So I just went through the last video on Grade 3 (still need some practice on those skills before moving to Grade 4) and I guess that makes me no longer a beginner? Where do I get my graduation certificate?
I wish I had recorded the date when I started but I think it was 8-10 months ago (I did note that I started Grade 3 end of July). I had been playing for some time (albeit sporadically) before I started with Justin Guitar and I already knew all the cowboy chords and E-shaped and A-shaped barre chords and could play reasonably well, but I decided to just go through from the beginning anyway. I am so glad I did take the time, just the encouragement to continue to improve is so important but also there were still a lot of valuable skills that I learned along the way and some that I never would have attempted or maybe even thought of. I do maintain a Learning Log for myself but I did not start at the beginning, that came about 6 months ago. I looked back through that and while its hard to tell how bad my playing sounded back then compared to now, it is very clear that my musical understanding and specifically understanding the notes on the fretboard and how they relate to chords etc. are quite very far ahead of where I was.
So grateful for all this Amazing content and also you all in the community joining the voice of encouragement and helping answer questions along the way!
The day you decide to play the guitar is when you become a āguitar playerā
ā¦ and in a sense, you remain āa beginnerā as long as you are still learning
Glad youāre enjoying it
Your certificate comes in the form of a brand new guitar to be found at you local music store in the color and style of your choice! Please be sure to hang it in an appropriate place where it can be easily viewed and accessed at anytime you wish.
I had a Whereās my certificate? moment around age 50ā¦
Since I was a kid there was always something I āwantedā when I got older-
a gun, a motorbike, a girlfriend, to go to high school, university, have sex, fall in love and get married and have kids, a career, go heli-skiing in New Zealand and scuba diving on the Barrier Reefā¦ and finally settle down in my own home where I would like to live.
About ten years ago, I sat on my couch and wondered- Whereās my certificate?
Iād done all the things I really wanted to do.
Now, donāt get me wrong. Itās not as if Iām tired of life and thereās nothing left I for me to enjoy.
Iām a hedonist and have had a ball of a time. I intend to continue for as long as Iām able. Iām having a blast ālearningā guitar and enjoying a brief physical renaissance after hip and cataract surgery, but there is nothing I feel like I am missing out on or would really like to accomplish before kicking the bucket. So whereās my certificate?
Congrats on hitting the end of Grade 3āthatās a huge milestone! No official certificate, but youāve definitely earned the bragging rights! Itās awesome to hear how much progress youāve made, both in playing and understanding musicāit really shows how valuable taking the time to go through everything can be. Keep rocking, and donāt rush Grade 4; enjoy the process and keep celebrating those wins.
Flints included. Not as easy to make them spark as you might think.
My granddad decided to give them all a good clean and oil a couple of years later and had trouble getting some ādirtā out of the bottom of mine, only to discover it had been loaded with gunpowder and a bag of lead pellets all the time
The mind bogglesā¦
I built most of a flintlock once. Even cast the brass for the trigger guard, butt plate, and patch box. The shooting was great fun, but the cleanup afterward was a lot of work!
Oops! no-one watching you and making sure you were being properly careful!
Really, getting a spark to land just so in the touch hole is unlikely. You really need the flash pan to ignite to get enough fire into the charge. Iād bet the flash pan was long empty.
My dad would get me in summers growing up when I was a kid. One summer think I was about 8 or 9, he had 2 Springfield 1795 kits for us to build togeather. He was mad at me because it ended up being way to big for me to hold it and I was upset because I just wanted Star Wars toys and a new BMX bike. My super hippy mom back in California was super mad at the whole thing
Americans, especially in the 70s were different, and their GenX kids were raised under strange circumstances.
Justin should have a printable completion for each section like the beginner after grade 3 and then after the intermediate after grade? Well, i dont know cause im not there yet. Haha
I would print it out and be proud. I might not hang it next to my bachelors of Science but it would still be cool.
, now the eternal consolidation of all this and a new direction begins 
No official certificate, but youāve definitely earned the bragging rights! Itās awesome to hear how much progress youāve made, both in playing and understanding musicāit really shows how valuable taking the time to go through everything can be. Keep rocking, and donāt rush Grade 4; enjoy the process and keep celebrating those wins.