagstang and DIY Jazzmaster. Starting from scratch was a solid move too, and yeah, cramping is probably just a mix of grip strength and technique. Recording-wise, even a cheap interface or USB mic could be a step up from a phone.
When you’re at Grade 1, I would just focus on following the plan set out by Justin to build those foundational skills. When you get to Grade 3 then Justin will go through setting out goals and effective practice routines with you.
Hi Claire and welcome. I think it is so cool that you do all the work on your guitars and customize them to fit your needs.
Like a few of the others, I keep a binder for all my notes and song tabs. My OCD got the best of me over Christmas break. I bought a double sided binder and rewatched all the courses through grade 3 module 16 and practical music theory Grade 3 module 3. I took fresh notes while referring to my old notes to makes sure I didn’t miss anything.
Instead of loose leaf pages this time, I opted to use rules composition books, one for the regular courses, one for practical music theory and a general one on the songs tab side. I have printable tabs where I label the start of each module (Grade 1, Module 1, etc.). I put the song tabs in page inserts and will use the same printable tabs to label them.
It took me a lot longer than I was expecting but it is what I needed to kickstart my practicing as I had fallen off the wagon so to speak. I can now easily go back to find notes on a particular item I may want to focus on at any particular time.
Playing the Jazzmaster after getting used to the Jagstang feels like holding a schoolbus, but strangely the Jagstang is the heaviest guitar I own despite being the smallest.
Moving on to the next module. Got my 60 second chord changes to 32, 40, 50, 60, 62 and I gave up after that because I don’t think I can do any better.
Been spending the past week doing strumming practice daily and practicing songs. Callouses have reappeared on my fingers and my fretting hand isn’t cramping from chord changes anymore (at least from the basic ones).
… it sounds like we have a lot in common 
, but after missing/forgetting a lot and then starting for a week and I never stopped writting down on pieces of paper when I finally put a pen in my hand and start collecting large and small papers and fill them with riffs/licks/potential songs lessons to watch etc etc etc … now there are more than 100 notes around me …waiting to be sorted out 
…
) is that your first post is already very neat and structured… mine is a mess, but …well …who cares, it is your own and you can post what and how you want … the greater the chaos in the beginning, the neater and progress you made when you/we look later 
. Sounds like you’re on a good path Claire. One thing Justin suggests that I found useful was writing out chord shapes as you learn them. As a warm up I sometimes go back and review slash chords, add chords and alternate shapes and embellishments, to think about using them in songs.
